Reconstruction Quiz

What was the primary purpose of the Reconstruction period following the Civil War?

• To reinstate slavery in parts of the United States

• To fix damage done to buildings during the war

• To rebuild and reunite the Nation and society after the Civil War

• To rebuild the depleted military

Which of the following best summarizes President Lincoln’s attitude toward the policies and process of Reconstruction?

• He believed the South should not be welcomed back into the Union

• He believed the Southern states should have to recognize equal rights for African Americans before being welcomed back into the Union

• He insisted that a majority of Northern citizens take an oath of loyalty before the Northcould be welcomed back into the Union

• He believed that there would be no benefit to punishing southern states.

What was the purpose of the Freedmen’s Bureau?

• To help African Americans, particularly those who had been enslaved, adjust to life with increased rights and responsibilities

• To free slaves from Southern plantations

• To ensure that white voters supported anti-slavery laws and policies

• To assist Confederate prisoners in returning home safely.

President Johnson’s view of African Americans was:

• Similar to Abraham Lincoln’s

• That they should be granted equal rights to whites, including voting rights

• That they should be granted equal rights to whites, but not voting rights

• That they should not be granted equal rights to whites

How did the Thirteenth Amendment change the Constitution?

• It gave all men, regardless of race, the ability to vote in the United States.

• It abolished slavery in the United States.

• It gave women the right to vote in the United States.

• It formally brought the Southern states back into the Union.

What was the purpose of the “Black Codes” which were enacted in Southern states in 1865 and 1866?

• To provide African Americans access to government services

• To desegregate Southern society and institutions

• To restrict the freedom of African Americans and ensure their availability as a cheap labor force

• To repeal the slave codes that were in place before the war

The Fourteenth Amendment states that:

• The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

• Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States...

• In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.

• All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States...

What terms did the Reconstruction Act of 1867 put in place for the Southern states who had not yet ratified the Fourteenth Amendment?

• The states could enter the Union if they promised they would ratify the Fourteenth Amendment within five years.

• The states were put under the control of military commanders until they ratified the Fourteenth Amendment and rebuilt their state governments.

• The states were allowed to ignore the Fourteenth Amendment.

• African American males would not have the right to vote until the Fourteenth Amendment was passed.

Who did the Fifteenth Amendment formally grant the right to vote in 1870?

• all male citizens

• all white, male citizens

• all citizens excluding former slaves

• all citizens

Which of the following describes the African American experience in the Reconstruction-Era South?

• African Americans began to be elected to federal, state, and local governmental posts.

• Despite the passage of progressive new laws, racist attitudes prevented open access to employment, education, voting, and protection against violence.

• Sharecropping practices kept many African Americans in working conditions that weren’t a significant improvement over slavery.

• all of the above