Deck 12: The New West and the Free North

Question 1

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

Answer 1

Answer would ideally include:
History of Mormons: Acting on his experiences of religious revelations, Joseph Smith published the Book of Mormon and founded the Mormon church in upstate New York in 1830. The book predicted the appearance of an American prophet who would reestablish Jesus Christ's undefiled kingdom in America and the new faith attracted many converts. Neighbors branded them heretics and drove them from New York to Ohio, then to Missouri and, in 1839, to Nauvoo, Illinois, where they built a prosperous community. After Smith sanctioned polygamy, authorities arrested Smith and his brother, and in 1844 the two were shot by a mob that stormed the jail. Under the new leadership of Brigham Young, the Mormons traveled from Illinois to Utah, where they built a thriving community.

Question 2

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.

Answer 2

During westward expansion, the government constructed a chain of forts and adopted a new policy of "concentration," which was negotiated at the Fort Laramie conference. Whites, however, would not stay out of Indian territory, and Indians would not easy give up their traditional lives. The result was decades of warfare. The California gold rush was catastrophic to Indians, decreasing their population from 150,000 in 1848 to 25,000 by 1854. They fell victim to starvation, disease, and wholesale murder. White behavior toward Indians was described as a brutal human hunt.
Women: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott led the first national women's rights convention at Seneca Falls, New York. They set an ambitious agenda demanding civil liberties, rights of citizens, and suffrage. The women's rights movement was successful in some areas, such as wage and property rights for married women; however, most men believed that no compromise on male superiority was necessary.
African Americans: African Americans confronted racial discrimination in nearly all aspects of life. Most free black men were excluded from the franchise and faced consistent prejudice in transportation and education. Despite a few successes, white supremacy continued unabated in most areas.

Question 3

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.

Answer 3

Americans had the God-given right to expand their civilization across the continent.

Question 4

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

Question 5

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 6

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 7

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

Question 8

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.

Question 9

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

Question 10

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

Question 11

Match the term with the definition.
The practice of manufacturing and then assembling interchangeable standardized parts. This practice spread quickly across American industries and allowed manufacturers to employ cheap, unskilled workers.

A)American Colonization Society
B)American system
C)California gold rush
D)Lone Star Republic
E)manifest destiny
F)mechanical reapers
G)Mormons
H)Oneida community
I)Oregon Trail
J)Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments
K)Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
L)underground railroad

Question 12

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

Question 13

Match the term with the definition.
Mining frenzy initiated by James Marshall's discovery of gold in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in 1848.

A)American Colonization Society
B)American system
C)California gold rush
D)Lone Star Republic
E)manifest destiny
F)mechanical reapers
G)Mormons
H)Oneida community
I)Oregon Trail
J)Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments
K)Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
L)underground railroad

Question 14

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

Question 15

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 16

Match the term with the definition.
Network consisting mainly of black homes, black churches, and black neighborhoods that helped slaves escape to the North by supplying shelter, food, and general assistance.

A)American Colonization Society
B)American system
C)California gold rush
D)Lone Star Republic
E)manifest destiny
F)mechanical reapers
G)Mormons
H)Oneida community
I)Oregon Trail
J)Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments
K)Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
L)underground railroad

Question 17

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

Question 18

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 19

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

Question 20

Match the term with the definition.
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, founded by Joseph Smith in 1830. Most Americans deemed them heretics. After Smith's death at the hands of an angry mob in 1844, Brigham Young moved the people to Utah in 1846.

A)American Colonization Society
B)American system
C)California gold rush
D)Lone Star Republic
E)manifest destiny
F)mechanical reapers
G)Mormons
H)Oneida community
I)Oregon Trail
J)Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments
K)Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
L)underground railroad

Question 21

Match the term with the definition.
Utopian community organized by John Humphrey Noyes in New York in 1848. Noyes's opposition to private property led him to denounce marriage as the root of the problem. The community embraced sexual and economic communalism, to the dismay of its mainstream neighbors.

A)American Colonization Society
B)American system
C)California gold rush
D)Lone Star Republic
E)manifest destiny
F)mechanical reapers
G)Mormons
H)Oneida community
I)Oregon Trail
J)Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments
K)Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
L)underground railroad

Question 22

Match the term with the definition.
Term coined in 1845 by journalist John L. O'Sullivan to justify American expansion. The concept framed the American conquest of the West as part of a divine plan.

A)American Colonization Society
B)American system
C)California gold rush
D)Lone Star Republic
E)manifest destiny
F)mechanical reapers
G)Mormons
H)Oneida community
I)Oregon Trail
J)Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments
K)Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
L)underground railroad

Question 23

Match the term with the definition.
February 1848 agreement that ended the Mexican-American War. Mexico gave up all claims to Texas north of the Rio Grande and ceded New Mexico and California to the United States. The United States agreed to pay Mexico $15 million and to assume American claims against Mexico.

A)American Colonization Society
B)American system
C)California gold rush
D)Lone Star Republic
E)manifest destiny
F)mechanical reapers
G)Mormons
H)Oneida community
I)Oregon Trail
J)Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments
K)Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
L)underground railroad

Question 24

Match the term with the definition.
1848 declaration at the first national woman's rights convention in the United States, held in New York. The document adopted the style of the Declaration of Independence and demanded equal rights for women, including the franchise.

A)American Colonization Society
B)American system
C)California gold rush
D)Lone Star Republic
E)manifest destiny
F)mechanical reapers
G)Mormons
H)Oneida community
I)Oregon Trail
J)Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments
K)Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
L)underground railroad

Question 25

Match the term with the definition.
Tools usually powered by horses or oxen that enabled farmers to harvest twelve acres of wheat a day, compared to the two or three acres a day possible with manual harvesting methods.

A)American Colonization Society
B)American system
C)California gold rush
D)Lone Star Republic
E)manifest destiny
F)mechanical reapers
G)Mormons
H)Oneida community
I)Oregon Trail
J)Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments
K)Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
L)underground railroad

Question 26

Match the term with the definition.
Route to the Northwest Territory traveled by American settlers starting in the late 1830s. Disease and accidents caused many more deaths along the route than did the Indian attacks, which migrants feared.

A)American Colonization Society
B)American system
C)California gold rush
D)Lone Star Republic
E)manifest destiny
F)mechanical reapers
G)Mormons
H)Oneida community
I)Oregon Trail
J)Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments
K)Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
L)underground railroad

Question 27

Match the term with the definition.
Independent republic established by a rebellion of Texans against Mexican rule. The victory at San Jacinto in April 1836 helped ensure the region's independence and recognition by the United States.

A)American Colonization Society
B)American system
C)California gold rush
D)Lone Star Republic
E)manifest destiny
F)mechanical reapers
G)Mormons
H)Oneida community
I)Oregon Trail
J)Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments
K)Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
L)underground railroad

Question 28

Match the term with the definition.
An organization dedicated to sending freed slaves and other black Americans to Liberia in West Africa. Although some African Americans cooperated with the movement, others campaigned against segregation and discrimination.

A)American Colonization Society
B)American system
C)California gold rush
D)Lone Star Republic
E)manifest destiny
F)mechanical reapers
G)Mormons
H)Oneida community
I)Oregon Trail
J)Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments
K)Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
L)underground railroad