Thanks everyone for help. My grade was the best yet. I got an 8.






Here is the question: In what ways and to what extent did the constitutional and social developments between 1860-1877 amount to a revolution?

Here is what I have

The Civil War and Reconstruction Era was a very turbulent time. Lincoln’s Election gave South Carolina a reason to secede. Further escalations resulted in mass bloodshed all over the middle states and the South. After the war, many political and social changes led to revolution. Revolution in this case is a radical and pervasive change in society and the social structure, especially one made suddenly and often accompanied by violence. It believe this is a perfect definition for how 1860-1877 resulted in a revolution.

First off, I will start with constitutional and political changes starting in 1860. 1860 was the year when South Carolina seceded. In 1861, the confederacy had been made and Fort Sumter is fired on. The Civil began and lasted for 4 bloody years. During the war, President Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation which frees all slaves in seceded states, and blacks are allowed to fight. These two changes are huge. Blacks were considered subhuman by many Northerners and not just by Southerners.

The newly conquered South now had to agree to everything that Northern radical and moderate republicans wanted. Lincoln wanted to go easy on the South, but most republicans favored a punishment. Lincoln was assassinated, and Johnson took over as President. Johnson had his own ideas which the republicans in congress didn’t like. Basically, the republicans in congress controlled of the reconstruction acts that would take place. They ended up passing Reconstruction Acts and made 3 new amendments.

Starting in chronological order, Congress passed the 13th amendment (1865) which prohibited slavery. This outlawed slavery in every state. Slaveholders had to free all their slaves. Next, the 14th amendment was passed by Congress (1867) which was designed to grant citizenship to and protect the civil liberties of recently freed slaves. Most Southern states refused to ratify this amendment, so Congress passed the first Reconstruction Act on 2nd March, 1867. The South was now divided into five military districts and would be forced into subservience. The act also included an amendment that offered readmission to the Southern states after they had ratified the Fourteenth Amendment and guaranteed adult male suffrage. President Andrew Johnson immediately vetoed the bill but Congress re-passed the bill the same day. The last change to the constitution was the 15th amendment which gave black men suffrage.

Now, all these changes were made in a short period of time. Between 1865 and 1870, black were given freedom and were allowed to vote. This is a complete 180 from where they used to be. Black were slaves. They were considered subhuman and stupid. These sudden, radical changes were not easy for the South to accept. However, they had to because the Union military made them. Black freedom was force in the South whether or not they liked it.

Quite obviously, this created great resistance in the South which leads to the social developments of the time. There were many social developments all wrapped around the freedom of blacks like a Christmas present with too many layers of wrapping paper. The blacks were now free, and they pain didn’t like it. There were some slaveholders who were somewhat kind to their slaves. However, there was much violence associated with freed slaves. That violence came from the Ku Klux Klan or the KKK. Having its start in 1865, the KKK is still alive today. They would kill, beat, scare, or lynch any black man or woman that would do anything above what a slave would do. For instance, a black man who voted republican would be warned to not vote. If he ended up voting republican, then he would probably be severely beaten. Also, at places where union soldiers weren’t, the whites would require tests or voting fees. These would prevent the black from voting. Another thing a black would get a visit from the KKK is for making too much money or getting in an argument with a white for any reason. Even if it was a petty quarrel, the KKK would make an example of that black.

Now looking at all these developments, how did they result in a revolution? Well, these changes put the black man on an equal level as a white man. Many whites in the South didn’t like that. The North tried to force the South to “like it.” However, you cannot force someone to change their opinion over night, or even over a 17 year period. After reconstruction ended in 1877, oppression of blacks continued with laws being passed to keep blacks down. Many blacks ended up right back on their master’s farm in the new slavery called sharecropping. All in all, 1860-1877 was a period of great change for the betterment of blacks, yet as much as was done to help the way blacks were treated, just as many if not more ended up right back where they were but now with an artificial freedom.

I anyone have any help, advice or comments?

P.S. my exam is tomorrow. I know it scares people b/c i wrote too much but I am just open for ideas to improve it.

Ok, well I have a few comments and costructive criticism for you :).

Firstly, try and not make you sentences so short. Don't use run ons, of course, but the essay would flow much better having less choppy paragraphs. Example:

Would flow better as:

The newly conquered South now had to agree to everything that Northern radical and moderate republicans wanted. Lincoln, unlike most Republicans, wanted to go easy on the south. He was assasinated, however, and Johnson succeeded him as president. Johnson as president was very unpopular with the Republican congress, who looked at his ideas as threatening to their own. The Republicans in congress, assailing and ignoring Johnson, controlled the reconstruction nearly singlehandedly. They succeeded in passing Reconstruction Acts and 3 new Amendments to the Constitution.

Secondly, remember that after reconstruction ended with the final federal troops being removed in 1877, the south pretty much returned to how it was with Jim Crow laws. Therefore, if it was indeed a revolution in your eyes, you should probably state that it was very shortlived. You could also add in the fact that much like in most revolutions a war had to be fought. Your thesis is well stated, but your details need to be more straightforward to it. Maybe make your thesis "a SOCIAL revolution" instead of simply "revolution." Because you use more social than political changes, and the political changes you do use influenced the social status of blacks. Also, you should compare it, if you want to stick with the social revolution thing, the revolution of 1800. And that they are similar in that they both can be considered "revolutions" but not in the respect of complete political upheaval. Of course, it is entirely up to you.

Finally, I have to disagree that it was a revolution at all (but it is your essay, of course, you may write about what youd like :) ). Primarily due to the fact simply that a majority of Americans were like the Northerners at the time (because more of the population was centered there, and the west had ties to the north.) The Southern whites were, in effect, the minority. Most revolutions occur when there is a complete upheaval of a current social status or government and replaced with another. In essence, the Civil War was more of a silencing of a radical minority that complete upheaval of the American system, which remained in place after the war.

You could also say that it was a sort of "failed revolution" on the parts of the south. Had the south one and implemented THEIR ways of government, then I would agree concerning a revolution. But I see where you are coming from with sort of policy and social changes being a revolutoin, much like the revolution of 1800. My only issue with that is that the effects didn't last.

I hope I helped out a little. Good luck with your finals! Any thing else or any comments I would be glad to help/reply :) .

A few things:

Mechanically, you need to watch out for some grammatical issues. You changed verb tenses several times, occasionally even within the same paragraph. I'd stick to past tense the whole time, so I'd go back through and check for that.

Second, watch for using personal pronouns. That is, don't say things like "First off, I will start with constitutional and political changes starting in 1860" - instead, say "First off, constitutional and political changes were widespread starting in 1860." Personal pronouns are not to be used in a formal essay, so even if your teacher allows it in his/her class, I'd try to get in the habit of not using them at all. It makes your writing sound much more professional when you avoid using them.

As FacistFalangistFool said, avoid having so many short, choppy sentences - rather, combine them with conjunctions, semi-colons, hyphens, or whatever else is needed to form some complex sentences out of the mass of simple sentences. That also will make the writing sound a lot more professional.

Substance-wise, I think that FacistFalangistFool has already covered that fairly well. I don't know that I agree 100% with everything he said, but it's close enough.

Hope that helps.

yes thank you very much you two, I will take everything you said into consideration... this was a rough draft and the exam is at my school and I have to write everything i can remember for the exam.

Your very welcome. :) Good luck with your finals. And remember, never panic when writing an essay. That is the worst thing you can do. Know the materials, know what your going to write, and just write it. You will have time, trust me.

Ha Ha Brandon, like my name? Other people agreed with me on the things I told you about. Ya who was right?

No need to gloat. After all, didn't you say in your other thread that you don't even fully understand the prompt? At least your friend took a good stab at it. :rolleyes:

He told me the things you guys told me but i agreed that i put stupid things in and I don't care because i'm still getting better grades :) but i won't turn this into a flame war.

The exam turned out ok. my teacher never told us it was DBQ.
None of you notice that it was the question from the 1996 DBQ and it would have been nice knowing it was a DBQ ahead of time.

Well, I took the AP test in 2005, and none of us have any real access to old materials, just the stuff still in our memories.

Well this is kind of late, but I just got my exam grade back.

Its my best yet- an 8.

My last DBQ was a 7-8, but i was allowed to do the entire thing at my house. So, an 8 off my memory is better than a 7-8 with my notes infront of me.

Well done. :)

i need the answers to all chapter so i can check my answer and study for the tests i got a 70 on the last one and i need a B in the class someone help me.

Um, no?

First, if you have one or two specific questions perhaps we can help. Second, you should probably start your own new topic so that threads don't get confused.