His103 United States History to 1865

1. The _____ led directly to substantial economic growth in the first half of the nineteenth century because roads, canals, and railroads facilitated the movement of people and goods around the country. The national government encouraged and supported economic development. For example, the national government partnered with states on _____ such as a national road from Maryland to Illinois.
2. The _____ was not a monolithic society of large cotton plantations worked by hundreds of slaves. Most southern whites did not own slaves and most lived in small, two-room cabins, and cotton was not the only crop grown. Still, the South gained the nickname _____ because of the importance of one cash crop before the Civil War.
3. The first half of the nineteenth century saw the rise of multiple religious movements. The _____ that lasted from the 1790s to the late 1830s swept the United States with revivals, frontier camp meetings, and widespread religious enthusiasm. Joseph Smith founded _____ based on a book that he translated from golden tablets which he had found buried near his home. This community eventually made their way to the Western United States under the leadership of Brigham Young.
4. The term _____ described the belief that the United States had a God-given right to spread American civilization across the continent. Lansford Hasting’s _____, published in 1845, provided practical advice to white Americans moving west.
5. Slaves preferred the _____, which gave them a specific amount of work to complete daily. This gave them incentive to work hard and finish early. Slaves also gained strength from the African American church. For example, the _____ grew rapidly in the two decades before the Civil War. One minister for this church, Henry Turner, encouraged blacks to become more of a united and cohesive “people.”

2. The period between 1815 and 1850 witnessed dramatic changes in American society. Significant economic growth occurred during this time. There were also various efforts to reform society. Identify two distinct aspects of economic growth and two distinct reform movements that occurred in the United States during this time period. Explain in detail, using historical information from the text book, the causes and consequences of each of these changes in American society. Finally, explain two significant concerns related to changes in the economy during the antebellum era from The Harbinger, Female Workers of Lowell (1836).

3. Chapter 10 of the course text details a new style of politics that developed during the changing political culture of the 1820s and 1830s. Describe three major characteristics of the new political culture of the 1820s and 1830s, using historical information from the textbook. Then, summarize the election of Andrew Jackson to the presidency. How was his election a reflection of the changing political culture? Finally, explain two ways in which Jackson’s policies as president responded to the interests and outlook of the “common man.”

4. The debate over the Tariff of 1828 (the so-called Tariff of Abominations) was in some sense a rehearsal for arguments made in the 1860s, when eleven southern states claimed to have “seceded” from the Union. Describe the idea of nullification as explained by John C. Calhoun. Explain the significance of Calhoun’s belief that the states had formed the Union. How did that belief justify nullification? Then, explain Daniel Webster’s arguments against Calhoun’s positions made in Chapter 10 as well as Daniel Webster on Liberty and Union (January, 26, 1830), which you read as part of Lesson 9. Was there a right to “annul a law of Congress” for Webster? Explain the significance of Webster’s belief that the people (not the states) had formed the Union. How did this position demonstrate that there was no right for any state to nullify a national law, much less secede from the Union? Finally, choose one part of the Constitution-the Preamble, Supremacy Clause (Article VI, Clause 2), or the process of ratification outlined in Article VII-to explain why Webster’s understanding of the Constitution was the correct one.

5. Chapter 9 of the course text provides a detailed account of the interworking elements of the system of slavery in the antebellum South, including descriptions of kinds of lives lived by the various groups who inhabited the region. Describe the interrelationships among the three primary groups described in the text: slaves, slave owners, and nonslaveholding Southern whites. Compare and contrast the lives of each group with the lives of the other two. Then provide three distinct reasons slave owners used to justify the slave system. Be sure to explain each reason clearly and in detail to distinguish it effectively from the other two. Finally, describe two distinct ways in which slaves resisted slavery within their everyday lives.

6. Chapter 11 of the course text states that in the mid-1800s many people in the United States felt a sense of uniqueness about the United States that helped drive westward expansion. First, explain the term “Manifest Destiny” using specific information from John L. O’Sullivan on Manifest Destiny, 1839, which was part of your reading assignment in Lesson 10. Describe two specific beliefs or assumptions that Sullivan made to justify westward expansion. Next, note that in describing Manifest Destiny the course text explains that it was “rooted in Puritan utopianism and revolutionary republicanism, [and] this sense of uniqueness and mission also stemmed from the rapid growth and progress of the early nineteenth century” (p. 285). With this in mind, identify and explain one religious motivation and one motivation based on “progress” that justified westward expansion. Finally, use one example from the experiences of Mexicans (or Mexican Americans) and one example from the experiences of Native Americans to evaluate whether (or not) the actions of white Americans in the West lived up to these claims about their motivations.