Chapter One: Alien Encounters
1. Identify three common misunderstandings/falsities
commonly believed about Columbus’ voyages and
discoveries.
2. Indians and Europeans: We are all very familiar with
European exploitation and mistreatment of Native
Americans. Take note of THREE specific examples
mentioned here.
3. Compare the cultural values of Europeans and
Natives under these headings: Religion, Land and
Possessions, Leadership, and Warfare.
4. Do you agree with Historians who accuse Columbus
and other explorers of genocide? Explain.
5. Why may the Protestant Reformation have been
significant for the merchant and commercial classes of
the time?
6. Brainstorm as many ideas as you can under these
headings:
 Motivation for Exploration
 Motivation for Settlement
7. Finish reading this chapter (pages 28-45). We will
be referring to his background information about early
settlements in America over the next few days.
Textbook Summary Notes
The American Nation
For each of the headings listed below please provide a brief summary. Textbook reading is an
essential part of this course. Much of the material covered in your readings will not be covered in
class and yet it may be featured on an IB paper. As senior history students it is essential that you
keep up with the readings and that you make clear and concise notes that can be used for exam
preparation. The expectation is that you do the necessary preparatory readings to ensure that
you are prepared for lectures, classroom discussions, and evaluations. In short, if it’s in the
readings it’s fair game for the test.
Chapter Two (American Society in the Making—Topic 1)
What is an American?
Spanish Settlement
The Chesapeake Colonies
The Lure of Land
“Solving” the Labour Shortage – Slavery
Prosperity in a Pipe: Tobacco
Bacon’s Rebellion
The Carolinas
Home and Family in the South
Georgia and the Back Country
Puritan New England
The Puritan Family
Salem Bewitched
Higher Education in New England
Prosperity Undermines Puritanism
The Middle Colonies: Economic Basis
Chapter Three (America in the Empire—Topic 1)
The British Colonial System
Mercantilism
The Navigation Acts
The Effects of Mercantilism
The Great Awakening
Colonial Scientific Achievements
Repercussions of Distant Wars
The Great War for the Empire
The Peace of Paris
Putting the Empire Right
Tightening the Imperial Controls
Chapter Four (The American Revolution—Topic 1)
“The Shot Heard Round the World”
The Battle of Bunker Hill
1776: The Battle of Forces
Loyalists
Early British Victories
Saratoga and the French Alliance
The War Moves South
Victory at Yorktown
The Peace of Paris
Forming a National Government
Financing the War
Social Reform
Effects of the Revolution on Women
Growth of a National Spirit
The Great Land Ordinances
Chapter 5 (The Federalist Era—Topic 2)
Border Problems
Foreign Trade
To Philadelphia and the Constitution
The Great Convention
The Compromise that Produced the Constitution
Washington as President
Revolution in France
Federalists and Republicans: The Rise of Political Parties
Chapter 6 (Jeffersonian Democracy—Topic 2)
The Federalist Contribution
Thomas Jefferson: Political Theorist
Jefferson as President
Jefferson’s Attack on the Judiciary
The Louisiana Purchase
Jeffersonian Democracy
Chapter 7 (National Growing Pains—Background for Topic 2)
Tecumseh and the Indian Resistance
Depression and Land Hunger
Opponents of War
The War of 1812
The treaty of Ghent
The Monroe Doctrine
Chapter 12 (Western Expansion –Background for Topic 2)
The Texas Question
Manifest Destiny
War with Mexico
The Fruits of Victory: Further Enlargement of the United States
Slavery: The Fire Bell in the Night Rings Again
The Gold Rush
Chapter 13 (The Civil War—Topic 3)
The South
The Economics of Slavery
The Sociology of Slavery
Manufacturing in the South
The Northern Industrial Juggernaut
A Nation of Immigrants
Progress and Poverty
The Economy on the Eve of Civil War
Chapter 14 (The Civil War—Topic 3)
The Slave Power Comes North
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Know-Nothings, Republicans, and the Demise of the Two Party System
“Bleeding Kansas”
The Dred Scott Decision
The Emergence of Lincoln
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates
John Brown’s Raid
The Election of 1860
The Secession Crisis
Chapter 15 (The Civil War—Topic 3)
Lincoln’s Cabinet
Fort Sumter: The First Shot
The Blue and the Grey
The Test of Battle: Bull Run
Paying for the War
Politics as Usual
Behind Confederate Lines
War in the West: Shiloh
The Emancipation Proclamation
The Draft Riots
The Emancipated People
African American Soldiers
Economic and Social Effects, North and South
Women in Wartime
Winners, Losers, and the Future
Chapter 16 (Reconstruction—Topic 3)
Presidential Reconstruction
Republican Radicals
Congress Rejects Johnsonian Reconstruction
The Fourteenth Amendment
The Reconstruction Acts
Congress Supreme
The Fifteenth Amendment
“Black Republican” Reconstruction: Scalawags and Carpetbaggers
The Ravaged Land
The White Backlash
Grant as President
The Disputed Election of 1876
The compromise of 1877
Chapter 17 (Reconstruction—Topic 3)
The Political Aftermath of War
Blacks After Reconstruction
Booker T. Washington: A “Reasonable” Champion for Blacks
White Violence and Vengeance
The West after the Civil War
The Plains Indians
Indian Wars
The Destruction of Tribal Life
Chapter 23 (From Isolation to Empire –Background to Topic 10, Sem. 2)
Isolation or Imperialism?
Origins of the Large Policy: Coveting Colonies
Toward an Empire in the Pacific
Toward an Empire in Latin America
The Cuban Revolution
The “Splendid Little” Spanish-American War
Developing a Colonial Policy
The United States in the Caribbean and Central America
The Open Dorr Policy
The Panama Canal
Imperialism Without colonies
Chapter 28 (Review and Topic 10—Sem. 2)
Building the Atom Bomb
Diplomacy
Allied Suspicion of Stalin
Yalta and Potsdam
Chapter 29 (The American Century—Topic 10—Sem. 2)
The Containment Policy
The Atom Bomb: A “Winning” Weapon?
A Turning Point in Greece
The Marshall Plan and the Lesson of History
Dealing with Japan and China
Containing Communism Abroad
Hot War in Korea
McCarthyism
The Eisenhower-Dulles Foreign Policy
Asian Policy After Korea
Israel and the Middle East
Eisenhower and Khrushchev
Latin America Aroused
The Politics of Civil Rights
The Election of 1960
Chapter 30 (Camelot to Watergate—Topic 10—Sem. 2)
The Cuban Crisis
The Vietnam War
“We shall overcome”: the Civil Rights Movement
The Great Society
Opposition to the War
The Election of 1968
Nixon as President: “Vietnamizing” the War
Détente with Communism
Domestic Policy Under Nixon
The Meaning of Watergate
Chapter 31 (p. 824-851) (Civil Rights—Topic 11—Sem. 1)
The Perils of Progress
The Costs of Prosperity
New Racial Turmoil
Native-Born Ethics
Students in Revolt
The counterculture
The Sexual Revolution
Women’s Liberation
Chapter 32 (p. 852-862) (Ford, Carter—Topic 10—Sem. 2)
The Oil Crisis
Ford as President
The Fall of South Vietnam
Ford Versus Carter
The Carter Presidency
A National Malaise
Stagflation
Families Under Stress
Cold war or Détente?
The Iran Crisis: Origins
The Iran Crisis: Carter’s Dilemma
The Election of 1980