Unit 8 Texas in the Civil War and

ReconstructionUnit 8 Texas in the Civil War and

Reconstruction Vocabulary

Amendment

Amendment – a change made to a law, bill or document, in this case the U.S. Constitution.

Federalism

Federalism – power is distributed between a national government and the states

Freedmen

Freedmen – a person who has been freed from slavery.

Martial Law

Martial Law – rule by an army instead of the usual civil authorities.

Reconstruction

Reconstruction – the post-Civil War period from 1865 to 1877; the U.S. re-admitted the southern states to the Union and the federal government implemented policies affecting southern states.

Secede

Secede – to withdraw, in this case, from the U.S.

Sectionalism

Sectionalism – excessive devotion to local interests and customs to a region of a nation.

Sharecropper

Sharecropper – a tenant farmer who receives a share of the value of the crop minus charges for rent and other expenses.

Draft

To select for some service as to conscript for military service

Ratified

To approve

Conscription

The forced enrollment of people into military service

Emancipation Proclamation President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war. The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free."