Question

Interview with Henry Blake, former Reconstruction-era sharecropper, Little Rock, Arkansas
After freedom, we worked on shares a while. Then we rented. When we worked on shares, we couldn’t make nothing, just overalls and something to eat. Half went to the other man and you would destroy your half if you weren’t careful. A man that didn’t know how to count would always lose. He might lose anyhow. They didn’t give no itemized statement. No, you just had to take their word. They never give you no details. They just say you owe so much. No matter how good account you kept, you had to go by their account and now, Brother, I’m tellin‘ you the truth about this. It’s been that way for a long time. You had to take the white man’s work on note, and everything. Anything you wanted, you could git if you were a good hand. You could git anything you wanted as long as you worked. If you didn’t make no money, that’s all right; they would advance you more. But you better not leave him, you better not try to leave and get caught. They’d keep you in debt. They were sharp.
Question 11: Sharecropping and economic continuity
Henry Blake’s account of sharecropping most strongly supports which historical conclusion?
A. Sharecropping allowed formerly enslaved people to achieve rapid independence
B. Debt peonage created economic conditions similar to slavery
C. Federal policies effectively protected Black farmers
D. Sharecropping eliminated racial inequality in the South
Horace Greeley, speech during his Presidential Campaign, 1872
From those who support me in the South I have heard but one demand—justice; but one desire— reconciliation. They wish to be heartily reunited with the North on any terms which do not involve the surrender of their manhood. They ask that they should be regarded and treated by the Federal authorities as citizens, not as culprits, so long as they obey and uphold every law consistent with equality and right. They desire a rule which, alike for white and black, shall encourage industry and thrift and discourage rapacity and villainy. They cherish a joyful hope, in which I fully concur, that between the 7fifth of November and the fourth of March next, a number of the governors and other dignitaries who in the absurd name of republicanism and loyalty have for years been piling debts and taxes upon their war-wasted States, will follow the wholesome example of Bullock of Georgia and seek the shades of private life. The darker and deeper those shades, the better for themselves and for mankind; and the hope that my election may hasten the much desired [flight] of thieving carpetbaggers has reconciled to the necessity of supporting me many who would otherwise have hesitated and probably refused.
Question 12: Horace Greeley and the end of Reconstruction
Horace Greeley’s 1872 campaign speech reflects which broader trend in post–Civil War politics?
A. Renewed commitment to federal enforcement of civil rights
B. Support for continued military occupation of the South
C. Growing Northern fatigue with Reconstruction
D. Expansion of Radical Republican influence

Answer 1

Question 11: B. Debt peonage created economic conditions similar to slavery.
- Blake describes chronic indebtedness, lack of transparent accounts, advances that tied workers to employers, and inability to leave — features of debt peonage that recreated coerced, dependent labor after emancipation.

Question 12: C. Growing Northern fatigue with Reconstruction.
- Greeley’s appeal for “reconciliation,” removal of “carpetbaggers,” and treating Southerners as citizens reflects Northern willingness to withdraw enforcement and abandon Reconstruction aims.