8.3 Failures of Reconstruction

In the years after the Civil War, Southern society most valued

• infrastructure.

• government.

• entrepreneurship.

• land ownership.

What was one reason sharecropping began in the South?

• It was a way to take advantage of the South’s strong infrastructure.

• The federal government required Southerners to use this system.

• Landowners needed laborers, and freed slaves needed work.

• Farmers were the only Southerners who still had money after the Civil War.

Which statement best describes the system of sharecropping?

• Sharecropping offered formerly enslaved people an equal opportunity to participate in the Southern economy.

• Sharecropping gave formerly enslaved people the upper hand in the agricultural South.

• Sharecropping offered Northerners an opportunity to relocate to the South and start their own farms.

• Sharecropping gave white landowners the upper hand and economic dominance in Southern society.

If a sharecropper's portion of the harvest paid too little to cover loans from the beginning of the season, the sharecropper would begin the next season

• with a clean slate

• already in debt

• without help from the landowner.

• by planting a different crop

What guaranteed equal access to public facilities regardless of race?

• the Thirteenth Amendment

• the Fifteenth Amendment

• the 1875 Civil Rights Act

• the Jim Crow laws

In the South during Reconstruction, the Civil Rights Act of 1875

• was rarely enforced.

• was strictly enforced.

• was criticized by Republicans.

• was upheld by the Supreme Court.

Which statement best describes Jim Crow laws?

• They restricted the rights of white citizens.

• They prevented the spread of segregation.

• They guaranteed the rights of African Americans.

• They restricted the rights of African Americans.

During Reconstruction in the South, poll taxes were used to

• strengthen African American representation in government.

• ensure that voters were qualified to participate in elections.

• deny African American citizens participation in government.

• prevent former Confederate officers from voting in elections.

With the exception of white Southern Republicans, how did white Southern society react to Reconstruction?

• They were opposed to it, often violently.

• The embraced it cautiously.

• They worked with African Americans to reverse it.

• They appreciated the federal oversight.

To combat Reconstruction reforms, some Southerners organized

• white supremacy groups.

• the Freedmen’s Bureau.

• a new Republican Party.

• the civil rights movement.