Lesson 1.01: Geography
The Big Ideas
Why might historians need to describe different places on Earth?
How have humans altered the landscape of the United States?
How does geography impact history? How do the physical and human features of an area impact the events that happen there?
Skills
As you read, please review the terms below and make
sure you are able to describe a location using these
terms. This will be part of your assignment.
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Special Notes to Help with Your First Assignment!
There is a link to a Map Tutorial at the bottom of Lesson page 1 of 7.
Please review this information on maps and be sure to read through page
3. You will have to use the scale on a map to complete the assignment for
this lesson.
Place
Be sure to turn in your responses to BOTH parts (Part 1 and Part 2) of the
Region
assessment, so that you receive full credit. If you have questions, please
Relative location
contact your instructor.
Physical system
 Human system
Vocabulary (answer the question, fill in examples from the lesson, where possible, or put the definition in your own words)
Cash crops – a crop that is grown for profit rather than for use by the grower
Example:
Ecosystem – a community of plants, animals, and smaller organisms that live, feed, reproduce, and interact in the same area or
environment
What kind of ecosystem do you live in?
Globes – three-dimensional spheres representing Earth
When would a globe be more useful than a map?
Historians – a person who studies history
Human systems – the human characteristics of a region and how those characteristics work together to form spatial patterns
What human systems are in your area?
Manifest Destiny – a 19th Century belief that the United States was destined to expand its territory across the continent to the
Pacific Ocean
Maps – two-dimensional illustrations showing geographical features and information
Why is it important to know how to read a map?
Place – the physical and human characteristics of a geographical location
How would you describe your hometown using the idea of “place”?
Region – an area that shares physical or human spatial characteristics, such as language, culture, or climate
In what region do you live?
Relative Location – the location of a place in relation to another place; an example of relative location is describing England as east
of the United States
How would you describe your hometown using the idea of “relative location”?
Scale – map feature showing the difference between actual distance and illustrated distance
Please make sure you know how to use a map’s scale.
Spatial Patterns – the ways in which people, places, and characteristics are organized on the Earth’s surface
Lesson 1.02: Set the Stage
The Big Ideas
What is the difference between primary sources and secondary sources?
What can we learn from primary and secondary sources?
What could be a problem with using just one or two primary sources to study an event?
Briefly describe the main ideas behind the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution.
Skills
As you read, please pay attention to the questions asked when analyzing documents, images, etc.
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What type of document is this source? For example, is it a government document, a letter, or a journal?
When was this document created?
Was this document created when an event took place? Was it created after an event? This will tell you whether it is a
primary or secondary source.
Why was the document written? What evidence in the document explains this?
Who wrote this document? Was it a famous individual, a group, or an ordinary person?
Who was the intended audience of this document? Was it written for many people to read or just a few? Was it supposed
to be public or private? What did the intended audience know that the reader should know about?
What is the background of this document? Think about the time, place, author, and audience. What evidence in the
document shows this information?
Why is this document important to the study of history?
Vocabulary (answer the question, fill in examples from the lesson, where possible, or put the definition in your own words)
Audio source – historical sources that present information that is heard, such as speeches
What would be an example of a famous audio source?
Context clue – familiar word or phrase in text that can help the reader determine the meaning of an unfamiliar word or phrase
Evidence – a specific part of a source that shows facts and ideas
Primary source – source created by a person present at or involved with a historical event
What would be a primary source that could be used in a book written about your life?
Secondary source – source created by a person who was not present at or involved with a historical event
What would be a secondary source that could be used in a book written about your life?
Visual source - historical sources that present visual information, such as photographs or paintings
What is an example of a famous painting, photograph or other visual source?
Lesson 1.03: The Civil War
The Big Ideas
What were the main differences between the North and South prior to the Civil War?
What were the economic causes of the Civil War?
What were the political causes of the Civil War?
What were the social causes that contributed to the Civil War?
What were the economic consequences of the Civil War?
What were the political consequences of the Civil War?
What were the economic consequences of the Civil War?
People
Dred Scott – (Who was he and what were the results of his
case?)
Events (Describe the event, its causes and effects)
Missouri Compromise -
Compromise of 1850 Abraham Lincoln – (How was his election related to the Civil
War?)
Kansas-Nebraska Act African American soldiers – (How was their wartime experience
different from that of white soldiers?)
Passage of Emancipation Proclamation -
General Winfield Scott – (What was his plan for the Union and
how was it supposed to work?)
Gettysburg Address -
Vocabulary (answer the question, fill in examples from the lesson, where possible, or put the definition in your own words)
Anaconda Plan – the Union’s three-part Civil War strategy, designed to capture the Confederate capital in Richmond, block
southern ports, and control the Mississippi River
Why did the Union this this strategy would help them win the war?
“Bleeding Kansas” – name given to Kansas territory as pro-slavery and anti-slavery groups fought to decide the territory’s future
How was this related to the Kansas-Nebraska Act?
Buffalo soldiers – name given to African American soldiers by Native Americans
Compromise of 1850 – a series of congressional measures that allowed California to become a state, settled border disputes
between Texas and New Mexico, and created the Fugitive Slave Act
Dred Scott case – case in which a slave sued for his freedom based on the fact that he had lived in a free territory; the Supreme
Court decided slaves were not citizens and could not sue, and that taking a slave from their owner was a violation of property
rights
Emancipation – the act of freeing those held captive, in this case it refers to the freeing of slaves
Emancipation Proclamation – an executive order issued by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 declaring "that all persons held as slaves"
within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free"
What led Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation?
Freeport Doctrine – idea that people of an area would decide whether or not to allow slavery by the laws they created on a local
level
Where did this doctrine come from?
Fugitive Slave Act – law passed as part of the Compromise of 1850 that required all citizens to aid in the return of runaway slaves
Kansas-Nebraska Act – an 1854 law that established Kansas and Nebraska as territories and stating that the slavery issue there
would be decided by popular sovereignty
How did this led to “Bleeding Kansas”?
Missouri Compromise – agreement that divided the country in half by dictating that any state lying south of 36°30’ north latitude
would be open to slavery and that any state above that line would be considered free
Nullification Theory – theory that states could nullify, or cancel, any federal legislation the states deemed unconstitutional
How is this related to the idea of states’ rights?
Ostend Manifesto – document that claimed the US had the right to buy or seize Cuba from Spain
Popular sovereignty – idea that residents of an area can vote to decide an issue
How was this used in relation to the question of slavery?
Republican Party – political party formed in 1850 to oppose the Kansas-Nebraska Act and keep slavery out of new territories
Seceded – formal withdrawal of membership from an organization, state, or alliance.
When, where and why did the secession of southern states begin?
State’s Rights – powers granted to state governments rather than the federal government
Why was this an issue between the North and South?
Tariff(s) – taxes, often placed on imported goods to protect domestic industries
Lesson 1.04: Rebuilding the Government
The Big Ideas
What constitutional issues affected Reconstruction?
What were the differences between Presidential Reconstruction and Radical Reconstruction?
How did the “Reconstruction Amendments” affect African Americans?
Why did Reconstruction end?
People
President Lincoln – (What was his plan for Reconstruction?)
Events (Describe the event, its causes and effects)
Wade-Davis Bill
President Johnson – (What was his plan for Reconstruction?)
Election of 1876 / Compromise of 1877
Thaddeus Stevens – (What ideas did he support?)
Tenure of Office Act
Vocabulary (fill in examples from the lesson where possible or put the definition in your own words)
13th Amendment: formal change to the U.S. Constitution adopted in 1865 that outlawed slavery and involuntary servitude, except
as punishment for a crime
14th Amendment: formal change to the U.S. Constitution ratified in 1868 that declared African Americans were citizens who were
not to be denied equal rights
15th Amendment: formal change to the U.S. Constitution ratified in 1870 that declared a citizen’s right to vote could not be denied
“on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”
Why did it make sense to have the amendments passed in this order?
Amendment: a formal change to the U.S. Constitution
Amnesty: a pardon granted by the government, usually for political offenses
Black Codes: laws instituted by Southern legislatures beginning in 1865 to prevent African Americans from exercising their civil
rights
Example:
Cabinet: heads of government departments who advise the president
Citizenship: legal status of being a citizen of a country, or a person’s actions and behavior as a citizen
Confederacy: the association of Southern U.S. states that split away from and fought against the Union in the Civil War
Confederate: a person who supported the Southern confederacy
Congress: official name for the legislative branch of the U.S. government that includes the Senate and the House of
Representatives
Electoral vote: vote cast by a member of the Electoral College for the selection of the president
Freedmen: a former slave who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, slaves became freedmen either
by manumission (granted freedom by their owner) or emancipation (granted freedom as part of a larger group)
What difficulties did freedmen face?
Impeachment: a process of making a formal accusation of misconduct against a public official
Why was Johnson impeached?
Invalidate: to make something not count; to void or cancel
Legislature: the part of government responsible for making laws, usually in reference to state governments in the United States
Override: action by Congress to offset a veto by the president with a two-thirds vote
Pocket Veto: refusal of a president to sign a bill within 10 days of its passage and the adjournment of Congress causes the bill to be
rejected
Radical Republican: a member of Congress during the Civil War and Reconstruction who wanted to permanently end slavery and
guarantee equal rights for African Americans
How did they gain power over Reconstruction?
Ratification: approval or confirmation
Reconstruction: to rebuild, referring to the period 1865–1877 in the United States when former Confederate states were under
control of the federal government
Repudiate: to deny or reject
Secede: formal withdrawal of membership from an organization, state, or alliance
Suffrage: the right to vote
Tenure of Office Act: a federal law (in force from 1867 to 1887) that was intended to restrict the power of the president of the
United States to remove certain officeholders without the approval of the Senate.
U.S. Constitution: plan detailing the structure, functions, and powers of the government of the United States, also known as the
Constitution
Veto: the power of the U.S. president to reject a law passed by Congress
Lesson 1.05: A New South
The Big Ideas
What was life like for African Americans in the South just after the Civil War? How were they affected by the Reconstruction
Amendments and Black Codes?
What role did African Americans play in politics during Reconstruction?
What were sharecropping, tenant farming, and debt-peonage? How did they affect the South?
How did the South rebuild after the Civil War?
People
Carpetbaggers – (Who were there and what were their
goals?)
Events (Describe the event, its causes and effects)
Formation of Ku Klux Klan
Scalawags – (Who were there and what were their goals?)
Creation of Freedmen’s Bureau
Vocabulary (fill in examples from the lesson where possible or put the definition in your own words)
Carpetbagger: a Southern term for a Northerner who came to the South after the Civil War seeking political or economic gain
Circumvent: to find a way of avoiding restrictions without breaking them
Debt-peonage: a system in which laborers are forced to remain under control of a business owner until their debts are paid; often
the full payment of these debts is unlikely to occur
How does this compare to slavery?
Discrimination: unfair treatment of a person or group, usually due to race, ethnicity, age, religion, or gender
Disenfranchise: to take away a person’s or group’s right to vote
What are some ways African Americans were disenfranchised?
Emancipation Proclamation: an executive order issued by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 declaring "that all persons held as slaves"
within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free.”
Extremist: a person who supports or uses actions outside normal accepted behavior, usually for political reasons
Freedmen’s Bureau: a government agency designed to help freedmen find work, health care, education and other services
Intimidate: to frighten somebody into doing or not doing something
Labor contract: a formal agreement about work to be performed
Reconstruction Amendments: a collective name for the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments; also called the Civil War Amendments
Scalawag: a Southern term for a white Southerner who supported the Republican Party or abolition
Sharecropping: an arrangement that allowed workers to live on a section of property in exchange for working the land and giving a
part of the harvest to the landowner
Tenant farming: similar to sharecropping, but when at least part of the rent is paid in cash with money earned from selling crops
What are some difficulties sharecroppers and tenant farmers faced?
Lesson 1.06: Face of Freedom
The Big Ideas
How did the Black Codes keep African Americans for exercising their new rights?
What kinds of discrimination did African Americans face during Reconstruction?
What were Jim Crow laws and how did the government react to them?
How were Black Codes and Jim Crow laws similar and different?
People
Ku Klux Klan – (What were their goals and how did they try to
accomplish their goals?)
Events (Describe the event, its causes and effects)
Plessy v. Ferguson case
The Great Migration
Historian Rayford Logan – (Why did he describe this period as
the “nadir of race relations”?)
Ratification of the 14th Amendment
Vocabulary (fill in examples from the lesson where possible or put the definition in your own words)
Black Codes – laws instituted by Southern legislatures beginning in 1865 to prevent African Americans from exercising their civil
rights
What led to an end to Black Codes?
Economic – relating to how money, goods and jobs are created, distributed and used
Grandfather clause – a provision that allowed poor whites in the South to vote even if they failed the literacy test or could not pay
the poll tax, and also stopped African Americans from voting as their grandfathers would not have voted prior to 1865
Great Migration – the mass movement of African Americans from the South to the North for jobs in industry during the early
1900s
Besides jobs, what other factors may have led African Americans to move north?
Jim Crow laws – discriminatory laws passed mainly in Southern states to deny African Americans equal economic, political, and
social treatment
Ku Klux Klan – a secret organization that used terror to restore white supremacy to the South
What other groups were similar to the KKK?
Literacy test – reading comprehension tests used to prevent African American voters from casting ballots
Nadir – the lowest point, or bottom. The term was used to describe relations between Africans Americans and whites in the South
in the period between 1877 and 1920
What made this a low point?
Plessy v. Ferguson – an 1896 Supreme Court decision that ruled "separate but equal" facilities for blacks and whites did not violate
the Constitution's "equal protection" clause
Political – relating to the government or how a country, state or local area is run
Poll taxes – an annual tax paid by those in the South who wished to vote; it was often used to disenfranchise black voters
Social – relating to society and the way people interact with each other
Lesson 1.07: Westward Expansion
The Big Ideas
How did Native Americans’ lives change when Americans moved westward?
What were the causes and effects of the Dawes Act?
How did the U.S. try to assimilate Native Americans into American culture?
People
Bureau of Indian Affairs – (What did they hope to achieve?)
Events (Describe the event, its causes and effects)
Destruction of the buffalo
Homestead Act of 1862
Sitting Bull – (What role did he play in the events in the West?)
Battle of Little Big Horn
Native American Children – (How were they affected by Indian
schools?”
Battle of Wounded Knee
Vocabulary (fill in examples from the lesson where possible or put the definition in your own words)
Assimilate – become part of a group by adopting the ways of that group and by being accepted by people in that group
Battle of Little Big Horn –– the 1876 battle between the Lakota Sioux and the 7th Cavalry, led by George A. Custer, ending with the
complete destruction of Custer’s troops
Battle of Wounded Knee the 1890 massacre of the Sioux by the 7th Cavalry
Dawes Act –law designed to assimilate Native Americans by dividing up tribal reservation land and giving it to individuals who
would become farmers
Ghost Dance Movement – Native American religious movement in response to loss of their land and threat to their culture; based
on a vision by a Paiute prophet who foresaw an apocalypse with Native Americans ruling the earth in its aftermath
How did this affect relations between the Native Americans and the U.S. government?
Homestead Act of 1862 – act of 1862 that opened up western lands by giving individual settlers 160 acres with the requirement
that they live on the land for a period of time and make minimal improvements
Indian Schools –education system that forced Native American children from their homes; these were boarding and mission
schools where they would be distanced from Native American culture and immersed in the dominant culture
Push-pull factors – conditions which drive people from their own homes and/or pull them towards a new area
What are examples of push-pull factors?
Reservation – land reserved by the U.S government for the use of Native Americans
Sand Creek Massacre – the 1864 slaughter of over 150 inhabitants of a winter camp of Cheyenne and Arapaho