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Difficulty: MediumResistance to Reconstruction and its Ultimate Collapse

“We do not apologize for or excuse any acts of violence. . . . But it is impossible to study the history of these events without seeing that the Ku-Klux organization, so far as it had any active existence, was a natural and inevitable result of the misgovernment, corruption, and oppression to which the Southern states were subjected by the Radical party. . . . The people, stripped of their property, denied their political rights, and subjected to the rule of ignorance and vice, resorted to secret organization as a means of self-defense.”
— Minority Report of the Joint Select Committee on the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States, 1872

Which of the following developments in the South during the 1870s was a direct consequence of the political goals described in the excerpt?

  1. The restoration of Democratic Party control over Southern state governmentsAnswer
  2. B
    The passage of the Reconstruction Acts to establish military districts in the South
  3. C
    The ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment to protect the voting rights of freedmen
  4. D
    The implementation of popular sovereignty to decide the status of slavery in Western territories

Answer

The restoration of Democratic Party control over Southern state governments
The correct answer describes the primary goal of Southern Democrats (often calling themselves 'Redeemers') during the 1870s. The excerpt from the minority report of the Joint Select Committee reflects the Redeemer strategy of framing white resistance and violence as a defensive response to Republican corruption. The ultimate consequence of this political resistance was the gradual 'Redemption' of Southern states, where Democrats regained control of state governments and successfully dismantled Reconstruction policies.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the source and context of the excerpt.
The excerpt is from the minority report of a congressional committee in 1872, representing the perspective of Southern Democrats who opposed Radical Reconstruction.
Identifying the author's political viewpoint helps clarify their goals and intentions.
2
Identify the core argument and goals expressed by the authors.
The authors justify the existence of secret white supremacist organizations like the Ku Klux Klan by blaming 'misgovernment' and 'corruption' by the Republican party, indicating a desire to overthrow Republican rule and restore traditional Southern political hierarchies.
Determining their goals allows for linking them to subsequent historical outcomes.
3
Evaluate the options to find a development that resulted from these goals.
The 'Redemption' of the South (the restoration of Democratic Party control over state governments) directly fulfilled the goal of ending Republican rule, whereas the other options represent pre-war policies or federal Republican legislation that the authors opposed.
Matching the goals to the correct historical consequence identifies the correct answer.

Key Concept

The political redemption of the South and the collapse of Reconstruction
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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Topics

Resistance to Reconstruction and its Ultimate Collapse

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