Untitled Flashcards Set

Chapter 17: Manifest Destiny & Its Legacy

1. What caused the Aroostook War?

   • A border dispute between the U.S. (Maine) and Britain (Canada) over the boundary between Maine and New Brunswick.

   • Canadian lumberjacks entered disputed land, leading to conflict with American settlers.

   • Resolved by the Webster-Ashburton Treaty.

2. What were the provisions of the Webster-Ashburton Treaty?

   • Settled the Maine-Canada border.

   • U.S. got 7,000 square miles; Britain got a route to Halifax.

   • Resolved border disputes in the Great Lakes.

3. What were the arguments for and against the annexation of Texas?

   • For: Manifest Destiny, economic benefits, expansion of slavery.

   • Against: Might start war with Mexico, expansion of slavery, sectional tensions.

4. What was the theory of “Manifest Destiny”?

   • Belief that the U.S. was destined to expand from coast to coast.

   • Justified territorial expansion, including Texas, Oregon, and California.

5. Why were some people opposed to the terms of the Oregon settlement reached by Polk?

   • Some Americans wanted all of Oregon (54°40’ or Fight!).

   • Polk compromised with Britain at the 49th parallel.

   • Northerners saw it as favoring the South since Texas was fully annexed but Oregon was divided.

The Mexican-American War

6. What factors created tension between the U.S. and Mexico in the early 1840s?

   • U.S. annexation of Texas (Mexico saw Texas as still theirs).

   • Border dispute (U.S. claimed the Rio Grande; Mexico claimed the Nueces River).

   • Unpaid Mexican debts to American citizens.

7. What finally prompted the Mexican-American War?

   • Polk sent troops under Zachary Taylor to the Rio Grande.

   • Mexican forces attacked U.S. troops, giving Polk reason to declare war in 1846.

8. What were the provisions of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo?

   • Mexico ceded California, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, and parts of Colorado/Wyoming (Mexican Cession).

   • U.S. paid $15 million to Mexico.

   • Rio Grande established as Texas border.

Chapter 18: Renewing the Sectional Struggle

9. What was the political platform of the Free-Soil Party?

   • Opposed expansion of slavery into western territories.

   • Supported free labor, internal improvements, and homesteads for settlers.

10. What were the provisions of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty?

• U.S. and Britain agreed neither would control a future canal in Central America.

11. Why was the Ostend Manifesto controversial?

• U.S. secretly tried to buy or take Cuba from Spain.

• Northerners saw it as a pro-slavery plot.

The Divisive Politics of Slavery

12. What was the significance of the California Gold Rush?

• Rapid population increase in California.

• Led to California applying for statehood as a free state, increasing sectional tensions.

13. What were the provisions of the Wilmot Proviso?

• Proposed banning slavery in all land gained from Mexico.

• Passed in the House but failed in the Senate.

14. What was the significance of the Supreme Court case Dred Scott v. Sanford?

• Ruled that slaves were property, not citizens.

• Declared Missouri Compromise unconstitutional.

• Strengthened pro-slavery arguments.

15. What were the provisions of the Compromise of 1850? How did Stephen Douglas finally get the compromise approved?

• Provisions:

  • California admitted as a free state.

  • Stronger Fugitive Slave Law.

  • Popular sovereignty in Utah & New Mexico.

  • No slave trade in D.C.

• Douglas: Passed each provision separately to gain support.

16. What were the provisions of the Kansas-Nebraska Act? Why was it problematic?

• Allowed popular sovereignty in Kansas & Nebraska.

• Repealed Missouri Compromise.

• Led to violent conflicts (“Bleeding Kansas”).

Chapter 19: Drifting Towards Disunion

17. What was the significance of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin?

• Exposed the horrors of slavery.

• Increased abolitionist support in the North.

18. Why was the Lecompton Constitution controversial?

• Kansas pro-slavery constitution that didn’t allow a true free-state vote.

• Opposed by Stephen Douglas and free-soilers.

19. What was the political platform of the Know-Nothing Party?

• Anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic, pro-nativism.

20. What arguments for/against slavery did Lincoln and Douglas make in their 1858 debates?

• Lincoln: Slavery was morally wrong, opposed its expansion.

• Douglas: Supported popular sovereignty, Freeport Doctrine.

21. What role did John Brown play in the abolitionist movement?

• Led raid on Harper’s Ferry to start a slave revolt.

• Became a martyr for the abolitionist cause.

The Civil War

22. What were the advantages of the Union and Confederacy at the start of the war?

• Union: Industry, railroads, larger population, navy.

• Confederacy: Military leadership, home-field advantage, motivation.

23. What were the provisions of the Anaconda Plan?

• Naval blockade, control of Mississippi River, capture Richmond.

24. What were the “border states”? How did they impact Lincoln’s decisions?

• Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, Delaware.

• Lincoln had to be cautious about slavery to keep them in the Union.

25. Why did Great Britain remain neutral?

• Didn’t rely on Southern cotton as much.

• Opposed slavery.

26. Why did Lincoln issue the Emancipation Proclamation?

• Freed slaves in Confederate states.

• Kept Britain from helping the South.

• North: Mixed reactions. South: Anger.

27. How did the Union raise funds for the war?

• Taxes, bonds, printing paper money.

28. Why did many protest the North’s conscription system?

• Rich could pay to avoid service (“rich man’s war, poor man’s fight”).

29. How did Lincoln & Davis deal with dissenters?

• Lincoln: Suspended habeas corpus.

• Davis: Suppressed opposition in the South.

30. Who were the Copperheads?

• Northern Democrats who opposed the war.

Reconstruction & Its Effects

31. What key questions had to be addressed during Reconstruction?

• How to reunite the South?

• How to integrate freed slaves?

32-34. Lincoln, Radical Republican, and Johnson’s Plans

• Lincoln: Lenient, 10% Plan.

• Radicals: Harsh, 50% loyalty oath.

• Johnson: Similar to Lincoln but anti-black rights.

35-42. Amendments & Reconstruction Acts

• 13th: Abolished slavery.

• 14th: Citizenship & equal protection.

• 15th: Voting rights for black men.

• Military Reconstruction Act: Divided South into military zones.

The Collapse of Reconstruction

48-52. Scandals, Panic of 1873, 1876 Election Compromise

• Grant scandals hurt Republicans.

• Panic of 1873 led to economic crisis.

• 1876 Compromise: Hayes became president, federal troops left South, ending Reconstruction.