effect of reconstruction

Question 1

give 3 positive economic effects of reconstruction

Answer 1

• industrial power developed; good for economy
• 1867-1873 south benefited from US prosperity and high cotton prices
• railroads buikt > infrastructure

Question 2

give 3 negative economic effects of reconstruction

Answer 2

• 1870 avg white southerners income = 2/5 of avg white northerners’
• south remained economically depressed with poverty compared to north
• south remained dependant on agriculture and glut of cotton in 1870s was hard for south

Question 3

give 3 political effects of reconstruction

Answer 3

• white southerners temporarily lost control of their states
• after 1865 major fall in south’s political influence
• 1864-1914 only one southern president elected and 7/31 supreme court judges elected

Question 4

what are the 3 main ways AA were affected by reconstruction

Answer 4

• voting rights
• employment
• social attitudes

Question 5

how were AA affected by reconstruction in relation to voting (2)

Answer 5

• initially had some political power in south eg majority of electorate in Carolina and Mississippi
• still minority in many states

Question 6

how were AA affected by reconstruction in relation to employment (2)

Answer 6

• 1865 Johnson ordered all confiscated land to be given to ‘pardoned’ southerners and basically none given to ex slaves
• 1870s many AA had to become sharecroppers

Question 7

how were AA affected by reconstruction in relation to social attitudes

Answer 7

• still treated like second class citizens by most southerners
• Jim Crow Laws eventually introduced
• Plessy v Ferguson 1896 introduced separate but equal accommodation
• had some opportunity?

Question 8

what were western farmers like in the 1890s

Answer 8

they were a significant political force demanding low tariffs, currency reform and attacked black businesses

Question 9

what effected the North predominantly in reconstruction (3)

Answer 9

industrialisation, urbanisation and mass immigration (ethnic tensions eg 1870-71 Orange Riots between Irish Protestants and Catholics)

Question 10

what issues did the south predominantly face (3)

Answer 10

class conflict, violence towards AA and complaints against carpet baggers and scamawags betraying the south