How many military districts were established by the Reconstruction Acts?

• A. Five.
• B. Three.
• C. Seven.
• D. Nine.

Answer: (A)

Dividing the South into military districts was how Congress enforced federal authority during Reconstruction. The Reconstruction Acts created five military districts, each governed by a Union general, to oversee the former Confederate states as they rebuilt governments, protected the rights of freedpeople, and required adherence to conditions like new constitutions and amendments before readmission. Tennessee had already been readmitted, so the plan applied to the remaining states, making five the correct number. The other counts don’t align with how the Acts organized the region for military oversight.