Topic 1: Reconstruction

“I am anxious to learn about my sisters, from whom I have been separated many years. I have never heard from them since I left Virginia twenty four years ago. I am in hopes that they are still living and I am anxious to hear how they are getting on. I have no other one to apply to but you and am persuaded that you will help one who stands in need of your services as I do. I shall be very grateful to you if you oblige me in this matter. One of my sisters belonged to Peter Coleman in Caroline County and her name was Jane.”

—Hawkins Wilson, letter, 1867

Which organization often handled requests such as the one made in this letter?

• Democratic Party

• Tuskegee Institute

• Freedmen’s Bureau

• Suffrage Association

Based on the excerpt, which of the following was a priority for Lincoln after the Civil War?

“With malice toward none, and charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds . . . to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and a lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”

—Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address, 1865

• regaining a sense of national unity

• placing limits on states’ rights

• making the United States a world power

• recognizing the South’s secession

Which of the following was a reason Radical Republicans sought harsh punishments against the former Confederate states?

• They believed sharecropping was unconstitutional.

• They considered the practice of slavery to be a crime.

• They wanted to industrialize the Southern economy.

• They thought it was the quickest route to reunification.

Which action of President Johnson’s directly led to his impeachment?

• granting pardons to Confederate officials

• exceeding his annual limit of executive vetoes

• firing a Cabinet member without Senate approval

• enforcing the Reconstruction Acts

During Reconstruction, Southern states often added to their economic problems by

• refusing federal assistance.

• diversifying agricultural crops.

• supporting segregated public schools.

• refusing to participate in railroad speculation.

Which of the following was the most independent farming arrangement for both parties in the South during Reconstruction?

• sharecropping

• tenant farming

• share-tenancy

• co-farming

According to this cartoon, what was one main consequence of Johnson’s Reconstruction plan?

• harsh punishments against Confederate traitors

• poor healthcare for Civil War veterans

• lack of protections for African Americans

• uncontrollable race riots in northern cities

Which important function of African American churches during Reconstruction does this passage best illustrate?

"The African Methodist Church is still far from what it should be in the matter of an educated clergy; but the reproach of ignorance is fast passing away. In the ranks of the younger ministers, and in the seminary, are men destined, I think, to remove it entirely . . . . As it is, the church has given a business training to many, and in the re-constructed South, men trained to manage the affairs of her congregations are found, in many cases, in virtue of that training, capable of filling high places in the State."

—The Rev. J.H. Magee, 1874

• leadership development

• community center

• voter registration

• emergency relief

Based on this infographic, which of the following events most likely contributed to the trend in Congress during the 1870s?

• growing influence of the Redeemers

• election of Rutherford Hayes

• establishment of the Freedmen’s Bureau

• passage of the Fifteenth Amendment

In this Topic, you read the following text:

"Many of the South’s problems resulted from the uneven distribution of land. As an agricultural region, the South’s wealth was defined by land ownership. Yet, in 1860, the wealthiest 5 percent of white southerners owned almost half the region’s land. Relatively few people held the rest of the land. In fact, more than 90 percent of southern land was owned by only 50 percent of the people. This meant that even before the war, the South had a large number of white citizens with little or no land. After the war, millions of landless southern white people were competing with millions of landless black people for work as farm laborers on the land of others."

According to the passage, one major economic problem the South faced after the Civil War involved

• the allotment of property.

• the destruction of farmland.

• the division of southern estates.

• the loss of agricultural laborers.