History & Social Studies

The Effects of Reconstruction Quiz: Post-Civil War Changes

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This Reconstruction quiz helps you review the effects of Reconstruction after the Civil War, from new amendments to changes in daily life in the South. Use it for quick practice, then build context with a civil war quiz, explore more with Civil War questions, or check your recall with a civil war test.

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1Which president was assassinated in 1865, profoundly affecting the course of Reconstruction?
2Which Constitutional amendment formally abolished slavery throughout the United States?
3What organization, established in 1865, provided food, housing, and education to formerly enslaved people?
4What term describes the restrictive laws passed by Southern states to control African Americans after the Civil War?
5Who became president after Abraham Lincoln's assassination and presided over much of early Reconstruction?
6Which presidential plan offered amnesty to Southerners if 10% of voters in a seceded state took an oath of loyalty?
7Which amendment granted citizenship and equal protection under the law to all persons born or naturalized in the U.S.?
8Which amendment prohibited denying citizens the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude?
9What agricultural system emerged in the South where landowners allowed tenants to use land in return for a share of the crop?
10Which white supremacist group formed during Reconstruction used violence to intimidate African Americans and Republican supporters?
11What term describes the formal racial segregation laws enacted in the late 19th century in the Southern United States?
12Which legislation divided the South into military districts to enforce Reconstruction policies?
13Which president was impeached largely due to conflicts over Reconstruction policy and the Tenure of Office Act?
14Which compromise effectively ended Reconstruction by withdrawing federal troops from the South?
15What faction in Congress advocated for strict Reconstruction measures and full civil rights for freed slaves?
16Which legislative proposal, sponsored by Radical Republicans, required a majority of voters in Southern states to pledge allegiance before readmission?
17What did the Civil Rights Act of 1866 declare?
18What was a primary disadvantage of sharecropping for African American farmers?
19How does tenant farming differ from sharecropping?
20Which president vetoed the Civil Rights Act of 1866, only to be overridden by Congress?
21What was the main purpose of the Enforcement Acts passed between 1870 and 1871?
22Who were the 'carpetbaggers' during Reconstruction?
23What term was used for Southern white Republicans who supported Reconstruction?
24Which president's election was decided by the Compromise of 1877?
25Which state was the first to be readmitted to the Union under the Reconstruction Acts of 1867?
26Who was appointed head of the Freedmen's Bureau in 1865?
27Which Supreme Court decision in 1896 validated the principle of 'separate but equal'?
28What was the purpose of the crop-lien system in the post-war South?
29Which president delivered the 'Swing Around the Circle' speeches opposing Radical Reconstruction?
30What was the 'grandfather clause' used for in Southern states?
31Which act of Congress attempted to restrict the president's power to remove certain officeholders without Senate approval?
32What was the primary aim of the Civil Rights Act of 1875?
33Which Congressional committee was responsible for drafting the Fourteenth Amendment?
34What was the Southern Homestead Act of 1866 designed to do?
35Which system involved Southern states leasing convicted prisoners to private enterprises for labor?
36Which Supreme Court case limited the use of military tribunals to try civilians when civilian courts are open?
37The Crop-lien system primarily contributed to which of the following in the post-war South?
38Which president's administration vigorously enforced civil rights laws and deployed federal troops to suppress the KKK?
39What was the purpose of the Grandfather Clause passed by some Southern states?
40Which Supreme Court decision significantly narrowed the protections of the Fourteenth Amendment's Privileges or Immunities Clause?
41Which act authorized the president to use federal troops to enforce civil rights and suppress insurrection?
42What major financial crisis in 1873 undermined Northern support for Reconstruction?
43Who was appointed to oversee the Freedmen's Savings and Trust Company in 1865?
44What term describes Southern political leaders who regained power after Reconstruction to enact restrictive laws?
45Which amendment's Due Process Clause was central to many Reconstruction-era Supreme Court cases?
46What did the Supreme Court decide in The Civil Rights Cases of 1883?
47How did the Slaughterhouse Cases (1873) impact the interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment?
48Which act allowed President Grant to deploy military force to curb Ku Klux Klan violence?
49What effect did the Panic of 1873 have on Reconstruction efforts?
50What was the Supreme Court's holding in United States v. Cruikshank (1876)?
51What strategy did the Mississippi Plan of 1875 use to regain Democratic control?
Learning Goals

Study Outcomes

  1. Understand Reconstruction Amendments -

    Apply your knowledge of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to explain how each amendment redefined citizenship, civil liberties, and voting rights in the Reconstruction era.

  2. Analyze Reconstruction Policies -

    Examine major legislative and executive strategies, from Presidential to Radical Reconstruction, to evaluate their goals and outcomes in rebuilding the post - Civil War United States.

  3. Identify Post-War Segregation Laws -

    Recognize key laws like the Black Codes and early Jim Crow statutes to understand how legal segregation emerged and shaped society during Reconstruction.

  4. Distinguish Sharecropping from Other Labor Systems -

    Differentiate sharecropping from wage labor and tenant farming, assessing its economic impact on freedpeople and Southern landowners.

  5. Evaluate Voting Rights Developments -

    Assess how Reconstruction Acts, the Enforcement Acts, and new state constitutions expanded or restricted African American suffrage across the South.

  6. Interpret Lasting Social and Political Effects -

    Interpret the long-term consequences of Reconstruction policies on American governance, civil rights progress, and regional social hierarchies.

Study Guide

Cheat Sheet

  1. Reconstruction Amendments (13th - 15th) -

    These landmark amendments abolished slavery (13th), granted citizenship and equal protection under the law (14th), and protected voting rights for African American men (15th). A handy mnemonic is "Free Citizens Vote" to recall the order and purpose. According to the National Archives, these amendments laid the constitutional foundation for civil rights during the Reconstruction era.

  2. Freedmen's Bureau and Education Initiatives -

    Established by Congress in 1865, the Freedmen's Bureau provided food, medical care, legal assistance, and schooling for formerly enslaved people. By 1870, it had helped found over 4,000 schools, including Howard University, as noted by the Library of Congress. Remember "BUREAU" for basic utilities, rights, education, assistance, and uplift.

  3. Black Codes and the Rise of Jim Crow -

    Southern states enacted Black Codes to restrict Black labor, movement, and civil rights shortly after the Civil War, laying the groundwork for later Jim Crow segregation laws. Examples include vagrancy statutes that forced sharecropping contracts and harsh labor requirements. Scholars at the Smithsonian highlight these laws as key obstacles to true Reconstruction progress.

  4. Sharecropping System and Economic Impact -

    Sharecropping tied freedmen and poor whites to landowners by exchanging labor for a share of the crop, often trapping workers in perpetual debt through the crop-lien system. A simple formula to remember is "Rent = % of Yield - Advances," which illustrates how high supply costs ate into profits. University research shows this system slowed economic independence for decades.

  5. Reconstruction Acts and Political Rebuilding -

    The 1867 Reconstruction Acts divided the South into five military districts, required new state constitutions guaranteeing Black male suffrage, and oversaw the readmission of states into the Union. The "Five Districts" rule ensured federal oversight, boosting Republican influence in Congress. According to the U.S. Army Center of Military History, these acts represented the most stringent federal intervention of the era.

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Updated Feb 22, 2026