Name:________________________________________________
Date: ________________
Homework 1-10 (100 points): Manifest Destiny-Reconstruction (DUE JANUARY 18th, 2017)
Use your notes to answer the following questions. Make sure your answers are in complete sentences. Answers
should be written in BLUE OR BLACK PEN on a separate piece of paper (Or you can type them!).
I. Manifest Destiny
1. Define the term Manifest Destiny and identify the individual responsible for coining the term.
2. Describe 54’40 or fight. Who was largely responsible for advocating its message?
3. Identify James Polk. Why, despite being a dark horse candidate, did he receive the Democratic nomination for
President, as well as win the Election of 1844?
4. How was the dispute over Oregon territory settled?
5. Look up the Webster Ashburton Treaty and describe its importance.
6. Describe the roles of Moses and Stephen Austin in the American settlement of Texas. What were some of the
requirements for Americans moving to Texas?
7. Describe three groups of people living in Texas during the years 1821-1836.
8. Why did Texans eventually declare their independence from Mexico?
9. What ended the Texas war for independence? Why did the United States not bring Texas into the country as a
state right away?
10. Describe two causes for the Mexican War.
11. Why were some Americans opposed to war with Mexico? Identify one example of a dissenter during this time
period (Hint-he was a transcendentalist).
12. What Treaty ended the Mexican War? What did the United States receive-what did we give in exchange?
13. How did the Wilmot Proviso show the growing tension over territorial expansion and the extension of
slavery?
II. The Calm before the Storm: Events leading to Civil War
14. Describe three long term causes to Civil War in the United States.
15. What was a gag rule? What does it show about our government during the 1830s?
16. Why was the Compromise of 1850 needed? Describe three components of it.
17. Identify the Free Soil Party and the American Party-list one goal for each political party.
18. Analyze the impact of Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. What does it show about literature and society?
19. Describe “Walker’s Expedition” and The Ostend Manifesto. What do they both have in common?
20. What were the major principles found in the Kansas Nebraska Act? Who was largely responsible for
sponsoring the act?
21. Why did the Kansas Nebraska Act fail? What were two major results of it?
22. Describe the platform of the Republican Party. What two other political parties were part of it?
23. What happened to Senator Charles Sumner in 1856?
24. Describe the background of the Dred Scott v Sanford case (1857).
25. Describe the impact of the Dred Scott v Sanford case (1857).
26. Evaluate the impact of the Lincoln Douglas Debates of 1858.
27. Describe the importance of John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry (1859). Why did it cause more sectional
tension between North and South?
28. Identify the four political parties that were running in the Election of 1860.
29. What event led to the South seceding from the country?
30. According to the South, why was it necessary to secede and create the Confederate States of America?
31. Identify the impact of the “cornerstone” speech.
32. According to President Lincoln, why was the United States fighting the Civil War? How did he feel about
secession?
III. The Constitution Tested: The American Civil War
33. What event was the spark that started the Civil War?
34. Describe the different strategies each side took to ensure victory during the Civil War.
35. How did the United States pay for the Civil War? What action did they take that would be influential later on?
36. Compare and contrast at least three advantages/disadvantages for both the North and the South during the
Civil War.
37. For the following Battles, find the dates, as well as the importance of the battle:
A. Battle of Bull Run
B. Battle of Antietam
C. Battle of Shiloh
D. Battle of Vicksburg
E. Battle of Gettysburg
F. Battle of Atlanta
G. Battle of Appomattox Court House
38. Where did most of the fighting occur during the Civil War?
39. What was the purpose of the Emancipation Proclamation? Was it legal? Describe what acts preceded it?
40. Discuss three ways President Lincoln violated Civil Liberties during the war. Should he have been impeached?
41. Define the term total war. Identify two places that were affected by total war during the Civil War.
42. Identify two generals from each side that had a major impact on fighting during the war.
43. What was the status of foreign nation’s involvement during the Civil War?
44. Overall, how was the Union able to defeat the Confederacy to win the Civil War?
45. Describe the three major results of the Civil War.
IV. Bringing the Country Back together: Reconstruction as a success and a failure.
46. How did Lincoln’s assassination affect Reconstruction?
47. Make a chart illustrating the 3 different plans for Reconstruction (Lincoln, Johnson and Radical Republicans).
48. Why was President Johnson impeached? What happened as a result of this?
49. Describe the importance of the first Reconstruction Act of 1867?
50. Identify the three reconstruction amendments passed during this time period.
51. Which group was very vocally against the passage of the 15th amendment? What happened with this reform
movement?
52. Describe two ways white southerners were able to keep African Americans economically dependent on them.
53. For each problem faced by African Americans during Reconstruction, identify the law passed by the Radical
Republicans
To attempt to correct it:
-Lack of farmland for newly freed slaves:
-Lack of necessary resources for newly freed slaves:
-Black Codes
-Sharecropping
-Ku Klux Klan
54. How did many newly freed slaves respond to the freedoms they acquired post-Civil War? What became the
vocal point in the lives of many African Americans in the South?
55. What is Presidency of Grant known for?
56. How did South restrict African American males’ right of suffrage?
57. Define the term Jim Crow Laws. Where did the name come from?
58. What happened with the election of 1876?
59. What were the provisions of the Compromise of 1877? How did it end Reconstruction?
60. Many consider Reconstruction to be the 1st civil rights movement in our nation’s history. Do you believe that
enough was done during this time period to warrant a title like this? Or did the federal government go back on
their promises to extend equality to all?