The Reconstruction Era was a fascinating yet complex period in American history that followed the Civil War. It was a time of great change and progress, but also of continued struggle and tension. Riddles can be a fun way to engage with history and test your knowledge. Below are 59 riddles about key events, people, policies, and themes of the Reconstruction Era, along with their answers.
People
Q: I was president after Lincoln’s assassination and clashed with Radical Republicans over reconstructing the South. Who am I?
A: Andrew Johnson
Q: I was a politician and activist who founded the National Woman Suffrage Association in 1869. My name?
A: Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Q: Born into slavery, I became a key leader of the abolitionist movement and a famous orator for the rights of African Americans and women. My identity?
A: Frederick Douglass
Q: I served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. I oversaw part of Reconstruction and took a moderate stance on civil rights. Who am I?
A: Ulysses S. Grant
Q: I was a Radical Republican congressman who drafted the 14th Amendment guaranteeing citizenship and equal rights for African Americans. My name?
A: John Bingham
Events
Q: In 1865, this group was founded and used violence to try to restore Democratic control of the South. What was it called?
A: Ku Klux Klan
Q: The Compromise of 1877 ended Reconstruction in exchange for this candidate becoming president after a disputed election.
A: Rutherford B. Hayes
Q: In 1866, Congress overrode President Johnson’s veto of this act that gave African Americans citizenship and civil rights.
A: Civil Rights Act of 1866
Q: This 1868 amendment to the Constitution granted citizenship and equal protection under the law to African Americans.
A: 14th Amendment
Q: In 1870, this 15th amendment prohibited states from denying citizens the vote based on race, color or previous condition of servitude.
A: 15th Amendment
Policies
Q: This term refers to Southern states rejoining the Union after the Civil War.
A: Reconstruction
Q: This was a federal agency created in 1865 to assist freed slaves in the South.
A: Freedmen’s Bureau
Q: These laws limited the rights of freed slaves in the South after the Civil War.
A: Black Codes
Q: Military governments were set up in the former Confederate states during this phase of Reconstruction from 1867-1868.
A: Radical Reconstruction
Q: Land redistribution programs were promised to freed slaves during this early Reconstruction plan proposed by Radical Republicans.
A: 40 acres and a mule
Themes
Q: This term refers to Northerners who moved to the South after the Civil War, including government workers, teachers, and more.
A: Carpetbaggers
Q: This word described Southern whites who cooperated with Reconstruction policies after the Civil War.
A: Scalawags
Q: This was a social and economic system in the South that kept whites dominant over blacks after slavery.
A: Sharecropping
Q: The Reconstruction Era saw advances in rights and reforms, but this continued to be an issue.
A: Racism
Q: This amendment banning slavery was passed by Congress in 1865.
A: 13th Amendment
Literature
Q: This 1866 book by Helen Hunt Jackson condemned the U.S. treatment of Native Americans.
A: A Century of Dishonor
Q: This Mark Twain novel published in 1884 satirized corruption and racism in Southern politics during Reconstruction.
A: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Q: This prominent African American author published the novel Clotel in 1867 about interracial relations in the antebellum South.
A: William Wells Brown
Q: I wrote the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin before the Civil War that depicted slavery’s evils and helped spur abolitionism.
A: Harriet Beecher Stowe
Q: In 1880 I published A Voice from the South, making me the first African American woman to publish a book. Who am I?
A: Anna Julia Cooper
Politics
Q: These Reconstruction opponents labeled themselves this in reference to Andrew Johnson’s Democrats.
A: Conservatives
Q: This term referred to Southern Democrats who regained power in 1876 and promoted white supremacy.
A: Redeemers
Q: This Republican president oversaw the end of Reconstruction when he withdrew federal troops from the South.
A: Rutherford B. Hayes
Q: The disputed presidential election of 1876 between Hayes and this Democrat propelled the Compromise of 1877.
A: Samuel Tilden
Q: Military rule in the South ended after this 1868 presidential election won by Republican Ulysses S. Grant.
A: 1868 presidential election
Economics
Q: This crop was the primary moneymaker for the Southern economy after the Civil War.
A: Cotton
Q: Sharecropping became a common practice where tenant farmers worked land in exchange for a share of these.
A: Crops
Q: This 1862 law allowed Southerners to obtain homesteads on public land, aiding westward expansion.
A: Homestead Act
Q: The Southern Homestead Act of 1866 did this to try to open more land ownership for African Americans.
A: Opened public lands in Southern states
Q: The Southern economy stagnated after the Civil War during this period without economic growth.
A: Stagnation
Government
Q: These local clubs aimed to drive out Reconstruction-era Republicans from Southern politics.
A: White Leagues
Q: Military commanders governed Southern states during this phase of Reconstruction from 1865-1866.
A: Presidential Reconstruction
Q: This 1862 law allowed Lincoln to appoint military governors for Southern states during the Civil War.
A: Second Confiscation Act
Q: These Reconstruction Acts divided the South into districts with military governance until new state constitutions were made.
A: Reconstruction Acts of 1867
Q: The Freedmen’s Bureau was created under this 1865 law to aid former slaves after the Civil War.
A: Freedmen’s Bureau Act
Places
Q: In 1873, an economic crisis began with the failure of this bank owned by railroad builders Jay Cooke & Company.
A: Northern Pacific Railway
Q: The Panic of 1873 started this lengthy economic depression that impacted the nation.
A: Long Depression
Q: Much KKK activity was focused in this former Confederate state during Reconstruction.
A: Tennessee
Q: This Southern state saw a violent white supremacist uprising in 1873 led by the White League.
A: Louisiana
Q: Black voters held power for a period in this coastal South Carolina city known as “the black man’s paradise.”
A: Charleston
Culture
Q: The Dunning School refers to historians who portrayed this view of Reconstruction as a failure.
A: Racist
Q: The Romantic movement influenced this cultural style popular after the Civil War evoking nostalgia for the past.
A: Victorian
Q: Minstrel shows that mocked African Americans peaked in popularity during this postwar period.
A: Reconstruction Era
Q: Spirituals mixing African and Christian traditions developed among this group emerging from slavery.
A: African Americans
Q: Reconstruction saw the creation of public school systems, an innovation of this social reformer.
A: Horace Mann
Conclusion
The Reconstruction Era was a complex time of progression and regression in America. These riddles hopefully provided a fun way to engage with some of the key topics related to that period. From prominent figures like Frederick Douglass to destructive forces like the Ku Klux Klan, Reconstruction had profound and lasting impacts on the country. The era witnessed great steps forward in civil rights, but also persevering racism and resistance to change. This turbulent time was pivotal in shaping the nation that emerged from the ashes of the Civil War. While work remained unfinished, Reconstruction planted important seeds of progress that would continue to grow in the decades and centuries that followed.
