Reconstruction DBQ
Due September 3rd
DBQ WRITING TIPS
8-Step Strategy:
1. Read the question three times. Do not move on until you fully understand it. Identify
to historical period being discussed (i.e. Reconstruction, the Great Depression, the
Civil Rights Movement)
2. Identify the task by circling the main words. (For example: assess the validity,
compare and contrast, evaluate relative importance, analyze the significance, etc.)
3. Ask yourself “what do I have to prove?” (e.g. Foreign policy is more important than
domestic policy….Reconstruction was a failure at achieving civil rights for African
Americans…The New Deal overstepped the boundaries of government involvement
in daily lives.).
4. Pay special attention to economic, political, social issues that need to be included.
5.
Make a list (outline) of outside information (what you already know). List all
relevant issues, historical terms, names, events.
6. Read and examine the documents. Underline any key words or phrases that you
may use later in the essay. In the margin make notes about the documents. Reread
the question again after reading the first three documents.
7. Construct a thesis that is well-developed and clear. Your thesis is your position on
the key question. It shows what arguments you will make in the essay and what you
intend to prove. A good thesis statement makes the difference between a thoughtful
essay and a simple retelling of facts. If the thesis is a mystery to the writer, it will be a
mystery to the reader! (see attached handout for sample theses)
8. Write your essay.
First Paragraph:
Write one clear sentence which states a thesis, what the essay will prove.
Specify three or four sub-topic to the thesis. (logical segments or divisions of the overall thesis).
You may elaborate on each of these sub-topics with simple defining sentences.
Second Paragraph:
Begin with a sentence which re-introduces one of the sub-topics.
Support that topic sentence with outside information from y our brainstorm list.
Support your outside information with a reference to one of more of the supplied primary
sources.
Be sure you use and cite the documents properly.
Write a concluding sentence which relates the paragraph’s topic back to the thesis.
Write a transitional sentence introducing the next topic.
Subsequent Paragraphs:
Continue this procedure until you have exhausted your brainstorm list for possible subtopics. If
you have outside information that is not supported by the primary documents, include
that information anyway. Accurate student-supplied information will garner points, even
without support from the documents; any use of the primary documents not supported
with outside information will not garner points and should be avoided.
A conclusion is not necessary, but it will score you extra points if done properly. If you decide to
write a concluding paragraph, be sure that what you write is more than just a restating of
the thesis.
Historical Context:
After the Civil War the nation had about four million
newly freed slaves. The victorious Union was faced with
the extraordinary task of protecting the new freedmen's
rights of citizenship. First, the former Confederacy was
divided into five military districts. Then amendments
were passed to protect freed people's natural rights.
Southern states were not pleased, and made
compromises were in order to rid themselves of these
"military dictatorships."
By 1870, all of the former Confederate states had ratified
these amendments and were readmitted into the Union.
Reconstruction ended in 1877 with the removal of Union
troops from Confederate territory. After Southern state
governments were restored, the citizenship rights of the
freedmen declined. Soon these former slaves were once
again in servitude; this time through a system of stateenforced segregation and discrimination.
• Key Question:
Reconstruction was a successful program in
which the social, economic, physical, and
political problems of the United States were
resolved. Assess the validity of this
statement. (In other words: Was Reconstruction
successful in solving the nation’s social,
economic, physical, and political problems?)
Part I:
• Examine each document carefully and answer the question or questions
that follow (NOTE: on future DBQs the questions will not appear. The
questions are points that you should be asking yourself as you analyze
the documents. I have included them on this DBQ to help you become
acclimated to document analysis). Each document relates to
Reconstructions impact on the social, political, and economic
environment of the US. Using your answers and prior knowledge write a
1.5-3 page analytical response to the key question above. Be sure to
use and cite the documents to justify your response. You are using the
documents to support your answer. You are not explaining each
document. Do not say “Document 1 says that the Thirteenth Amendment
says that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude…but it didn’t work
well”. Instead you should write “After the Civil War the Thirteenth
Amendment was created to ban slavery and formally break the ties of
slave and master, however the former slaves quickly went back to a
mirror situation with the advent of sharecropping. It would take much
more action of Congress and acceptance by the public to secure
freedom and equality for the former slaves” (Document 1)
Document 1: The Thirteenth Amendment
Section 1. neither slavery nor involuntary servitude,
except as a punishment of a crime wherof the party shall
have been duly convicted, shall exist in the United
States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Section 2. Congress shall have the power to enforce this
article by appropriate legislation.
1. What does this Amendment guarantee and for
whom?
2. What does Congress have the right to do in order
to enforce this law?
Document 2: The Fourteenth Amendment
Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United
States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens
of the United States and of the State wherein they
reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which
shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of
the United States; nor shall any State deprive any
person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of
law; nor deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal
protection of the laws.
1. What does this Amendment guarantee?
2. For whom?
Document 3: The Fifteenth Amendment
Section 1. 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
race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
Section 2 The Congress shall have power to
enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
1. Who is protected by this amendment?
• Document 4: "The Freedman's Bureau" political cartoon
“THE FREEDMAN'S BUREAU! AN AGENCY TO KEEP THE NEGRO IN IDLENESS AT
THE EXPENSE OF THE WHITE MAN. TWICE VETOED BY THE PRESIDENT, AND
MADE A LAW BY CONGRESS. SUPPORT CONGRESS & YOU SUPPORT THE
NEGRO. SUSTAIN THE PRESIDENT & YOU PROTECT THE WHITE MAN.”
1. What is the aim of this political cartoon? Where do you think it was published?
2. How do you think this message reflects the views of Southern Democrats in the
South, and how might these attitudes affect the progress of Freedmen?
Document 5: Plessy v. Ferguson
May 18, 1896
For over 50 years, the states of the American
South enforced a policy of separate
accommodations for blacks and whites on buses
and trains, and in hotels, theaters, and schools.
On May 18, 1896, the Supreme Court ruled in
the Plessy v. Ferguson law case that separatebut-equal facilities on trains were constitutional.
1. What was the impact of Plessy v. Ferguson
beyond its effects on train passengers?
Document 6: "Worse than Slavery"
1. Based on the image above, what was the purpose of the Ku Klux Klan?
2. Were there any other groups like the KKK in the South? Explain.
3. How did the Ku Klux Klan undermine Congressional efforts to protect freed
peoples equal rights?
Document 7: W.E.B. DuBois, Black
Reconstruction in America
"But the decisive influence was the systematic
and overwhelming economic pressure. Negroes
who wanted work must not dabble in politics.
Negroes who wanted to increase their income
must not agitate the Negro problem. . . in order
to earn a living, the American Negro was
compelled to give up his political power."
-- Dr. W.E.B. DuBois, Black Reconstruction in
America,
1. According to DuBois, why did freedmen stop
voting?
Document 8: Sharecropping maps
"Sharecropping was very distinctive to the South after the Civil War until the
1940s. As late as 1936, about 60 percent of plantations were organized into
sharecropper units."
--Ingolf Vogeler
1. Based on the documents above, what has changed on the plantation
land since the Civil War?
2. Based on the document above and your knowledge of U.S. history,
what was the real result of sharecropping?
Document 9: Susie Taylor King: Reminiscences of My Life
Living here in Boston where the black man is given equal justice, I must say a
word on the general treatment of my race, both in the North and South, in this
twentieth century. I wonder if our white fellow men realize the true sense or
meaning of brotherhood? For two hundred years we had toiled for them; the war
of 1861 came and was ended, and we thought our race was forever freed from
bondage, and that the two races could live in unity with each other, but when we
read almost every day of what is being done to my race by some whites in the
South, I sometimes ask, "Was the war in vain? Has it brought freedom, in the full
sense of the word, or has it not made our condition more hopeless?"
In this "land of the free" we are burned, tortured, and denied a fair trial,
murdered for any imaginary wrong conceived in the brain of the negro-hating
white man. There is no redress for us from a government which promised to
protect all under its flag. It seems a mystery to me. They say, "One flag, one
nation, one country indivisible." Is this true? Can we say this truthfully, when one
race is allowed to burn, hang, and inflict the most horrible torture weekly,
monthly, on another? No, we cannot sing, "My country, 't is of thee, Sweet land
of Liberty"! It is hollow mockery. The Southland laws are all on the side of the
white, and they do just as they like to the negro, whether in the right or not.
--Susie Taylor King
1. How does this excerpt from Susie Taylor King's memoir suggest that black
Americans are still not free?
Document 10: The Election of 1876
Election results:
Candidate (party)Popular vote
(7 Nov 1876) Electoral vote
(6 Dec 1876) Rutherford B. Hayes
(Republican)4,034,311185Samuel J. Tilden
(Democratic)4,288,546184Peter Cooper
(Greenback)75,9730other14,2710
1. How was it possible that Hayes won the
election of 1876?
2. How did this disputed election lead to the
end of Reconstruction? Explain.
DBQ
RUBRIC
Superior Essay “5”: Score of 100
____ Superior thesis
____ Excellent use of documents (at least two
more than half)
____ Excellent use of outside information
____ Excellent analysis of key issues
____ Excellent use of concrete facts
____ Extremely well-organized essay
____ Addresses all areas of the prompt
____ Extremely well-written essay
Strong Essay “4”: Score of 90-99
____ Strong thesis (contains general analysis)
____ Good use of documents (at least 1 more
than half)
____ Good use of outside info. (needs more)
____ Good analysis of key issues (needs more)
____ Well-organized essay
____ Addresses all areas of the prompt; may
lack some balance between major areas
____ Well-written essay
Adequate Essay “3”: Score of 80-89
____ Clear thesis – needs general analysis
____ Adequate use of documents
____ Fairly well-organized essay
____
Addresses all areas of the prompt but
essay may lack balance.
____
Includes some outside information (but
clearly needs more)
____ Needs more analysis of key issues
____ Contains some evidence; more needed
____ May contain some historical errors
____ Contains facts irrelevant to the time period
“2” Essay: Score of Score of 65-79
____ Undeveloped thesis (simple thesis)
____ Thesis does not fully address question
____ Weak use of documents
____ Documents control the essay
____ Weak organization
____ Lacks outside information
____ Essay does not address one or more
aspects of the question
____ Lacks analysis of key issues
____ Lacks evidence to support main ideas.
____ Contains major historical errors
____ Much irrelevant information
(to earn a 75-79 only a few can be checked) (to
earn a 66-74 a majority will be checked) If all are
checked the highest grade is a 65)
“1” Essay: Score of 60-64
____ No documents used/extremely limited use
of documents
____ severe lack of outside information
____ poor or no thesis
____ Facts not specific, accurate & relevant.
____ Poor or no analysis of key issues
“0” Essay: 50-59
___ Did not do the question or provided an
irrelevant answer
Some Key Points to Remember:
• Start with outside information first & write it down; then
read the documents; then construct a thesis.
• Make your life easier by constructing a thesis that can
reasonably include most/ all of the documents (even if you
don’t really believe your thesis). It is better to be
“practical” than “right.”
• Use as many documents as you can as long as they fit
your thesis.
• Don’t explain documents -- that is not your task.! I have a
list and a summary for each document. Use documents to
reinforce your main points and outside information.
• Don’t rewrite large portions of documents. Try to limit
quotations to 1 sentence or less.
• Reference author’s you are citing (e.g. …“In the letter by
Abraham Lincoln”)
• Cite every document used, e.g., (Doc. A), (Doc. F)
• All fundamental writing principles you have learned
regarding standard essays apply to DBQ essays.