Reconstruction Era – Multiple Choice Questions

Front

What caused many Northern voters to turn away from supporting Reconstruction, according to Gerald Danzer et al., The Americans, 1998?

Back

Fatigue over Southern issues and increasing concern about national corruption and economic troubles

Front

What does the cartoon showing a man submerged in a barrel labeled with various 'rings' (such as the Whiskey Ring and Indian Ring) symbolize?

Back

The corruption scandals that plagued President Grant’s administration

Front

What is the main message of the cartoon published in Harper's Weekly (1876), depicting a Black man being coerced at a polling place?

Back

Violence and intimidation were used to suppress Black voting rights

Front

What did Abram Colby describe happening to him and others like him in his 1872 congressional testimony?

Back

They were victims of violent attacks by the Ku Klux Klan for political participation.

Front

What does Albion Tourgee’s 1870 letter to Senator Abbott reveal about conditions in the South during Reconstruction?

Back

Violence and intimidation were common

Front

The Currier & Ives lithograph “The First Colored Senator and Representatives” (1872) was intended to:

Back

Celebrate the political achievements of African Americans during Reconstruction

Front

How does the Harper’s Weekly cartoon titled “Is This a Republican Form of Government? Is This Protecting Life, Liberty, or Property?” criticize the state of the South during Reconstruction?

Back

By illustrating the collapse of constitutional government due to terror and corruption

Front

What shift occurred in Northern politics after the 1870s, according to Heather Cox Richardson in *The Death of Reconstruction*?

Back

Growing racism and class resentment that eroded Northern support for Black civil rights

Front

Which event most directly contributed to the decline of Northern interest in Southern Reconstruction by the mid-1870s?

Back

The Panic of 1873 and corruption scandals in the Grant administration

Front

What is the overarching theme connecting these sources?

Back

The growing corruption, violence, and loss of moral purpose that led to the collapse of Reconstruction;