Unit 5

Question 1

What event in 1848 drastically changed San Francisco?

Answer 1

The discovery of gold near the Sierra Nevada Mountains sparked rapid population growth, transforming San Francisco into a bustling city.

Question 2

How did California’s population change from 1848 to 1860?

Answer 2

California’s population surged from 15,000 in 1848 to more than 350,000 by 1860.

Question 3

What was “Manifest Destiny”?

Answer 3

Manifest Destiny was the belief that Americans were destined by God to expand across North America, from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

Question 4

How did economic opportunities influence westward migration?

Answer 4

Settlers were initially drawn by fertile lands, and after the discovery of gold, many moved to California and Montana for mining or supporting industries.

Question 5

What role did the railroad play in westward expansion?

Answer 5

The railroad facilitated rapid movement and transportation, with the Pacific Railway Act of 1862 helping create the transcontinental railroad, completed in 1869.

Question 6

What was the Homestead Act of 1862?

Answer 6

It granted 160 acres of land for free to anyone over 21 who had never taken up arms against the U.S. government, provided they improved the land within five years.

Question 7

What was depicted in the 1872 painting “American Progress” by John Gast?

Answer 7

It depicted an allegorical figure of America leading the way in westward expansion, bringing civilization, symbolized by railroads and schools, while pushing away Native Americans and wildlife.

Question 8

How did westward expansion contribute to sectional conflict?

Answer 8

The balance of free and slave states became a central issue as new western territories entered the Union, contributing to tensions that led to the Civil War.

Question 9

What racial violence occurred in the West during expansion?

Answer 9

There was violence between white settlers, Native Americans, and immigrant groups, such as the expulsion of Native Americans in California and attacks on Chinese communities in San Francisco.

Question 10

What was the impact of Manifest Destiny on Native Americans?

Answer 10

Native Americans were forcibly removed from their lands, confined to reservations, and in some cases exterminated, such as during the violent campaigns against them in California.

Question 11

How did the Homestead Act influence westward expansion?

Answer 11

It helped populate the West with small farmers, including women, immigrants, and African Americans, and was part of the Free Soil Movement.

Question 12

What were some consequences of Manifest Destiny?

Answer 12

It led to territorial expansion, the displacement of Native Americans, the spread of slavery into new territories, and the escalation of sectional tensions that contributed to the Civil War.

Question 13

Who was James K. Polk and what role did he play in Manifest Destiny?

Answer 13

James K. Polk was the U.S. President (1845-1849) who strongly supported territorial expansion, overseeing the annexation of Texas and the Mexican-American War, which resulted in significant land acquisitions.

Question 14

What was the Wilmot Proviso?

Answer 14

It was a proposal to ban slavery in territories acquired from Mexico during the Mexican-American War, highlighting the growing sectional tensions over slavery.

Question 15

What was the Indian Removal policy?

Answer 15

It was the policy of forcibly relocating Native American tribes to reservations, often leading to violent conflicts and the displacement of indigenous peoples, like the Trail of Tears.

Question 16

What was the significance of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo (1848)?

Answer 16

It ended the Mexican-American War and resulted in the U.S. acquiring large territories, including California, Arizona, and New Mexico.

Question 17

How did westward expansion contribute to the Civil War?

Answer 17

Expansion exacerbated debates over the spread of slavery into new territories, with tensions between the North and South over whether new states should permit slavery.

Question 18

How was Manifest Destiny portrayed in art?

Answer 18

Paintings like “American Progress” symbolized the belief in the civilizing mission of American settlers, often depicting the displacement of Native Americans.

Question 19

What was the impact of the Homestead Act on Native Americans?

Answer 19

The Homestead Act contributed to the displacement of Native American populations as settlers moved west, often encroaching on their lands.

Question 20

What delayed Texas’s annexation?

Answer 20

The slavery debate caused political division in the U.S.

Question 21

What caused the mexican american war?

Answer 21

Disputes over Texas’s annexation and its southern border (Rio Grande vs. Nueces River).

Question 22

What did Polk do to provoke Mexico?

Answer 22

Sent General Zachary Taylor into disputed territory, leading to a Mexican attack.

Question 23

What ended the war mexican amercian war?

Answer 23

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848.

Question 24

What territories did the U.S. gain from the treaty of Guadalupe hidalgo?

Answer 24

Texas, California, and much of the Southwest, including Arizona, Nevada, and Utah.

Question 25

How much did the U.S. pay Mexico?

Answer 25

$15 million.

Question 26

What were the effects on Mexican residents in the new territory?

Answer 26

Mexican laws were replaced by U.S. laws permitting slavery and limiting rights for non-whites.

Question 27

What was the Wilmot Proviso?

Answer 27

A proposal to ban slavery in new territories gained from the war, which passed the House but failed in the Senate.

Question 28

How did the war heighten sectional tensions?

Answer 28

It exacerbated the North-South divide over slavery and governance of new territories.

Question 29

What political changes followed the war?

Answer 29

The collapse of the Second Party System and the rise of sectional parties like the Republican Party.

Question 30

What vision did the war fulfill?

Answer 30

Manifest Destiny, the belief in U.S. expansion across North America.

Question 31

How did the war set the stage for the Civil War?

Answer 31

By intensifying debates over slavery and territorial expansion.

Question 32

What impact did territorial expansion have on the slavery debate?

Answer 32

Territorial expansion (like the Louisiana Purchase) led to new states that had to decide whether to allow slavery, threatening the balance of power between free and slave states.

Question 33

How did Northern perspectives on slavery differ?

Answer 33

Abolitionists believed slavery was morally wrong and sought to end it entirely, while anti-slavery advocates were more focused on preventing its expansion into new territories for economic reasons.

Question 34

Why were Southerners determined to preserve slavery?

Answer 34

Southern elites, who were economically dependent on slavery, sought to protect it in order to maintain their wealth and social order.

Question 35

What was Abraham Lincoln’s connection to the issue of slavery?

Answer 35

Lincoln, coming from a poor farming background, experienced the economic challenges of competing with slaveholders and became an anti-slavery advocate focused on preventing slavery's expansion.

Question 36

What was the key difference between abolitionists and anti-slavery advocates?

Answer 36

Abolitionists sought to eliminate slavery entirely, while anti-slavery advocates focused on preventing the spread of slavery into new territories.

Question 37

What was the Missouri Compromise?

Answer 37

The Missouri Compromise (1820) admitted Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state, drawing a line at 36°30' latitude to divide future free and slave territories.

Question 38

What were the main causes of the Mexican-American War?

Answer 38

The war led to territorial gains in the Southwest, which reignited debates over whether these areas would permit slavery.

Question 39

What did the Compromise of 1850 aim to resolve?

Answer 39

The Compromise of 1850 sought to settle disputes over slavery in new territories after the Mexican-American War, though it failed to resolve the deeper issues of slavery’s expansion.

Question 40

What did the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 require?

Answer 40

The Fugitive Slave Act required all citizens, even in free states, to assist in returning escaped slaves, sparking outrage in the North and strengthening the abolitionist movement.

Question 41

How did Uncle Tom’s Cabin impact public opinion?

Answer 41

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin depicted the brutal realities of slavery and helped galvanize anti-slavery sentiment in the North.

Question 42

What were the provisions of the Compromise of 1850?

Answer 42

The provisions included: stricter Fugitive Slave Laws, California admitted as a free state, popular sovereignty in New Mexico and Utah, and the abolition of the slave trade in Washington, D.C.

Question 43

Who was Frederick Douglass, and what was his role in abolitionism?

Answer 43

Frederick Douglass was a former enslaved African American who became a prominent abolitionist. His memoir Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass helped rally support for emancipation.

Question 44

How did women contribute to the abolitionist movement?

Answer 44

Women like the Grimké sisters and Lydia Maria Child were pivotal in both the abolitionist and early women’s rights movements, advocating for emancipation and gender equality.

Question 45

What role did William Lloyd Garrison play in the abolitionist movement?

Answer 45

William Lloyd Garrison founded the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator in 1831 and called for the immediate emancipation of all enslaved people. He was a key figure in the American Anti-Slavery Society.

Question 46

How did the abolitionist movement begin?

Answer 46

The abolitionist movement originated in religious and moral beliefs, emphasizing equality for all people in the eyes of God. It was influenced by the Second Great Awakening.

Question 47

How did enslaved people resist slavery?

Answer 47

Enslaved people resisted slavery through small acts of defiance, like stealing food, feigning illness, and attempting to escape. Some engaged in larger revolts, like Nat Turner's Rebellion.

Question 48

What were the roles of enslaved people on Southern plantations?

Answer 48

Enslaved people on plantations worked in fields as laborers or served as house servants performing tasks like cooking and cleaning. They faced brutal conditions and had little control over their lives.

Question 49

What was the "slavocracy" in the antebellum South?

Answer 49

The "slavocracy" was the wealthy elite of plantation owners who controlled the South’s economy and the labor of enslaved people.

Question 50

How was wealth distributed in the South by 1860, particularly regarding slavery?

Answer 50

Wealth was concentrated in the hands of a few plantation owners, with only 3% of Southern whites owning over 50 slaves, while two-thirds of white families did not own slaves at all.

Question 51

By 1860, how much cotton did the U.S. produce, and how did it impact the global economy?

Answer 51

The U.S. produced over 2 billion pounds of cotton per year by 1860, with the South supplying two-thirds of the world's cotton. Cotton became the key agricultural export, fueling the global textile industry.

Question 52

What was the primary purpose of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854?

Answer 52

The Kansas-Nebraska Act aimed to organize the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, facilitate a transcontinental railroad, and introduce popular sovereignty to determine the legality of slavery in these territories.

Question 53

What concept did the Kansas-Nebraska Act introduce to resolve slavery issues?

Answer 53

The Act introduced popular sovereignty, allowing settlers in Kansas and Nebraska to decide if slavery would be allowed when applying for statehood.

Question 54

How did the Kansas-Nebraska Act affect the Missouri Compromise?

Answer 54

The Kansas-Nebraska Act repealed the Missouri Compromise, which had previously banned slavery north of the 36°30' parallel, opening these territories to the potential expansion of slavery.

Question 55

What violent event was triggered by the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and what was its significance?

Answer 55

"Bleeding Kansas" occurred, a series of violent conflicts between proslavery and antislavery settlers, symbolizing the failure of popular sovereignty to peacefully resolve the slavery issue.

Question 56

How did Northern and Southern pressures differ regarding the Kansas-Nebraska

Answer 56

Northerners feared slavery’s expansion into new territories, while Southerners felt the Missouri Compromise’s restrictions on slavery infringed upon their rights, pushing for popular sovereignty instead.

Question 57

What political party was formed in response to the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and why?

Answer 57

The Republican Party was formed by anti-slavery Whigs, Free Soilers, and Democrats, united against the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the expansion of slavery into western territories.

Question 58

What was the result of John Brown’s 1859 raid at Harper’s Ferry?

Answer 58

John Brown’s raid on the federal armory failed, and he was captured, tried for treason, and executed, becoming a martyr for the abolitionist cause in the North.

Question 59

How did the Dred Scott decision impact the slavery debate in the U.S.?

Answer 59

The Supreme Court ruled that African Americans couldn’t sue for their freedom and declared that Congress had no authority to prohibit slavery in the territories, deepening sectional tensions.

Question 60

What was the immediate consequence of Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860?

Answer 60

Seven Southern states seceded from the Union, forming the Confederate States of America (CSA) in response to Lincoln's anti-slavery platform.

Question 61

What event triggered the start of the Civil War in 1861?

Answer 61

The attack on Fort Sumter by Confederate forces on April 12, 1861, after President Lincoln attempted to resupply the fort, marked the beginning of the Civil War.

Question 62

How did the North respond to the attack on Fort Sumter?

Answer 62

The North, galvanized by the attack, responded by calling for 75,000 troops to suppress the rebellion, which led to the secession of four more Southern states.

Question 63

What was the Anaconda Plan?

Answer 63

The Union's strategy to suffocate the Confederacy by blockading its ports, gaining control of the Mississippi River, and isolating it geographically.

Question 64

What was the significance of the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1863)?

Answer 64

It was a major Union victory that forced Robert E. Lee's Confederate army to retreat, marking a turning point in the war.

Question 65

What did the Siege of Vicksburg achieve for the Union?

Answer 65

The Union, led by Ulysses S. Grant, captured Vicksburg, giving them control of the Mississippi River and splitting the Confederacy.

Question 66

What was General William Tecumseh Sherman’s role in 1864?

Answer 66

Sherman led the "total war" campaign, capturing Atlanta and marching to the sea, destroying Southern resources and morale.

Question 67

How did the 1864 Election affect the Civil War?

Answer 67

Lincoln’s victory ensured the Union would continue fighting until the Confederacy’s unconditional surrender and the abolition of slavery.

Question 68

What was the outcome of Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House?

Answer 68

General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant in April 1865, symbolizing the end of the Civil War and major Confederate resistance.