HOW TO MAKE A TOPIC-SENTENCE OUTLINE FOR AN APUSH ESSAY

1. HOW TO MAKE A TOPIC-SENTENCE OUTLINE FOR AN APUSH ESSAY EUGENIA LANGAN MATER ACADEMY CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL HIALEAH GARDENS, FLORIDA

2. WHAT'S A TOPIC SENTENCE? • A TOPIC SENTENCE IS THE FIRST SENTENCE OF A PARAGRAPH WHCH STATES THE "THESIS" OF THE PARAGRAPH = WHAT YOU WILL PROVE IN THE PARAGRAPH • TOPIC SENTENCES ARE ANALYTICAL (BECAUSE ALL APUSH ESSAYS AND EVERY PARAGRAPH IN THEM MUST BE ANALYTICAL) • (SEE "HOW TO DO AN APUSH ESSAY" PP, WHERE THIS • WAS EXPLAINED IN DETAIL)

3. WHY DO A TOPIC-SENTENCE OUTLINE? • PLANNING AN ANALYTICAL TOPIC SENTENCE FOR EVERY PARAGRAPH WILL ENSURE YOU WRITE AN ANALYTICAL ESSAY, USING OI AND DOCUMENTS TO PROVE YOUR THESIS RATHER THAN JUST REGURGITATING FACTS. • BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO. IF YOU DON'T TURN IN A TOPIC-SENTENCE OUTLINE WITH YOUR ESSAY I WON'T GRADE IT  Z

4. STEPS TO MAKING A TOPIC-SENTENCE OUTLINE: • 1) HAVE A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF OI • 2) WRITE A THESIS. THE THESIS SHOULD BE ANALYTICAL, NOT A LAUNDRY LIST • ON THE FOLLOWING TWO SLIDES IS AN EXAMPLE OF AN EXCELLENT ANALYTICAL THESIS BY DARWIN BODERO LAST YEAR FOR THE FRQ: "In what ways and to what extent did constitutional and social developments between 1860 and 1877 amount to a revolution?"

5. The period of and following the Civil War saw many constitutional developments emerge to challenge the status quo in American political theory. By the end of the civil war, abolitionism culminated in the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments; AND secessionist theory was rendered moot by the enhanced power of the congress and the federal government. However, despite being revolutionary to a great extent, these developments were only so within a limited scope; that is to say, their effect was in the realm of political theory. The proof is the fact that social developments were not nearly as radical as their constitutional counterparts. DESPITE HAVING FREEDOM

6. de jure, emancipated blacks were still de facto held under what was essentially slavery (really a thinly veiled form of serfdom) by terrorist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and even by agencies supposed to protect them such as the Freedman’s Bureau. That being said, the effects of Negro suffrage were at their highest during Reconstruction which speaks to the radical nature of social developments. BUT IF YOU CAN ONLY DO A LAUNDRY LIST THESIS, BE SURE TO USE THE "INCLUDE" FORMULA AND TO LIST AT LEAST ONE FACTUAL EXAMPLE FOR EVERY QUESTION IN THE PROMPT! (BUT LL THESES LOWER YOUR SCORE)

7. 3. WRITE TOPIC SENTENCES FOR EVERY PARAGRAPH YOU WILL NEED TO PROVE THE THESIS (REMEMBERING THAT YOU CAN HAVE ONLY ONE IDEA PER PARAGRAPH!) • ON THE FOLLOWING SLIDES IS AN EXAMPLE OF A TOPIC-SENTENCE OUTLINE FOR THE FIRST THREE BODY PARAGRAPHS OF AN ESSAY BASED ON DARWIN'S THESIS

8. ¶ 1: A CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT THAT WAS TRULY REVOLUTIONARY WAS THE ESTABLISHMENT OF FEDERAL SOVEREIGNTY OVER THE STATES • TO BE SURE, NOT WRITTEN IN CONST – BUT MAJOR CHANGE IN UNDERSTANDING OF STRUCTURE OF GOV'T • Q WHETHER STATES OR FED GOV'T ARE SOVEREIGN = MAJOR UNRESOLVED ISSUE AT CONST. CONVENT -- SOURCE OF MAJOR CRISES SUCH AS NULLIFICATION CRISIS IN 1832 -- & ULTIMATE CAUSE OF CIVIL WAR • AFTER THE WAR, NO DOUBT THAT FED. GOV'T IS SOVEREIGN

9. EVIDENCE DURING PERIOD 1860-77 • CIVIL WAR AMENDENTS FEDERALIZED CIVIL RIGHTS -- ESP. 15TH, FEDERAL BAN OF SLAVERY WHICH WAS PURELY STATE ISSUE BEFORE UNDER DRED SCOTT • MILITARY RECONSTRUCTION – CONGRESS DECIDED THE TERMS FOR READMISSION OF FORMER CONFEDERATE STATES • THIS DEVELOPMENT SURVIVED END OF RECONSTRUCTION – STILL TRUE TODAY -- WE PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO U.S., NOT TO STATES.

10. ¶ 2: SIMILARLY, THE OTHER CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT THAT AMOUNTED TO A REVOLUTION, CONGRESS BECOMING THE DOMINANT BRANCH OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, WAS PURELY A MATTER OF POLITICAL THEORY. • ALSO NOT A CHANGE IN WRITTEN CONST., BUT CHANGE IN HOW GOV'T WORKS • OF COURSE CONST. CHECKS AND BALANCES REMAIN • BUT DURING AND AFTER CIV. WAR, CONGRESS HAS DONE MOST OF THE GOVERNING • BEFORE WAR, CONGRESS DID RELATIVELY LITTLE – N.W. ORD., LAND ORD; SOME TARIFFS, THE EMBARGO, ETC.

11. EVIDENCE OF CONGRESSIONAL DOMINANCE: • DURING WAR: EXAMPLES INC. REVENUE ACT, LEGAL TENDER ACT, NATIONAL BANK ACT, HOMESTEAD ACT OF 1862, MORRILL LAND GRANT ACT, PACIFIC RAILWAY ACT • DURING RECONSTRUCTION: OVERRIDES OF 6 ANDREW JOHNSON VETOES (NO OVERRIDES EVER BEFORE) & IMPEACHMENT OF JOHNSON • MILITARY RECONSTRUCTION – CONGRESSIONAL VICTORY OVER PRESIDENT -- CONGRESSIONAL PUNITIVE THEORIES (IRONCLAD OATH, CONQUERED TERRITORIES) THEORY PREVAILED OVER LINCOLN/JOHNSON RECONCILATION THEORIES

12. SURVIVED END OF RECONSTR. & STILL TRUE – NOW PRESIDENT'S POWER MEASURED LARGELY BY WHAT HE CAN GET THROUGH CONGRESS • ¶ 3: IN CONSTRAST, THE EXPRESS CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS DEALING WITH CIVIL RIGHTS WERE REVOLUTIONARY ONLY TO A LIMITED EXTENT, AND THE FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT IS AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE. • FIFTEENTH AMDT, RATIFIED 1870: RIGHT OF MEN TO VOTE NOT TO BE DENIED BECAUSE OF RACE OR PREVIOUSLY BEING SLAVE • EVEN BEFORE RATIF, SECOND MILITARY RECONSTRUCTION ACT REQUIRED ARMY TO

13. TO ENROLL BLACK VOTERS IN SOUTH AND PROTECT THEIR RIGHT TO VOTE • DURING RECONSTRUCTION, BLACK VOTING + DISENFRANCHISEMENT OF MANY WHITE MEN DUE TO IRONCLAD OATH  MORE BLACK ELECTED OFFICIALS IN SOUTH THAN AT ANY TIME SINCE IN ENTIRE NATION • NEARLY 700 BLACK ELECTED OFFICIALS, INCLUDING TWO U.S. SENATORS AND 15 MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF REP. • REVOLUTIONARY, BECAUSE NO BLACKS COULD VOTE IN SOUTH BEFORE AND MOST IN NORTH STILL COULDN'T.

14. BUT END OF RECONSTRUCTION IN 1887  DISENFRANCHISEMENT OF SOUTHERN BLACKS • LITERACY TESTS, POLL TAXES, GRANDFATHER CLAUSES, VIOLENT KKK INTIMIDATION • RIGHT TO VOTE NOT RESTORED TO SOUTHERN BLACKS UNTIL AFTER VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965 • PERIOD OF DISENFRANCHISEMENT FROM 1877 TO 1965 = 15TH AMENDMENT REVOLUTIONARY ONLY TO LIMITED EXTENT

15. NOTES: • BEFORE YOU CAN WRITE AN ANALYTICAL THESIS AND ANALYTICAL TOPIC SENTENCE YOU NEED A LOT OF OI! • YOU REALLY DO NEED 3-5 RELEVANT FACTS IN EVERY PARAGRAPH (MORE FOR AN 8 OR 9!) • NOTE THAT OI FROM BEFORE AND AFTER THE PERIOD OF THE PROMPT CAN BE RELEVANT AND USED AS EVIDENCE – BUT YOU CAN'T USE OI FROM OUTSIDE THE PERIOD AS YOUR MAIN EVIDENCE,