KEY TERMS Key Terms and People to Know for the Regents Exam
Black Codes
After slaves were freed by the 13th Amendment, Southern states passed harsh laws designed to keep former slaves from gaining equal rights. These laws made it easy to put former slaves in prison where they could be forced to work under slave-like conditions.
Sharecropping
With limited economic opportunities, many former slaves became sharecroppers and rented farmland from white landowners in exchange for a share of the crop they raised. This system kept them in debt and dependent on white landowners.
End of Reconstruction
In a deal after the disputed election of 1876, the federal govt removed troops from the South, marking the end of Reconstruction. With federal protection gone, Southern states were able to deny rights promised in the 14th and 15th Amendments.
Solid South
After Reconstruction, the Southern states consistently (“solidly”) supported the Democratic Party because the Republican Party had been the party enforcing Reconstruction. African Americans were systematically prevented from voting.