APUSH Exam Review Notes

Period 5: 1844-1877

Westward Expansion Causes and Effects

• Manifest Destiny: Belief that the U.S. was divinely destined to expand across North America.
  • Fueled westward migration.
  • Justified annexing territories like Texas and Oregon.
• Mexican-American War (1846-1848):
  • Triggered by disputes over Texas and U.S. desire for California.
  • Ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, where the U.S. gained the Mexican Cession (present-day Southwest).
  • Increased sectional tensions over slavery expansion.
• Homestead Act (1862):
  • Federal law encouraging migration.
  • Offered settlers 160 acres of free land.
  • Promoted agricultural development and settlement in the Great Plains.
• Transcontinental Railroad (Completed 1869):
  • Facilitated movement of people and goods.
  • Promoted economic growth.
  • Increased conflict and displacement of Native American tribes.
• Impact on Native Americans:
  • Forcible removal from lands (e.g., Indian Removal Act).
  • Reservations system.
  • Suffered from warfare and broken treaties.
  • Loss of land and cultural autonomy.

Attempts to Resolve Slavery

• Compromise of 1850:
  • Provisions included popular sovereignty in Utah and New Mexico.
  • Fugitive Slave Act: Required runaway slaves to be deported to their owners.
• Black Codes (Around 1865):
  • Limited economic opportunities for blacks.
  • Restricted their right to own property.
• Freedmen’s Bureau:
  • Assisted former slaves in the Southern states.
  • Provided necessities like food, shelter, clothing, and medical services.

Immigration (1844-1877)

• Increased Immigration from Ireland and Germany:
  • Large numbers of Irish (due to the Potato Famine) and German immigrants arrived.
  • Contributed to urban growth.
  • Brought new languages, religions (Catholicism), and customs.
• Nativism and the Know-Nothing Party:
  • Rise of nativist attitudes among native-born Americans.
  • Formation of the Know-Nothing Party, opposing immigration and Catholic influence.
  • Reflected cultural and political tensions.
• Labor Force Expansion:
  • Immigrants provided labor in factories, railroads, and canals (especially in the North).
  • Fueled the Industrial Revolution and economic expansion.
  • Faced exploitation and low wages.
• Ethnic Enclaves and Cultural Preservation:
  • Immigrant groups settled in ethnic neighborhoods.
  • Preserved languages, foods, and traditions.
  • Contributed to cultural diversity in cities like New York, Chicago, and Boston.
• Political Impact:
  • Immigrants, especially the Irish, became active in urban politics.
  • Shaped political machines like Tammany Hall.
  • Influenced city governance and advocated for workers' rights.

Union Victory in the Civil War

• Improved strategy and leadership led to victories like Chattanooga (connector to the lower South).
• Emancipation Proclamation:
  • Framed the war as being about the freedom of slaves.
  • Discouraged other nations from supporting the Confederacy.
  • Followed by the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to further rights for black people.
• Union had more access to railroads and transport (e.g., after the Battle of Atlanta, controlling a major railroad in the South).
• Battle of Gettysburg:
  • Major Union victory.
  • Led to the Gettysburg Address, an encouragement from Lincoln.
• Missouri Compromise:
  • Limited slave states.
  • More states supported the Union.

Lincoln’s Leadership

• Preservation of the Union:
  • Lincoln emphasized saving the Union.
  • Reinforced the ideal of a united nation.
• Emancipation Proclamation (1863):
  • Shifted the war’s purpose to include abolishing slavery.
  • Promoted equality and civil rights.
• Gettysburg Address (1863):
  • Redefined the war as a struggle for freedom and democracy.
  • Emphasized popular sovereignty and equality.
• 13th Amendment (1865):
  • Abolished slavery.
  • Enshrined freedom and reshaped the Constitution.
• Expansion of Presidential Power:
  • Lincoln used war powers to suspend habeas corpus and take other executive actions.
  • Shaped future debates about civil liberties in times of crisis.

Period 6: 1877-1898

Settlement of the West

• The Homestead Act gave lands to every immigrant to encourage western migration.
• The Transcontinental Railroad connects states together, further promotes trade and cultural exchange, and boosts economic growth.
• The West became a popular place for immigrants from all over the world, making the employment really competitive.
• Chinese Exclusion Acts restricted Chinese immigrants from entering the United States, because Chinese workers accepted low wages and worked more than others.
• The invention telegram helps the information to be transmitted rapidly, making the communication among states easier.

Technological Advances

• Industrial Revolution:
  • Rise of factories, powered by innovations like the steam engine and interchangeable parts.
  • Led to mass production, urbanization, and the growth of manufacturing economies (especially in the North).
• Transportation Improvements:
  • Transcontinental Railroad, steamboats, and canals (e.g., Erie Canal) connected regions.
  • Promoted westward expansion and helped create a national market economy.
• Telegraph (Samuel Morse):
  • Revolutionized communication with instant long-distance messaging.
  • Improved business operations, journalism, and military coordination during the Civil War.
• Agricultural Innovations:
  • Mechanical reaper (Cyrus McCormick) and steel plow (John Deere) increased farm productivity.
  • Supported westward expansion and contributed to the rise of commercial agriculture.
• Impact on Labor and Society:
  • New technologies led to the growth of wage labor, child labor, and factory work.
  • Changed American social structures.
  • Sparked movements for labor reform and better working conditions.

Socioeconomic Continuities and Changes

• Continuities:
  • Wealth Inequality: The gap between the rich and the poor continued to increase.
  • Economic Struggles: Farmers continued to face economic challenges due to falling crop prices, debt, and monopolies.
• Changes:
  • Technological Innovation: New technologies like the telephone, electricity, and factory production transformed industry and everyday life.
  • Rise of Big Business: Large corporations replaced small businesses and Trusts and monopolies formed.
  • Urbanization and Immigration: Massive growth of cities and a surge of immigration fueled the industrial labor force

Period 7

Attitudes About Nation’s Role in the World

• Similarity: American exceptionalism (belief that the United States has a unique mission to spread democracy and freedom).
  • Traced from Manifest Destiny to Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points.
• Prioritization of the national interest.
  • Isolationist vs. interventionist policies based on benefits to U.S. security, economy, or global standing.

Progressive Reform Movement

• Goals:
  • Better working conditions and ban child labor.
  • Break up monopolies through antitrust laws like the Sherman Antitrust Act.
• Effects:
  • The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire.
  • Stricter regulations of the Federal Reserve.

Innovations in Communication and Technology

• Originated in the Industrial Revolution in the 1800’s (telegraph, railroad, steamboats, etc.)
• The Progressive Era led to a greatly increased dependency on manufactured goods → consumerism
• Increased demand led to production advancements which led to a decrease in the number of jobs in the workplace, brought attention to workers’ rights, and led to policies like the Bracero Program
• Eventually led to the development of advertising and the influence through things like the Committee of Public Information in the 1900s

U.S. Participation in World War II

• The war created many factories/jobs that boosted the economy, helping to end the Great Depression. For example, the Lend-Lease Act, where the US program sent weapons to Allies before entering the war, boosted industry.
• Because men are in a war, women and minorities took jobs they could not get before. Such as machinists, nurses, farm workers, etc. This weakened old stereotypes and slowly opened doors for equality.
• In Korematsu v. US, the Supreme Court allowed Japanese-American internment camps during WWll. Different treatments to different cultural groups.
• War speeds up the invention of new technologies. For example, radar and medicines, which later improved daily life.
• After winning World War II, the US became the most powerful country, creating groups like the United Nations that keep peace and lead globally. For example, the Truman Doctrine, post-wwll policy to contain communism, showed America’s new global role and ended in isolationism.

Victory of the United States and its Allies over the Axis powers

• American war agencies (like the War Production Board) and war production supplied the U.S. with ample military weapons
• The U.S. became the top world power along with the USSR (which fueled the Cold War)
• The creation of the United Nations in Europe aimed to prevent future world wars and protect Allied forces

Consequences of U.S. Involvement in World War II

• Nuclear power: After the use of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, an arms race was later started with the Soviet Union (Cold War).
• Economic growth: Entering the war helped boost the economy after the Great Depression as many new jobs were created during wartime production.
• Foreign alliances: The US helped form NATO and opposed Soviet expansion through containment, which led to the Cold War.
• Social changes: The US entering WW2 reformed society as women took jobs in the factories and other jobs while the men were away at war. Minority groups also volunteered to fight in the war, such as the Tuskegee Airmen.

Period 8

Continuities and Changes in Cold War Policies (1945-1980)

• Continuities:
  1. Containment of Communism – From the Truman Doctrine in 1947 onward, the U.S. consistently worked to stop the spread of communism around the world.
  2. Nuclear Arms Race – Both the U.S. and USSR maintained and expanded their nuclear arsenals, using the threat of Mutually Assured Destruction as a deterrent.
• Changes:
  1. From Brinkmanship to Détente – In the 1950s, U.S. policy emphasized brinkmanship and massive retaliation. By the 1970s, policies shifted toward détente, promoting diplomacy and arms control
  2. U.S.–China Relations – In the early Cold War, the U.S. opposed communist China. But in 1972, Nixon visited China, opening diplomatic relations and changing the Cold War dynamic.

Military and Diplomatic Responses to International Developments

• Long Telegram: The U.S. embassy in Moscow denounced the USSR and said that Russian nationalism is highly dangerous
• Atlantic Charter: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill’s goals for postwar peace; established the creation of the United Nations
• Truman Doctrine: foreign strategy policy aimed at containing the spread of communism during the early Cold War
• Red Scare: intense fear of communism and communist influence in the United States

Civil Rights Movements

• African Americans
  • Abolitionists (e.g., Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman) fought to end slavery before the Civil War.
  • 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments gave African Americans freedom, citizenship, and voting rights during Reconstruction.
  • In the 20th century, groups like the NAACP and leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks led the Civil Rights Movement, pushing for desegregation, voting rights, and equal protection.
• Women
  • Leaders like Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Lucretia Mott organized the Seneca Falls Convention (1848) and demanded suffrage (right to vote).
  • The 19th Amendment (1920) granted women the right to vote.
  • Later efforts (e.g., Second Wave Feminism) focused on workplace equality, reproductive rights, and gender discrimination.
• Native Americans
  • Resisted forced removal, assimilation, and fought for land rights (e.g., Trail of Tears, Battle of Little Bighorn).
  • In the 20th century, groups like the American Indian Movement (AIM) fought for sovereignty, cultural preservation, and enforcement of treaty rights.
• Latino Americans
  • Activists like César Chávez and Dolores Huerta led the United Farm Workers (UFW) to fight for labor rights and better conditions for migrant workers.
  • The Chicano Movement promoted cultural pride and fought for educational and voting rights
• Asian Americans
  • Faced exclusionary laws (e.g., Chinese Exclusion Act) and discrimination.
  • Fought against internment (e.g., Japanese American redress movement) and for immigration and citizenship rights (e.g., Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965).

Vietnam War

• Originated in the Cold War, with the United States attempting to prevent the spread of communism with its policy of containment
• The US drew from its policies of neutrality, isolationism, and Lend-Lease from WWII in an attempt to prevent major involvement in another war
• The United States aided South Vietnam, and Russia aided North Vietnam
• Led to strong advancements militarily with chemical warfare (ex,. Agent Orange) and bombings like the Tet Offensive
• Demonstrated a violent side of the US military that hadn’t been seen before
• The American people and government grew tired of US involvement inthe War, leading to the implementation of policies like Vietnamization that attempted to withdraw the US from the Vietnam War
• A previously patriotic and nationalistic nation was now more adamantly against war

Opposition to Existing Policies and Values

• Following the Russian revolution, the Red Scare made people scared of anything that correlated with communism, so people were shown how people’s fears were impacting legislation
• The people who had just gotten out of a war wanted to focus more on isolationism because of the impact getting into the war had on the people
• There were Jim Crow laws that were targeting black people, so there were protests against the targeted laws
• People began moving away from certain social norms, like how the flappers were embracing new ways of dancing and dressing, so they were more open to moving away from the normal values
• The growth of wealthy businessmen like Andrew Carnegie received more power and influence on the policies of the government

Period 9

Conservativism after 1980

• The Cold War was the result of conflict between U.S. and the Soviet Union through small proxy wars that did not involve direct conflict between the two Countries.
• Another main cause to the start of the Cold War, was the increasing spread of Communism, which the U.S. stated was their main reason of getting involved in foreign conflicts like the Vietnam War.
• An effect of the Cold War was the varying spikes of the Red Scare, in which Americans became paranoid that foreign people in the country were communist spies for the Soviet Union.
• Another effect of the Cold War was the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) which were negotiated between the U.S. and USSR to limit nuclear weapons during the Cold War.

Continuing Policy Debates

• The introduction of Roosevelt’s New Deal policies, along with Johnson’s Great Society ideals helped some people, but also made others concerned about government in daily lives
• People were concerned about stagnation, rising inflation and unemployment, along with high taxes from supporting welfare programs
• The worsening economic state made people want to have policies opposite of the previous administration, leading to Reagan’s presidency
• Lead to Reagan’s new Reaganomics plans for lower costs through his trickle-down economics that were meant to give benefits to some that would lead to benefits for others
• Also resulting in Reagan’s strong policies of deregulation

Pop Culture

• Pop culture was used to convey different messages. During the war, movies were used to appeal to applying to the military, promoting patriotism, and more.
• Pop culture, including music and television, had different effects depending on their message. There were many pieces of music that united the people, sometimes even further than just the US, but globally. Movies also played a large role in instilling values in the American people. Movies had an huge impact on people’s lifestyles, especially teenagers. It also promoted consumerism and lifestyles reflecting certain values.
• It helped give different groups platforms, such as how jazz, which came from African Americans, rose in popularity. The rise of pop culture also drove the entertainment industry, which created many new jobs for the economy. Television was also used by businesses to advertise their products.
• Due to its large audience and widespread impact, pop culture was also a powerful political tool. After television entered most people’s homes, it also became an important part of elections and a way for candidates to show the American people why they should vote for them.

End of the Cold War

• Causes of the End of the Cold War
  • Economic problems in the Soviet Union: Years of heavy military spending and a weak economy led to shortages, debt, and unrest in the USSR, making it hard to sustain the arms race.
  • Reforms under Mikhail Gorbachev: Policies like glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) aimed to modernize the Soviet system but also exposed its flaws and encouraged demands for freedom.
  • Increased U.S. pressure: President Ronald Reagan increased military spending and promoted a strong anti-communist stance (e.g., "evil empire" speech, Strategic Defense Initiative), putting further strain on the USSR.
  • Fall of the Berlin Wall (1989): Symbolized the collapse of communist regimes across Eastern Europe and the weakening grip of the Soviet Union.
• Effects and Legacy
  • Collapse of the Soviet Union (1991): Marked the official end of the Cold War and the rise of the U.S. as the world’s sole superpower.
  • Expansion of democracy and capitalism: Many former communist nations transitioned to market economies and held democratic elections.
  • Global realignment: NATO remained active, but new threats emerged (e.g., terrorism, regional conflicts), shifting U.S. foreign policy focus.
  • Ongoing tensions with Russia: Despite the Cold War’s end, issues like NATO expansion and conflicts in Ukraine and Eastern Europe continue to impact U.S.–Russia relations.