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Difficulty: HardResistance to Reconstruction and its Ultimate Collapse

"The whole public are tired out with these annual autumnal outbreaks in the South, and the great majority are ready now to condemn any interference on the part of the government. ... That the public mind will no longer admit of anything of the kind is, I think, quite clear. ... Therefore, the Governor [of Mississippi] must preserve the peace by the use of his state forces."
— U.S. Attorney General Edwards Pierrepont, letter to Mississippi Governor Adelbert Ames, September 1875

Which of the following developments in the South was a direct consequence of the federal policy position described in the excerpt?

  1. The suppression of Black voter turnout and the restoration of Southern Democratic 'Redeemer' control over state governments.Answer
  2. B
    The passage of the Fourteenth Amendment to federally guarantee and enforce voting rights for newly emancipated African Americans.
  3. C
    The establishment of five military districts across the South to enforce civil rights under the Military Reconstruction Acts.
  4. D
    The renewal of sectional nullification crises prompted by Southern opposition to federal industrial tariffs.

Answer

The suppression of Black voter turnout and the restoration of Southern Democratic 'Redeemer' control over state governments.
The Attorney General's refusal to deploy federal troops to Mississippi in 1875 reflects a broader decline in Northern political will to support Reconstruction. This policy of non-intervention directly allowed white supremacist groups to employ terror campaigns to suppress the Black electorate, enabling the Democratic Party to 'redeem' Mississippi and other Southern states, which ultimately led to the collapse of Reconstruction.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the primary source text and date (1875) to identify the federal stance.
The Attorney General expresses Northern weariness ('tired out') with Southern political instability and declares that the federal government will no longer intervene militarily.
This establishes the historical context of the federal government retreating from its commitment to Reconstruction and the protection of freedmen.
2
Connect the lack of federal military intervention to its impact on Southern politics.
Without federal troop protection, local Black voters and Republicans were vulnerable to violent campaigns of intimidation by organizations like the Red Shirts and White Leagues.
This shows how the policy shift directly altered the balance of political power in the South.
3
Identify the historical outcome of this hands-off policy by the late 1870s.
Conservative Southern Democrats, or 'Redeemers,' successfully took back control of state governments, bringing an end to Reconstruction-era reforms.
This aligns the cause (federal retreat) with its ultimate historical consequence (the collapse of Reconstruction).

Key Concept

The waning commitment of Northern public opinion and federal authorities to Reconstruction, which enabled Southern Democrats to regain local political dominance through violence and voter disenfranchisement.
Estimated Time:2m 0s
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Resistance to Reconstruction and its Ultimate Collapse

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