How Revolutionary Was The American Revolution Dbq

Improved Essays
During 1860-1877 there were significant changes that were marked as revolutionary. The abolition of slavery would ignite the redefinement of American citizenship, and equality. In addition, the process of American politics would undergo significant changes as the the relationship between the states and the federal government were heavily altered. However, not all of the revolutionary changes were immediate nor positive. Discrimination and segregation would plant their seeds during this time period and inaugurate an ongoing racial conflict between whites and African Americans that exists today.
The most explicit and significant revolutionary movement was the redefinition of American citizenship and equality. Prior to 1860, the Dred Scott decision
…show more content…
This was a huge revolutionary movement as it was an unthinkable idea a decade ago. Soon after the Union’s victory, African Americans, to a degree, would gain an extensive amount of freedom. The ratification of the 13th amendment would officially abolish slavery. This would begin the evolution of the servitude based society portrayed by leaders like senator Morrill (Doc F) into the independent equal nation the constitution hoped for. The 14th amendment soon followed changing the definition of American citizenship. The Dred Scott decision became irrelevant and African Americans were considered citizens of America. The 15th amendment would also be ratified which restricted states from discrimination when it came to voting based on color. This was a revolutionary act in itself as the federal government would dismantle the 10th amendment and exercise an altitude of power they have never exercised before (Doc D) .Although most states found loopholes to disregard this amendment, it remained revolutionary as it manifested an ideal equal country where African Americans can vote like the one portrayed in Harper 's Weekly(Doc G). Soon after the war, African Americans were promised

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    The 13th Amendment was one of the most powerful Amendments that was given to our country. The passing of the 13th Amendment meant that all African Americans were no longer to be slaves, but were considered free individuals. Although the passing of this amendment occurred, African Americans struggled on a day-to-day basis with racism and segregation. The 13th amendment was meant to free them completely from the torture and struggle they had to deal with, but that was not the solution.…

    • 1339 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    How Revolutionary was the Revolutionary War? A revolution is a forcible overthrow of government or social order in favor of a new system. It also means radical change. Throughout many centuries, we see many revolutions that completely changed the world as we know it.…

    • 1026 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    American Revolution DBQ

    • 938 Words
    • 4 Pages

    How revolutionary was the American Revolution? The American Revolution was an act of bravery towards the most powerful country in the world, Great Britain. Tired of being tied down, the thirteen colonies attacked England and took home the victory, which led to the birth of a new country, the United States of America. (Background essay)…

    • 938 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When the Founding Fathers wrote the Declaration of Independence in 1776, they did not know the period of great transformation their beloved country would go through in the next 80 years. The economy would flourish and then fall into a panic, only to be revived again. Battles would be fought over land, freedom, and money. Presidents would cause the United States to spiral downward and other presidents had to save the country from dying before it ever really lived. These were the years of several reform movements like the Second Great Awakening and education reform.…

    • 977 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    The American Revolution was primarily a conservative revolution, because the rebels weren’t trying to create something that was new, unheard of, or radically different. The rebels were simply trying to restore things back to the way they had been before the Seven Years War. Even some British understood the logic behind the revolution and were not keen on putting forth money, time and effort in order to stop it. The British had been radically changing their policies towards Americans after the Seven Years War, so the Americans were conservative in attempting to restore their ideas of representation and government. But, the rebels were also radical in the sense that they were overthrowing the government and declaring themselves an independent…

    • 1486 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    At the end of the American Revolution in 1776, America broke free of all of its ties to the corrupt government of England, inciting political, social, and economic reform. American leaders explored the radical idea of democracy and the extension of the rights of citizens to distinguish the American government from the British government. American leaders soon realized that a centralized government, much like that of England 's, was inevitable. The democratic ideals, which pushed the American Revolution also pushed women and slaves to fight for their rights and freedoms. Such protest led to the radical social development in the generations to come.…

    • 1105 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The American Revolution changed and impacted our history. The revolutionary left it’s mark in history and a few familiar names and holidays including The 4th of July, Pulaski Day (Illinois), The Philadelphia 49ers, The New England Patriots, and much more. Towns, sports teams, schools, streets, countries, and even family names can be traced back to the American Revolution (Background Essay). Before the revolution, there was extreme changes in the political system, social system, and the economic system. Due to these changes, the American Revolution was seen as a radical change; because of the ending of slavery, and the equality of women.…

    • 1081 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The 13th amendment abolished slavery, the 14th made all people born in the United States legal citizens and the 15th gave all males, 21 and older the right to vote on any account of race, color or previous servitude. Many physical changes happened due to these laws. The government had just given anyone the right to be a U.S. citizen and, in the beginning, had an enormous increase in voting. Contrary to the increase there was a recent imbalance, due to hostile feeling the Southerners became known as the “Solid South” and Northerners often chose the “Wave the bloody shirt” during elections. Corresponding with these amendments were the Civil Rights Acts giving the definition of a citizen, authorizing the government to bring a lawsuit to anyone who violated newly given rights, giving African Americans the legal rights to a fair trial while in theory simultaneously trying to end public discrimination and segregation.…

    • 1109 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Amendment 13 made slavery illegal throughout the entire United States. Amendment 14 granted citizenship to all African Americans. Amendment 15 allowed African Americans to vote. All three of these Amendments pushed for the equality of African Americans, revolutionizing the way they were constitutionally viewed compared to before the Civil War when, in the South, they were barely considered people. A petition from African Americans addressed to the Union convention of Tennessee claims that since African Americans fight in the army and remain loyal to the federal government, that they should have voting rights, too (Doc. C).…

    • 1807 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    1980 Dbq

    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Intro: Thesis: From 1877 to 1980, individuals had a greater impact in attempting to solve the issues facing the nation, especially at solving the problems involved in civil and equal rights for minority groups and domestic issues resulting from international conflicts. Owing to the discrimination and unequal rights African Americans and Women faced, Individual had taken much more powerful and effective actions than the government who were indifferent and banned people’s freedom. African Americans received numerous harsh treatments and punishments. For instance, from 1889 to 1909 in the south, more than seventeen hundred African Americans were killed by lynching.…

    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    But they needed to make money so they tried to get the colonies to pay taxes. To this was followed by a series of other rules that the only effect they had, was to incite (even more) the Americans even more. A clear example of this would be the Navigation Acts (1651), the Sugar Act (1764) and the Stamp Act (1765). These laws sometimes were not respected, and had a great opposition among the colonists. By the year of 1770, groups of colonists like the Patriots and Sons of Liberty (of Boston) expressed their opinions and became more popular.…

    • 306 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Congress needed a solution to the issue of black inequality, so they came up with some new amendments. These new amendments were the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments. The Thirteenth Amendment was perhaps the starting point that got the ball rolling for equality. In Give Me Liberty, Eric Foner went into detail about each of the amendments, and stated, “On January 31st, 1865, Congress approved the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery throughout the entire Union-and in doing so, introduced the word ‘slavery’ to the Constitution for the first time” (541). Abolishing slavery was the first step for gaining equal rights for blacks because it gave them the ability to be their own person, and to fight for even more equal rights.…

    • 1402 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    America as we know it today has had many defining moments that set it apart from the rest of the world. From events such as revolting against the British monarch and our constitution, to the many phases of our growing democracy set in motion by our constitutional leaders and founding fathers. Yet while all these events have had great impacts on America, the one event that has defined modern America was the civil war. In addition to being the bloodiest war in american history (more than ever other American war combined), the civil war also brought about the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amendment which were some of the most would be the most influential amendments America has ever seen followed by the nineteenth amendment that would come…

    • 980 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    The Revolution of the United States between 1860 and 1877 Between the years of 1860, the year Abraham Lincoln was elected as President of the United States, and 1877, the end of the Reconstruction period, several monumental constitutional and social changes were made. Black slaves were freed, and blacks were now viewed as equals before the law. Blacks were granted citizenship and black men were given the right to vote. The Federal government gained much more power than the individual states.…

    • 1258 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Even though the Revolution declared independence from Great Britain, it was not very revolutionary because there was very little change for women, African Americans, and poor people. Before the Revolution, women had very few rights. In Abigail Adams’ letter (1776) to her husband, John Adams, she told him to “remember the ladies,” which means men should not have unlimited powers and women should have rights equal to men. The Declaration of Independence (written a couple months after Abigail Adams’ letter) did not state anything about gender equality or women’s rights. More than 100 years later, in 1920, the 19th Amendment of the Constitution stated “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”…

    • 429 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays