Reconstruction and the New South (1865-1877) — High School U.S. History practice questions

The Compromise of 1877:

1. gave Southern states a share of the federal war debt payments
2. gave Hayes the presidency and pulled federal troops from the South
3. created the Freedmen's Bureau
4. admitted new free states

Answer: B — gave Hayes the presidency and pulled federal troops from the South

B) Correct — Democrats accepted the disputed election in exchange for ending Reconstruction. A) Isn't the deal. C) Came in 1865. D) Isn't the deal.

The “New South” idea promoted:

1. a return to plantation slavery
2. full civil rights for Black Southerners
3. Southern independence
4. industry and railroads in the South

Answer: D — industry and railroads in the South

D) Correct — Boosters like Henry Grady urged the South to move beyond cotton. A) Isn't the idea. B) Its backers mostly accepted segregation. C) Isn't the idea.

Radical Republicans wanted Reconstruction to:

1. return the South to the Union quickly and with few conditions
2. protect freedpeople's civil rights and punish former Confederate leaders
3. restore slavery in some form
4. leave civil rights to the states

Answer: B — protect freedpeople's civil rights and punish former Confederate leaders

B) Correct — They pushed the 14th and 15th Amendments and military Reconstruction. A) Was Andrew Johnson's approach. C) They opposed it. D) They wanted federal protection.

Under sharecropping:

1. farmers worked land for a share of the crop
2. freedpeople received free land from the government
3. planters paid fixed wages
4. farmers owned their land outright

Answer: A — farmers worked land for a share of the crop

A) Correct — High interest on supplies often trapped sharecroppers in debt. B) The promised land never came. C) Isn't sharecropping. D) They worked land owned by others.

The 13th Amendment (1865):

1. gave Black men the vote
2. abolished slavery
3. defined citizenship
4. gave women the vote

Answer: B — abolished slavery

B) Correct — It ended slavery everywhere in the United States, except as punishment for a crime. A) Was the 15th Amendment. C) Was the 14th Amendment. D) Was the 19th Amendment.

What was the Freedmen's Bureau?

A federal agency (1865–72) that aided freed African Americans with food, schools, jobs, and legal aid.

What were the Ku Klux Klan and the Enforcement Acts?

The Klan, founded in 1865–66, used terror against freedpeople and their white allies to restore white supremacy. Congress passed the Enforcement (Ku Klux Klan) Acts of 1870–71 so federal troops and courts could act against that violence.

What was Reconstruction (1865–1877)?

The post-Civil War era of rebuilding the South and integrating freed African Americans into society.

What were the Reconstruction Acts of 1867?

Laws passed by Radical Republicans over Andrew Johnson's veto. They divided the South into five military districts and required former Confederate states to ratify the 14th Amendment and let Black men vote before rejoining the Union.