History 1301: Chapter 15

Reconstruction is often characterized as a failure, though there were some successes. What were some of the achievements of the new Republican state governments established during Reconstruction?

Correct Answer(s) - Free public schools were established in many southern counties. - Infrastructure improvements were made. - Women gained rights they never had before. Incorrect Answer(s) - Every formerly enslaved person was granted forty acres of land that was confiscated from plantation owners.

General Grant was considered a hero of the Civil War by the Union, but once elected as president, the effectiveness of his administration was undermined. Match each situation with the correct description of how it undermined Grant's administration.

Public Credit Act (1869) - Grant paid back investors who purchased government bonds in gold coin, rather than paper currency, leading to a decline in consumer prices and igniting a political debate over the hard and soft money. Whiskey Ring Scandal - Distillers bribed federal agents to avoid paying taxes, bilking the government out of millions of dollars in revenue.the - corrupt cabinet - Grant was overwhelmed with the power of the presidency, and, as a result, appointed cabinet members who ultimately were revealed to be dishonest

President Grant's administration was plagued by economic problems, some of which were of Grant's own making. Match the economic terms with the appropriate definition or description.

soft-money currency - This term refers to the presence of paper money in circulation, which tended to be supported by farmers and debtors hard-money currency - This term refers to gold, silver, and copper coins, which were sometimes viewed as more reliable than paper currency and often favored by eastern creditors. greenbacks - This term refers to the paper money issued by the federal government during the Civil War to help pay for the cost of war.

Place the following Reconstruction events in chronological order.

1. Lincoln issues the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction 2. .The Freedmen's Bureau is created. 3. Johnson commences his Restoration Plan. 4. The Congressional Reconstruction acts are passed.

Place the events that led up to the end of Reconstruction in chronological order.

1. The Fourteenth Amendment is ratified. 2. Congress passes the Military Reconstruction Act. 3. Redeemers begin to control southern states. 4. The Compromise of 1877 ends Congressional Reconstruction.

Place the events that led to the end of Congressional Reconstruction in chronological order.

1. passage of the Public Credit Act 2. Black Friday 3. passage of the Enforcement Acts 4. presidential victory of Rutherford B. Hayes

Describe the impact of the Panic of 1873 on Congressional Reconstruction efforts.

Correct Answer(s) - It weakened the national economy, in part due to the withdrawing of greenbacks from circulation. - It reduced the influence of northern Republicans, who lost control of the House of Representatives and maintained a defensive lead in the Senate after the 1874 congressional elections. Incorrect Answer(s) - It had little impact on Reconstruction's progress because so many projects were already well underway. - It resulted in the decreasing prominence of the Ku Klux Klan across the South.

How did the Supreme Court influence Reconstruction and the equality of African Americans?

The court's rulings in several cases weakened the Fourteenth Amendment and left African Americans more vulnerable to discrimination. FALSE: In the Slaughterhouse Cases and the Cruikshank case the Supreme Court ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment applied to states, not individuals' behaviors, thus opening up formerly enslaved people to violent acts by individuals.

Johnson proved to be a strong supporter of Black civil rights throughout his presidency.

- False. FEEDBACK: While Johnson supported the Thirteenth Amendment, he did not believe in equality for freed Blacks. He once proclaimed, "This is a country for White men, and by God, as long as I am president, it shall be a government for White men." While Johnson initially appeared somewhat supportive of Black civil rights by pressuring southern states to pass the Thirteenth Amendment, his racist attitudes were later exposed through his veto of the bill to extend the funding of the Freedmen's Bureau, as well as his subsequent critiques of Black civil rights advocates.

President Johnson's veto of a bill renewing funding for the Freedmen's Bureau, as well as his criticism of Radical Republican support for Black civil rights, did little to drive a wedge between the two wings of the Republican party.

- False. FEEDBACK: Moderates deserted the president and aligned themselves with the Radicals.

During Ulysses S. Grant's two terms as president, Reconstruction remained the dominant political issue for the majority of northern voters.

- False. FEEDBACK: The Panic of 1873 and other economic issues diverted attention from southern reconstruction.

Match the following Reconstruction plans with some of their defining features.

Johnson's Restoration Plan - allowed for the readmission of southern states to the Union following their ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment - encouraged giving only a few Blacks voting rights Congressional Reconstruction plan - established Confederate states as conquered territories governed by Congress - forced southern states to create new constitutions that ensured voting rights for African American men Lincoln's Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction - allowed for the readmission of former Rebel states to the Union when at least 10 percent of those who voted in 1860 took an oath of allegiance to the Union

The question of who within the federal government had authority over Reconstruction was a major source of debate. What was Lincoln's position?

- Southern states had never left the Union, so the executive branch had authority over Reconstruction. FEEDBACK: Lincoln believed that secession was never legal, because if states had the right to secede, it would nullify the federal government's ability to govern.Thus, the president continued to exercise authority over all states, including the Confederate states.

After the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment, Congress assumed authority over Reconstruction. How did Congressional Reconstruction efforts affect the lives of African Americans in the South?

- The formerly enslaved population began to gain political influence and vote in large numbers. FEEDBACK: Although they still faced discrimination and intimidation, southern Blacks voted in large numbers and even held hundreds of political offices in the South as a result of Congressional Reconstruction efforts to transform southern society, including passage of the Fifteenth Amendment.

Religious life was significant for African Americans after the Civil War because Black churches were the first social institutions that they could control.

- True. FEEDBACK: Before the Civil War, Blacks attended White services but were generally forced to sit in the back.After the war, freed Blacks established their own churches, which provided them with the opportunity to establish social institutions that were under their control.

The chief debate within the federal government over who should direct the Reconstruction of the South was between the executive and legislative branches of government.

- True. FEEDBACK: Congress insisted that if the southern states were essentially conquered territories after the war, it should be in charge in accordance with the Constitution.But if, as President Lincoln maintained, secession was illegal, then the president would have authority over Reconstruction.

While Reconstruction did not immediately provide for the full protection of economic opportunities or social equality for African Americans, it did leave behind a constitutional legacy that allowed for future civil rights achievements.

- True. FEEDBACK: The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution were the most prominent legacy of Congressional Reconstruction, and they did much to lay the foundation for the civil rights movement that took place one hundred years later.

Identify the outcome of Congressional Reconstruction that gave birth to a second reconstruction as the civil rights movement in the twentieth century.

- ratification of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments FEEDBACK: These two amendments enshrined the principles of equal protection under the law and provided the basis for ensuring the Black male vote.Additionally, they served as the constitutional foundation for the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965, respectively.

Complete the passage describing federal authority over Reconstruction.

According to the Constitution, if the southern states had actually seceded and were conquered territories, then the legislative branch would be in charge of reconstructing the South. FEEDBACK: If the South had actually seceded from the Union, southern states would be conquered territories and thus their remittance to the Union would be determined by Congress, not the President.Congress would have had constitutional authority over Reconstruction if the southern states had been considered foreign territories. However, as President Abraham Lincoln argued, if the secession of southern states was considered illegal, the executive branch would have control over Reconstruction.

Complete the passage describing American society following the end of the Reconstruction era.

Congressional Reconstruction in the South enabled the majority of Blacks to experience freedom but not the benefits of equality. The collapse of Congressional Reconstruction helped perpetuate the long-standing discrimination against African Americans. Oppressive systems such as sharecropping and voter suppression, which Republicans attempted to counteract through the formation of Union Leagues throughout the former Confederacy, persisted during and after Reconstruction. However, some of the failures of the Reconstruction era laid the groundwork for the civil rights movement nearly a century later.

Many African Americans in the postbellum period viewed President Grant as a "savior." What were some of the reasons why they supported him?

Correct Answer(s) - As White resistance increased in violence and frequency in the South, Grant urged Congress to act to protect African Americans. - Despite the eventual distractions from Reconstruction during the economic recession, Grant personally advocated for African Americans before Congress. Incorrect Answer(s) - Despite his early efforts to enforce the law and bring peace to the South, Grant himself seemed to grow weary of supporting the rights of Black Americans. - Grant successfully ensured that federal protections for Black Southerners were consistently enforced throughout his presidency.

Identify the institutions that proved to be essential in easing the transition for many southern Blacks from slavery to freedom.

Correct Answer(s) - churches - the U.S. military - schools Incorrect Answer(s) - labor unions

The following map highlights important moments during the process of Reconstruction in the former Confederacy. It covers the years 1865-1877 following the Civil War. What conclusions can we draw about Reconstruction based on the information in this map?

Correct Answer(s) - Enslaved people in states such as Texas, Mississippi, and North Carolina gained their legal freedom through the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. - The means by and time at which slavery was abolished differed from state to state. - Within ten years of being readmitted to the Union, conservative White Democrats were leading every state in the former Confederacy. Incorrect Answer(s) - Under the Reconstruction Act of 1867, all states formerly in the Confederacy were placed under military rule and reorganized into three separate districts.

In 1865, Henry Adams left the plantation where he had been enslaved. A group of Whites confronted him on the road, asked the name of his owner, and beat him when he declared, "I now belong to no one." How does the response to Henry Adams's claim reflect the status of enslaved people post-emancipation?

Correct Answer(s) - It embodied the general feeling among southern Whites who resented the new status of African Americans. - It demonstrated why some enslaved people left plantations for cities. - It illustrated the complex status of African Americans after the war, as many did not immediately enjoy equal status. Incorrect Answer(s) - It illustrated the ultimate freedom of speech enjoyed by formerly enslaved people.

Reconstruction policies initially focused on lenient terms in favor of restoring southern social structures. However, they eventually began to center on protecting the lives and rights of the formerly enslaved and ensuring that Black and White Republicans, not former Confederates, had a hand in creating their new state governments. Identify some of the reasons Republicans initiated this shift.

Correct Answer(s) - Johnson's Restoration Plan was seen as not radical enough because the new southern state governments after the war looked remarkably similar to the ones that had led the nation into war. - Republicans felt compelled to address Black rights because mobs of White Southerners were murdering, terrorizing, and otherwise intimidating Black Southerners. - The lenient terms failed to prove effective in that many White Southerners who had supported the Confederacy had been determined to resist Reconstruction efforts. Incorrect Answer(s) - Johnson requested and championed Congress's attempts to pass laws that would undo the reactionary White supremacy and former leadership of the South.

Identify the events and groups that contributed to the end of Congressional Reconstruction.

Correct Answer(s) - Ku Klux Klan - Compromise of 1877 - redeemers - Panic of 1873 Incorrect Answer(s) - Fifteenth Amendment - Fourteenth Amendment

In 1877 at the collapse of Reconstruction, formerly enslaved Louisianan Henry Adams remarked, "The whole South—every state in the South—has got [back] into the hands of the very men that held us as slaves." Another formerly enslaved man, Thomas Hall from South Carolina noted, "The Yankees helped free us, so they say, but [in 1877] they let us be put back in slavery again." What do these quotations reveal about the effectiveness of Reconstruction and its significance for the nation's future?

Correct Answer(s) - Many White northerners abandoned the cause of Reconstruction and, in turn, many African Americans in the South felt a sense of abandonment. - Reconstruction ultimately failed to produce the conditions in which the federal government would successfully continue to protect Black civil rights in southern states. Incorrect Answer(s) - Black Southerners opposed Congressional Reconstruction, which explains why it collapsed. - Because there was such a great number of freed Blacks in southern states and Reconstruction was so successful in guaranteeing Black voting rights, African Americans maintained a powerful voice in their own governance.

Describe the status of race relations in the South by the end of Congressional Reconstruction.

Correct Answer(s) - Most southern Whites still opposed civil rights and social equality for African Americans. - Many southern Whites were "conservative" members of the Democratic party, who thought of themselves as the men who would "redeem" the South from Reconstruction. Incorrect Answer(s) - African Americans enjoyed the full protection of their civil rights in the South following the passage of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments. - A few African Americans still remained legally enslaved.

Lincoln believed that the Confederate states had never actually left the Union.Why was his view important in deciding how these states would be reintegrated into the Union after the Civil War?

Correct Answer(s) - The executive branch of the federal government is in charge of reconstituting state governments, so that meant it was Lincoln's responsibility to re-form the state governments. Incorrect Answer(s) - They were officially conquered territories. - It is Congress's responsibility to re-form state governments, so that meant Lincoln wouldn't have influence over Reconstruction.

Identify all of the aspects of the Radical Republicans' stance on Reconstruction.

Correct Answer(s) - They consistently argued that southern society should be drastically transformed. - They believed Congress alone should be in control of Reconstruction. Incorrect Answer(s) - They felt southern society should be left alone. - They believed that preserving the elite status of Democratic planters in the South was necessary for Reconstruction to succeed. - They wanted Reconstruction to be a joint endeavor between the president and Congress.

Watch the following video in which author David Shi discusses the challenges faced by the federal government in reconstructing the South. Which of the following statements accurately describe those challenges?

Correct Answer(s) - White Southerners were resentful at having lost the Civil War, which made them less likely to embrace efforts to reconstruct the region. - The federal government had never taken on such a large responsibility, so Reconstruction was a new challenge altogether. - Four million formerly enslaved African Americans had gained their freedom but had practically nowhere to go. - Having just weathered the Civil War, the resources of the federal government were utterly inadequate. Incorrect Answer(s) - The southern economy was thriving after the war since the states hadn't spent the same amount as the North on transportation and infrastructure.

Describe the legacy of Republican rule in the South during Reconstruction.

Correct Answer(s) - accomplished a significant number of achievements despite hostile circumstances - left behind physical reminders of their rule Incorrect Answer(s) - ensured that southern Blacks would permanently enjoy their civil rights - primarily marked by corruption and scandal