Question

Which statement best describes a consequence of Reconstruction policies during the 1870s?
A. Reconstruction-era policies successfully restored the economy in the South and gave B. African Americans new opportunities.
C. Reconstruction-era policies often failed to protect African Americans from racial violence and safeguard their political rights.
Reconstruction-era policies created ironclad laws that prohibited legal segregation, although illegal segregation often occurred.
D. Reconstruction-era policies failed to establish any civil rights legislation, which would not be written until the 1960s.

Answer 1

C. Reconstruction-era policies often failed to protect African Americans from racial violence and safeguard their political rights.

Explanation: Although Reconstruction produced the 13th–15th Amendments and some federal protections, enforcement was weak, violent groups (e.g., the Ku Klux Klan), discriminatory state actions, and court rulings undermined those gains. The withdrawal of federal troops after the 1877 Compromise led to widespread disenfranchisement and racial violence in the South.