Deck 17: Reconstructing the Union

Question 1

The chapter tells the story of Benjamin Montgomery to make the point that

A) former slaves who really tried could achieve a measure of prosperity in the postwar South.
B) Reconstruction clearly hinged on northern rather than southern actions after the war.
C) Reconstruction was an impossible task, for neither northerners nor southerners wanted African
Americans to gain political and economic opportunity.
D) for former slaves to attain meaningful lives as free citizens, they would need economic power, which, in turn, required political power.

Answer 1

for former slaves to attain meaningful lives as free citizens, they would need economic power, which, in turn, required political power.

Question 2

According to your text, what two issues lay at the heart of Reconstruction?

A) whether the federal or state government was ultimately sovereign, and whether African Americans or
Native Americans were the most oppressed minority group
B) which party would gain the ascendancy, and how the government could regulate the economy
C) the future of political and economic power for African Americans, and the future of North-South economic and political relations
D) rebuilding the North's shattered economy, and restoring the South's shattered society

Answer 2

the future of political and economic power for African Americans, and the future of North-South economic and political relations

Question 3

The Radical Republicans in Congress approached Reconstruction with each of the following convictions EXCEPT that

A) to heal the nation, the South should be treated with generosity and compassion.
B) to avoid any recurrence of southern resistance, the power of the planter class must be destroyed.
C) to complete the task of the war, slavery must be totally and irrevocably abolished.
D) to keep faith with the antislavery crusade, the rights of freedmen must be secured.

Answer 3

to heal the nation, the South should be treated with generosity and compassion.

Question 4

With the exception of ________, the United States was the only society in the Americas in which the destruction of slavery was accomplished by violence.

A) Barbados
B) Haiti
C) Cuba
D) Brazil

Question 5

The Second Confiscation Act of 1862 had authorized the government to seize and sell the property of supporters of the rebellion; however, President Johnson ruled that the law

A) applied only to wartime.
B) was unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment.
C) should be used only under the most extreme circumstances.
D) didn't apply, as the secretary of war did not have legal standing in land issue cases.

Question 6

African Americans who held political office in southern Reconstruction governments generally

A) alienated whites by pushing for social equality and land reform.
B) were more radical in their views than the black population at large.
C) manipulated the Freedmen's Bureau to impose unequal labor contracts on white planters.
D) were educated professionals, independent landowners, or otherwise from the ranks of black elites.

Question 7

Which of the following was illumined by the text as a familial problem faced by some African Americans after they were freed?

A) switching from a matriarchal to patriarchal kinship
B) choosing new first names
C) having multiple spouses
D) keeping women working in the fields

Question 8

Reconstruction should be understood in all the following ways EXCEPT as a

A) radical, vengeful program, imposing northern values on southerners.
B) program of political and economic adjustment that failed because of racism.
C) time of failure to bring blacks into the American mainstream.
D) time of congressional dominance that ended in corruption and disillusionment.

Question 9

Sensitive to status, ________ pushed for prohibition of social discrimination, but white Republicans refused to adopt such a radical policy.

Question 10

During Grant's second term, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1875, the last major piece of
________ legislation.

Question 11

A number of paramilitary organizations broke up Republican meetings, terrorized white and black Republicans, assassinated Republican leaders, and prevented black citizens from voting. The most notorious of these organizations was the ________.

Question 12

Contrast the terms of Lincoln's program of Reconstruction with Johnson's program.

Question 13

What were the black codes? What role did they play in the early stages of Reconstruction?

Question 14

Explain why four of the following issues were important to freedpeople after the Civil War: marriages, family, names, travel, labor contracts, and work done by women and children.

Question 15

What were the provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment?

Question 16

Why did Republicans in Congress impeach Johnson? Was this action justified?

Question 17

How did the election of Rutherford B. Hayes, a Republican, signal the end of Reconstruction?

Question 18

What were the advantages and disadvantages of sharecropping to black laborers? To white landowners?

Question 19

Describe how everyday life changed for former slaves after emancipation. How did the agricultural system of labor change in the South?

Question 20

Consider the following statement: The persistence of racism, in both the North and the South, lay at the heart of Reconstruction's failure. Agree or disagree, and explain your perspective.

Question 21

List three major achievements of the Radical governments in the South. Which do you think was the most important, and why?

Question 22

Some northerners wished to provide for a distribution of southern lands to former slaves. Describe that plan and the fate it met. Do you think Reconstruction might have had a chance of succeeding without some form of land redistribution? Why or why not?

Question 23

Why did religion and education play such a key role in African American culture in the South during the Reconstruction era? Give examples of how both areas were important to black life.