1865–1877 - Reconstruction

Key facts about the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Ratified in 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution was the second of the Reconstruction Amendments proposed by Congress and ratified by the states.

Key facts about Freedman's Village near Arlington, Virginia.

Officially dedicated on December 4, 1863, Freedman's Village was a federal refuge for former slaves near Washington, D.C., throughout the last half of the 19th Century.

Freedmen were formerly enslaved African Americans who gained legal freedom during and after the Civil War.

Key facts about the reconstruction Freedmen's Bureau.

The Freedmen's Bureau was an important agency of the early Reconstruction Era, assisting freedmen (freed ex-slaves) in the South.

James Garfield was the 20th President of the United States. Before being elected, he was an educator and activist, representing Ohio in the House of Representatives. He served in the Civil War, rising to the rank of Major General in the Union Army. Although he is known as a brilliant military strategist and staunch civil rights advocate, he is most well-known for being the second President to be assassinated when Charles J. Guiteau shot him in July 1881.

Andrew Johnson, the “Tennessee Tailor,” was the 17th President of the United States. After Abraham Lincoln's death and the end of the Civil War, Johnson oversaw Reconstruction, which put him at odds with Congress. Tensions with Radical Republicans led the House of Representatives to impeach him, but the Senate acquitted him. Johnson is most well-known for being the first President to face impeachment.

Created by the Thirty-ninth U.S. Congress, the Joint Committee on Reconstruction markedly altered the course of Reconstruction after the American Civil War.

Key facts about the Joint Committee on Reconstruction.

“Manifest Destiny” is the idea that Americans had a “God-given right” — a divine right — to expand across the continent, from the east coast to the west coast, from “sea to shining sea,” planting democracy, capitalism, and Christianity along the way.

The Monroe Doctrine is a cornerstone of America's Foreign Policy that warned against European influence in the Western Hemisphere and has been modified to justify American involvement in the region.

The Ordeal of Reconstruction discusses the 12-year process of trying to restore the Southern States to the Union. It was slowed by disagreements over who was in charge of Reconstruction, the integration of newly freed slaves into society, and tensions over the harsh treatment of Southerners by Radical Republicans.

Key facts about the four Reconstruction Acts enacted by Congress in 1867 - 1868.

The Reconstruction Acts started the process of Congressional Reconstruction. Designed by the Radical Republicans, they imposed strict conditions on former Confederate States to rejoin the Union. The four bills were passed by Congress between March 2, 1867 and March 11, 1868.

Redeemers were Southern Democrats who overthrew Reconstruction governments in the 1870s and controlled every former Confederate state during the last quarter of the 19th Century. They promoted Home Rule, weakened civil-rights protections, pursued industrialization, and influenced national debates over money, banking, taxation, tariffs, railroads, and federal spending. They were divided between the industrial “Right Fork” and agrarian “Left Fork.”

Scalawags were Southerners who initially supported the Republican Party and Reconstruction following the Civil War. They were viewed as traitors by many Southerners, and by 1876, most of them turned their backs on the Republicans and joined the Southern Democrats.

APUSH Definition — Philip Sheridan (1826–1885) was an officer in the United States Army during the Civil War. He is most famous for his destruction of the Shenandoah Valley in 1864, which is known as “The Burning.” Following the war, Sheridan led campaigns against Native American Indian tribes on the Great Plains and to general in chief of the army in 1883 and general of the army in 1888.