AP US History Quiz: The New South

What this quiz covers

This quiz focuses on The New South, giving you a quick way to practice the rules, question types, and explanations that matter most for AP US History.

How to use this quiz

Try each quiz question before looking at the correct answer. Use the explanations to review missed ideas, then come back to similar questions until the pattern feels familiar.

Question 1

1. Challenging segregation laws in court, as in Homer Plessy's test case against Louisiana's Separate Car Act (correct answer)
2. Passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through a southern-dominated Congress
3. Winning Brown v. Board of Education in 1896 to desegregate schools
4. Creating the Works Progress Administration to employ Black workers in the 1880s
5. Establishing the Montgomery bus boycott during the 1890s

Explanation: This question tests understanding of African American legal resistance to segregation during the New South period, focusing on court challenges as one form of resistance alongside migration and institution-building. The historian emphasizes various forms of resistance to legal segregation and violence. Choice A correctly identifies challenging segregation laws in court, as exemplified by Homer Plessy's test case against Louisiana's Separate Car Act, as the best example of legal resistance during this period. Plessy's case, though ultimately unsuccessful, represented organized legal challenges to segregation statutes. Choice B is incorrect because the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed much later and during a period when Congress was not southern-dominated.

Question 2

1. Fluctuating international cotton prices reducing farm income while fixed debts remained (correct answer)
2. A global shortage of cotton that guaranteed high profits for all southern farmers every year
3. International tariffs that completely prevented the export of southern cotton after 1877
4. A worldwide shift from textile production to synthetic fabrics in the 1880s eliminating demand
5. The gold standard automatically raising crop prices in the South regardless of supply and demand

Explanation: This question examines how global market forces contributed to rural poverty in the New South, particularly through the relationship between international cotton prices and local debt structures. The author argues that world cotton prices and soil exhaustion contributed to recurring hardship despite industrialization rhetoric. Choice A correctly identifies the most direct link: fluctuating international cotton prices reducing farm income while fixed debts remained created a situation where farmers faced income volatility but consistent debt obligations. When cotton prices fell on world markets, southern farmers earned less but still owed the same amounts to merchants and landlords, creating cycles of debt and poverty. Choice B is incorrect because there was no consistent global cotton shortage guaranteeing high profits.

Question 3

1. Black farmers being forced into exploitative labor arrangements through debt and contract manipulation (correct answer)
2. Federal reparations payments to formerly enslaved people eliminating economic inequality by 1885
3. Equal access to bank loans for Black entrepreneurs guaranteed by state law
4. The abolition of the crop-lien system by unanimous vote of southern legislatures
5. A regionwide shift to profit-sharing cooperatives owned primarily by Black tenants

Explanation: This question examines how economic pressure served as a tool of white supremacy in the New South, complementing political exclusion and violence. The historian emphasizes job discrimination and debt peonage as mechanisms of control that maintained racial hierarchy through economic means rather than solely through explicit violence. Choice A correctly fits this argument: Black farmers being forced into exploitative labor arrangements through debt and contract manipulation demonstrates how economic pressure maintained white supremacy. Systems like crop liens, sharecropping contracts, and debt peonage trapped Black farmers in dependent relationships that limited their economic freedom and maintained racial subordination. Choice B is incorrect because federal reparations payments were never made to formerly enslaved people.

Question 4

1. The rise of Populist-Republican biracial coalitions that controlled most southern legislatures by 1892
2. The decline of Democratic Party dominance as Reconstruction governments returned to power
3. The establishment of one-party Democratic rule through disfranchisement and intimidation (correct answer)
4. The expansion of federally protected Black officeholding after the Compromise of 1877
5. The replacement of state governments by corporate boards in major southern cities

Explanation: This question tests understanding of political consolidation in the New South, where Democratic leaders used 'progress' rhetoric while maintaining systems that favored elites and suppressed Black civil rights. The historian emphasizes how this consolidation protected existing power structures. Choice C correctly identifies the establishment of one-party Democratic rule through disfranchisement and intimidation as the key trend reflecting this political consolidation. This system eliminated political competition and Black participation, ensuring elite control while maintaining the appearance of democratic government. Choice A is incorrect because Populist-Republican biracial coalitions were largely unsuccessful and did not control most southern legislatures.

Question 5

1. The Compromise of 1877 and the withdrawal of federal troops from the South (correct answer)
2. The issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863
3. The passage of the Homestead Act in 1862
4. The ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920
5. The creation of the Federal Reserve System in 1913

Explanation: This question tests knowledge of the event that symbolized the transition from Reconstruction to the New South era at the national level. The excerpt describes how the end of Reconstruction removed federal protection for Black civil rights and enabled Redeemer Democrats to regain control, reshaping race relations and political participation. Choice A correctly identifies the Compromise of 1877 and the withdrawal of federal troops from the South as the event that most directly symbolizes this transition. This compromise ended federal military protection for Black civil rights in exchange for Republican Rutherford B. Hayes becoming president, marking the definitive end of Reconstruction. Choice B, the Emancipation Proclamation, occurred during the Civil War and is chronologically incorrect for this context.

Question 6

1. The rise of 'Blue-Gray' reunions and shared commemoration that emphasized soldier valor over emancipation (correct answer)
2. A renewed push for Radical Reconstruction and land redistribution in the 1880s
3. The expansion of federal protection for Black voting through permanent troop deployments
4. A national boycott of southern products until the South desegregated in 1890
5. The adoption of integrated Confederate memorials celebrating multiracial democracy

Explanation: This question examines elite-driven sectional reconciliation that often ignored African American rights during the New South era. The historian argues that while elites promoted harmony between North and South, this reconciliation frequently came at the expense of Black civil rights and historical memory. Choice A correctly illustrates this pattern: the rise of 'Blue-Gray' reunions and shared commemoration that emphasized soldier valor over emancipation demonstrates how reconciliation narratives focused on white reconciliation while minimizing the significance of slavery and Black freedom. These reunions celebrated the bravery of both Union and Confederate soldiers while downplaying the war's connection to slavery. Choice B is incorrect because there was no renewed push for Radical Reconstruction in the 1880s.

Question 7

1. Census data showing that a majority of southern workers remained employed in agriculture in 1900 (correct answer)
2. A complete end to tenancy as factory wages replaced farm income for most families by 1890
3. A steep decline in cotton acreage because nearly all land was converted to urban housing
4. Southern states leading the nation in industrial employment by 1885
5. The disappearance of rural counties as state boundaries were redrawn into city-states

Explanation: This question examines evidence for the persistence of agricultural employment in the New South despite industrial growth and booster claims about factory development. The author argues that industrialization did not fundamentally alter the region's occupational structure. Choice A provides the best supporting evidence: census data showing that a majority of southern workers remained employed in agriculture in 1900 directly demonstrates that farming continued to dominate southern employment despite industrial promotion. This statistical evidence contradicts claims that factory jobs had replaced agricultural work for most southerners. Choice B is incorrect because tenancy actually persisted rather than ended, and factory wages did not replace farm income for most families.

Question 8

1. Marbury v. Madison (1803), by establishing judicial review
2. Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), by denying Congress's power to regulate slavery in territories
3. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), by endorsing "separate but equal" (correct answer)
4. Brown v. Board of Education (1954), by overturning school segregation
5. Worcester v. Georgia (1832), by limiting state authority over Native nations

Explanation: This question tests knowledge of which Supreme Court decision legally sanctioned segregation in the New South era. The passage describes how segregation became more formal and legally entrenched after Reconstruction. The correct answer C identifies Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), which established the "separate but equal" doctrine that provided constitutional justification for state-mandated segregation. This decision directly strengthened the trend toward formal segregation by giving it the Supreme Court's approval, allowing states to legally enforce racial separation in public facilities. Option D, Brown v. Board of Education (1954), actually overturned segregation decades later rather than strengthening it, making it clearly incorrect.

Question 9

1. Railroads primarily isolated the South from national markets and slowed industrialization
2. Railroads integrated the South into a national economy while often deepening dependency on northern capital (correct answer)
3. Railroads eliminated racial segregation by creating integrated labor unions across the region
4. Railroads ended cotton production by shifting farmers to exclusively manufacturing work
5. Railroads were largely irrelevant because most southern goods moved only by canals

Explanation: This question assesses understanding of railroads' complex impact on the New South economy. The passage presents a nuanced view where railroads both connected markets and enabled resource extraction by outside investors. The correct answer B captures this mixed impact by noting that railroads integrated the South into the national economy while deepening dependency on northern capital. This interpretation acknowledges both the modernizing effects of rail connections and the extractive relationship that often resulted, with profits flowing out of the region. Option A incorrectly claims railroads isolated the South and slowed industrialization, which contradicts historical evidence of railroads facilitating industrial growth.

Question 10

1. Lynching primarily declined in the 1880s because Redeemer governments prioritized equal protection under law
2. Racial violence was unrelated to politics and occurred only in response to natural disasters
3. Lynching served to intimidate African Americans and reinforce white supremacy as formal protections weakened (correct answer)
4. Lynching was a federal policy designed to replace jury trials in rural areas
5. Racial violence ended because the Supreme Court banned segregation in the 1890s

Explanation: This question assesses understanding of lynching and racial violence as tools of social control in the New South era. The historian argues that such violence functioned to maintain racial hierarchy amid economic and political changes, particularly as formal legal protections weakened after Reconstruction. Choice C correctly interprets this function: lynching served to intimidate African Americans and reinforce white supremacy as formal protections weakened. This extralegal violence filled the gap left by reduced federal enforcement, serving as a mechanism of social control that maintained the racial caste system. Choice A is incorrect because lynching actually increased rather than declined during the 1880s and was not prevented by Redeemer governments.

Question 11

1. Land reform or easier access to low-interest credit for small farmers (correct answer)
2. Stricter enforcement of segregation laws to promote 'order' in public spaces
3. A return to plantation slavery to increase agricultural efficiency
4. Eliminating public schools to reduce government spending
5. Raising tariffs to discourage the growth of southern textile mills

Explanation: This question examines structural problems in the New South economy and what reforms would address them. The excerpt argues that political leaders blamed individual failings for poverty rather than addressing structural issues like unequal land distribution and discriminatory credit systems. Choice A correctly identifies land reform or easier access to low-interest credit for small farmers as reforms that would directly challenge these structural problems. Such reforms would address the root causes of rural poverty by providing farmers with either ownership of land or access to fair credit, breaking the cycles of dependency created by tenancy and crop-lien systems. Choice B is incorrect because stricter segregation would reinforce rather than challenge structural inequalities.

Question 12

1. The widespread celebration of Radical Reconstruction as the South's greatest democratic achievement
2. The decline of Confederate memorialization as southern states banned public monuments
3. The proliferation of Confederate monuments and textbooks portraying slavery as benign (correct answer)
4. The immediate desegregation of public spaces to honor Union victory
5. The replacement of state history curricula with federally written antiracist materials in the 1890s

Explanation: This question tests knowledge of the Lost Cause narrative's influence on New South culture and memory. The Lost Cause romanticized the Confederacy, minimized slavery's role in causing the Civil War, and helped justify the post-Reconstruction racial order by portraying antebellum society positively. Choice C correctly identifies the proliferation of Confederate monuments and textbooks portraying slavery as benign as direct outcomes of Lost Cause influence. These cultural productions reinforced white supremacist interpretations of history and legitimized segregation by suggesting that antebellum racial arrangements had been beneficial. Choice A is incorrect because the Lost Cause narrative actually minimized rather than celebrated Reconstruction as a democratic achievement.

Question 13

1. A system in which states leased prisoners—disproportionately African American—to private employers for labor (correct answer)
2. A federal program granting land to former slaves in exchange for industrial apprenticeships
3. A voluntary arrangement where unions placed unemployed workers with factories for training
4. A policy requiring plantation owners to provide wages and benefits to all tenant farmers
5. A court decision prohibiting forced labor for any incarcerated person in the South

Explanation: This question tests knowledge of convict leasing, a system that exemplified continuity with slavery-era coercion in the New South despite modernization rhetoric. Convict leasing involved states leasing prisoners to private employers for labor, with African Americans disproportionately targeted through discriminatory law enforcement and sentencing. Choice A correctly describes this system where states profited by leasing prisoners to private companies for mining, railroad construction, and other dangerous work. This system provided cheap labor while maintaining racial control, demonstrating how 'modernization' masked continued coercive labor practices. Choice B is incorrect because convict leasing involved state-sanctioned forced labor, not federal land grants or apprenticeships.

Question 14

1. It generally enabled tenants to accumulate savings and purchase land quickly due to favorable profit-sharing
2. It often trapped tenants in debt because landlords and merchants controlled credit, supplies, and crop settlement (correct answer)
3. It replaced cash-crop farming with subsistence agriculture by discouraging market production
4. It ended the use of cotton as a staple by requiring crop rotation enforced by federal agents
5. It was a short-lived system limited to the 1860s and largely gone by 1875

Explanation: This question tests understanding of sharecropping's economic effects in the New South agricultural system. The system emerged from the need to reorganize labor after slavery, but typically created exploitative arrangements that trapped tenants in debt cycles. Choice B accurately describes the typical economic effect: sharecropping often trapped tenants in debt because landlords and merchants controlled credit, supplies, and crop settlement. Landlords provided land and supplies on credit, while merchants advanced goods against future crops, creating a system where tenants frequently owed more than their share of the harvest was worth. Choice A is incorrect because sharecropping typically prevented rather than enabled land accumulation due to the debt cycles it created.

Question 15

1. A dramatic increase in Black voter turnout due to expanded federal oversight after 1877
2. The entrenchment of Jim Crow laws and voting restrictions that reduced African American political power (correct answer)
3. The abolition of poll taxes and literacy tests to encourage broader democratic participation
4. The creation of integrated public school systems across the South in the 1880s
5. The replacement of state governments by federally appointed administrators throughout the region

Explanation: This question assesses knowledge of how the New South's political order maintained white supremacy despite rhetoric of reconciliation and progress. The secondary source describes how the 'New South Creed' masked the entrenchment of disfranchisement and segregation to protect a low-wage labor system. Choice B directly aligns with this argument by identifying the entrenchment of Jim Crow laws and voting restrictions that reduced African American political power. These measures were central to stabilizing the social order mentioned in the excerpt while maintaining white supremacy and cheap labor. Choice A is incorrect because federal oversight actually decreased after 1877, leading to reduced rather than increased Black voter turnout.

Question 16

1. Large railroad and mining companies consolidating control over transportation and resources (correct answer)
2. The decline of all large businesses as southern states outlawed corporations
3. The return to household artisan production as factories closed across the region
4. A shift to government-owned cooperatives as the primary mode of production
5. The disappearance of national markets due to the end of interstate commerce

Explanation: This question examines the rise of corporate influence in the New South economy, focusing on how new corporate forms and market integration intensified inequality and concentrated wealth. The author points to the growing power of industrialists and the concentration of wealth among elites. Choice A correctly reflects this rise of corporate influence: large railroad and mining companies consolidating control over transportation and resources demonstrates how corporations gained dominant positions in key sectors of the New South economy. These corporations often had outside capital and could dominate local markets and resources. Choice B is incorrect because large businesses actually grew rather than declined, and southern states generally welcomed rather than outlawed corporations.

Question 17

1. They were never enforced and existed only as symbolic gestures to appease northern critics
2. They were applied uniformly and therefore increased Black political influence by standardizing elections
3. They allowed local officials broad discretion to disqualify Black voters while exempting many whites through loopholes (correct answer)
4. They were required by the Fifteenth Amendment as a condition for southern readmission to the Union
5. They were enforced mainly in northern states and had little impact in the South

Explanation: This question examines how ostensibly race-neutral voting restrictions were applied discriminatorily to reduce African American political participation in the New South. The historian argues that these measures used local discretion to achieve racially biased results while appearing legally neutral. Choice C correctly explains how such measures worked in practice: they allowed local officials broad discretion to disqualify Black voters while exempting many whites through loopholes. Poll taxes and literacy tests could be waived or applied leniently for whites while being strictly enforced against Blacks, achieving discriminatory results without explicitly racial language. Choice A is incorrect because these measures were actively enforced, particularly against Black voters.

Question 18

1. Strong national labor unions forced employers to hire entire families under closed-shop rules
2. A surplus of impoverished laborers and weak labor protections allowed employers to minimize wages (correct answer)
3. Federal mandates required factories to employ children as part of compulsory vocational education
4. Southern states adopted European-style welfare systems that subsidized low-paid industrial work
5. Most southern industry was owned by the federal government, which set uniform wage scales

Explanation: This question examines the labor conditions that enabled exploitative practices in New South industries, particularly the use of child labor and low wages in textile mills. The key factor was the abundance of impoverished workers who lacked alternatives and bargaining power, combined with weak labor protections. Choice B correctly identifies this dynamic: a surplus of poor laborers desperate for work, along with minimal government regulation or union protection, allowed employers to minimize wages and use exploitative practices like child labor. This labor surplus resulted from agricultural displacement and limited economic alternatives in the region. Choice A is incorrect because strong national labor unions had little influence in the anti-union South.

Question 19

1. Southern states leading the nation in steel production and patent registrations by 1890
2. A higher rate of southern urbanization than northern urbanization during the 1880s
3. Continued dominance of cotton exports and lower levels of manufacturing investment compared to the North (correct answer)
4. The South's near-total replacement of railroads with canals as the primary transportation network
5. A national decline in factory production due to the end of Reconstruction policies

Explanation: This question assesses understanding of the New South's limited industrial development compared to northern regions. The excerpt argues that despite urban growth, the South remained behind the North in per capita income and industrial output due to limited capital access and continued agricultural dependence. Choice C provides the strongest supporting evidence: continued dominance of cotton exports and lower manufacturing investment levels compared to the North directly demonstrate the lag in industrial development. This evidence shows the persistence of agricultural dependency and limited capital formation that the excerpt identifies as constraints. Choice A is incorrect because the South did not lead in steel production or patents during this period.

Question 20

1. Southern states spending more per pupil than northern states and achieving higher literacy rates by 1890
2. Segregated school systems with large funding disparities and short school terms for Black children (correct answer)
3. A federal constitutional amendment in 1888 guaranteeing equal school funding nationwide
4. Universal free college education across the South funded by high corporate taxes
5. The elimination of public schooling as churches replaced all state-run education

Explanation: This question examines how underfunded education systems in the New South, particularly for African Americans, helped maintain a low-wage labor force and limited social mobility. The historian argues that educational underinvestment was deliberate policy to preserve existing economic structures. Choice B provides the best supporting evidence: segregated school systems with large funding disparities and short school terms for Black children directly demonstrates how educational underinvestment limited opportunities and maintained economic inequality. This system ensured that most Black southerners had limited educational opportunities, restricting their access to higher-paying jobs. Choice A is incorrect because southern states generally spent less per pupil than northern states, especially for Black students.