← US History syllabus

VirginiaUS History

Reporting Category 2: Virginia and United States History, 1865 to 1914

6 dot points across 6 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How did the nation try to rebuild and extend rights after the Civil War?

Explain the goals and policies of Reconstruction, the Reconstruction Amendments (13th, 14th, 15th), the Freedmen's Bureau, and the political conflicts of the era (Virginia 2015 History and Social Science SOL VUS.7).
A SOL-level answer on Reconstruction for the VUS exam: the goals of rebuilding the South and integrating freed people, the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, the Freedmen's Bureau, the conflict between President Johnson and Radical Republicans, and the gains African Americans made during Reconstruction.
13 min answer →

How did sectional differences over slavery break the Union apart?

Explain the growth of sectionalism and the causes of the Civil War: the slavery debate, the failed compromises, key events (Dred Scott, Bleeding Kansas, John Brown), the election of 1860, and secession (Virginia 2015 History and Social Science SOL VUS.6, VUS.7).
A SOL-level answer on the causes of the Civil War for the VUS exam: the sectional divide between North and South over slavery and states' rights, the failed compromises, Dred Scott and Bleeding Kansas, the election of 1860, and the secession of Southern states including Virginia.
13 min answer →

How did the Union win the Civil War, and what role did Virginia play?

Describe the major events, leaders, and turning points of the Civil War, including the advantages of each side, Gettysburg and Vicksburg, key figures (Lincoln, Grant, Lee, Davis), and the war's end at Appomattox (Virginia 2015 History and Social Science SOL VUS.7).
A SOL-level answer on the Civil War for the VUS exam: the advantages of the Union and Confederacy, key leaders (Lincoln, Grant, Lee, Davis), the turning points at Gettysburg and Vicksburg in 1863, Virginia as the war's main eastern battleground, and the Confederate surrender at Appomattox in 1865.
12 min answer →

How did the settlement of the West transform the frontier and devastate American Indians?

Describe the settlement of the West after the Civil War, the role of the railroads and the Homestead Act, the destruction of the bison, conflicts with American Indians, and federal policies of removal and assimilation including the Dawes Act (Virginia 2015 History and Social Science SOL VUS.8).
A SOL-level answer on the settlement of the West for the VUS exam: the railroads and the Homestead Act, the role of the transcontinental railroad, the destruction of the bison, the wars and confinement of Plains Indians to reservations, and federal assimilation policy through the Dawes Act.
12 min answer →

How did Lincoln's words and policies change the meaning of the Civil War?

Explain the significance of the Emancipation Proclamation and the principles expressed in the Gettysburg Address, and how they reframed the purpose of the Civil War (Virginia 2015 History and Social Science SOL VUS.7).
A SOL-level answer on Lincoln's wartime words for the VUS exam: the Emancipation Proclamation (1863) and what it did and did not do, the principles of the Gettysburg Address, and how both reframed the Civil War as a struggle for freedom and a test of democratic government.
12 min answer →

How were the gains of Reconstruction reversed, and how did Jim Crow take hold?

Explain the end of Reconstruction (the Compromise of 1877), the rise of Jim Crow segregation, disenfranchisement, Plessy v. Ferguson, and African American responses including Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois (Virginia 2015 History and Social Science SOL VUS.7, VUS.8).
A SOL-level answer on the end of Reconstruction for the VUS exam: the Compromise of 1877 and the withdrawal of federal troops, the rise of Jim Crow segregation and disenfranchisement, Plessy v. Ferguson and separate but equal, and the responses of Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois.
13 min answer →