Grade 6
Name Date
Read the selection then answer the questions that follow it.
Slaves No More
Excerpt from: The Great Migration By Monica Halpern
©2002 National Geographic Society
The Civil War ended slavery but left the South a ruined land. The nation’s lawmakers wanted to rebuild the South in a new and better way. The rebuilding of the South was called Reconstruction (1865-1877). In 1865 Congress set up the Freedman’s Bureau to help make life better for the freed African Americans. The Bureau provided food, clothing, housing, medical care, jobs, and schools. Congress passed laws giving African Americans the right to vote, hold office, and own land. At last, African Americans would have equal rights.
Many people in the South were not ready to accept African Americans as equals. They wanted things to remain as they had been before the Civil War. Southern states passed laws called Black Codes. These laws limited African Americans’ right to own land and to work and live where they wanted. Some codes set curfews and allowed officials to arrest unemployed African Americans.
As southern lawmakers regained power, they continued to make it hard for African Americans to improve their lives. By 1877 Reconstruction was over. African Americans had lost many of the rights they had gained.
Voting Restrictions
After Reconstruction ended, southern lawmakers passed laws to keep African Americans from voting. Some states required voters to be able to read and understand any section of the state constitution. Without an education, most African Americans could not do this. Other states required a poll tax, which kept the very poor from voting. Still other states required voters to own a certain amount of property. Few African Americans owned property. Without the right to vote, African Americans could not choose their leaders.
Jim Crow Laws
Southern lawmakers passed other new laws that limited the rights of African Americans. These “Jim Crow” laws required the segregation, or separation, of white and black people. Blacks and whites could not be educated at the same schools or treated in the same hospitals. Blacks had to sit in separate sections in restaurants, movie theaters, public parks, and on public transportation.
Earning a Living
As slaves, most African Americans had been trained to make a living by farming. Without an education, few could do anything else. Once the Civil War ended, most African Americans stayed near or on the land they had worked as slaves. Most became sharecroppers, renting and working land owned by white landowners.
Each spring, sharecroppers borrowed money to buy seed and fertilizer. After the harvest, the sharecroppers had to pay back what they owed. They split their earnings with the landowner and kept whatever was left. In some years, the farmers did not make enough money to pay back all they had borrowed. They sank deeper into debt.
Education
Every family member was needed to work on the farm at busy times of year, even the youngest. Most African American children had little time to go to school. Yet African Americans wanted their children to have an education. Education was their only chance to make a better life for themselves.
The separate schools for African Americans were poor in every way. School buildings were old and poorly equipped. The few textbooks were old and out-of-date. Classes were large. Teachers were poorly trained, if at all. And the school year was so short that students could receive only the most basic education. However, African Americans found strength in their own community.
FILL IN THE CIRCLE BY THE CORRECT ANSWER
1. After Reconstruction many African Americans did not vote because:
m A. they did not think it was important.
m B. some states passed laws that restricted them from voting.
m C. they were too busy working on the farms as sharecroppers.
m D. Jim Crow laws prevented them from owning land or getting a good education.
2. If African Americans had been allowed to vote soon after Reconstruction,
m A. then they would have passed Jim Crow laws sooner.
m B. then they would have become sharecroppers sooner and lived under laws called Black Codes instead of Jim Crow laws.
m C. then they could have chosen their own leaders and passed laws that were fair.
m D. nothing would have changed in their lives.
3. Read the first sentence in the box below, then answer the question that follows.
Summary
Life in the South was difficult for African Americans after the Civil War.
Which set of sentences best finishes the summary of this story?
m A. Therefore Congress created the Freedmen’s Bureau. The Freedmen’s Bureau gave African Americans equal rights and gave them the opportunity to have a better life.
m B. “Jim Crow” laws and Black Codes made life easier for them, but they still had inadequate schools and had to work as sharecroppers. However, they found strength in their own community.
m C. Unfair laws were passed that restricted African Americans’ voting rights and segregated them from white people. Many of them had to work on farms owned by white people and their schools were not very good.
m D. They had to work hard on farms and go to school as well. After they were given the right to vote, their schools improved and they got better jobs.
4. What was the main industry in the South before and after the Civil War?
m A. Farming/Agriculture
m B. Education
m C. Construction/Architecture
m D. Mining
5. The Freedmen’s Bureau was set up
m A. before the Civil War.
m B. after Jim Crow laws were passed before Reconstruction.
m C. after Reconstruction but before the Civil War.
m D. after the Civil War but before Reconstruction.
6. The events that are described in this passage happened in which of the following states:
m A. Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois
m B. Georgia, Mississippi, and Virginia
m C. Texas, California, and Arizona
m D. New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania
7. Sharecropping was not a profitable business for African Americans because
m A. they were dependent on white landowners.
m B. they were not able to keep all of their earnings.
m C. they often did not make enough money to pay back all that they had borrowed.
m D. all of the above
8. Segregation
m A. was a fair way to treat African Americans and white people.
m B. kept African Americans from going to the same schools and hospitals as white people.
m C. created equal rights for African Americans.
m D. forced African Americans to pay poll taxes.
9. The diagram below shows events from the passage in the order that they occurred. Use the diagram to answer the next question.
Which of these belongs in the empty box?
m A. After Reconstruction southern lawmakers began restricting the rights of African Americans.
m B. Then Black Codes were passed giving African Americans equal rights.
m C. Then Jim Crow became a southern leader.
m D. African Americans had to find strength in their own community.
10. What could be another title for this story?
m A. African American Life in the South after Reconstruction
m B. Poorly Equipped Schools for African Americans
m C. The Civil War and Slavery
m D. Unfair Laws and Bad Schools for Southerners