AP African American Studies Practice Quiz: Black Codes, Land, and Labor
Written by AP Content Team, Verified for 2026 AP Exams, Last updated: May 2026
Test your understanding with short quizzes. This quiz has 16 questions to check your progress.
Question 1 of 16
All Questions (16)
A) To provide economic support for newly freed African Americans.
B) To restore the social controls and surveillance of earlier slave codes.
C) To facilitate the redistribution of land to formerly enslaved families.
D) To encourage African American migration to northern states.
Correct Answer: B
Point 3 explicitly states, 'Black Codes aimed to restore the social controls and surveillance of earlier slave codes.' The other options are contradicted by the provided content.
A) To establish a system of convict leasing for southern prisons.
B) To create annual labor contracts for all formerly enslaved people.
C) To redistribute approximately 400,000 acres of land to newly freed families.
D) To revoke all property claims of former Confederate landowners.
Correct Answer: C
Point 6 details that Sherman's order 'aimed to redistribute about 400,000 acres of land between South Carolina and Florida to newly freed African American families in segments of 40 acres.'
A) They received full ownership of the land after a period of paid labor.
B) They were provided land and equipment in exchange for a large portion of their crops.
C) They were paid a high wage for their labor, allowing for rapid economic advancement.
D) They were given credit for supplies which they easily paid back after the harvest.
Correct Answer: B
Point 8 explains that in sharecropping, 'landowners provided land and equipment... who were required in exchange to return a large share of the crops to the landowner,' which made advancement difficult.
A) Granting them 40-acre plots of land with high taxes.
B) Requiring them to enter into low-paying annual labor contracts.
C) Offering them high-interest loans through the crop lien system.
D) Forcing them to purchase farming equipment from landowners.
Correct Answer: B
Point 4 states that Black Codes restricted advancement by 'requiring entry into labor contracts. Many annual labor contracts provided very little pay.'
A) The expansion of land redistribution to include northern investors.
B) The establishment of federal protections for African American landowners.
C) The return of confiscated plantations to their former owners.
D) The creation of a system of paid apprenticeships for African American children.
Correct Answer: C
Point 7 clearly states that after President Johnson revoked the order, 'confiscated plantations were returned to their former owners or purchased by northern investors.'
A) A surplus of cash after a successful harvest.
B) The ability to purchase land from their creditors.
C) A vicious cycle of debt accumulation.
D) The formation of successful farming cooperatives.
Correct Answer: C
Point 9 describes how the system worked and concludes, 'Their harvested crops often did not generate enough money to repay the debt, creating a vicious cycle of debt accumulation.'
A) To provide vocational training and rehabilitation.
B) To allow prisoners to earn money to pay off their fines.
C) To generate profit for the prisons while prisoners worked without pay.
D) To fulfill the requirements of Sherman's Special Field Orders No. 15.
Correct Answer: C
Point 10 states that 'southern prisons profited by hiring out African American men... Prisoners worked without pay under conditions akin to those of slave labor.'
A) By prohibiting marriage between formerly enslaved people.
B) By requiring families to live on the plantations of their former owners.
C) By allowing the state to force their children into unpaid apprenticeships.
D) By mandating that only the father could sign a labor contract.
Correct Answer: C
Point 5 specifies that one set of Black Codes 'disrupted African American families by allowing their children to be taken by the state and forced to serve unpaid apprenticeships without their parents’ consent.'
A) They were able to purchase land from northern investors at low prices.
B) They were forced into sharecropping contracts after being evicted from their land.
C) They were imprisoned for vagrancy under the newly enacted Black Codes.
D) They received federal aid to start their own farms.
Correct Answer: B
Point 7 connects Johnson's revocation of the land order to the outcome that 'African Americans were evicted or shifted into sharecropping contracts.'
A) formally abolish the last remnants of the slave codes.
B) be a less restrictive and more humane version of slave codes.
C) replicate the social controls and surveillance of the slave codes.
D) apply the principles of slave codes to indigent white farmers as well.
Correct Answer: C
Point 3 explicitly states, 'Black Codes aimed to restore the social controls and surveillance of earlier slave codes.'
A) Being granted a 40-acre plot of land.
B) Being forced into an unpaid apprenticeship.
C) Being fined or imprisoned for vagrancy.
D) Being evicted and shifted into a sharecropping agreement.
Correct Answer: C
Point 4 states, '...those without a labor contract could be fined or imprisoned for vagrancy.'
A) were explicitly created by the Black Codes.
B) applied only to formerly enslaved African Americans.
C) often trapped farmers in a cycle of debt and economic dependence.
D) were overturned by President Andrew Johnson.
Correct Answer: C
Point 8 notes that sharecropping made economic advancement 'very difficult,' and Point 9 states that crop liens created a 'vicious cycle of debt accumulation.' Both systems led to economic dependence.
A) 10 acres
B) 40 acres
C) 100 acres
D) 400 acres
Correct Answer: B
Point 6 mentions the redistribution of land 'in segments of 40 acres.'
A) The federal government's commitment to land redistribution.
B) The use of coerced, unpaid labor for economic profit.
C) The system of providing supplies on credit against future harvests.
D) The legal protection of family structures.
Correct Answer: B
Point 10 describes prisoners working 'without pay under conditions akin to those of slave labor,' which directly connects to the coerced, unpaid labor system of slavery.
A) Antebellum Era
B) The Civil War
C) Presidential Reconstruction
D) Radical Reconstruction
Correct Answer: C
Point 3 states that 'In 1865 and 1866 during Presidential Reconstruction, many state governments enacted Black Codes.'
A) fulfill the promises of land ownership made by Union generals.
B) provide a stable and well-paid workforce for southern agriculture.
C) ensure the political and social equality of African Americans.
D) limit the economic independence and mobility of African Americans.
Correct Answer: D
Black Codes forced African Americans into labor contracts (Point 4), sharecropping made economic advancement difficult (Point 8), and convict leasing used prisoners for unpaid labor (Point 10). All of these systems worked to control labor and prevent economic independence and mobility.