Westward Expansion
What year did Jefferson push his executive powers to buy territory, known as the Louisiana Purchase, from France?
1803 -- This land deal acquired about 827,000 acres of land west of the Mississippi, and doubled the size of the US overnight.
Late 19th C ideology by Industry & Gilded Age leaders to justify the wage gap. Applies the 'survival of the fittest' theory to society (rich are meant to be rich and poor meant to be poor).
Social Darwinism
What does Laissez Faire mean? When was it popular?
The government's 'hands-off' approach to economics that let businesses regulate themselves in the Industrial and Gilded Age.
Define Manifest Destiny. What historical trend or change did it drive throughout the first half of the 19th century?
The belief or ideology based in white supremacy that argues that the expansion of the US throughout the American continents was justified, willed by God and inevitable. This belief drove the territorial expansion of America westward.
Which Reconstruction Amendment granted voting rights to all males, regardless of race?
15th Amendment
Identify and describe the significance of the Dred Scott v. Stanford case of 1857
The Dred Scott decision of 1857 ruled that enslaved people were not considered US citizens and therefore could not sue in federal court, effectively denying citizenship to African Americans.
-Declared that Congress had no power to ban slavery in US territories, escalating tensions between free and slave states since many Northerners viewed it as a blatant attempt to expand slavery into new territories
-Invalidated the Missouri Compromise: The decision deemed the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional, which prohibited slavery in certain territories above the initial line drawn, allowing slavery to spread into new territories.
Define and explain the significance of the Missouri Compromise of 1820.
Under the Missouri Compromise, the North and the South compromised over adding Missouri as a slave state, and Maine as a free state. It also drew a line dividing the nation into Northern free states and Southern slave states and fueled the national debate on slavery.
When was the Market Revolution (1st IR) and provide 3 examples of inventions from this period.
Early 1800s economic developments that increased the production of goods for a national market over local consumption. Innovations in production (cotton gin, textile mills) communication (telegraph), and transportation (RR, steamboat, canals), changed the way Americans worked and did business.
Name 2 new business practices industrialists used in the late 1800s.
-Monopolies & Cartels – controlling an industry and eliminating competition
-Assembly lines – cheap and efficient mass production
-shift to unskilled labor roles lead to child labor and a reliance on immigrants
-Rise of industrial capitalism
What was the Declaration of Sentiments?
The Declaration of Sentiments was written by Elizabeth Cady Stanton at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848. It was modeled after the Declaration of Independence and aimed to publicize the way that the civil rights of women were violated in the early 1800s.
Which Amendment banned the production, sale, and transportation of alcohol in the US?
18th Amendment
Did Reconstruction fail? Explain why using historically accurate OE and logical reasoning.
YES -- Reconstruction ultimately failed to deliver on the promise of equality that many hoped for. Although Radical Republicans were able to make some immediate improvements in American society and infrastructure, ultimately those gains were short-lived. The southern Democrats reorganized and consolidated their power after the war and established a society based on White supremacy.
NO -- Compared to the era leading up to it, Reconstruction resulted in positive gains for African-Americans, especially in the south. Immediately after the war, Republicans in Congress were able to push for near equality in many respects, build schools and roads, amend the Constitution (over the objections of obstructionist Andrew Johnson) and use the military to enforce rule of law in the south.
What was the Dawes Act of 1887?
The Dawes Act (1887) marked a major shift in the US government's approach to Native American lands in the west, now aiming to assimilate Natives by dividing tribal reservations into individual plots of land, breaking up communal ownership? It was also known as the General Allotment Act, and often led to the loss of large portions of tribal land to non-Native settlers.
When was the (2nd) Industrial Revolution? Name 4 technological developments from this time.
A time of rapid industrialization, mass production, and urbanization in the late 1800s-early 1900s. Innovations include the electric lightbulb, internal combustion engine, automobile, airplane, and electrical communication technologies like the telegraph, telephone, and radio.
Who was Jane Addams? What social development did she create in Chicago in 1889?
Jane Addams was a social reformist in the Industrial Age that sought to improve living conditions for poor city dwellers in Chicago. She founded the famous social settlement house, Hull-House, in 1889.
Identify, describe and differentiate between the 1st Great Awakening (1730s & 40s) and 2nd Great Awakening (1800 - 1860)
1st Great Awakening (1730s & 40s, A. Jackson) - trans-denominational religious revival within Protestant churches that challenged the formal authority of the church, and democratized worship in the American colonies and England. In it's promotion of democratic ideals like religious freedom, belief in the free press, the movement fueled a new sense of nationhood, ultimately fueling the independence movement.
*American Revolution (1775 - 1783)
2nd Great Awakening (1800 - 1860) - Protestant Evangelical religious movement that inspired multiple critical 1800’s social reform movements like Abolition, women’s suffrage temperance, prison reform, universal education, and mental institutions, and more.
Key Differences:
-Time – 1st GA was in colonial times before American Revolution (1775 - 1783); 2nd GA was in 1800s after U.S. established
-Type of Reform – 1st GA was a religious revival movement challenging the church; 2nd GA was a series of reform movements to change broader society
Which Amendment gave women the right to vote?
19th Amendment
Name 2 ways Lincoln expanded Executive (Presidential) power during the Civil War.
During the Civil War Lincoln used his Executive (Presidential) powers to suspend habeas corpus. This prevented detained Americans from challenging their arrest. (Ultimately 13,000 Americans were arrested and held without a trial during the war.) Democrats accused him of abuse of power and tyranny.
-Lincoln also used Executive power to expand rights and issue the Emancipation Proclamation, changing the purpose of the war.
-After EP, many African Americans fled southern plantations and enlisted in the Union Army, re-supplying Union troops overnight
-Also helped prevent the Confederacy from gaining full diplomatic support from European powers (Britain and France)
Explain and chronologically connect the following key terms:
Mexican-American War - Mexican Cession - Annexation of Texas
After provoking the annexation of Texas (or Texas Revolution) in 1845, Polk directed the US army to invade Mexico. The Mexican-American War lasted from 1846 - 1848, and resulted in the Mexican Cession which added significant territory to the American SW.
Name the industry of each of the following titans ruled during the Industrial Revolution: Vanderbilt, Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Ford
Vanderbilt (steamboats and/or railroads)
Carnegie (Steel)
Rockefeller (Oil)
Ford (Auto)
Name 3 African American reformists and describe, specifically, how they took action
Harriet Tubman - facilitated escape on the underground railroad, formerly enslaved
Frederick Douglass - Abolitionist leader, speaker and activist, formerly enslaved
W.E.B. du Bois - Harvard, founded NAACP, activist believing in the power of education
Ida B. Wells - used journalism and muckracking to expose Lynching in the south
What is Progressivism and/or the Progressive Era? Which President first championed it?
Late 19th Century ideology and period in the US in the early 20th C of widespread social activism and political reform across America. Progressives sought to address the problems caused by rapid industrialization, urbanization, immigration, and political corruption as well as the enormous concentration of industrial ownership in monopolies. It was led by Theodore Roosevelt when he was elected president in 1900.
Which 1913 Amendment drove direct democracy and limited corruption by giving the power to to the people to directly elect U.S. senators, instead of state legislatures?
17th Amendment
What was the significance of South Carolina's 1832 Ordinance of Nullification? Which larger political debate did it incite and how did it foreshadow the Civil War?
1832 South Carolina law that declared Federal Tariffs of 1828 and 1832 unconstitutional and null and void within the state, sparking a larger debate on the relationship between the federal government and the states.
SC's rebellion of the federal government foreshadowed the state's secession in 1860, and the secession of the rest of the south soon after, essentially sparking the Civil War.
Name at least 3 out of the 6 parts of Henry Clay's Compromise of 1850 and explain its significance
Compromise of 1850:
The significance of the Compromise of 1850 was that it put the power of the federal government behind the institution of slavery. It increased the urgency of the Abolition movement as Northerners were now forced to comply with a system they saw as immoral, or be punished under the law.
Name one way technology, government policy, and economic conditions changed American agriculture in the Progressive Era
When agriculture was industrialized in the late 1800s, farms became larger and focused on growing single cash crops like corn and wheat. These large farms required expensive specialized machinery which small farms couldn’t afford and many small farmers went out of business.
Global competition also gauged many small farmers, especially in the west. Industrial leaders took advantage of farmers by charging high prices for machinery needed to run large farms. High costs for transportation and storage ate whatever profit was left. At the same time, prices for their agricultural products fell. The world was becoming increasingly globalized, so competition from foreign markets led to falling prices. As profits fell, many farmers went out of business or generated debt borrowing from banks.
In response to their challenges (like factory workers) they also used collective organizing to form farmers alliances (The Grange) to fight back against industrialists. The Populist Party represented the interests of poor western farmers, popular at the end of the 19th C, but never took major hold in the Federal government. (William Jennings Bryan)
Define "muckracing" and name 3 examples, explaining the methods each used to expose social injustices
Muckrackers were journalists, writers, and photographers during the Progressive Era (1890s–1920s) who exposed corruption and wrongdoing in government, business, and society.
Ida B. Wells used journalism in "Southern Horrors" to expose lynching in the south and the lies used to justify it.
Jacob Riis used photo journalism in "How the Other Half Lives" to expose the brutal living conditions of immigrants in urban settlement houses.
Upton Sinclair used fictionalized narrative (or storytelling) in "The Jungle" to expose the brutal working conditions of the Meat-Packing industry.
Explain the significance of the 1819 McCulloch v. Maryland Supreme Court case
McCullough v Maryland was a significant 1819 Supreme Court case declared federal laws supreme and that Congress could create a national bank. It was significant because it was one of the first cases to define the scope of the federal government's power and its relationship with state governments.
Define and explain the significance of the 17th Amendment.
In 1913, the 17th Amendment gave the power to to the people to directly elect U.S. senators, instead of state legislatures. It was significant because it supported direct democracy and limited political corruption.
Name 3 benefits the North had during the Civil War and 2 benefits of the South
-The north controlled 85% of all factories in America at the start of the Civil War which would be able to produce the weapons and supplies of war necessary to win.
-The north was more connected, owning over 70% of all railroads in the US, which meant that could transport those weapons, supplies, and troops more quickly to the battlefield.
-They also had more people. Roughly 2/3 of the entire population of the country lived in US, giving the government an ample supply of troops.
-Lincoln and the Union also had a standing army and navy, and a functioning government.
-The south was fighting on their home turf, had better generals and military leaders, and higher morale.