Deck 12: The New West and the Free North 1840-1860

Question 1

How did the United States and Great Britain resolve competing claims on the Oregon territory in 1818?

A) The United States restricted English settlement.
B) The English restricted American settlement.
C) The English sold the territory to the United States.
D) The two nations decided on joint occupation.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Most German immigrants who arrived in the United States between 1840 and 1860 were the families of

A) skilled tradesmen.
B) farmers.
C) wage laborers.
D) domestic servants.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which statement describes the economic status of Americans by 1860?

A) Adult white men had an average wealth of $10,000.
B) Most Americans owned no land.
C) About half of free blacks owned land.
D) Free labor had freed most people from wage labor.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Three-fourths of the almost 4.5 million immigrants who arrived between 1840 and 1860 came from either Ireland or

A) Norway.
B) Italy.
C) Germany.
D) England.

Question 5

What happened to most Irish immigrants who arrived in the United States in the 1840s and 1850s?

A) They worked as skilled artisans in the northeastern cities.
B) They became independent,self-sufficient property holders.
C) They entered at the bottom rung of the free-labor ladder.
D) They earned even less money than they had in Ireland.

Question 6

Why did American manufacturers,unlike their European counterparts,invent labor-saving methods and devices during the first half of the nineteenth century?

A) The government offered tax incentives to new innovations and inventions.
B) Workers were unreliable and lacked the work ethic needed for optimal production.
C) American colleges had superior engineering schools that encouraged innovation.
D) Workers were in limited supply and thus more expensive.

Question 7

What can you infer about the status of the German immigrants from the 1855 painting shown in "A German Immigrant in New York"?

A) They were relatively prosperous and respected.
B) They were viewed as equal to African Americans.
C) They were the least respected and successful of any immigrant group.
D) They were unable to immigrate as a family.

Question 8

Which region led the nation in manufacturing?

A) New England
B) The Mid-Atlantic
C) The Upper South
D) The Lower South

Question 9

Why did so many migrants move to the Midwest between 1830 and 1860?

A) The Indians of the Midwest were quick to cooperate with the settlers.
B) Slaveholders hoped to settle the area for cotton plantations.
C) Workers in the timber industry capitalized on the large number of trees there.
D) The rich soil made conditions favorable to farming.

Question 10

The "American system" of standardized parts allowed manufacturers to

A) hire less expensive,unskilled workers.
B) abandon human labor in favor of mechanization.
C) produce the same amount of product but with less labor.
D) produce more than agricultural workers but with more labor.

Question 11

What helped fuel economic growth in the United States during the mid-1800s?

A) The movement of Americans from farms to cities
B) The rapid industrialization of the southern states
C) The abandonment of agriculture in favor of industry
D) The adoption of better tariff rates with England

Question 12

What did free-labor proponents believe about education?

A) It offered another opportunity for Americans to achieve their potential.
B) Classrooms provided another venue to denounce slave-labor systems.
C) It was a waste of time and took away from the real business of earning money.
D) Education was important,but it should not be government funded.

Question 13

What allowed factories to become more productive during the 1840s and 1850s?

A) Waterwheel technology dramatically improved.
B) Steam began to be used as an energy source.
C) Water and animal power had been phased out.
D) The use of electricity became widespread.

Question 14

What did New York journalist and armchair expansionist John L.O'Sullivan mean when he coined the term manifest destiny in 1845?

A) The United States should expand into Canada and Mexico as soon as possible.
B) Americans were destined by a higher power to create a worldwide empire.
C) The United States should take advantage of economic turmoil in Europe to gain new markets.
D) Americans had the God-given right to expand their civilization across the continent.

Question 15

How did the government intervene to assist and protect whites who moved west for settlement in the mid-nineteenth century?

A) It sent soldiers with each wagon train of settlers heading west.
B) It built forts along the Oregon Trail.
C) It offered settlers military assistance but refused to intervene in Indians' lives.
D) It sent troops to round up all renegade Indians.

Question 16

Supporters of the free-labor ideal claimed that the system

A) opened up doors to even the least-hard-working segments of the population.
B) allowed hired laborers to become self-employed.
C) provided slaves with well-deserved compensation for their labor.
D) rewarded Americans born into wealth or status.

Question 17

To help facilitate the increase in U.S.agricultural productivity in the 1840s and 1850s,the federal government

A) outlawed land speculation.
B) gave away free land to anyone who would cultivate it.
C) prosecuted land squatters.
D) sold the land for as little as $1.25 an acre.

Question 18

What was the effect of the growth of railroads in the 1850s?

A) People abandoned the stagecoach and horseback travel.
B) Pollution hampered agricultural productivity in the Midwest.
C) New industries,like telegraph communications,flourished.
D) The federal government ceased its land-grant program.

Question 19

Agricultural productivity in the Midwest increased in the late 1830s partly because of

A) the influence of steam power on farming.
B) John Deere's steel plow.
C) the invention of threshers.
D) the numbers of freed slaves eager for wage-earning work.

Question 20

How did white settlers who traveled west in wagon trains during the mid-1800s bring devastation to the Plains Indians?

A) They killed off great herds of deer and antelope.
B) They attempted to kill all Indians they came in contact with.
C) They brought with them alcohol and deadly diseases.
D) They deliberately destroyed Indian farms.

Question 21

Within ten years of arriving at the territory around the Great Salt Lake,the Mormon community

A) abolished polygamy.
B) was dislodged by an invasion of U.S.troops.
C) developed an efficient irrigation system.
D) almost perished due to extreme hunger.

Question 22

Which group was most outspoken in its opposition to the Mexican-American War?

A) Democrats
B) Southerners
C) Whigs
D) Republicans

Question 23

What was President Polk's strategy to win the Mexican-American War?

A) To delegate all military planning to military experts
B) To divide and conquer Mexico,beginning with the northern provinces
C) To quickly capture the southern provinces and then take Mexico City
D) To win a battle or two and force Mexico to sue for peace

Question 24

Texans gained their independence from Mexico in 1836 after

A) Santa Anna surrendered following a bloodless coup.
B) two-thirds of the inhabitants voted to establish the Lone Star Republic.
C) Sam Houston's army defeated Santa Anna's troops in a surprise attack.
D) U.S.government troops defeated Santa Anna's troops at the Alamo.

Question 25

Why did Congress initially refuse to annex Texas into the Union?

A) Most members feared an attack by English profiteers.
B) Congressional leaders refused to allocate money for annexation.
C) Texas would come into the Union as a slave state.
D) Congress did not want to increase the number of Indians under its jurisdiction.

Question 26

President John Tyler obtained approval for the annexation of Texas

A) through a joint resolution of Congress.
B) through Senate approval of a treaty to annex Texas.
C) by secretly negotiating with Mexican officials.
D) by paying the Mexican government.

Question 27

Which general made a successful amphibious landing at Veracruz on March 9,1847?

A) Zachary Taylor
B) Winfield Scott
C) Stephen F.Austin
D) Santa Anna

Question 28

When Mexico refused the Polk administration's offer to buy Mexico's northern territories,the United States realized manifest destiny would require

A) further negotiations.
B) more money.
C) military force.
D) assistance from France.

Question 29

What was the dominant issue in the 1844 presidential election campaign?

A) Territorial expansion
B) Abolishing slavery
C) The American system
D) War with Mexico

Question 30

"There was no moon yet,but by starlight we had for some time seen,only too plainly,the dead bodies of cattle lying here and there on both sides of the road.As we advanced they increased in numbers,and presently we saw two or three wagons.At first we thought we had overtaken a company but,coming close,no sign of life appeared....Everything indicated a complete break down,and a hasty flight.Some animals were lying nearly in front of a wagon,apparently just as they had dropped down,while loose yokes and chains indicated that part of the teams had been driven on,laden probably with some necessaries of life;for the contents of the wagons were scattered in confusion,the most essential articles alone evidently having been thought worth carrying....It was not a very encouraging scene but our four oxen still kept their feet;we would drive on a little farther,out of this scene of ruin,bait them,rest ourselves,and go on.We did so,but soon found that what we supposed an exceptional misfortune must have been the common fate of many companies;for at still shortening intervals,scenes of ruin similar to that just described kept recurring till we seemed to be but the last,little,feeble struggling band at the rear of a routed Army." What emotion did Sarah Royce's memoir convey about her family's 1849 migration to California?

A) Excitement at her family's prospects
B) Total confidence in their future as gold miners
C) Sadness at having to leave her friends behind
D) Fear and apprehension about the journey

Question 31

Why did massive numbers of immigrants pour into California in the late 1840s and early 1850s?

A) They sought religious freedom.
B) California's relaxed laws welcomed immigrants.
C) They desired open land for farming.
D) They hoped to find gold.

Question 32

Of the 13,000 American soldiers who died during the Mexican-American War,most

A) were killed in guerilla warfare.
B) died in the Alamo.
C) were killed at San Jacinto.
D) died from diseases.

Question 33

Who triumphed at the Alamo in March 1836?

A) Santa Anna
B) Davy Crockett
C) James Bowie
D) William B.Travis

Question 34

Who were the migrants who settled on the Texas land granted to Stephen F.Austin by Mexico in the 1820s?

A) New Englanders who were looking for a warmer climate
B) Irish Catholics who wanted land of their own
C) Southerners who brought cotton and slaves with them
D) Tejanos who came east from California

Question 35

Why did President Polk alter his battle strategy in the Mexican-American War and decide to target Mexico City?

A) Native Americans helped Mexican soldiers defeat the Americans in the borderlands.
B) Despite heavy losses on the battlefield,Mexico refused to trade land for peace.
C) Polk sought a dramatic victory to prevent U.S.soldiers from deserting the army.
D) Santa Anna surrounded the American troops at Veracruz.

Question 36

What was the experience of most women settlers in Oregon?

A) They embraced a newfound independence.
B) They worked tirelessly.
C) They made significant money.
D) They participated in politics.

Question 37

What did Mexico agree to do under the terms of the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo?

A) Mark the Nueces River as the Texas boundary
B) Pay $15 million to American citizens for claims against Mexico
C) Give up Arizona,New Mexico,and southern Utah
D) Give up all claims to Texas above the Rio Grande

Question 38

Who led the Mormon exodus to the Great Salt Lake?

A) Joseph Smith
B) Brigham Young
C) Sarah Everett
D) Thomas Hart Benton

Question 39

In the 1820s,Americans were beginning to trickle into thinly populated California.In an effort to increase Mexican migration to that area,the Mexican government

A) posted guards along the California border.
B) paid local Indians to discourage American settlers.
C) built forts to stop further American squatting.
D) granted huge estates to new Mexican settlers.

Question 40

Why were Mexico's northern borderlands vulnerable to American expansionists?

A) Mexico was plagued by civil war and could not defend its northern provinces.
B) Northern Mexico had a strong,wealthy economy that Americans could exploit.
C) Northern Mexico was dominated by Protestants who shared Americans' religious beliefs.
D) Native Americans secretly welcomed American invaders.

Question 41

Discuss the history of the Mormons before they went to Utah,including the discrimination they faced.

Question 42

How did the gold rush affect California Indians?

A) Many found gold and made money.
B) They sold their land to American settlers.
C) They fought American settlers who tried to take their land.
D) Most died due to disease,starvation,and murder.

Question 43

What was the goal of the American Colonization Society?

A) To help freed slaves settle in the North
B) To send freed slaves and other black Americans to Liberia
C) To urge Congress to colonize Haiti for the expansion of slavery
D) To end racial discrimination in both the North and the South

Question 44

In 1855,African American leaders saw their most notable success to date when,in Massachusetts,

A) public schools were integrated.
B) blacks received voting rights.
C) slavery was abolished.
D) gradual emancipation was approved.

Question 45

What did the Mexican-American War reveal about nineteenth-century American politics and culture?

Question 46

What did transcendentalists believe?

A) Women should get the vote.
B) Formal religion provided truth and guidance.
C) Competition was good for the economy.
D) Individuals should not conform to the materialistic world.

Question 47

What did bloomers,like the ones featured in the 1851 cartoon titled "Bloomerism - An American Custom," symbolize as a fashion statement?

A) Wealth and status
B) Women's liberation
C) Support for the abolitionist movement
D) Support for the annexation of Mexico

Question 48

The 1848 convention at Seneca Falls advocated

A) women's suffrage.
B) outlawing divorce.
C) a minimum wage for women workers.
D) voting rights for slaves.

Question 49

The gold rush created a social environment that was

A) extremely egalitarian and rapidly growing.
B) prosperous but stagnant and isolated.
C) competitive and unhealthy but growing rapidly.
D) prosperous and peaceful but growing slowly.

Question 50

When women began to break out of their traditional roles in the 1840s,what were some of the causes they embraced,and how did women promote them?

Question 51

Railroads had a major impact on the American economy and industry.Discuss some of the changes brought about by the advent of railroads.

Question 52

Which group attracted scrutiny owing to its members' dress,eating habits,and recreational use of opium during the California gold rush?

A) Californios
B) The Chinese
C) Indians
D) Rancheros

Question 53

Discuss the controversial issue of Texas under the presidency of John Tyler.

Question 54

Why did Germans and the Irish immigrate to the United States between 1840 and 1860? Which skills did they bring with them,and which trades or jobs did they enter on arrival?

Question 55

In which ways did individual African Americans contribute to the abolitionist movement?

Question 56

Summarize the beliefs of transcendentalists and utopians in the 1840s and 1850s.

Question 57

What changes in American society led to the phenomenal economic growth that occurred between 1840 and 1860?

Question 58

Describe the ideology of manifest destiny and give an example of how U.S.government policies specifically reflected it.

Question 59

How did many abolitionists in the 1840s and 1850s attempt to make their issue more attractive to white northerners?

A) They called for a complete and immediate end to slavery in the United States.
B) They advocated slave insurrections against plantation owners.
C) They called for limitations on the geographic expansion of slavery.
D) They called for slavery to end by 1870.

Question 60

Who founded the "underground railroad" to help fugitive slaves escape from the South?

A) William Wells Brown
B) Harriet Tubman
C) Martin Delany
D) Frederick Douglass

Question 61

Free-labor ideology fit the experience of some Americans much more than others.In what ways did the free-labor ideal include and exclude various groups of Americans?

Question 62

During the 1840s and 1850s,America experienced a profound economic transformation.Remarkable economic growth meant success for many Americans.This impressive economic performance did not reward all Americans equally,however.Discuss several of the groups who found it difficult,if not impossible,to take advantage of this new economic age.

Question 63

Discuss three of the many changes that took place in America between 1840 and 1860 (the antebellum years).

Question 64

Mexico opened itself up to a future loss of land beginning with the land grant to Stephen F.Austin.Describe how Mexico lost Texas,including the events leading up to the Mexican-American War of 1846-48.

Question 65

Between 1840 and 1850,the United States gained one-third more land than it had previously,achieving its expansionist goal of stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific.Briefly discuss three major land acquisitions made during that decade.Include important events and their final outcomes,and outline which lands were added to America.