Question

After the Confederacy was defeated in the Civil War, white political leaders who

called themselves Redeemers tried to go back to the old social order that had
existed during slavery. What were some ways they did this? (Name at least 4
ways.)

Answer 1

White leaders known as Redeemers after the Civil War implemented strategies such as supporting the Ku Klux Klan, enacting restrictive Black Codes, manipulating the political process to disenfranchise Black citizens, and promoting exploitative economic systems like sharecropping to restore the old social order.

Step-by-step explanation:

After the Confederate defeat in the Civil War, white political leaders, known as Redeemers, sought to reverse the changes brought by Reconstruction and restore the old social order. These Redeemers implemented several strategies to undermine the achievements of Reconstruction:

• They supported vigilante violence and terrorist organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan to intimidate Black people and suppress their political rights.
• Redeemers used legislative power to enact the Black Codes, laws limiting the rights of Black citizens and forcing them into labor contracts that were highly exploitative.
• The manipulation of the political process included disenfranchising Black voters through violence, fraud, and legal tactics like poll taxes and literacy tests.
• Economically, they promoted systems like sharecropping that trapped Black farmers in cycles of debt, maintaining economic dependency akin to slavery.

By utilizing these methods, the Redeemers effectively rolled back many advancements made during the Reconstruction era and reasserted white supremacy in the post-war South.