Reconstruction Study Guide
The period following the Civil War in which
congress passed laws designed to rebuild the
country and bring the southern states back into
the Union.
What is reconstruction?
What was a major problem in Virginia
after the Civil War?
What happened to Virginia’s economy
after the Civil War?
What was the Freedmen’s Bureau?
What was
sharecropping?
Millions of freed slaves needed
housing, clothing, food, and jobs.
It was in ruins because
-money had no value
-banks were closed
-railroads, bridges,
plantations, and crops were
destroyed
A government agency that provided food,
schools, and medical care for freed African
Americans and others in Virginia
A system common in Virginia after the war in
which freedmen and poor white farmers rented
land from a landowner by promising to pay the
owner with a share of the crop
What were two measures taken to
resolve some of the problems in
Virginia after the Civil War?
The establishment of the Freedmen’s Bureau
and Sharecropping
What is
segregation?
The separation of people, usually based on race
or religion
What is discrimination?
An unfair difference in the treatment of people
During Reconstruction what happened
to African Americans?
They began to have power in
Virginia’s government, and
men of all races could vote
John M. Gandy
4th Grade
2009-2010
1
What happened to African Americans
after Reconstruction?
The gains they had made
were lost because of “Jim
Crow” laws
What were the “Jim Crow” laws?
They were laws that established segregation or
separation of the races and reinforced
prejudices held by whites
What were some of the things that the
“Jim Crow” laws did?
-Unfair poll taxes and voting tests were
established to keep African American men from
voting
-African Americans found it very difficult to vote
or hold public office
-African Americans were forced to use separate
poor quality services such as drinking fountains,
restrooms, and restaurants
-African Americans and white children attended
separate schools
-There were tribal schools for some American
Indian children
What was a poll tax?
A tax that had to be paid in order to vote
What happened to Virginia cities after
the Civil War and Reconstruction?
They began to grow with people, businesses,
and factories
What was the most important factor in
the growth of cities after
Reconstruction?
The railroads
What three areas did the railroads help
expand?
John M. Gandy
4th Grade
Business
Agriculture
Industry
2009-2010
2
What Virginia cities really grew because Roanoke, Richmond, Norfolk, Newport News,
of the railroads?
Alexandria, Petersburg and Lynchburg
What did railroads
bring to cities?
People and jobs
What industry helped Tazewell county
grow?
Coal deposits
Where were coal deposits found?
Tazewell County and
other nearby
counties
Because of the growth in Virginia what
was needed?
There was a need for more and better roads
What became important industries in
Virginia after Reconstruction?
John M. Gandy
4th Grade
later
Tobacco farming and tobacco
products
2009-2010
3