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Difficulty: HardReconstruction and the Reconstruction Amendments

“Whereas no legal State governments or adequate protection for life or property now exists in the rebel States of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida, Texas, and Arkansas; and whereas it is necessary that peace and good order should be enforced in said States until loyal and republican State governments can be legally established: Therefore, Be it enacted... That said rebel States shall be divided into military districts and made subject to the military authority of the United States...”

— Reconstruction Act of 1867

Which of the following historical developments most directly led to the enactment of the legislation excerpted above?

  1. A
    The adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause, which immediately dissolved southern state legislatures.
  2. B
    The ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment, which prompted immediate southern political disenfranchisement of Black voters.
  3. The lenient Reconstruction policies of Andrew Johnson and the widespread enactment of southern Black Codes.Answer
  4. D
    The Supreme Court's ruling in the Slaughterhouse Cases, which declared congressional control over southern voter registration unconstitutional.

Answer

The lenient Reconstruction policies of Andrew Johnson and the widespread enactment of southern Black Codes.
The correct answer is correct because after Abraham Lincoln's assassination, Andrew Johnson pursued a lenient approach to Reconstruction that allowed Southern states to quickly rejoin the Union and pass 'Black Codes' to restrict the freedoms of African Americans. Outraged by this and the violence against freedmen, the Radical Republican majority in Congress took control of Reconstruction, overriding Johnson's vetoes to pass the Military Reconstruction Acts of 1867, which divided the South into military districts.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the stimulus document.
The document is the Reconstruction Act of 1867, which established military districts in the South and placed the region under military authority.
Understanding the nature and timing of the source helps identify the political shift from Presidential to Congressional Reconstruction.
2
Identify the historical context and cause.
Congress passed the Reconstruction Acts in response to Andrew Johnson's lenient Presidential Reconstruction policies, which had allowed Southern states to implement Black Codes and restrict the rights of newly freed African Americans.
This establishes the direct cause-and-effect relationship that led to the Radical Republican takeover of Reconstruction.
3
Evaluate the options against the timeline and substance.
Options mentioning the Fifteenth Amendment (1870) and Slaughterhouse Cases (1873) are chronologically incorrect. The option stating that the Fourteenth Amendment dissolved legislatures is historically inaccurate, leaving the option about Andrew Johnson's policies and Black Codes as the only historically valid cause.
Eliminating options based on chronology and accurate constitutional impact ensures the selection of the correct answer.

Key Concept

The transition from Presidential to Radical/Congressional Reconstruction in response to Southern resistance and executive leniency.
Estimated Time:2m 0s
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Topics

Reconstruction and the Reconstruction Amendments

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