CLEP US History 1 Practice Test

The Reconstruction Act of 1867 was primarily aimed at reorganizing the Southern states after the Civil War and ensuring the civil rights of newly freed slaves. Its main purpose was to divide the South into five military districts, each governed by a Union general. This military presence was intended to enforce new legislation aimed at securing the rights of freedmen and to oversee the process by which Southern states would create new constitutions guaranteeing male suffrage regardless of race.

The act sought to bring the Southern states back into the Union under conditions that promoted civil rights and ensured that the laws passed were enforced. This military oversight was crucial during a time when many Southern whites resisted the changes brought about by the end of slavery and sought to maintain white supremacy.

The other options do not accurately reflect the content or intent of the Reconstruction Act. While the abolition of slavery had already been achieved with the 13th Amendment, granting women the right to vote was addressed later in the 19th Amendment, and establishing a federal banking system falls outside the scope of the Reconstruction efforts focused on the social and political reorganization of the South.