U.S. History
Mr. Detjen
Reading Study Guide
“Reconstruction, 1865-1877”
I. Annotated Outline. Expand greatly on the following. That is, your task is to use the following template based on the chapter’s section headings as an organizational format, and then take detailed notes that are both concise enough to save space, but also comprehensive enough so that you may rely on them instead of having to back and re-read the chapter when you review for exams. The more time, effort, and thought that you “front load” here, the more efficient and easier your study time will be when you really need it.
I. Presidential Reconstruction
A. Presidential Initiatives
B. Acting on Freedom
C. Congress versus President
II. Radical Reconstruction
A. Congress Takes Command
B. Woman Suffrage Denied
C. Republican Rule in the South
D. The Quest for Land
III. The Undoing of Reconstruction
A. Counterrevolution
B. The Acquiescent North
C. The Political Crisis of 1877
II. Key Terms. Sometimes known as “IDs and SIGs,” the following people, events, concepts, and the like must be understood not just as vocabulary words, but rather as integral pieces of a large and interrelated historical puzzle. Your task is: (1) to identify the term: place each of the following in its historical context by answering the “who, what, when, where” kinds of questions. This should take about 3-4 sentences. Then, for full credit (and full understanding), you must (2) explain the significance of each term by applying your understanding of the identification component to a larger historical story. In an additional 1-2 sentences, your task is to answer the “so what, why is this important, what does this mean” kinds of question.
separation of powers Wade-Davis Bill Nathan Bedford Forest
pocket veto Andrew JohnsonKu Klux Klan Act (1871)
Black Codes Lyman Trumbull U.S. v Cruikshank (1876)
gang-labor system Sea Islands (SC) plantationsPike, The Prostrate South (1873)
suffrage Freedmen’s Bureau National Labor Union
poll taxes The Fourteenth AmendmentHorace Greeley
scalawags Radical RepublicansWhiskey Ring
carpetbaggers Reconstruction Act of 1867Panic of 1873
sharecropping impeachment Election of 1876
lien (crop lien)The Fifteenth Amendment
peonage (debt peonage) AWSA vs. NWSA
liberal, liberalism Blanche K. Bruce
home rule The Radical Program
property rights
III. Chapter Review Analysis. The minimum expectation here is 2-4 paragraphs, each of 8-10 sentences. This is the culminating task of reading, comprehending, and thinking critically about the chapter under consideration. You have taken notes on/outlined the chapter, you have analyzed and applied some specific terminology (a “bottom-up” cognitive process), and now, finally, you are asked to tell a few broad, sweeping stories (a “top down” cognitive process) all the while making sure to incorporate the “evidence” of the key terms and related knowledge you may have that pertains to the question. Your answers should demonstrate your understanding of the “big picture” as well as the specific details which constitute the supporting evidence that reinforces your interpretation. I’m not in search of the “right answer” here, rather a well-supported position, an interpretation backed up by evidence. (Hint: make very good use of appropriate, related IDs and SIGs to support the position you take on the question at hand.)
1. Why and how did the debate over restoring the South to theUnion devolve into an institutional struggle betweenthe presidency and the Congress?
2. Do you believe that the failure of Reconstructionwas primarily a failure of leadership? Or, to put itmore concretely, how might the outcome havebeen different had Lincoln lived? Or chosen a differentvice president?
3. Was there any way of reconciling the Republicandesire for equality for the ex-slaves with the ex-Confederate desire for self-rule in the South?