Grant

The term “Black Codes” covers a wide variety of local and state laws that limited the civil rights of African Americans, imposed the segregation of African Americans, and often punished them with involuntary labor, exploiting a loophole in the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution. The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments were passed in order to combat laws such as the Black Codes.

This term covers a set of laws passed by Congress that tried to maintain a workable balance between free states and “slave states” in the aftermath of the Mexican-American War. These included making California a free state, toughening laws against runaway enslaved people, and allowing Texas and New Mexico to choose between being “slave states” or free states. The Compromise ultimately failed, bringing about the Civil War.

Originally a slur referring to a type of poisonous snake in North America, the term “Copperheads” was eventually adopted as an actual name for a political group. Copperheads were Democrats who lived in the North and advocated for immediate peace terms with the Confederacy at the expense of civil rights for African Americans.

The Emancipation Proclamation was an executive order issued by President Lincoln. It freed all the enslaved people within the states of the Confederacy, which were considered to be in an illegal revolt against the United States. Contrary to popular belief, it did not completely end slavery in the United States, but it did free the vast majority of enslaved people and was a major step toward the complete abolition of slavery.

Pushed by Radical Republicans, the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees civil rights to all Americans, regardless of their race. The amendment was devised in response to Southern state governments discriminating against formerly enslaved people.

Founded by Confederate veterans, the Ku Klux Klan was the most widespread of racist vigilante groups that attacked African Americans and white Republicans during the Reconstruction era. The original Ku Klux Klan was eventually broken up through the Enforcement Acts passed under the Grant administration, although another incarnation of the group would emerge in the early 20th century.

This was a faction of the Republican Party that emerged during Grant’s presidency. Although not opposed to civil rights for African Americans on principle, they wanted an end to Reconstruction and the restoration of “home rule” to Southern states.

These were often used to secure votes by the Democrats and Republicans during the Gilded Age. Run by a boss, political machines got groups of people to vote for certain candidates chosen by the boss and the local branch of the political party in exchange for favors and bribes.

A wing of the Republican Party, they advocated for the extension of full civil rights to African Americans despite opposition from the Southern states. Grant sympathized with their views, and they were bitterly opposed to President Andrew Johnson.

Its name inspired by the saying “to the victor goes the spoils,” the spoils system referred to the practice of politicians to give government jobs to relatives, friends, and people who performed political favors for them. Advocates of civil service reform wanted to abolish this system in favor of one where individuals would be hired based solely on qualifications.