U.S. I Practice Quiz for Chs. 14-16, & Study Questions for Final Exam Essays

IT'S HERE:  PRACTICE TEST to help prepare for final exam questions on Chapters 14, 15, and 16. Take the quiz (you'll have a chance to see your answers again at the end), then scroll down in this blog post to see study questions for the final exam.

U.S. I Practice Quiz - Chs. 14, 15, and 16 » create exam

ESSAY PRACTICE:
Some themes that were important in the third and fourth quarters are slavery, and foreign relations (America's relationship with other countries):  Here are some questions to help you think about these issues:

How did slavery affect the unity of the United States from about 1820 to 1865?  Who were the major interest groups (people who had an interest in slavery, or an opinion about it - something to gain or lose)?   What were  some of the major issues they confronted?  What were some of the compromises, acts, and other legislative solutions American statesmen attempted to work out to deal with the issue of slavery?  What was the result by the 1860s?

The United States was growing in size from its beginnings and through much of the nineteenth century.  Acquiring territories through warfare, purchase, negotiation, or other has presented the United States with many opportunities and challenges.  What were some of the opportunities and challenges presented by the following acquisitions (or attempted acquisitions) of territory:
Old Northwest Territory, Louisiana Purchase, Texas, Oregon Territory, California, Mexican Cession, Gadsden Purchase.

America’s relationship with other countries has shaped its history in important ways.  What was America’s relationship with Great Britain, France, and Mexico between 1812 and 1865?  Think about topics such as boundaries, territory, trade, treaties, or conflicts, including military conflicts.  What were some of the issues and results?

U.S. II Ch. 35 and 36 Practice Tests

Click the links below to navigate to practice tests for Chapters 35 and 36. You can take each test up to 5 times until the date of the Final Exam.  Remember to print your results if you'd like to keep a copy.

Link to Ch. 35 Practice Test: On the Eve of World War II

Link to Ch. 36 Practice Test - World War II

U.S. II: Chapter 37 Notes - The Cold War; Postscript and Study Questions

CHAPTER 37 NOTES: THE COLD WAR BEGINS – 1945-1952

“America stands at this moment at the summit of the world.” –Winston Churchill

There's more:  Click here to download the rest of the Chapter 37 notes, including a Postscript, Study Questions for the Chapter, and Study Questions for the Exam.

OVERVIEW:

WWII ended American isolationism – the U.S. was now the world’s most powerful nation.  The United States offered substantial financial assistance to rebuild Europe via its 1947 Marshall plan, and in 1949 it joined NATO, breaking a 150-year tradition of avoiding such treaties.   The postwar arrangements in Eastern Europe sparked disagreement between the United States and the Soviet Union, and they squared off in a battle of ideologies – democracy vs. communism – that became known as the Cold War.  China became communist in 1949 and complicated the picture.  Truman formulated his Doctrine of supporting peoples resisting communism.  The United States became involved in the Korean War (1950-1953) as part of its effort at “containment” of communism. At home, American freedoms suffered in the McCarthyism of the 1950s as people were accused of communist sympathies.

WWII also ended the Great Depression in the U.S.  America emerged from WWII with the world’s strongest economy.  The country embarked on a period of economic growth and prosperity that would last throughout the rest of the 40s, the 50s, and the 60s, as long as energy costs remained relatively low.  Americans experienced high standards of living, and a “baby boom” helped increase the population dramatically.  Liberal presidencies (except for Eisenhower) meant many generous government programs for Americans.  Postwar Americans were on the move - people moved out to the suburbs in great numbers, and many Americans relocated to the Sunbelt.

U.S. I: Chapter 20 - Girding for War: The North and the South, 1861-1865

The slave child John and an unnamed companion, 1862.
According to a document which accompanied the photo,
John was sold for $1,150 in 1854.

CHAPTER 20 NOTES: GIRDING FOR WAR:  THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH 1861-1865

OVERVIEW: This chapter looks at the economic aspects of the Civil war as well as the importance of the Border States and the role of Great Britain and France.  (Chapter 21 will discuss the military history in greater detail.)

1861: Lincoln took office with seven states having already seceded from the Union (North), and others soon followed when the first armed conflict of the Civil War broke out at Fort Sumter in Charleston, SC.  Many of Lincoln’s actions, including continuing to allow slavery, were aimed at keeping the critical Border States and southern Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois loyal to the Union. While initially it seemed that the Confederacy (South) could succeed in breaking away from the U.S., the North with its mighty industrial and agricultural economy, superior naval power and transportation, much larger population, and better-established and more unified government eventually got the upper hand, especially when no foreign power arrived to aid the Confederacy.  Defeated and destroyed by the end of the war, the South looked forward to a wrecked future under a government dominated by Northern interests.

          I.     March 4, 1861 – Lincoln inaugurated in midst of crisis

A.   Seven states had already seceded

B.    Secession would create many problems

                                             1.     What share of national debt and federal territory should South take

                                             2.     Fugitive slave issue

                                             3.     Foreign nations might try to divide and conquer, defy Monroe Doctrine

        II.     April 1861 – South Carolina attacks and captures Fort Sumter (Charleston) after Lincoln sends forces to attempt to provision it.

A.   Northern public opinion turns toward military retaliation.

B.    Lincoln calls up 75,000 volunteers for army and blockades Southern seaports

C.    Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina secede and Richmond VA becomes Confederate capital

      III.     Retaining slaveholding Border States (Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, Delaware, later West Virginia) was crucial to preserving Union

A.   Held large white population – more than half entire Confederacy

B.    had significant manufacturing capacity

C.    had large numbers of horses and mules

D.   Navigable rivers such as Ohio, Cumberland, and Tennessee Rivers

E.    Kentucky especially important

F.    Lincoln used both legal and questionable means to retain border states

G.   Initially, Lincoln insisted the war’s only purpose was to save the Union.

                                             1.     Could not declare opposition to slavery because it would push the Border States to secede and cause problems in the Butternut region (southern OH, IN, and IL) where many southerners had settled

      IV.     Indian Territory (today Oklahoma): the “Five Civilized Tribes” sided with Confederacy while Plains Indians and a breakaway group of Cherokees sided with the Union

        V.     War divided many families between North and South; members fought on both sides

      VI.     The Balance of Forces: Confederate and Union Advantages and Disadvantages

A.   Confederate Advantages

                                             1.     fighting defensively on home ground; needed only to resist successfully

                                             2.     good morale – fighting for self-determination

                                             3.     a more-fit military

a.     talented officers like Lee  and Jackson

b.     well-prepared cavalrymen and foot soldiers

B.    Confederate Disadvantages

                                             1.     little industry led to shortages esp. of shoes, uniforms, etc.

                                             2.     poor and scant transportation

a.     supply problems for troops and civilians (food, etc.)

b.     vulnerable to Yankee attack e.g. destruction of RR

                                             3.     Smaller population – 9 million, of which more than one-third (3.5m) were slaves

C.    Northern Advantages

                                             1.     Wealthy economy

                                             2.     strong agricultural production

                                             3.     vigorous industry with many factories

                                             4.     excellent transportation including railroads and canals

                                             5.     North controlled the sea with superior navy

a.     blockaded Southern ports

b.     traded with foreign nations

                                             6.     Much larger population than the South (22 million) – growing all the time due to immigration. English, Irish, Germans, and others often recruited immediately for the Union army.

D.   Northern Disadvantages

                                             1.     mediocre military personnel

a.     many incompetent officers – talent like Ulysses S. Grant was rare

b.     foot soldiers ill-prepared for war initially

E.    The economy was South’s greatest weakness and the North’s greatest strength

    VII.     Although Europe’s upper classes supported the division of the United States, European help for the South did not arrive

A.   South counted on help from Britain, but Britain’s dependence on Southern cotton for its textile mills was more apparent than real.

                                             1.     Britain had large reserves of surplus cotton and could find other sources in Egypt and India

                                             2.     British laboring classes were opposed to war against U.S. and supported the Union

                                             3.     Union staved off British unrest by sending food from its good harvests and captured cotton to keep Britain’s working classes on their side

  VIII.     Diplomacy helped keep Europeans from helping the South

A.   Trent affair of 1861: Union ship stopped the British steamer Trent and removed Confederate diplomats, angering Britain, but Lincoln quickly smoothed things over by releasing the men.

B.    British build warships (raiders) for the Confederacy, angering the U.S.

                                             1.     The Confederate raider Alabama sank 64 Union merchant ships before it was destroyed by a Union cruiser off coast of France in 1864; other British-build raiders sank ca. 200 other ships, permanently crippling the Yankee merchant marine (Britain later paid reparations to some Americans)

                                             2.     Britain continued to build raiders and rams (metal-clad ships with large guns) until U.S. minister Charles Adams threatened war with Great Britain if the Laird shipyard’s rams were released to the Confederacy

C.    Canada became involved in the war and was made a Dominion by Britain in 1867 to strengthen and unify it against attack by the U.S.

                                             1.     a base for southern agents to attack U.S. North,

                                             2.     a target for Yankees, especially Irish-Americans who hated Great Britain and invaded Canada on their own in 1866 and 1870

D.   France occupied Mexico in 1863 and made Archduke Maximilian of Austria its Emperor.  When Civil War ended in 1865, U.S. threatened to enforce Monroe Doctrine and France left, leaving Maximilian behind to be executed by Mexican troops in 1867.

      IX.     Confederate president Jefferson Davis had difficulty unifying the Confederacy because states’ rights were so strong in the South.

A.   Confederate states resisted central control; threatened to secede any time they objected to Confederate government demands.

B.    Infighting among states and reluctance to share troops, resources seriously hurt the South’s ability to resist the Union

C.    In contrast the North was more unified and had the advantage of personable and unusually talented Lincoln as president

        X.     Lincoln was willing to use his executive power to bend or temporarily break the law to preserve the Union, and Congress often allowed it.

A.   proclaimed blockade and appropriated millions of dollars for the war without congressional approval

B.    On different occasions Lincoln suspended civil rights like habeas corpus, secret ballot, and freedom of the press and imposed martial law in some areas.

      XI.     Volunteers and Draftees: The Armies of the North (blue) and South (grey)

A.   Northern armies manned by volunteers until 1863 when a draft was instituted

                                             1.     “Three hundred dollars or your life:” The wealthy could hire a substitute or pay $300 to avoid military service

                                             2.     Serious draft riots broke out in New York City in 1863

                                             3.     Northern bounties for military service led to bounty brokers, corruption, and bounty jumping

B.    South had to institute a draft in 1862 and take both old and young

                                             1.     “A rich man’s war but a poor man’s fight:” slaveholding wealthy southerners, too, could pay to avoid the draft, leaving poor whites to fight for them; some poor mountain whites resisted.

C.    Desertion plagued both Northern and Southern armies

    XII.     Economic Stresses of War

A.   Northern Economy stayed strong and even grew throughout the Civil War

                                             1.     Excise taxes and income tax raised money

                                             2.     Morill Tariff Act of 1861 raised import tariffs (customs duties) and other protective tariffs followed

                                             3.     Treasury issued paper money, the value of which fluctuated

                                             4.     Government borrowed through bond sales, enriching the bankers who sold them on behalf of the Treasury

                                             5.     1863: National Banking System launched to handle bonds and stabilize paper currency – first national banking network since 1836, it lasted until 1913

B.    Southern Economy weak

                                             1.     hurt by Union blockade and states’ rights opposition

                                             2.     Confederacy sold bonds, imposed taxes, and issued unstable paper money, provoking severe inflation and economic collapse by end of war

  XIII.     The North’s Economic Boom

A.   North extremely prosperous during war, with huge economic growth; many made fortunes off war profiteering and speculation, and corruption was rampant

B.    New machines like the sewing machine and mechanical reapers offset loss of workers and increased both factory and agricultural production, keeping the Union Army strong

C.    Petroleum discovered in Pennsylvania in 1859

D.   Westward expansion continued, aided by lure of gold, and free land under Homestead Act of 1862

E.    Women found more opportunities as replacement workers in factories and in government.  Prewar ratio of 1 women to 4 men in industry became 1:3

 XIV.     The South’s Cotton Kingdom was crushed by the blockade and military destruction and desperate measures at the end of the war

A.   Southern economy was severely crippled and did not recover until the 20th century

B.    After the Civil War, northern interests dominated national economic policies, often to the detriment of the South

Study Goals

         1.     Explain how the firing on Fort Sumter and Lincoln’s call for troops galvanized both sides for war

         2.     Describe the crucial early struggle for the Border States.

         3.     Indicate the strength and weaknesses of both sides as they went to war

         4.     Compare Lincoln and Davis’s political leadership and situation during the war.

         5.     Describe the curtailment of civil liberties in the North during the war.

         6.     Describe the mobilization of military manpower on both sides.

         7.     Analyze the economic consequences of the war for both sides.

Study Questions

1. How did the Civil war change from a limited war to preserve the Union into a “total war” to abolish slavery?
2. What political factors affected Lincoln’s approach to the goals and conduct of the war? What enabled him to be a more successful political leader than Jefferson Davis?
3. How did careful Union diplomacy manage the Civil War crisis with Britain and end British flirtations with the Confederacy?
4. Why were the economic consequences of the Civil War so different for the North and the South?
5. What changes did the Civil war bring about in civilian society in North and South?  How did it affect rich and poor, men and women, immigrants?
6. What-ifs: the South might have succeeded in seceding

·      if the Border States had seceded

·      if Butternut region had turned against Union

·      if Northern public opinion had been against war

·      if Britain or France had broken Yankee blockade of South
Can you think of any other possibilities?

Adv. U.S. I - Ch. 19 Study Guide and Study Questions

Horace Pippin, John Brown Going To His Hanging, 1942.

ADVANCED U.S. HISTORY I

Ch. 19  Drifting Toward Disunion, 1854- 1861

Study objectives:  Be able to: 

1.      Tell the sequence of major crises that led from the Kansas-Nebraska Act to secession.

2.      Explain how and why “bleeding Kansas” became a dress rehearsal for the Civil War

3.      Trace the growing power of the Republican Party in the 1850s and the increasing divisions of the Democrats

4.      Explain how the Dred Scott decision and Brown’s Harpers’ Ferry raid deepened antagonism between the North and the South

5.      Trace the rise of Lincoln as the leading advocate of the Republican doctrine of no expansion of slavery.

6.      Analyze the complex election of 1860 in relation to the crisis between the North and South

7.      Describe the movement toward secession, the formation of the Confederacy, and the failure of the Crittenden compromise effort.

Study Questions:

1.      Beginning with the Kansas Nebraska Act, what were the crisis events of the 1850s and how did each one help lead toward the Civil War?

2.      Name some violent incidents of the 1850s.  What role did violence play in the increasing conflict between the North and South?

3.      How did the political developments of the period 1854-1861 work to fragment the Democratic party and benefit the Republicans?

4.      Could the Crittenden Compromise or some other proposal have prevented or at least postponed the Civil War? Why was compromise successful in 1820 and 1850 but not in 1861?

5.      How did the North and the South each view the various crisis events of the 1850s?  Select 3 events, explain how they were viewed by the North and the South.  Why were their views so different?