AP African American Studies Practice Quiz: The Defeat of Reconstruction
Written by AP Content Team, Verified for 2026 AP Exams, Last updated: May 2026
Test your understanding with short quizzes. This quiz has 12 questions to check your progress.
Question 1 of 12
All Questions (12)
A) The Compromise of 1877
B) The Plessy v. Ferguson ruling
C) The implementation of literacy tests
D) The establishment of segregated railroad cars
Correct Answer: C
The provided text explicitly states that 'Black voting was suppressed through measures such as poll taxes, literacy tests, and grandfather clauses.' The other options were related events but not direct methods of voter suppression.
A) De jure segregation is unconstitutional.
B) Grandfather clauses are a legal form of voter suppression.
C) Racial segregation is permissible under the 'separate but equal' principle.
D) States cannot rewrite their constitutions to limit civil rights.
Correct Answer: C
According to the text, the Supreme Court ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896, upheld a segregation law and its doctrine of 'separate but equal' became the legal basis for racial segregation.
A) The Supreme Court immediately ruling on Plessy v. Ferguson.
B) The beginning of efforts by some states to formally legislate segregation.
C) The complete eradication of white supremacist groups like the Ku Klux Klan.
D) The passage of federal laws to protect Black voters with poll taxes.
Correct Answer: B
The text states, 'After the election of 1876 and the Compromise of 1877, some states began to rewrite their state constitutions to include de jure segregation laws.' This indicates the Compromise was a catalyst for states to formally dismantle Reconstruction reforms.
A) Lobbying Congress for new legislation.
B) Filing lawsuits with the Supreme Court.
C) Using racial violence and intimidation.
D) Promoting economic boycotts.
Correct Answer: C
The content specifies that 'African Americans were endangered by acts of racial violence (e.g., lynching) and retaliation from...political terrorist groups like the Ku Klux Klan, and others who embraced white supremacist doctrine.'
A) ensured that facilities and resources for all races were of identical quality.
B) was quickly overturned by a subsequent Supreme Court ruling within a decade.
C) legalized the existence of separate and unequal resources and facilities.
D) applied only to railroad transportation and not other areas of society.
Correct Answer: C
The text explicitly clarifies the outcome: 'In practice, the Plessy v. Ferguson decision legalized separate and unequal resources, facilities, and rights.' This contradicts the idea that resources were equal or that the ruling had limited application.
A) Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896
B) Brown v. Board of Education, 1954
C) The Compromise of 1877
D) The Louisiana Railroad Act
Correct Answer: B
The provided content clearly states, 'It would take another Supreme Court ruling with Brown v. Board of Education, 1954, for “separate but equal” to begin to be dismantled.'
A) Segregation that exists by social custom and practice.
B) Segregation that is enacted into law by the government.
C) The suppression of voting through economic means like poll taxes.
D) The use of violence by non-state actors to enforce social norms.
Correct Answer: B
The text states that after 1877, 'some states began to rewrite their state constitutions to include de jure segregation laws.' This indicates that 'de jure' refers to segregation enforced by law, which is its legal definition.
A) The Plessy decision directly caused the political negotiations that resulted in the Compromise of 1877.
B) The Compromise of 1877 created a political environment that allowed for the rise of state-level segregation, which was later given federal legal protection by the Plessy ruling.
C) Both the Compromise of 1877 and the Plessy decision were primarily focused on suppressing the African American vote through literacy tests.
D) The Plessy decision effectively nullified the terms of the Compromise of 1877, leading to a new era of Reconstruction.
Correct Answer: B
The text presents a chronological and causal link. The Compromise of 1877 allowed Southern states to begin implementing de jure segregation laws. Nearly two decades later, the Plessy decision provided the constitutional justification for these state-level actions, solidifying the system.
A) voter registration requirements.
B) public school admissions.
C) segregated passenger coaches on railroads.
D) the activities of the Ku Klux Klan.
Correct Answer: C
The text states that the Supreme Court ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson 'upheld a Louisiana law mandating segregated passenger coaches for railroad transportation.'
A) provide economic aid to the elderly children of former slaves.
B) allow poor and illiterate whites to vote while disenfranchising African Americans.
C) honor the service of former Confederate soldiers in state constitutions.
D) ensure that railroad facilities for different races were of equal quality.
Correct Answer: B
The text lists 'grandfather clauses' as a measure to suppress Black voting. Historically, these clauses exempted individuals from literacy tests or poll taxes if their grandfathers had been eligible to vote before the Civil War, a condition that only applied to whites, thus disenfranchising African Americans.
A) The federal government consistently increased its intervention in the South to protect civil rights.
B) The federal government shifted from active protection to judicial validation of state-level segregation.
C) The Supreme Court consistently struck down state laws that aimed to disenfranchise Black voters.
D) The executive branch, through actions like the Compromise of 1877, expanded voting rights.
Correct Answer: B
The content shows a clear shift. The era began with federal involvement (implied by Reconstruction reforms). The Compromise of 1877 marked a withdrawal of this involvement, and the Plessy decision shows the judicial branch actively validating the segregationist laws passed by states in the absence of federal protection.
A) federal legislation and economic incentives for integration.
B) state-level legal changes, judicial rulings, and racial violence.
C) grassroots movements for equality and support from Northern states.
D) the peaceful transfer of political power and the expansion of suffrage.
Correct Answer: B
The provided text describes the dismantling process as involving several elements: states rewriting constitutions (legal changes), the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling (judicial rulings), and violence from groups like the KKK (racial violence).