DBQ A‑Reconstruction’s
Failure Name ______________________________
History 8
2004
The
Civil War may have settled some significant national problems, but it created
many others. Slavery was abolished,
secession had been refuted, and the supremacy of the national government
confirmed, but the cost of Union victory—in lost lives, destroyed property, and
sectional bitterness—was staggering, and created huge new problems and tasks.
Perhaps
the most challenging task facing the exhausted nation was the future status of
the four million newly freed slaves. After
the death of President Lincoln, Congress took charge of the effort to “reconstruct”
the divided nation. A large part of “Congressional
Reconstruction” was an effort to establish and protect the citizenship rights
of the freedmen. The former Confederacy
was divided into five military districts, each governed by a
This
did not last for long; by 1877 Reconstruction had ended. All Southern state governments were restored,
and the citizenship rights of the freedmen rapidly eroded. African-American voting rates plummeted. Soon, these former slaves fell into a form of “second
class” citizenship, characterized by a system of state-enforced segregation and
discrimination.
Directions: The following question is based on the accompanying
documents (1-8). As you analyze the
documents, take into account both the source of the document and author’s point
of view.
Be
sure to:
1.
Carefully read
the document-based question (DBQ).
2.
Consider how
would you answer the question if you had no documents to examine.
3.
Read each
document carefully, underlining key phrases and words that address the question.
You may also wish to use the margin to
make brief notes.
4.
Answer the
questions that follow each document.
5.
Based on your own
knowledge and on the information found in the documents, formulate a thesis
that directly answers the question.
6.
Organize
supportive and relevant information into a brief outline.
7.
Write a
well-organized essay defending your thesis. The essay should be logically presented and
should include information both from the documents and from your own knowledge apart
from the documents.
8. In writing your essay, do not refer to the document as
“Document 1” but rather integrate the information from the evidence into your
narrative. Make sure that you identify
the source (speaker) of your information in your narrative. Also, indicate the origin of your evidence by
placing the document number as a parenthetical citation. For example: Even many Northerners
believed that Blacks were inherently inferior and not qualified to vote (1). Another approach might be: Many whites
believed that freedmen were not qualified to vote. A Northern Congressman commented that Negroes
were “by nature inferior in mental caliber... [and not qualified] to
participate in the Government of this country...” (1).
Question: Why did Congress’
Reconstruction efforts to ensure equal rights to the freedmen fail?
Document 1
In
January 1866, soon after the Thirteenth Amendment ended slavery, radical
Republicans in Congress began arguing that freedmen should be allowed to vote
on equal terms with white men. A bill
was introduced to give the vote to the freedmen of the
It
is common for the advocates of negro suffrage to assume that the color of the
negro is the main obstacle to his admission to political equality... But it is
not the complexion of the negro that degrades him… [the Negro is] a race by
nature inferior in mental caliber… the negroes are not the equals of white
Americans, and are not entitled… to participate in the Government of this
country….
·
Why, according to
Congressman Boyer, should African-Americans be denied the right to vote?
·
Do you suppose
that this racist viewpoint was widely held at this time? Explain.
Document 2
This
excerpt, from the report of General George Thomas about activity in
With
the close of the last, and the beginning of the new year the State of Tennessee
was disturbed by the strange operations of a mysterious organization known as
the “Ku Klux Klan “… its grand purpose being to establish a nucleus around
which “the adherents of the late rebellion might safely rally.”
·
What, according
to General Thomas, was the purpose of the Ku Klux Klan?
·
Look back to the
document based question. How did the Ku Klux Klan help to undermine Congress’
efforts to ensure equal rights to freedmen?
Document 3
This
excerpt is from The Era of Reconstruction, 1865-1877, by Kenneth M.
Stampp (Vintage Books, 1967, p. 193). Stampp was a professor of history at the
Meanwhile
southern Democrats gained strength when Congress finally removed the political
disabilities from most of the prewar leadership. In May 1872, because of pressure from the
Liberal Republican, Congress passed a general amnesty act which restored the
right of officeholding [and voting] to the vast majority of those who had been
disqualified... After the passage of this act only a few hundred
ex-Confederates remained unpardoned.
·
How did the
restoration of voting rights to white Southerners undermine efforts to preserve
and protect the voting rights of the freedmen?
Document 4
These
excerpts are from an editorial in the Atlanta News, dated September 10,
1874:
Let
there be White Leagues formed in every town, village and hamlet of the South,
and let us organize for the great struggle which seems inevitable.
We
have submitted long enough to indignities, and it is time to meet brute-force
with brute-force.
If
the white democrats of the North are men, they will not stand idly by and see
us borne down by northern radicals and half-barbarous negroes. But no matter
what they may do, it is time for us to organize.
·
What is this
editorial advocating?
Document 5
Headline
text from the New York Times, November 4,1874:
DEMOCRATIC
VICTORY
CONGRESS
TO BE DEMOCRATIC
Headline
and story text from the New York Times, November 5,1874:
THE
REPUBLICAN DEFEAT
Our
later telegrams only add to the magnitude of the defeat experienced on
Tuesday.... In the House [of
Representatives] the Democrats’ gains continue to increase in numbers.
·
How did this
Democratic victory help to undermine Congress’ efforts to help the freedmen?
·
What factors
discredited the Republican Party during the early 1870s? Explain.
Document 6
In
1935, Dr. W E. B. DuBois, a prominent African-American historian, published a
major history of Reconstruction. Here is
a brief excerpt from that book (From: Black Reconstruction in America,
New York: Atheneum, 1970, p. 693.):
But
the decisive influence was the systematic and overwhelming economic pressure.
Negroes who wanted work must not dabble in politics. Negroes who wanted to
increase their income must not agitate the Negro problem... in order to earn a
living, the American Negro was compelled to give up his political power.
·
According to
DuBois, how were freedmen “convinced” to stop voting or taking part in
political events?
Document 7
During
the 1930s, a major effort was made to interview elderly African-Americans who
could share recollections of their youth in slavery. The following document is an excerpt from an
interview with a man named John McCoy. McCoy
was born in 1838 and had lived 27 years as a slave in
Freedom
wasn’t no different I knows of I works for Marse John just the same for along
time. He say one morning, “John, you can go out in the field iffen you wants to
or you can get out iffen you wants to, ‘cause the government say you is free.
If you wants to work I’ll feed you and give you clothes but can’t pay you no
money. I ain’t got none. Humph, I didn’t know nothing what money was, nohow,
but I knows I’ll git plenty victuals to eat, so I stays ...
·
What does this
recollection by John McCoy suggest as a reason for the failure of efforts to
guarantee freedmen full citizenship rights?
Document 8
The
disputed presidential election of 1876 set the stage for the final stage of
Reconstruction. The following cartoon is
from 1877.
·
How is it
possible that Hayes “won” the election of 1876? How did this disputed election lead to the end
of Reconstruction? Explain.
Adapted from: Kenneth Hilton.
Document-Based Assessment Activities for