New Roles in the South
What nickname was given to white Southerners who supported Reconstruction and wanted to rebuild?
Scalawags
What secret society used terror and violence to stop African Americans from voting?
KKK
What officially ended Reconstruction in 1877?
The Compromise of 1877
What new voting barriers did Southern states create to limit African Americans’ rights?
Poll taxes, literacy tests, and grandfather clauses
What system replaced slavery for many African Americans in the South?
Sharecropping
What were Northerners who moved South after the Civil War called?
Carpetbaggers
How did the Klan and other groups try to influence politics in the South?
They used fear, threats, and violence to keep African Americans and Republicans from voting.
Who became president as part of the Compromise of 1877?
Rutherford B. Hayes
What did segregation mean under Jim Crow laws?
The enforced separation of races in public places.
How did sharecropping work?
Farmers rented land and paid a share of their crops as rent to landowners.
What new political role did African Americans take on during Reconstruction?
They served as voters, state legislators, sheriffs, mayors, and even U.S. senators (like Hiram Revels and Blanche Bruce).
What did Congress pass to stop voter intimidation and violence?
Enforcement Acts (laws banning the use of force against voters).
What did Hayes agree to do in return for Southern support in the election?
Remove the last federal troops from the South.
How did African Americans respond to growing discrimination after Reconstruction ended?
Many migrated north and west to seek better opportunities.
Why was sharecropping often called “slavery by another name”?
It trapped freedpeople in a cycle of debt and poverty.
Why did many Southerners resent carpetbaggers and scalawags?
They saw them as traitors or opportunists taking advantage of the South’s defeat.
Why did African American voter participation decline over time?
Ongoing violence, intimidation, and weakening federal protection.
What happened when amnesty was given to former Confederates?
White Southerners regained control of local and state governments.
Why did Northern interest in Reconstruction fade in the 1870s?
Northerners grew tired of reform and wanted to focus on their own economic issues.
What industries grew in the South after the Civil War?
Cotton, tobacco, textiles, timber, and iron production.
What major improvements did Republican-led governments bring to Southern communities?
Opened public schools, expanded rights for women, and rebuilt infrastructure like roads, bridges, and railroads.
How did racism and violence help restore white Democratic control in the South?
It discouraged Black political involvement, allowing “Redeemer” Democrats to take back state governments.
What laws did Southern states pass to legally separate races?
Jim Crow laws
What long-term effect did the end of Reconstruction have on African Americans in the South?
Loss of political rights and rise of legalized segregation that lasted for decades.
By 1900, what change had occurred in the Southern economy?
It became more balanced and industrialized—not just dependent on cotton.