Reconstruction Vocabulary

Black Code A set of laws passed by Georgia, and most southern states, after the Civil War to restrict the rights of the freedmen

Carpetbagger A northerner who moved to the South after the Civil War

Disfranchise To take the right to vote away from someone or some group

Freedman The former slaves

Freedman’s Bureau A federal government organization established in 1865 that helped the newly freed slaves after the Civil War

Scalawag A southerner who supported the Republicans during Reconstruction

Suffrage The right to vote

Underground Railroad A series of roads, houses, river crossings, and people who helped southern slaves escape to the North or Canada

What’s the difference? Sharecropping Tenant farming Given on “credit” Landowners supplied: Land House Tools Animals Seed Fertilizer Landowners received: A share of the harvest Sharecropper received: Land to work (not to own) Share of the harvest (only after “credit” had been paid back to landowner) Usually ended up in debt year after year Tenant farming Landowners supplied: Land Tenant farmers supplied: Tools Animals Seeds Fertilizer Landowners received: Cash or share of harvest Tenant farmers received: Land to work (not to own) Small profit from harvest Given on “credit”