which of the following best describes the situation of freedmen in the decade following the civil war?
a. each was given 40 acres of land and a mule by the union government
b. all were immediately granted political equality by the Emancipation Proclamation
c. the majority entered sharecropping arrangements with former masters or other nearby planters
d. they were required to pass a literacy test before being granted U.S citizenship
e. they supported the passage of the black codes to ensure their economic and political rights.
is it c?
thanks!
Yes. C. is the right answer.
Although many chose to become "tenant farmers" as a means of survival, it was not the majority. I believe the correct answer is (b)
See also
http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1613
Ms Sue knows the subject better than I.
The Emancipation Proclamation was limited in its scope and did not guarantee political equality. The 15th Amendment, passed in 1870, did give all men the right to vote. However, it was still difficult in many places for blacks to cast their votes.
Yes, the correct answer is C. The majority of freedmen entered sharecropping arrangements with former masters or other nearby planters in the decade following the Civil War.
To arrive at this answer, we can eliminate options A, B, D, and E through the process of elimination.
A is incorrect because not all freedmen were given 40 acres of land and a mule by the Union government. Although this provision was proposed by General William T. Sherman and later enacted in some cases, it was not a widespread practice.
B is also incorrect since the Emancipation Proclamation did not grant political equality to all freedmen immediately. While it declared slaves in Confederate states to be free, it did not automatically grant them full political rights and equality.
D is incorrect because freedmen were not required to pass a literacy test before being granted U.S citizenship. The literacy test requirement was introduced later through Jim Crow laws to restrict voting rights.
E is incorrect because the black codes were actually laws that were implemented to restrict the economic and political rights of African Americans, not something that freedmen themselves supported.
Hence, option C is the most accurate answer, as sharecropping was a prevalent arrangement in which freedmen became tenant farmers on the land of former slaveholders or nearby planters.