Unit 5 Study Guide: 1844-1877
As you work, take note of the importance of each item, potential connections to other items, as well as causes and effects.
MAIN THEME: As the nation expanded and its population grew, regional tensions, especially over slavery, led to a civil war—the course and aftermath of which transformed American society.
Key Concept: 5.1 The United States became more connected with the world as it pursued an expansionist foreign policy in the Western
Hemisphere and emerged as the destination for many migrants from other countries.
Key Concept: 5.2 Intensified by expansion and deepening regional divisions, debates over slavery and other economic, cultural, and political issues led the nation into civil war.
Key Concept: 5.3 The Union victory in the Civil War and the contested Reconstruction of the South settled the issues of slavery and secession, but left unresolved many questions about the power of the federal government and citizenship rights.
Vocabulary IDs should include: the term, date(s), definition, and significance of the term.
Questions should be explained completely in at least 3-4 sentences, and include specific details from your readings/notes. These will help you provide more specific evidence in your writings, and help you think through more difficult multiple choice questions. Make sure to answer all parts of the question.
DUE DATE 1: December 19/22
Chapter 11 p. 347-355, 374-378, 382-387
Chapter 12 p. 370-387; Chapter 13 p. 392-420
(AP concepts 5.1, 5.2)
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
1. Explain the tactics used by abolitionists in the American Anti-
Slavery Society to gain attention to their cause. a.
b.
a.
How did the national government respond to these tactics?
How did abolitionism contribute to sectionalism?
2. Explain the development of the southern argument for slavery as a
‘positive good’
Why would non-slaveholding whites support slavery, considering only 25% of white southern families owned slaves by 1850?
3. Why did “King Cotton” rule over the South? (How did cotton become the cash crop of the South?)
4. Describe the culture of slaves in the antebellum South.
Vocabulary Identifications
Chapter 11, 12, 13
Abolitionism
William Lloyd Garrison/The Liberator
Harriet Beecher Stowe/Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Frederick Douglass
Dred Scott v. Sanford (1856)
American Colonization Society
Nat Turner Rebellion
“King Cotton”
Manifest Destiny
Preemption Act/Homestead Act
“Popular sovereignty”/squatters
Oregon Trail/Donner Party
Zachary Taylor
The Alamo/Santa Anna
Free-Soil movement
Wilmot Proviso
Freeport Doctrine
“Fifty-four forty or fight!”
Kansas-Nebraska Act/”Bleeding Kansas”
John Brown
Sumner-Brooks incident
LeCompton Constitution
5. What were the driving forces behind westward expansion? a.
Why were Americans drawn to Texas and California, despite Mexican rule of these areas prior to the
1840s? b.
Explain the controversy surrounding the annexation of Texas.
6. Compare the causes and effects of the Mexican-American War.
7. What were the main constitutional arguments surrounding slavery in the territories between 1830-1860? a.
Why did abolitionists like William Lloyd Garrison reject the free-soil doctrine? b.
Why did Lewis Cass’s ideas about squatter sovereignty fail to hold the Democrats together? c.
In what ways did James Buchanan help increase secularism prior to the Civil War?

8. Describe the different political parties and their ideals in 1860, using the organizer below:
S. Democrat N. Democrat Republican
Candidate(s)
Region won during election
Belief(s) about slavery
Constitutional
Union
Border states of
KY, TN, VA
DUE DATE 2: January 15/16, 2015
Chapter 14 p. p.423-428, 430-436, 437-450
Chapter 15, p. 457-466, 476-482
(AP concepts 5.3I, II, III)
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
1. Compare and contrast Northern and Southern advantages and disadvantages during the Civil War and explain how those advantages eventually lead to a northern victory.
2. Explain the reasons for secession and the order in which the
South seceded from the Union. a.
Why did some states choose not to secede until late in 1861? b.
What was the North’s response to secession?
3. Compare and contrast the North’s and South’s attempt to mobilize its resources and provide for the war effort. Use specific examples in your answer. A chart may be helpful here.
4. Explain the reasons for the Emancipation Proclamation and its effects in the outcome of the war.
5. Explain the purpose of the Gettysburg Address and how it
Vocabulary Identifications, Chapter 14, 15
Crittenden Compromise
Secession
Total war
Emancipation Proclamation
Thaddeus Stephens/Radical Republicans
Militia Act & Enrollment Act
Proclamation of Amnesty and
Reconstruction (The “10% Plan”)
Wade-Davis Bill
Civil Rights Act of 1866/1875
Black Codes
Reconstruction Act of 1867
Freedmen’s Bureau
“Buffalo Soldiers”
Andrew Johnson
Presidential Reconstruction
Congressional (Radical) Reconstruction
Sharecroppers
Carpetbaggers
Scalawags
Redeemers
Ku Klux Klan
Horace Greeley
Samuel J. Tilden
Compromise of 1877 influenced the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction.
6. What led to the rise of “radicals” in the Republican Party? a.
What led Congress to impose Radical Reconstruction measures? b.
How did President Johnson’s plan for Reconstruction differ from that of Congress? c.
Why was the enactment of Black Codes in 1865 a turning point in Reconstruction?
7. Explain the significance of each of the following Constitutional Amendments following the Civil War.
13 th Amendment
Year
14 th Amendment
15 th Amendment
Purpose/Rights a.
Despite the radical changes imposed through the Civil War amendments, what problems persisted after the passage of these laws? Why?
8. Describe differences between carpetbagger and “redeemer” governments. A chart may be helpful here.
9. What caused the electoral “crisis” of 1876 and how did it lead to the end of Reconstruction initiatives?