Exhaustive Study Guide on Course Logistics, Post-Civil War Reconstruction, and the Fourteenth Amendment
Course Logistics, Exam Instructions, and Test-Taking Strategies
Exam Logistics and Format:
Date & Schedule: The first exam takes place next Friday. The separate book test occurs later on October 2.
Question Structure: The exam consists of 50 multiple choice questions worth 2 points each (totaling 100 points).
Materials Provided & Required: Scantrons are provided in class. Students only need to bring a pencil (any pencil works; it does not need to be a strict #2 pencil). No notes, books, or outside materials are allowed.
Exam Scope: The exam covers only material explicitly discussed in class, written on the board, or shown on PowerPoint slides. If a topic was not covered in class, it will not appear on the test.
Curving & Question Review Policy: Every exam is evaluated post-grading. If the vast majority of students miss a specific question, it is deemed poorly constructed or inadequately explained and is thrown out. When a question is thrown out, all students receive a 2-point bonus (students who answered correctly keep their 2 points as a bonus; students who missed it do not lose points). Typically, 1 to 2 questions are thrown out per exam.
Keys to Academic Success and Preparation:
Attendance and Engagement: Strong attendance directly correlates with high performance. Students who struggle generally fall into three categories: those who miss class, those who attend but disengage (e.g., watching movies or multitasking), or those who struggle with reading comprehension.
Overcoming Reading/Language Barriers: Reading difficulties and English as a Second Language (ESL) challenges can be overcome through active study habits. In a previous semester, two ESL students struggled on their first exam and considered dropping the course; after forming a study group and seeking guidance, one earned an A and the other earned a B.
Understanding vs. Rote Memorization: The primary goal of higher education—specifically in history and philosophy—is to understand oneself and the world, rather than cramming information to recall temporarily. Memorized facts fade within weeks, whereas understanding broader concepts retains knowledge for decades (e.g., 40 years).
Study Habits: Notes should be reviewed repeatedly starting over the weekend and throughout the week leading up to the test. Late-night cramming on Thursday night or Friday morning is ineffective and prevents students from seeking clarification during office hours. Queries sent at 11:00 PM the night before an exam will not receive a response.
Test-Taking Strategies for Multiple Choice Exams:
Strategy 1: Trust First Instincts:
Read the question stem without looking at the answer choices.
If the correct answer immediately comes to mind, locate it among the choices, mark it, and move on.
Avoid second-guessing or changing answers upon re-reading, as high-achieving students frequently overthink questions and change correct responses to incorrect ones.
Strategy 2: Process of Elimination for Difficult Questions:
When an answer is not immediately obvious, use course knowledge to systematically eliminate improbable or unmentioned options.
Option distractors are often fabricated names or irrelevant historical facts.
Demonstrated Question Breakdown: "What Supreme Court decision allowed slavery in the West?"
Anthony Goggin decision: Incorrect. Anthony Goggin is a personal friend who teaches law at Drake University. If a term or name was never mentioned during the 3.5 weeks of class, it cannot be the correct answer.
Carter decision: Incorrect. Carter is the instructor's son.
10% Plan: Incorrect. Although covered in class, the 10% Plan was President Lincoln's initiative to readmit Southern states to the Union, not a Supreme Court ruling.
Kansas-Nebraska Act: Incorrect. Although relevant to Western territories, this was a legislative act passed by Congress, not a judicial ruling by the Supreme Court.
Dred Scott decision: Correct. The Dred Scott case was a major Supreme Court decision discussed extensively in class that declared black people lacked citizenship rights and permitted slavery in the territories.
General Multiple Choice Rules:
Be cautious with "All of the above" or "None of the above" options. If "All of the above" is listed, verify whether multiple choices are accurate, as it is frequently the correct selection.
Post-Civil War Politics and Presidential Reconstruction
President Andrew Johnson's Reconstruction Policy:
Political Context: Following Abraham Lincoln's assassination, Vice President Andrew Johnson assumed the presidency.
Executive Philosophy: Johnson held a strict states' rights philosophy and opposed federal intervention in Southern affairs. He believed that once military victory was achieved and slavery was abolished, Union troops should be withdrawn and Southern states swiftly readmitted under Lincoln's 10% Plan.
Racial Views & Inaction: Johnson harbored deeply racist views and openly accepted the re-establishment of white supremacy in the South. He maintained that regional problems in states like Alabama or Louisiana were strictly state matters to be resolved by local governors, not the federal government.
Southern Resistance and the Rise of Vigilante Violence:
Black Codes: Southern state governments enacted restrictive Black Codes (such as vagrancy laws) designed to undermine black freedom, restrict physical mobility, and force freedpeople into contract plantation labor.
Racial Violence: The Southern states witnessed racial pogroms and the rapid rise of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). President Johnson refused to deploy federal authority to halt this violence.
Northern Public Opinion: Northern public sentiment shifted dramatically against Johnson as news of Southern racial violence and Black Codes spread. Support for Radical Republicans in Congress grew significantly as a result.
Legislative Conflict and Presidential Vetoes:
Freedmen's Bureau Extension: Established originally by the U.S. Army during the Civil War, the Freedmen's Bureau assisted newly freed Black Southerners in transitioning to freedom by negotiating labor contracts, distributing food and clothing, and offering physical protection. To counter Southern violence, Congress passed a bill extending the Bureau's operation. Johnson vetoed the bill.
Civil Rights Act: Congress passed the first Civil Rights Act in American history to outlaw Black Codes and prevent states from treating citizens differently based on race. Johnson vetoed the bill.
Veto Overrides: Overriding a presidential veto requires a two-thirds majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Executive Pardons and Political Retaliation:
Pardoning Confederate Leadership: Despite Lincoln's original plan to hold top Confederate leaders accountable, Johnson used his executive pardon power to grant full presidential pardons to high-ranking Confederate officials, restoring their complete political rights.
Election of Former Confederates: Following his pardon by Johnson, Alexander Stephens—the former Vice President of the Confederate States of America—was elected to the U.S. Senate by the Georgia State Legislature. Angered by the return of rebel leaders who had led a war resulting in nearly 1,000,000 American deaths, Northern Republicans in Congress refused to seat Stephens or any other former Confederate officials.
The 1866 Midterm Elections:
Political Referendum: The 1866 midterm elections served as a national referendum on Johnson's Reconstruction policies. All seats in the House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate seats were up for election.
Electoral Outcome: Radical Republicans won a decisive victory, securing two-thirds supermajorities (veto-proof majorities) in both the House and the Senate. This victory enabled Congress to override any presidential veto and assume complete control over Reconstruction.
Congressional Reconstruction and Martial Law
Radical Republican Reconstruction Policies (1867):
Overriding Executive Vetoes: Congress overrode Johnson's vetoes to enact the Civil Rights Act and extend the Freedmen's Bureau, transforming racial discrimination into a federal crime.
Revocation of Southern Statehood: Congress invalidated the readmission of Southern states under Lincoln and Johnson, demoting the Southern entities from statehood back to territorial status. As territories, they fell under the direct jurisdiction of the Federal Congress.
Implementation of Martial Law:
Military Reconstruction Act: Congress divided the ten unreconstructed Southern states into five military districts, each administered by a U.S. Army general officer.
Nature of Martial Law: The U.S. Constitution was suspended in the South, placing military commanders in absolute control. Curfews were established and enforced by armed military patrols.
Suppression of the Ku Klux Klan: U.S. Army forces actively combated the KKK. Troops conducted military ambushes and utilized snipers against armed Klan members riding at night in violation of military curfews.
Legal Mechanisms: State vs. Federal Jurisdictions:
State Jurisdiction Failure: Standard violent crimes (such as murder or assault and battery) fall under state legal jurisdiction. Following the Civil War, Southern state legal systems refused to prosecute anti-black crimes (e.g., over 500 Black citizens were murdered in post-war Texas with zero state prosecutions).
Federal Intervention via Civil Rights Legislation: The Civil Rights Act categorized racially motivated attacks as federal constitutional violations. Federal troops and courts gained the legal authority to arrest and prosecute Klan members for federal conspiracy to violate civil rights.
Political Enfranchisement and Disfranchisement:
Black Enfranchisement: Federal mandate granted voting rights to Black men across the Southern territories.
White Disfranchisement: Voting rights were stripped from any white man who had served in the Confederate military or assisted the Confederate war effort. This policy disfranchised over 70% of Southern white men.
Electoral Realignment (1868): Enfranchised Black voters and loyal white Republicans gained political power across the South. Republican majorities took control of every Southern state legislature, governor's office, and local office (sheriffs, mayors).
Black Representation in Federal Office: By 1868, Black men were elected to federal office, including seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. Both U.S. Senators from Mississippi and both U.S. Senators from South Carolina were Black men.
The Fourteenth Amendment and Its Constitutional Legacy
Foundational Provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment:
Birthright Citizenship: The amendment explicitly overturned the Dred Scott decision by establishing that anyone born on U.S. soil is automatically a full citizen of the United States. The only narrow exceptions apply to children of foreign diplomats or foreign invading armies.
Impact on Immigrants and Marginalized Groups: Citizenship status became independent of parents' citizenship, race, ethnicity, or religion. Early women's rights advocates argued that the gender-neutral phrasing of the amendment conferred full constitutional rights (including voting and jury service) to women, though judicial interpretations initially restricted these claims.
Nationalization of Constitutional Rights:
Pre-Fourteenth Amendment Status: Prior to the amendment, the Bill of Rights protected citizens only against the federal government; state governments possessed the legal authority to violate individual rights (e.g., antebellum Southern states legally banned abolitionist literature).
Federal Supremacy: The Fourteenth Amendment prohibited state and local governments (including municipal authorities and public community colleges) from infringing upon federal constitutional rights.
Shift in National Identity & Structural Grammar:
Pre-Civil War Identity: Primary identity was tied to individual states (e.g., Robert E. Lee viewed Virginia as his primary "country"). Linguistically, the nation was referenced in the plural: "The United States are a great nation."
Post-Civil War Identity: Primary citizenship derived from the national federal government. Linguistically, the nation became singular: "The United States is a great nation."
Key Constitutional Clauses:
Equal Protection Clause: Mandates that government entities and the legal system treat all citizens equally without distinction based on race or ethnicity.
Modern Application (Ferguson / North County Municipalities): A U.S. Justice Department investigation revealed that municipal court systems and police forces in Ferguson and surrounding municipalities in North County, Missouri, violated the Equal Protection Clause by selectively targeting Black drivers and detaining individuals in local jails over unpaid traffic fines (e.g., a student missing six weeks of class while jailed in Jennings, Missouri, for an unpaid traffic ticket).
Due Process Clause: Guarantees all citizens access to legal representation, trial by jury, and formal judicial proceedings before deprivation of life, liberty, or property. This clause rendered all Southern Black Codes unconstitutional and allowed individuals to sue state entities for constitutional violations.
Contemporary Legal Debates on Birthright Citizenship:
Executive Order Controversy: On January 20, an executive order was issued directing federal agencies (including ICE) to deny birthright citizenship to children born on U.S. soil to undocumented immigrant parents.
Supreme Court Ruling: In a 6-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the executive order as unconstitutional, affirming that the plain language of the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees birthright citizenship to anyone born within the United States.