Reconstruction Dbq

Peter Mardjonovic

Mr. Nolan

AP US History

27 January 2015

                                Reconstruction DBQ

        The Period of the Civil War, and the Reconstruction after it, that lasted from

1860 to 1877, was when the nation went through a great deal of change. Through the years of 1860 to 1877, social and constitutional changes were important to help keep balance amongst people. Although many Constitutional and Political changes occurred during the reconstruction, which in essence was a revolution, a negative social response of the South occurred, which created a counter-revolution.

        In order to help rebalance the government, and create a new sense of political peace, new changes had to arise. The issue of states rights and their role in our government was an ongoing problem and was a main issue in the southern secession in the civil war.  South Carolina felt that their rights were being infringed on, mainly regarding slavery, and thus they were the first state to secede from the Union, and that caused other southern states to secede as well. But the idea of advocating states rights did not bode well with some people, including Senator John Sherman. He believes that the government has given too much power to the states, such as nullification (Tariff of 1828), and representation in congress, and this has allowed them to overthrow the government.  This “sectionalist” path will harm the people’s sense of nationality and also harm the economy.  Abraham took charge in the Reconstruction of the Nation, and worked to fix the Union. He created a Ten Percent Plan that allowed Confederate re entry into the Union, by making ten percent of the states voters who voted in the Election of 1860 to pledge loyalty to the Union. Lincoln worked for lasting peace, and focused more on the Union rather than Black rights. Andrew Johnson favored fast Reconstruction and was accused of being too favoring to the Southern states by giving amnesty to confederate officials.

In the midst of a civil and political reconstruction the Civil Rights acts of 18675 was created and these revolutions changed the principles of our government. People like Gideon Welles however believed that the Union did not intend the Federal government to prescribe suffrage but instead to rid of it by constitutional means, and noted that black civil rights was another matter. The 13, 14, and 15 Amendments were all government attempts to help conform the freed men and give them equality, such as declaring them American citizens, and allowing them to vote. Other attempts of government reconstruction such as the Reconstruction act of 1867, which tried to militarize the southern states that refused to recognize the 14th amendment, and the Tenure of office act which was aimed to protect the radical members of Lincoln’s government. A Constitutional Revolution did indeed happen since blacks were finally recognized as citizens in the Constitution itself.