History of the Americas Questions

Refer to the passage to answer the following question: "We have been encouraged by government to take up these lands in small tracts, receiving Certificates of the same- we have thus far Taken Sixteen thousand (16000) acres of Land here on This Island. We are ready to pay for this land When Government calls for it and now after What has been done will the good and just government take from us all this right and make us Subject to the will of those who have cheated and Oppressed us for many years God Forbid! We the freedmen of this Island and of the State of South Carolina-Do therefore petition to you as the President of these United States, that some provisions be made by which Every colored man can purchase land. and Hold it as his own..." According to the Freedmen's Committee of Edisto Island, why should the island's land belong to them?

How did southern blacks of the Reconstruction period feel about politics?

Why had many former leaders of the Confederacy been able to win election to state constitutional conventions and Congress by December 1865?

What did Southerners call Northerners who came to the South for political or economic reasons or to help the freedpeople adjust to their new lives?

Why did the American Woman Suffrage Association support ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment when the National Woman Suffrage Association opposed it?

After the end of the Civil War, how did congressional Republicans think the South should be treated?

Refer to the passage to answer the following question: "Contrary to the fears and predictions of many, the great mass of colored people have remained quietly at work upon the plantations of their former masters during the entire summer. The crowds seen about the towns in the early part of the season had followed in the wake of the Union army, to escape from slavery. After hostilities ceased these refugees returned to their homes, so that but few vagrants can now be found. In truth, a much larger amount of vagrancy exists among the whites than among the blacks. It is the almost uniform report of officers of the bureau that freedmen are industrious. The report is confirmed by the fact that out of a colored population of nearly 350,000 in the State, only about 5,000 are now receiving support from the government. Probably some others are receiving aid from kind-hearted men who have enjoyed the benefit of their services from childhood. To the general quiet and industry of this people there can be no doubt that the efforts of the bureau have contributed greatly." Why does Eliphalet Whittlesey mention that there are more white vagrants in the area than black vagrants?

How did the majority of Southerners view those whites who participated in new Reconstruction governments?

The chief federal government agency for assistance and support of African Americans in the South after the Civil War was

Which of the following was an obstacle that African Americans faced in their efforts to reunite after slavery?

Refer to the passage to answer the following question: "Contract made the 3rd day of January in the year 1870 between us the free people who have signed this paper of one part, and our employer, Willis P. Bocock, of the other part. . . . We are to furnish the necessary labor . . . and are to have all proper work done, ditching, fencing, repairing, etc., as well as cultivating and saving the crops of all kinds, so as to put and keep the land we occupy and tend in good order for cropping, and to make a good crop ourselves; and to do our fair share of job work about the place. . . . We are to be responsible for the good conduct of ourselves, our hands, and families, and agree that all shall be respectful to employer, owners, and manager, honest, industrious, and careful about every thing . . . and then our employer agrees that he and his manager shall treat us kindly, and help us to study our interest and do our duty. If any hand or family proves to be of bad character, or dishonest, or lazy, or disobedient, or any way unsuitable our employer or manager has the right, and we have the right, to have such turned off. . . ." According to the sharecropping agreement, what problems does the landowner fear will arise with the freedmen working his land?

Why did southern blacks enter into tenant contracts with large landowners to become sharecroppers from the late 1860s onward?

How many southern whites had to pledge an oath of allegiance under Lincoln's plan to have their state readmitted to the Union after the Civil War?

Southern whites refused to accept the legitimacy of Reconstruction governments after the Civil War, complaining that they were

Refer to the passage to answer the following question: "Here is were we have toiled nearly all Our lives as slaves and were treated like dumb Driven cattle, This is our home, we have made These lands what they are. we were the only true and Loyal people that were found in posession of these Lands. we have been always ready to strike for Liberty and humanity yea to fight if needs be To preserve this glorious union . Shall not we who Are freedman and have been always true to this Union have the same rights as are enjoyed by Others? Have we broken any Law of these United States? Have we forfieted our rights of property In Land?- If not then! are not our rights as A free people and good citizens of these United States To be considered before the rights of those who were Found in rebellion against this good and just Government." According to the Freedmen's Committee of Edisto Island, freedmen deserved to own land on the island following the Civil War because

How did Southerners create a public school system during the years of congressional Reconstruction?

During the 1872 presidential election, which group supported ending Reconstruction because of its perceived corruption and expansion of government power?`

What did Thomas Nast imply by the question mark in his title, "Colored Rule in a Reconstructed (?) State"?

As opposed to the African Americans Thomas Nast depicts, the whites in this political cartoon

How does Nast depict the black leaders in his illustration?