What did the white Southern response to Reconstruction include?

• A. Calls for peace and acceptance or relentless resistance to the new order.
• B. Immediate adoption of civil rights measures.
• C. Full support for federal Reconstruction policies.
• D. Migration to the North.

Answer: (A)

White Southern reaction to Reconstruction included a mix of responses, not a single stance. Some leaders and communities urged a return to normal life through accommodation and cooperation with new political realities, seeking peace and stability as the region restructured itself. At the same time, many white Southerners organized relentless resistance to federal policies, using violence, intimidation, Black Codes, and political opposition to claw back power and preserve white supremacy. This combination—occasional calls for peace and acceptance alongside aggressive resistance—best describes the Southern response.

The other possibilities miss this essential range. White Southerners did not broadly embrace civil rights measures right after the war; those measures came from federal action and were opposed by Southern whites. They also did not widely support federal Reconstruction policies, since Redeemer-led and other white-backed movements aimed to rollback those reforms. Migration to the North happened, but it was not the central or defining response to Reconstruction in the South.