Between 1860 and 1877, both constitutional and social developments during the Civil War and later Reconstruction combined to create immense changes that threatened the balance of life in that time period and as a result, many Americans revolted against this sudden change. Revolution is defined as a sudden or momentous change in a situation that causes a fundamental change in the way of thinking about an idea or concept. Major amendments to the Constitution and other legislation resulted in marked change in both political and social life that caused an uprising among many American citizens.

Before and during the Civil War, the state of interactions between the federal and state governments caused tension between the states and the people of the United States. In December 1860, a special convention in South Carolina voted unanimously to secede based on the fact that frequent violations of the Constitution and the federal government's encroachment...