Practice Quiz Reconstruction Key

1)The Constitutional amendment that prohibited denying voting rights to people based on race or color is the

A) / Twelfth Amendment.
B) / Fifteenth Amendment.
C) / Thirteenth Amendment.
D) / Fourteenth Amendment.

Explanation:
The Fifteenth Amendmentprohibits denying voting rights to people based on race or color. The Twelfth Amendment relates to presidential elections. The Thirteenth Amendment abolished and prohibited slavery. The Fourteenth Amendment gave former slaves citizenship rights.

2)The purpose of the Freedman's Bureau was to

A) / provide 40 acres and a mule for each slave.
B) / gain the vote for millions of former slaves.
C) / provide work, education, and relief for former slaves.
D) / get radical Republicans in positions of power in the South.

Explanation:
The Freedman’s Bureau was created in March of 1865 toprovide work, education, and relief for former slaves. While the intentions were good, it ended up being only modestly effective in the south due to lingering prejudices in the local governments there.

3)In American history, the term "Reconstruction" refers to

A) / problems associated with the transformation to an industrial economy.
B) / the admission of Western territories to the U.S. as either Free or Slave states.
C) / federal government intervention in the former Confederate states in order to monitor the treatment of former slaves.
D) / the establishment of a new system of agriculture in the western states and territories based on industrial machinery.

Explanation:
"Reconstruction" is actually has a double meaning: in addition to the physical act of rebuilding areas of the South is also refers tofederal government intervention in the former Confederate states in order to monitor the treatment of former slaves.This period lasted until 1877.

4)The era of Radical Reconstruction can be seen as a failure because

A) / it prevented Southern states from holding elections.
B) / it punished all people in the Southern states equally.
C) / it resulted in the severing of ties with former European allies.
D) / it did not adequately protect former slaves from having their rights violated.

Explanation:
The main failure of Radical Reconstruction was thatit did not adequately protect former slaves from having their rights violated.Black Codes immediately after the Civil War were instituted throughout the South and kept many- if not most- former slaves in a condition very close to slavery. Even after the end of the Black Codes, African Americans continued to have their rights violated in the former Confederate states.

5)The purpose of Jim Crow laws was to

A) / prevent black citizens from obtaining employment.
B) / limit the religious activities of southern citizens.
C) / create as much division between the races as possible.
D) / make it illegal for black children to receive an education.

Explanation:
The purpose of Jim Crow laws was tocreate as much division between the races as possible. The laws endorsed segregation, or separation, of the races. Black and white citizens had separate water fountains, separate schools, separate churches, and so on.

6)By the end of the Reconstruction era, most African-Americans in the United States

A) / had received a free college education paid for by wealthy northerners.
B) / found themselves owners of the land their ancestors had worked on as slaves.
C) / began to migrate in massive numbers to the rural South to pursue farming jobs.
D) / found themselves increasingly left out of the political process because of poll taxes and literacy tests.

Explanation:
While the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments were intended to ensure African-Americans equal rights, such was not the case. Many states in the south found way around these Constitutional provisions, and many African Americansfound themselves increasingly left out of the political process because of poll taxes and literacy tests.

7)What term describes a white southerner who supported northern Reconstruction policies after the Civil War?

A) / carpetbagger
B) / radical
C) / scalawag
D) / unionist

Explanation:
The term, of unknown origin, was used to describe a worthless farm animal and later a worthless person. During the Reconstruction era, the termscalawagwas used to describe a white southerner who supported northern efforts at political reform.

8)Which of these BEST describes the Compromise of 1877?

A) / Johnson is almost impeached and Jim Crow ends.
B) / Hayes becomes President and Reconstruction ends.
C) / Tilden sued Hayes for control of the presidency.
D) / Grant becomes President and Reconstruction begins.

Explanation:
The correct answer isHayes becomes President and Reconstruction ends.The Election of 1876 was a close one between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tilden, so close that the results were disputed. Southern states did not originally support Hayes and vowed to block his election if it was to be decided by Congress. They agreed, though, to back him in exchange for an end to the Reconstruction Era. They got their wish.

9)Which statement is true regarding the end of the Reconstruction era?

A) / By 1877, every southern state was controlled by the Republican party.
B) / By 1877, Democrats had regained political power in all southern states.
C) / By 1877, African-Americans in the South had achieved political and social equality.
D) / By 1877, the federal government had achieved all of its goals in the reconstruction of southern politics and society.

Explanation:
Of the choices offered, the only statement that is true regarding the end of the Reconstruction era is thatby 1877, Democrats had regained political power in all southern states.Although many gains were made for African-Americans during this period, once southern Democrats regained power in 1877 a new era of "Black Codes" and "Jim Crow" policies emerged.

10)Booker T. Washington was most known for being

A) / one of the founders of the NAACP.
B) / the founder of Tuskegee Institute.
C) / one of the designers of Washington, DC.
D) / the first African-American on the Supreme Court.

Explanation:
Booker T. Washingtonwas the founder of Tuskegee Institute. W.E.B. DuBois was a founder of the NAACP.