Reconstruction Era Flashcards
7 cards from real US practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Reconstruction Era flashcards as text
Who was the first African American to serve in the United States Senate, taking office in 1870?
Answer: Hiram Revels
Hiram Revels of Mississippi became the first African American U.S. Senator in 1870, filling the seat that had previously been held by Confederate President Jefferson Davis.
Why was President Andrew Johnson impeached by the House of Representatives in 1868?
Answer: For violating the Tenure of Office Act by attempting to remove Secretary of War Edwin Stanton
Johnson was impeached for violating the Tenure of Office Act when he tried to remove Secretary of War Edwin Stanton without Senate approval; he was acquitted by the Senate by one vote.
Which former Confederate state was the first to be readmitted to the Union after the Civil War, in 1866?
Answer: Tennessee
Tennessee was the first former Confederate state readmitted to the Union in July 1866, after ratifying the 14th Amendment, and was therefore exempt from the Military Reconstruction Acts of 1867.
The Supreme Court's Plessy v. Ferguson decision in 1896 had what major effect on post-Reconstruction America?
Answer: It upheld racial segregation under the 'separate but equal' doctrine
Plessy v. Ferguson upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the 'separate but equal' doctrine, which remained the law of the land until Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.
What was the main goal of the Enforcement Acts (Ku Klux Klan Acts) of 1870–1871?
Answer: To combat Klan violence and protect Black Americans' civil and voting rights in the South
The Enforcement Acts gave the federal government power to prosecute Klan members and other groups that used violence to suppress Black voting rights and undermine Reconstruction governments.
How did the 'Redeemer' governments that took power in Southern states after Reconstruction primarily operate?
Answer: By using legal restrictions and violence to disenfranchise Black voters and restore white Democratic control
Redeemer Democrats used poll taxes, literacy tests, grandfather clauses, and violent intimidation to disenfranchise Black voters and restore white supremacist Democratic control in Southern states.
Which term describes the system of racial segregation laws that replaced Reconstruction in the South and lasted into the mid-20th century?
Answer: The Jim Crow era
The Jim Crow era was the period of state and local segregation laws in the South that followed Reconstruction, legally separating Black and white Americans in public life until the Civil Rights Movement.