U.S History AMSCO Final

How had American society changed between 1800 and 1848?

reforms in education, expanded right to vote, new technology

What new territories did the US acquire in that time, and how?

land came from negotiations, purchase, war and the land from the Mexican war

What factors contributed to the growth of sectionalism?

differences over politics, economics and slavery

What factors contributed to the growth of nationalism?

Where did expansionists want the US to acquire territory in the 1840s and 1850s?

Westward

What was westward expansion philosophy?

Manifest Destiny

What factors made Manifest Destiny popular?

nationalism, population increase, economic development, new technology, and reform ideals

Why did white Americans originally settle in Texas of Mexico?

Stephen Austin brought 300 families to Texas

What did Mexico do in 1829, and why did this cause problems?

outlawed slavery and required all immigrants to convert to Roman Catholicism which caused tension because many settlers didn’t listen

Was Mexico’s policy successful? Why or why not?

No

Why did Texas declare its independence from Mexico in 1836, and what happened as a result?

because the Mexican government became a dictatorship and as a result of Texas independence slavery was legal in TX again

Why did Presidents Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren refuse to annex Texas as requested by the Lone Star Republic?

political opposition among Northerners on the expansion of slavery

What happened to President John Tyler’s annexation treaty?

got rejected by the Senate

What led to a dispute along the US/Canada border in the Northeast?

Canada was under British rule and many Americans saw Britain as an enemy

What boundaries did the Webster-Ashburton treaty settle?

the disputed territory was split between Maine and Canada and the boundary of the Minnesota territory

Why did the US feel it had a claim to Orgeon in the Northwest?

the exploration of the Columbia River, the overland expedition to the Pacific Coast by Lewis and Clark, the fur trading post and fort there

How did James Polk end up getting the Democratic nomination, and what did he support?

the Democrats couldn’t decided between the two main candidates and he supported the annexation of Texas, the addition of California and the reoccupation of Oregon

What did Polk’s election lead to?

Texas being added to the Union

What was the area known as the Great American Desert?

the arid region between the Mississippi Valley and the Pacific Coast

What did the Mountain Men do in the Rockies?

traded with American Indians fro animal skins

Where did Overland trails usually begin and end?

began in St. Joseph or Independence Missouri or Council Bluffs and ended in the Great Plains

Why was Overland Trails so arduous and dangerous?

attacks by Indians, disease and depression from harsh conditions

What happened to California's population after the 1848 Gold Rush?

increased

Where did gold and silver rushes occur besides California?

Nevada, Colorado, Black Hills of the Dakotas

Who lived in the territories where gold/silver rushes occured?

mostly Chinese miners

How did the federal government support westward migration for middle class Americans?

Congress’s Preemption Acts gave squatters the right to settle public lands and purchase them for low prices

What made the frontier lifestyle difficult?

isolation

What led to the development of cities in the west?

modeled after the cities in the East

What led to the expansion of US trade in this period?

growth in manufactured and agricultural products

What overshadowed territorial expansion after 1855?

issues of union, slavery, civil war, and postwar reconstruction

How did the US acquire Alaska?

purchased it

What were the causes and effects of westward expansion from 1844-1877?

Manifest Destiny, purchasing land, gaining territory after conflicts

What did President Polk send John Slidell to Mexico to do ?

persuade Mexico to sell California and New Mexico, and to settle disputed Mexico-Texas border

What happened as a result of Polk sending Slidell to Mexico?

Mexico refused to sell California and insisted the Texas border was on the Nueces River

What did America and Mexico disagree on?

the location of the Texas border

Why did Congress authorize a declaration of war against Mexico?

Mexican army crossed the Rio Grande and captured an American army patrol and killed 11 people

How did Mexico-American war play out?

Mexico lost

What were the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo?

the Rio Grande was the Texan border, California and New Mexico would go to the U.S and the U.S paid 15 million

How did Whigs in the Senate view the Mexico-American war?

an immoral effort to expand slavery

Why did Southern Democrats dislike the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo?

believed that the North would try to stop the expansion of slavery

What did David Wilmot propose regarding the territory acquired in the Mexican-American War, and what happened to his proposal?

proposed that an appropriations bill be amended to forbid slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico and was passed the in House but defeated in the Senate

What did the Mexican-American War illustrate about the nation?

the divide between the North and South

What were two perspectives on either causes/effects of the belief in Manifest Destiny that were important during the 19th century?

IDK

What were the causes and effects of the Mexican-American War?

caused by both countries claiming Texas as their own, Polk aggravating Mexico at the border, and effects were the addition of Texas, New Mexico and California into the U.S and the U.S paying 15 million as compensation

Why were southern slave owners dissatisfied with the MO Compromise and outcomes of the Mexican-American War?

it kept slavery from the Louisiana Purchase territory and the territory from Mexico was not large enough

What two ways did the US attempt to acquire Cuba from Spain?

offered to buy it, and Southerners tried to take it by force-both failed

Why did the third attempt to get Cuba fail in 1852?

the agreement was leaked to the press and anti-slavery members of Congress forced the president to drop it

What was William Walker’s plan, and what happened to him?

wanted to develop a proslavery Central American empire and was defeated and executed

What was the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty?

treaty between Britain and the U.S that neither would attempt to take exclusive control of any future canal route in Central America

Why did President Pierce purchase the Gadsden territory from Mexico?

was on the best route for a railroad through the region

What did the Free Soil group want for the new territories in the west?

sought to keep the West a land of opportunity for Whites only

How did Free Soil group feel about slavery?

against it and wanted to prevent the expansion of it

What did the Free Soil group advocate for besides slavery?

free homesteads and internal improvements such as roads and harbors

How did most southerners feel about slavery?

wanted it and viewed restricting expansion of slavery as a violation of their constitutional right to take their property wherever they wished

How did southerners view the northerners and free-soilers?

as intent on the destruction of slavery

How would implementing Popular Sovereignty policy change federal power?

Congress would not decide whether a state allowed slavery, the people would. It would diminish it

Who were the three candidates in the Election of 1848 and what were their positions?

Lewis Cass-popular sovereignty, Zachary Taylor-had no position on slavery, and Martin Van Buren-opposed slavery and expansion

Why did Taylor end up winning in the Election of 1848?

because of the vote given the Free Soil Party in key Northern states such as New York and Pennsylvania

What happened to California’s population in 1849 and why?

increased because of the Gold Rush

What did the increased population in California lead to, and what did President Taylor propose?

created the need for law and order and Taylor proposed the immediate admission of both California and New Mexico as free states

How did radicals in the South react to President Taylor’s solution to the increased population in California?

mad and discussed secession

What solution did Henry Clay propose to the increased population in California?

admit California into the Union as free state, divide territory from Mexico into 2 territories and allow popular sovereignty in both, give the land from the conflict between Texas and Mexico to new territories in return for the federal government assuming Texas’s $10 million debt, ban slave trade in Columbia but allow slavery, and adopt a new Fugitive Slave Law

How did the Compromise of 1850 get passed despite opposition from various factions in Congress?

Stephen A. Douglas engineered different coalitions to pass each part of the compromise separately

Why was the Compromise of 1850 controversial?

the new Fugitive Slave Law and the provision for popular sovereignty.

What tensions existed between Northern and Southern interests by 1850, and how did the Western region factor into these debates?

the slavery debate and the Western territory intensified this debate

Where did each region’s political loyalties lie by 1850?

North was antislavery and the South was pro-slavery!

What previous compromises had averted a sectional crisis by 1850?

the Compromise of 1850

Why did two million Irish immigrate to the US in the 1840s?

famine and crop failures

What obstacles did Irish immigrants face and why?

discrimination because of their Roman Catholic religion

Where did Irish immigrants generally settle?

where they landed, the North

What did many Irish immigrants participate in and why?

politics because they spoke English well and understood politics

Why did over a million Germans immigrate to the US in the 1840s and 1850s?

economic hardships and failure of democratic revolutions

Where did German immigrants generally settle?

Northwest because of their farming skills

What religions did German immigrants practice?

Roman Catholic or Lutheran

Why were many Americans concerned about rising immigration?

feared immigrants would take jobs and dilute the Anglo culture

What were the objectives of the American Party/Know-Nothing Party?

increasing the time required for immigrants to attain citizenship from !ve years to twenty-one years and allowing only native-born citizens to hold public office

Why did Know-Nothing party decline in the late 1850s?

antiforeign feeling faded in importance as the North and the South grew increasingly divided over slavery

What obstacles did inhabitants of the territories acquired from Mexico face?

religious discrimination

What were some of the major innovations after 1840?

railroads, sewing machine, and electric telegraph

What did the development of railroads lead to?

increased communication and transportation

How did the government support railroad industry?

by granting special loans and tax breaks

What did improved transportation lead to?

united the commercial interests of the Northeast and Midwest and promoted Western culture

What caused the Panic of 1857 crisis, and how did reactions differ?

declining international economy and over-expansion of the domestic economy which led to decrease in prices for Midwestern agricultural products, increase in unemployment in Northern cities, but cotton prices remained high and the South was less affected

What was the purpose of the Fugitive Slave law, and what were its effects?

to help owners track down runaway slaves who had escaped to a Northern state which led to people being denied right to jury trial, and slave cases were removed from state courts and given to federal government

How did the Fugitive Slave law further polarize the North & South?

The North often tried to prevent slaves from being returned to the South

What was the Underground Railroad?

a loose network of activists who helped enslaved people escape to freedom in the North or Canada

Who were some of its participants in the Underground Railroad?

Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and Sojourner Truth

What did Uncle Tom’s Cabin illustrate?

the cruelty of slavery and slave owners

How did Southerners respond to Uncle Tom’s Cabin?

Southerners condemned the “untruths” in the novel and looked upon it as one more proof of the North’s incurable prejudice against the Southern way of lif

What did Hinton Helper publish a book about, and what was the reaction?

the book used statistics to demonstrate to fellow Southerners that slavery weakened the South’s economy which led to southern states quickly banning the book

How did slave owners defend the institution despite the literary criticisms?

arguing that slavery was good for both the master and the enslaved, pointed out that slavery was sanctioned by the Bible, grounded in philosophy and history and that slavery was also permitted by the U.S. Constitution

What were the effects of immigration from various parts of the world on American culture from 1844-1877?

tensions among immigrants and natives, isolated communities of immigrants and contributed to American politics

How did regional differences related to slavery caused tension in the years leading up to the Civil War

North and South were constantly going up against each other and the tension built up into the Civil War

What were the three issues related to slavery that divided North & South in 1860?

attitudes about the morality of slavery, views about the constitutional rights of states (right to protect slavery,)and differences over economic policies between the free-labor industrial North and the slave-labor South

What happened to the Whig party in the Election of 1852?

the party started dying

What did Kansas-Nebraska Act do?

divide the Nebraska Territory into two parts, the Kansas and Nebraska territories, and allow popular sovereignty in both

What happened after Kansas-Nebraska Act passed?

conflicts between antislavery and proslavery forces exploded

Why did Douglas ultimately lose support despite winning the Senate?

the violence his bill caused in Bleeding Kansas

How did Kansas end up with two legislatures at the same time?

both proslavery and antislavery forces created their own legislatures

What happened to the Whig and Democratic parties as a result of Kansas-Nebraska Act?

became divided