APUSH
Enlarging the Nation State
Name _________________________
Date __________________________
Part A: Today, Americans unanimously accept the present territorial boundaries of the continental US. This was not always the case.
Opponents of expansion objected to the acquisition of each piece of land. However, the dominate theme in the country’s past has always
been expansion. Research each of the following acquisitions of the US and complete the chart below to show how the US accomplished
this expansion to the Pacific.
Territory
Date acquired
Previous Owner
Circumstances of acquisition
Original United States
Louisiana Purchase
British Cession
Spanish Cession
Texas Annexation
Oregon Country
Mexican Cession
Gadsden Purchase
Part B: Read the overview or sectional framework and then read the vignettes of three typical individuals provided to you. You will need
to explain how each of the three men would react to each of the 8 sectional issues of the ante-bellum period listed on the chart below.
Complete the chart by writing each man’s position and rationale on each issue.
Issue
The national government
should pass high tariffs.
The national government should
encourage settlement of small
farms in the West.
Watson
Hicks
Figzhugh
Issue
Watson
Hicks
Figzhugh
The national government should
complete the nation’s Manifest
Destiny and prepare the new
acquisitions for eventual
statehood.
The national government should
promote internal improvements,
including roads, canals, and
railroads, at government
expense.
The national government should
abolish slavery.
The national government should
promote technology.
The national government should
promote unlimited immigration
to this country.
The national government should
promote universal education.
Part C: Answer the following questions.
1.
How did the definition of the West change in the years 1800 – 1860?
2.
What were the assets of continental expansion?
3.
What negatives accompanied new territorial acquisitions?
4.
How did Henry Clay’s American System help to promote national unity?
5.
How did the social structure change more dramatically in the North than in the South in the decades before the Civil War?
6.
How would you characterize the emerging position of the West within the Union during the decades before the Civil War?
7.
How did the increasing regionalization of the nation create difficulties for the national government?