Virginia Study VS8a -- Effects of Reconstruction in Virginia

Question 1

Reconstruction

Answer 1

The period following the Civil War in which Congress passed laws designed to rebuild the country and bring the southern states back into the Union

Question 2

Problems faced by Virginians during Reconstruction

Answer 2

• Millions of freed African Americans needed housing, clothing, food, and jobs.
• Virginia’s economy was in ruins:
– Money had no value.
– Banks were closed.
– Railroads, bridges, plantations, and crops were destroyed.
- Virginians faced serious problems in rebuilding the state after the war.

Question 3

The Freedmen’s Bureau

Answer 3

a government agency that provided food, schools, and medical care for freed slaves and others in Virginia and the rest of the South.

Question 4

Sharecropping

Answer 4

a system common in Virginia after the war in which freedmen and poor white farmers rented land from a landowner by promising to pay the owner with a share of the crop.

Question 5

Segregation:

Answer 5

The separation of people, usually based on race or religion

Question 6

Discrimination

Answer 6

An unfair difference in the treatment of people

Question 7

Prejudice:

Answer 7

An unfair feeling of hate or dislike because of a person’s background, race, or religion.

Question 8

During Reconstruction

Answer 8

African Americans began to have political power in Virginia’s government, and men of all races could vote.

Question 9

After Reconstruction

Answer 9

these gains were lost when “Jim Crow” Laws were passed by southern states. “Jim Crow” Laws established segregation or separation of the races and reinforced prejudices held by whites.

Question 10

What happened to the freedoms and rights promised to African Americans after the Reconstruction?

Answer 10

The freedoms and rights promised to African Americans were slowly taken away (or gradually decreased) after Reconstruction, and it would take years to win them back.

Question 11

“Jim Crow” laws had a negative effect on who?

Answer 11

on African America Life.

Question 12

Unfair poll taxes and voting tests were made to keep African American men from voting.

Answer 12

• African Americans found it very difficult to vote or hold public office.
• African Americans were forced to use separate poor-quality services such as drinking fountains, restrooms, and restaurants.
• African Americans and white children attended separate schools.

Question 13

After the Civil War, what 4 things began to grow and contribute to Virginia’s economy?

Answer 13

industry and technology, transportation, and cities

Question 14

Virginia began to grow in what 5 areas after the Civil War and Reconstruction?

Answer 14

Virginia’s cities grew with businesses, factories, and people.

• Railroads were a key to the expansion of business, agriculture, and industry. They facilitated (helped) the growth of small towns to cities.
• Other parts of Virginia grew as other industries developed. Coal deposits, discovered in Tazewell County. Coal mines opened in Southwestern Virginia.
• The need for more and better roads increased as cities & industries grew.
• Tobacco farming continued to be important and making cigarettes became an important Virginia industry.