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Difficulty: EasyResistance to Reconstruction and its Ultimate Collapse

"We believe that the Federal Government is our only shelter... The State authorities do not protect us from the violence of organizations like the Ku Klux Klan, who ride by night and terrorize our communities. If the nation withdraws its protection, we shall be left at the mercy of those who seek to restore the old order."
— Petition of African American citizens of Frankfort, Kentucky, to the United States Congress, 1871

Which of the following developments during Reconstruction was the primary cause of the conditions described in the petition?

  1. The persistence of violent white resistance to federal civil rights initiatives in the SouthAnswer
  2. B
    The immediate and complete protection of voting rights under the Fifteenth Amendment
  3. C
    The rapid expansion of federal military enforcement in the South after 1877
  4. D
    The federal government's implementation of popular sovereignty to determine civil rights policies

Answer

The persistence of violent white resistance to federal civil rights initiatives in the South
The correct answer is correct because the petition from African American citizens explicitly highlights the terror inflicted by the Ku Klux Klan and the refusal of local state authorities to intervene. This serves as direct evidence of the intense and violent resistance by white Southerners to federal attempts to establish and protect the civil rights of freedmen during Reconstruction.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the provided historical document
The petition, written by African American citizens in 1871, appeals to the federal government for protection against the violent actions of the Ku Klux Klan and notes that state authorities are failing to protect them.
This establishes that the document is describing racial violence and a lack of local law enforcement during the Reconstruction era.
2
Connect the document's contents to the correct historical context
Groups like the Ku Klux Klan and the White League actively resisted Congressional Reconstruction, seeking to intimidate Black voters and restore the pre-war social order through violence.
This links the specific events in the petition to the broader historical trend of white resistance to Reconstruction.
3
Evaluate the choices to find the best match
The option highlighting violent white resistance is the only historically accurate explanation for the rise of terror groups targeting freedmen.
It directly matches the evidence in the source text showing that African Americans felt threatened by unchecked vigilante organizations.

Key Concept

White resistance to Reconstruction and the rise of vigilante violence
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Topics

Resistance to Reconstruction and its Ultimate Collapse

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