Deck 14: White Supremacy Triumphant: African Americans in the South in the Late Nineteenth Century

Question 1

What problem did farmers not face during the later nineteenth century?

A) They had to depend on banks for loans, since they weren't self-sufficient any longer.
B) Businessmen, not farmers, dominated economic life in America.
C) They had easy access to railroads at very cheap prices.
D) Farmers faced very few problems during the late nineteenth century.

Answer 1

They had easy access to railroads at very cheap prices.

Question 2

How did the railroad companies feel about segregation?

A) They opposed the idea, mainly because they wanted equal access for blacks.
B) They opposed the idea, because they wanted the additional money from blacks buying first class tickets.
C) They opposed the idea, because they did not want to have the added expense of maintaining separate cars.
D) Railroad companies were strongly behind segregation.

Answer 2

They opposed the idea, because they did not want to have the added expense of maintaining separate cars.

Question 3

What new twist did Louisiana add in 1898 to make sure whites voted, but blacks did not?

A) the poll tax
B) the grandfather clause
C) the literacy test
D) the Eight Box Law

Answer 3

the grandfather clause

Question 4

Which of the following was not a political organization for farmers?

A) the Grange
B) the Patrons of Husbandry
C) the Southern Farmers' Alliance
D) the American Farmers and Workers Party

Question 5

Before "Jim Crow" laws came into effect across the South,

A) blacks and whites mingled freely in many public accommodations.
B) whites had already begun to set up some restrictions on black access to public facilities.
C) the North had already outlawed all segregation.
D) racial etiquette rules were non-existent.

Question 6

What were "grandfather clauses"?

A) voting restrictions, which said that someone could only vote if his father or grandfather had been able to vote before a certain time (generally right at the end of slavery)
B) limitations on voting to those people who were grandfathers
C) limitations on voting to those who could prove that their grandfathers had been residents of the state as well; since blacks moved around so much after Reconstruction, they rarely qualified
D) a clause requiring all grandfathers to vote before their sons

Question 7

How were the Democrats beginning to split up?

A) Poor and middle class whites occasionally resented the domination of the party by wealthy, elite groups.
B) They didn't split up; the Democrats remained a solid party.
C) Many Democrats, angry over support of violence and terrorism, began to turn to the Republicans.
D) Black Democrats pushed for more rights, angering some of the whites in the party.

Question 8

What was the name of the case that upheld Louisiana's segregation laws?

Question 9

How did Democrats limit black political power in the South, even if blacks were voting?

A) They creatively drew congressional districts so that the fewest possible blacks could be elected.
B) They refused to seat elected blacks in the House or Senate.
C) They restricted black rights in various ways during their tenure in office.
D) They generally wanted blacks to vote - the Republican party was trying to limit black voting.

Question 10

What view did the white farmers' alliances have of black voting?

A) They fully supported blacks voting in all cases.
B) They didn't think that blacks should vote, but ironically encouraged them to vote for certain candidates.
C) They thought that blacks should only be agricultural workers, and should not participate in politics.
D) They were a white supremacist organization, devoted to terrorism like the Klan, and wanted to keep all blacks from voting.

Question 11

In the Populist Party, which leader openly promoted interracial cooperation as a way of overcoming farmers' problems?

A) Hiram Revels
B) Thomas Watson
C) William Jennings Bryan
D) Teddy Roosevelt

Question 12

How did the Southern Farmers' Alliance deal with race?

A) It was an interracial organization, and allowed blacks leadership roles and equal rights in membership.
B) It was an interracial group, but refused to allow blacks to lead them.
C) It chose not to include blacks, who had to form their own organization.
D) It chose not to include blacks, and forbid them from forming their own organization.

Question 13

What was the result of the popularity of the Populist Party among blacks in the South?

A) Blacks were able to gain substantial numbers of political offices and dominate politics in the South.
B) Since blacks were completely excluded from formal participation in politics, they could not vote for Populists, even if they supported them.
C) Southerners realized that blacks were a potent political force and that they would have to share power politically.
D) It heightened fears of southerners that blacks might gain political power.

Question 14

What is significant about the year 1892?

A) The Populists failed to run a candidate for the presidency for the first time in 12 years.
B) The Populists eliminated the black vote in that year.
C) More people were lynched in that year than in any other in American history.
D) Southerners embraced all of the Populists ideas.

Question 15

To what party did most blacks remain loyal in the post-Reconstruction South?

A) Democrats
B) Populists
C) Republican
D) Whigs

Question 16

What was the problem, as viewed by many southern states, of voting laws like literacy tests, poll taxes, and property qualifications?

A) They thought the laws were too subtle and that voting should just be outlawed directly.
B) Since quite a few blacks owned property, they could still vote.
C) Since blacks could be voting registrars, they could simply override the tests and allow anyone in.
D) They might possibly also eliminate poor, illiterate white voters as well as black voters.

Question 17

Which of the following was a belief of the Populist Party?

A) Government ownership of railroads and communication systems.
B) Blacks and whites should be social equals in America.
C) Economic control of the nation should move to bankers and industrialists.
D) That the government should become more involved in foreign affairs, particularly in Europe.

Question 18

What is true about farmers in the South during the later nineteenth century?

A) More than half were tenants, renting land rather than owning it.
B) Farmers were generally able to be self-sufficient in the period.
C) Farmers failed to organize politically to solve problems, since they lacked even a basic education.
D) They were very well off, as prices were high during this whole period.

Question 19

How did the Eight Box Law of 1882 contribute to the disfranchisement of blacks?

A) Illiterate voters had to have the "help" of white officials to determine where to place their ballots.
B) Voters could only choose between eight white candidates, rather than an open pool of people.
C) Voters were required to prove that they had over eight boxes of personal property, something most poor blacks could not do.
D) Prospective voters had to fill eight boxes with signed petitions, demonstrating community support for their voting rights before they would be registered.

Question 20

Where did the term "Jim Crow" come from?

A) It was a derogatory term used to refer to a black agricultural worker.
B) It was a stereotypical black musical show.
C) A white minstrel show, popular at the time, which ridiculed black people.
D) It was a reference to a hated type of bird, which whites associated with black people.

Question 21

When black men moved within the South, to where did they usually go?

A) to urban areas, where they had more, and different, economic opportunities
B) to Florida, which had the most liberal race laws
C) to another rural area, where they could use the skills they had
D) to the South Carolina coast, where jobs were readily available in agriculture

Question 22

What was an "Exoduster"?

A) a black person who moved to the western United States in search of a better life than in the South
B) a white person who advocated destroying the black race
C) a black person who wanted to migrate to Africa
D) an African person who came to America shortly before the Civil War

Question 23

What were the actual reasons for many lynchings?

A) In many cases, blacks had committed a crime, and whites were impatient for justice.
B) Many blacks who competed with whites economically were lynched.
C) Lynchings occurred only because the lowest element of white society felt threatened by blacks.
D) Blacks had started some sort of violent protest in urban areas.

Question 24

After Reconstruction, white people expected blacks to observe certain rules of etiquette. Which of the following is not true?

A) Black men were supposed to remove their hats in the presence of a white person.
B) Black and white people could shake hands, but only if the black person did not look the white person in the eye.
C) Black men were never to look at, and certainly never to touch, white women.
D) White people were not expected to use any term of respect when speaking to a black person.

Question 25

What was the effect of the Plessy v. Ferguson decision?

A) The Supreme Court basically made the Tenth Amendment completely ineffective for blacks.
B) The Supreme Court declared that Alabama's segregation laws were acceptable under the constitution.
C) It demonstrated that the highest court in the land accepted unequal, discriminatory treatment of blacks.
D) It eliminated segregation in public facilities.

Question 26

Which of the following is true about the opponents of migration?

A) Whites were always happy that blacks were leaving in some areas.
B) Some blacks felt that the South was the best place for blacks.
C) Opponents of migration argued that blacks should stay because political equality in the South would allow blacks to become rich landowners.
D) .No one really opposed migration for blacks from the South.

Question 27

What was not a reason to promote migration?

A) The railroads saw it as a way to make more money.
B) White southerners hoped to get rid of their black populations.
C) Blacks hoped to find a better, less restrictive life.
D) Northern communities wanted to encourage more voters to their areas.

Question 28

What were the similarities between the racial violence in Washington County, Texas, in 1886 and Phoenix, South Carolina, in 1898?

A) Both involved the alleged rape of a white woman by a black man.
B) Both involved instances where blacks were protesting segregation.
C) In both instances, whites were attempting to maintain, or gain, political control.
D) Both involved instances where groups of blacks attempted to register to vote.

Question 29

What was "Liberia Fever"?

A) a disease similar to malaria, which killed many of the black migrants to that country
B) a strong desire to leave America for the African colony of Liberia
C) an interest in African culture and artifacts
D) a ship that took many people to Africa, until white southerners sank it shortly before the Civil War

Question 30

What was the result of black protest of segregated transportation?

A) In a few cities, they reversed segregation, but not permanently.
B) Southern officials paid no attention to the protests.
C) Blacks who protested got some significant gains, but would not see further action until the 1960s.
D) Blacks refused to protest segregated transportation, fearing outbreaks of violence.

Question 31

What was the stated reason given for many lynchings?

A) White people were afraid of blacks gaining political power.
B) Blacks had murdered a white man.
C) A black man raped a white woman.
D) Blacks had started some sort of violent protest.

Question 32

Which is a true statement about lynching?

A) Whites were actually lynched in greater numbers, but without much of the violence.
B) Only blacks were lynched.
C) Lynchings were another way to prove white supremacy.
D) Lynchings were not really something most blacks had to worry about.

Question 33

Who was the last black man from the South to serve in Congress until Andrew Young in 1972?

A) George H. White
B) Frederick Douglass
C) Hiram Revels
D) Booker T. Washington

Question 34

What is true about the number of lynchings in the South over the period 1889-1932?

A) About two to three people were lynched every week.
B) It was actually very small, although the black press constantly reported false occurrences.
C) About ten people were lynched daily, in the South alone.
D) No statistics were ever kept about the numbers of lynchings.

Question 35

If lynching victims were predominantly male, what type of violence were many black women subjected to?

A) Many were subjected to rape by white men.
B) Whites actually lynched black men and women in equal numbers.
C) Black women were always cheated out of their earnings by whites.
D) Black women had to endure threats of violence against their children.

Question 36

What is true about most rural black families in the South after Reconstruction?

A) Many were attaining close to high school level education.
B) Their diet was adequate, and although not up to today's standards, fairly balanced.
C) They generally stayed in the South, under desperate conditions of poverty.
D) Rural black families often had some levels of savings, although they were never rich.

Question 37

Where were black migrants of the late nineteenth century least likely to go?

A) Kansas
B) Africa
C) Oklahoma or Arkansas
D) the North

Question 38

How did blacks not react to segregation laws regarding streetcars?

A) They attempted to form separate transportation companies.
B) They held boycotts and sit-ins in cities across the South.
C) They walked rather than rode the cars, seriously hurting the streetcar companies economically.
D) Streetcar segregation was the one public transportation that blacks accepted as needing to be segregated, because of the high level of violence surrounding it.

Question 39

What do the actions of Homer Plessy tell us about black people and segregation?

A) Blacks were very afraid of the KKK during this period.
B) Some blacks were willing to test the laws by being arrested and trying cases in court.
C) Blacks would risk being sent to jail rather than test segregation laws.
D) Blacks would protest with outright violence and murder when provoked.

Question 40

What incident prompted the racial violence in Wilmington, North Carolina?

A) The KKK held a very large parade downtown.
B) A black newspaper editor suggested that white women were voluntarily having sexual relations with black men.
C) Blacks decided that only violence would end segregation.
D) A young black woman decided that she would sit in the white section of a streetcar.

Question 41

What was a typical characteristic of sharecropping for blacks?

A) Blacks generally could dispute the landowner's valuation of crops or goods.
B) Courts and whites in general refused to accept the word of a black person over a white person.
C) Merchants paid equal prices to blacks than to whites.
D) Contracts had to be written, and had to filed in court..

Question 42

___________________ was generally the equivalent of enslavement. A black family would get into debt and would not be allowed to leave the land until it had paid off the debt.

Question 43

What was a "crop lien"?

A) Merchants, in exchange for goods and products needed at a general store, would have a legal claim to part of the black family's crop.
B) These were crops planted in an African style, leaning against a fence. White farmers frequently thought black agricultural techniques were inefficient and backwards.
C) This was the use of a year's crop for a gambling debt.
D) It meant that crops were used to get a loan from a bank.

Question 44

What is true about black land ownership between 1870 and 1900?

A) It fell from Reconstruction times, as the government took land away from blacks.
B) It fell as many blacks left the area or were forced to give up land because of debts.
C) It remained stagnant over the time period.
D) It increased at enormous rates.

Question 45

What system did white southerners devise for convicts, which provided very cheap (and mostly black) labor for businessmen?

Question 46

What is true about the justice system in the South after Reconstruction?

A) Some blacks were allowed to serve on juries, as long as they were prominent leaders and showed proper deference to whites.
B) Black defendants always received very harsh punishments, regardless of whom they knew or whom they worked for.
C) Blacks often were not charged with crimes like adultery and bigamy.
D) Generally, the system of justice in the South was balanced to a certain extent..