Interpretations of Reconstruction

Question 1

Political effects

• Treatment to the South

Answer 1

The North was not harsh on the South during Reconstruction

Question 2

Economic effects

• Overview

Answer 2

A positive effect on the economy of the USA, which developed into a true industrial power.

Question 3

Economic effects

• The progression in the South

Answer 3

From 1867 to 1873 the South benefitted from general US prosperity and from high cotton prices.
Railroads were rebuilt and textile manufacturing expanded.

Question 4

Economic effects

• Deterioration in the South

Answer 4

The South remained an economically depressed region with considerable poverty

Question 5

Economic effects

• Example in the South

Answer 5

By 1870 the average white Southerner’s income had fallen to two-fifths that of a Northerner’s income

Question 6

What was the economic effects in the South

• Agriculture

Answer 6

The South remained a predominantly agricultural area heavily dependent on the cotton plantations.
A glut of cotton in the 1870s led to a sharp fall in prices and harder times for the workers on the plantations.

Question 7

Emancipation for AA and Reconstruction

Answer 7

The Civil War had led to the to the emancipation of around 4 million slaves.

Question 8

The vote for African Americans and the Reconstruction

Answer 8

Two black Senators and 20 black Representatives were elected to Congress and large numbers of African American were elected to state legislatures

Question 9

Employment for African Americans after Reconstruction

Answer 9

Little or no land was given to the ex-slaves.

Question 10

The impact of Johnson’s call of the return of confiscated land in 1865

Answer 10

Any confiscation and redistribution of land could have alienated white Southerners.

Question 11

Progress for African Americans after Reconstruction

Answer 11

AA had more control over their lives than under slavery.

Question 12

Progress for African Americans after Reconstruction

• Sharecroppers

Answer 12

Most AA became sharecroppers (tenant farmers) during the 1870s

Question 13

Progress for African Americans after Reconstruction

• How did sharecroppers work

Answer 13

White landowners provided the land, seeds and tools and black tenants provided the labour, giving American farmers the freedom from day-to-day supervision.

Question 14

Progress for African Americans after Reconstruction

• Problems with sharecroppers

Answer 14

The fall in cotton prices of the early 1870s resulted in economic hardship fro many sharecroppers.

Question 15

Discrimination for AA after Reconstruction

Answer 15

The laws discriminated against African Americans who facilities were invariably inferior to those of their white counterparts.

Question 16

The KKK

• What did it do

Answer 16

Many African Americans faced intimidation and violence from white racists in the South.

Question 17

The KKK

• Background

Answer 17

The Klan was set up in 1866 and became active in several states, intimidating African Americans into not voting through beatings and lynchings.

Question 18

The impact of the KKK

Answer 18

Its terrorist activities reached a peak in the years 1869-1871. Blacks who held public office, black schools and churches were particular targets.