learning curve- ch 14

Which adjective accurately describes Republican state governments in the Reconstruction South?

Ambitious in goals Reconstruction governments were ambitious indeed, trying to undertake impressive reforms in public education, family law, social services, commerce, and transportation.

How do scholars now view Freedmen's Bureau officials?

As dedicated and idealistic Scholars now view bureau officials as dedicated and often idealistic men who tried valiantly to reconcile opposing interests.

How was Reconstruction taught in American schools for several generations?

As the illegitimate regime of lazy blacks After "Redemption," generations of schoolchildren were taught that ignorant, lazy blacks and corrupt whites had imposed illegitimate Reconstruction "regimes" on the South.

What triggered the 1873 depression in the United States?

Bankruptcy of the Northern Pacific Railroad Hopes for economic growth were dashed in 1873 by the sudden onset of a severe worldwide depression. In the United States, the initial panic was triggered by the bankruptcy of the Northern Pacific Railroad, backed by leading financier Jay Cooke.

How did Reconstruction alter African American religion?

Blacks built separate churches. Independent churches quickly became central community institutions, as blacks across the South left white-dominated congregations, where they had sat in segregated balconies, and built churches of their own.

How did the Supreme Court ruling in U.S. v. Cruikshank(1876) weaken the Fourteenth Amendment?

By saying it did not apply to the actions of private citizens In Cruikshank, the Court ruled that voting rights remained a state matter unless the state itself violated those rights. If former slaves' rights were violated by individuals or private groups (including the Klan), that lay beyond federal jurisdiction.

Who championed the Civil Rights Act of 1875 and died before the act was passed?

Charles Sumner At the national level, congressmen wrestled with similar issues as they debated an ambitious civil rights bill championed by Radical Republican senator Charles Sumner. Sumner first introduced his bill in 1870, seeking to enforce, among other things, equal access to schools, public transportation, hotels, and churches. To honor the recently deceased Massachusetts abolitionist, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1875.

Which senator from Massachusetts led Radical Republicans in the Senate?

Charles Sumner Charles Sumner was the Radical Republican leader from Massachusetts in the Senate.

Why did Congress believe it was important for military commanders in the occupied South to supervise new state constitutional conventions?

Congress wanted to ensure that new constitutions guaranteed black suffrage. Under the Reconstruction Act of 1867, southern states would rewrite their constitutions while under military occupation. Part of the military's objective was to prevent ex-Confederates from resuming leadership and to ensure that African Americans had protected access to political participation.

The Reconstruction-era Ku Klux Klan became virtually identical to which political party in most of the South?

Democrats In many towns, the Klan became virtually identical to the Democratic Party. Klan members, including Nathan Bedford Forrest, dominated Tennessee's delegation to the Democratic national convention of 1868.

What position did Frederick Douglass assume on the issue of women's voting rights during Reconstruction?

Douglass asked women to allow black male suffrage to take priority. At a convention of the Equal Rights Association, Douglass pleaded for white women to understand the plight in which former slaves found themselves, and to allow black male suffrage to take priority, saying, "When women, because they are women, are hunted down, . . . dragged from their homes and hung upon lampposts, . . . then they will have an urgency to obtain the ballot equal to our own."

Republicans in the South were a coalition of what groups?

Former Whigs, a few former Democrats, newcomers from the North, and African Americans The Republicans were varied in their composition, but much of their membership came from former Whigs, a few former Democrats, newcomers from the North, and African Americans. Southern former slave owners were rarely Republican, and northern Democrats rarely moved south just to change parties. Abolitionists and northern blacks moved to the South as well but did not join with southern Democrats.

Which organization was created in 1865 to aid former slaves?

Freedmen's Bureau Congress established the Freedmen's Bureau in March 1865 to aid former slaves. Its mandate was extended in 1866 with direct funding from Congress, and its agents now had authorization to investigate mistreatment of blacks.

How did the defection of the Liberal Republicans to Horace Greeley affect President Ulysses S. Grant's reelection effort in 1872?

Grant was unaffected and captured every electoral vote. Grant won reelection overwhelmingly, capturing 56 percent of the popular vote and every electoral vote.

Which act divided the South into five military districts?

Reconstruction Act The Reconstruction Act, passed in 1867, divided the South into five military districts.

What was significant about the results of the 1866 congressional elections?

Republicans won enough seats to override President Andrew Johnson's vetoes. Johnson opposed ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment, but public opinion had swung against him. In the 1866 congressional elections, voters gave Republicans a 3-to-1 majority in Congress, enough votes to override Johnson's vetoes on many questions.

What did American women's rights leaders hope to gain from Reconstruction?

Suffrage Northern women had played key roles in the antislavery movement and the Union victory. Women's rights leaders, who had campaigned for women's voting rights since the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848, fervently hoped that Reconstruction would bring votes for women as well as for black men.

African American colleges and universities that formed during Reconstruction, like Fisk, Tougaloo, and the Hampton Institute, first focused on training freedmen for what purpose?

Teaching These institutions focused first on training teachers. By 1869, there were over three thousand teachers instructing freedmen in the South. More than half were themselves black.

Refer to the image "Out in the Cold". Which of the following can be inferred from this political cartoon from the weekly magazine The Judge?

The artist sympathized with the anger and frustration of women. Although the harsh way in which the woman is drawn suggests that the artist did not see political activism as compatible with femininity, the racist images of African Americans and Asians suggest that the artist did not think blacks should have the vote if educated white middle-class women were left out.

Why did the economic troubles brought on by the Panic of 1873 hit southern governments particularly hard?

The southern economy had already been growing slowly before the downturn. The South's economy grew more slowly than Republicans had hoped during Reconstruction, and after 1873, growth screeched to a halt. State debts mounted rapidly, and as crushing interest on bonds fell due, public credit collapsed.

In the election of 1876, on what grounds did Republican officials certify the states of Louisiana, Florida, and South Carolina for Rutherford B. Hayes?

There was ample evidence of Democratic voter fraud. Republican Party officials realized that the electoral vote stood at 184 to 165, with the 20 votes from Florida, South Carolina, and Louisiana still uncertain. If Hayes took those votes, he would win by a margin of 1. Citing ample evidence of Democratic fraud and intimidation, Republican officials certified all three states for Hayes.

What did Republicans in Congress do in 1865 to block implementation of President Andrew Johnson's Reconstruction plan?

They refused to admit southern delegates to Congress. Under the Constitution, Congress is "the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members" (Article 1, Section 5). With this power, Republican majorities in both houses simply refused to admit southern delegations elected under Johnson's Reconstruction plan when Congress convened in December 1865.

What service, in addition to religious services, did churches provide African Americans after the Civil War?

They served as social centers. Churches served as social centers, community gathering points, and schools. The central importance of the church in the African American community would be a key factor in the way the civil rights movement developed in the 1950s.

Andrew Johnson was the first U.S. president to be

impeached. Johnson was the first president to be impeached. This occurred in 1867.