Reconstruction Common Assessment

Multiple Choice Questions (30 questions, each worth 2 points)--Please select the BEST answer to each question.

  1. Which of the following best represents Abraham Lincoln’s view on slavery prior to the Civil War?

A.Lincoln was publicly silent on the issue but opposed any extension of slavery in the country

B.Lincoln favored a constitutional amendment that would ban slavery north of the Missouri Compromise line

C.Lincoln proposed slaveholder compensation for escaped slaves

D.Lincoln supported a constitutional amendment that would ban Congress from interfering with the transport of slaves between states

  1. In Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address (March 4, 1861), the new President made what promise to the Southern states?

A.He promised to end slavery wherever it existed

B.He promised not to interfere with slavery where it existed

C.He promised to compromise on the transport of slaves across state lines

D.He promised to completely ban slavery north of the Mason-Dixon line

  1. What were Abraham Lincoln’s expectations for the conduct of the Civil War?

A.He avoided making slavery the central issue of the war

B.He considered the Confederate states to be “in rebellion” rather than a separate nation

C.He asked northerners to fight to save the Union

D.All of the above

  1. Why did Abraham Lincoln issue the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863?

A.To provide a fresh supply of troops for the Union army

B.To punish the South for continuing the Civil War

C.To free enslaved peoples in all areas in rebellion against the United States

D.None of the above

  1. Which of the following was NOT a hardship faced by the Confederacy during the Civil War?

A.Widespread property damage throughout the region

B.Severe shortages of food and goods

C.Serious price inflation as the value of money continued to fall

D.None of the above

  1. How did Abraham Lincoln encourage the loyalty of Western territories during the war?

A.By failing to enforce the draft

B.By paying bonuses to western recruits who joined the army

C.By ensuring their safety against Indian attacks

D.By agreeing to support immediate statehood for all western territories

  1. Union victories in this July 1863 pair of battles are widely considered the turning point in the Civil War:

A.Manassas and Bull Run

B.Gettysburg and Vicksburg

C.Gettysburg and Chattanooga

D.Vicksburg and Chickamauga

  1. Victory in what battle is widely seen as the turning point in Abraham Lincoln’s 1864 reelection campaign?

A.Sherman’s battle for Atlanta

B.Grant’s Virginia campaign

C.Control of Chattanooga

D.The battle for Chancelorsville

  1. Which of the following is NOT part of Lincoln’s Reconstruction plan?
  1. Forgiveness for all Southerners except high ranking political leaders
  2. Readmission to statehood when 10% of a southern state’s voters swear allegiance to the United States
  3. Organization of a new state government which had to ban slavery
  4. None of the above
  1. Which of the following is part of Andrew Johnson’s Reconstruction plan?
  1. Fifty percent of voters swear an oath of allegiance to the United States
  2. Wealthy southern men had to apply for a presidential pardon and swear an oath of allegiance to the United States
  3. Military occupation of the southern states
  4. Approval of the Black Codes throughout the southern states
  1. Johnson’s veto of this bill triggered angry political reactions from the Radical Republicans in 1866 and strained the relationship between the President and Congress:
  1. The first Freedmen’s Bureau bill
  2. The second Freedmen’s Bureau bill
  3. The Wade-Davis Bill
  4. The Military Reconstruction Acts
  1. Which constitutional amendment abolished the institution of slavery in the United States and its territories?
  1. Fourteenth Amendment
  2. Fifteenth Amendment
  3. Thirteenth Amendment
  4. None of the above
  1. Which constitutional amendment guaranteed citizenship rights for all people born or naturalized in the United States?
  1. Fourteenth Amendment
  2. Fifteenth Amendment
  3. Thirteenth Amendment
  4. None of the above
  1. Which constitutional amendment guaranteed the right to vote for all people born or naturalized in the United States?
  1. Fourteenth Amendment
  2. Fifteenth Amendment
  3. Thirteenth Amendment
  4. None of the above
  1. Which of the following are readmission requirements for Southern states as stated in the Military Reconstruction Acts of 1867?
  1. Ratify the Fourteenth Amendment
  2. Write new state constitutions that guaranteed freedmen the right to vote
  3. Form new state governments to be elected by all male citizens, including African-Americans
  4. All of the above
  1. Radical Republicans passed the Tenure of Office Act in 1867 to protect this member of Abraham Lincoln’s cabinet and political ally:
  1. Secretary of the Treasury Robert Morton
  2. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton
  3. Secretary of State William Seward
  4. Supreme Court Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase
  1. The Reconstruction plan presented by the Radical Republicans, led by Representative Thaddeus Stevens, centered on this essential political approach:
  1. The South should be rebuilt and restored to full rights immediately
  2. No more that 20% of each state’s population should swear a loyalty oath before the state is readmitted to the Union
  3. All of the former Confederate political and military leaders should be pardoned immediately
  4. The South should be treated as a conquered people and weakened so that they can no longer endanger the Union
  1. What group(s) made up the southern post-war group known as scalawags?
  1. Southern farmers who had not owned slaves and had opposed secession from the Union
  2. A group of Southern planters who had been economically and socially ruined by the Civil War
  3. Southern business leaders who wanted to end the region’s dependence on agriculture
  4. All of the above
  1. Why did most Southerners criticize the group known as carpetbaggers?

A. Many committed frauds against Southern state governments

B. These native Southerners favored the Democratic party

C. These ex-Union soldiers favored the Democratic party

D. These carpetbaggers favored a continuation of slavery

  1. What was the main idea of the Second Amendment to the Constitution?

A.The right to bear arms for the members of the militia

B.The right to a speedy trial

C.The right to trial by a jury

D.The right to avoid self-incrimination

  1. Which of the following freedoms was NOT part of the First Amendment to the Constitution?

A.Freedom of the press

B.Freedom of speech

C.Freedom of religion

D.None of the above

  1. Why were many politicians insistent upon the inclusion of the Third Amendment to the Constitution?

A.They remembered the quartering of British troops before the American Revolution

B.Some believed that state governors would abuse their privileges

C.Many believed that all Americans deserved a speedy trial

D.All believed that certain powers should continue to belong to the states

  1. Which of the following was NOT part of the bargain that decided the Election of 1876 and ended Reconstruction?
  1. Rutherford Hayes becomes President of the United States
  2. Federal troops are withdrawn from the South
  3. Samuel Tilden becomes Vice-President of the United States
  4. All Republican state government in the South collapse and get removed from office
  1. The first Ku Klux Klan, created by ex-Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, attempted to terrorize which of the following groups?
  1. African American leaders in the South
  2. Freedmen’s Bureau officials and local pro-black leaders
  3. Both A & B
  4. None of the above
  1. Congressional language in the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which suffered a Presidential veto, would eventually become part of what constitutional amendment?
  1. Thirteenth Amendment
  2. Fourteenth Amendment
  3. Fifteenth Amendment
  4. Nineteenth Amendment
  1. This Congressional bill, pocket vetoed by President Lincoln in 1864, signaled a real argument between Radical and Moderate Republicans:
  1. The Wade-Davis Bill
  2. The Military Reconstruction Acts
  3. The Tenure of Office Act
  4. The First Freedmen’s Bureau Bill
  1. Which of the following was NOT part of the Freedmen’s Bureau initiative?
  1. Many Southern schools
  2. Many new hospitals
  3. Voting rights initiatives
  4. Food banks for black and poor whites
  1. Which of the following is NOT an example of a Black Code law passed by a Southern state after the Civil War?
  1. Blacks were not allowed to carry guns
  2. Blacks were not allowed to break contracts as plantation workers
  3. Blacks had strict dawn to dusk curfews
  4. None of the above
  1. Which of the following are considered reasons why Andrew Johnson’s Presidential Reconstruction Plan was considered unfair by many in government?
  1. Former Confederate leaders were allowed to go unpunished
  2. Former Confederate leaders could run state governments as they chose
  3. Freedmen were not provided with a role in government
  4. All of the above
  1. Which of the following was a reason that the North tired of Reconstruction in the 1870s
  1. It needed to deal with its own economic crisis
  2. The South had successfully rebuilt its economy
  3. The South made substantial progress in race relations
  4. All of the above

Constructed Responses (do two of three, 20 points each)

Prompt—The changes in the United States which developed through the period of Reconstruction had both positive and negative impacts on Americans

Instructions—

  1. Identify and describe in detail two positive impacts which Reconstruction provided
  2. Identify and describe in detail two negative impacts which Reconstruction provided

Prompt—The historical period following the Civil War is known as Reconstruction (1865-1877). During this time, the federal government struggled with plans to readmit the defeated Confederate states to the Union. After Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, major disagreements about Reconstruction developed between President Andrew Johnson and the Congress.

Instructions—

  1. Describe two of Andrew Johnson’s ideas or actions that angered Radical Republican members of Congress.
  2. Describe two actions taken by the Congress that President Johnson disagreed with.
  3. Discuss how Congress responded to Johnson’s actions.

Prompt—Reconstruction of the union failed to meets its goals of successfully rebuilding the United States following the Civil War.

Instructions—Write a piece indicating your opinion of the following statement. Be sure to use at least 5 specific pieces of evidence to support your position on this topic.