AP U.S. History: Chapter Guides
Chapter 13
America’s History, Chapter 13, “Expansion, War, and Sectional Crisis”
Key Concept: The United States's acquisition of lands in the West gave rise to contests over the
extension of slavery into new territories.
Key Concept: Popular enthusiasm for U.S. expansion, bolstered by economic and security
interests, resulted in the acquisition of new territories, substantial migration westward, and new
overseas initiatives.
Manifest Destiny: South and North
The Push to the Pacific (p. 412-415)
1. Explain the concept of “Manifest Destiny.”
2. What was the cause of “Oregon fever?”
3. Compare the Americans who moved to California in the early decades of the 19th century with those who
moved to Texas.
The Plains Indians (p. 415-417)
4. What role did horses play in the culture of Plains tribes such as the Comanches?
5. In what sense did the Sioux follow the example of the “white men?”
6. What happened to the size of the northern buffalo herd between 1820 and 1870?
The Fateful Election of 1844 (p. 417-418)
7. What led the Democrats to select James K. Polk as their nominee for President in 1844?
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AP U.S. History: Chapter Guides
Chapter 13
8. How did supporters of the antislavery Liberty Party unintentionally help ensure the expansion of slavery?
War, Expansion, and Slavery, 1846-1850
The War with Mexico (p. 418-420)
9. List 3 steps Polk took by 1846 to set the stage for America’s expansion into Mexican territory.
A Divisive Victory (p. 421-425)
10. On what grounds did the “conscience Whigs” oppose the Mexican War?
11. Why did the Wilmot Proviso divide Congress along sectional lines?
12. List the future states that the U.S. acquired from Mexico through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (see the
map on p. 424.)
13. How was the “free-soil movement” different from more radical abolitionist organizations?
California Gold and Racial Warfare (p. 425-428)
14. Name 2 ways the “forty-niners” got to California during the gold rush.
How many had arrived in California by the end of 1849?
15. What impact did the gold rush have on California’s Indian population?
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AP U.S. History: Chapter Guides
Chapter 13
1850: Crisis and Compromise (p. 428-430)
16. Fill in the table below with information on the four distinct positions regarding the expansion of slavery.
Position
Main advocate(s)
Description
Extreme proexpansionist
Moderate proexpansionist
Popular
sovereignty
Anti-expansionist
17. List the 5 provisions of the Compromise of 1850.
The End of the Second Party System, 1850-1858
Resistance to the Fugitive Slave Act (p. 430-431)
18. Cite 2 examples of actions taken by northerners in opposition to the Fugitive Slave Act.
The Whigs Disintegrate and New Parties Rise (p. 431-433)
19. Explain how each of these illustrates the Pierce administration’s pro-slavery expansionist foreign policy:
The Gadsden Purchase -
The Ostend Manifesto-
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AP U.S. History: Chapter Guides
Chapter 13
20. Why did antislavery advocates denounce the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854?
21. Which two new political parties benefitted from the collapse of the Whigs?
22. Cite one specific example that illustrates why Kansas earned the nickname “Bleeding Kansas” in 1856.
Buchanan’s Failed Presidency (p. 433-436)
23. In 1857 Chief Justice Roger B. Taney ruled against Dred Scott’s claim to freedom on three grounds:
a)
b)
c)
24. What 2 strongly pro-Southern actions did President James Buchanan take in 1858?
The End of the Second Party System, 1850-1858
Lincoln’s Political Career (p. 437-438)
25. List two examples of Lincoln’s “middle-of-the-road” policies on slavery when he was in Congress.
What event shocked Lincoln into taking a stronger antislavery stance?
26. How did the 1858 U.S. Senate election in Illinois help make Lincoln a national figure?
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AP U.S. History: Chapter Guides
Chapter 13
The Union Under Siege (p. 438-439)
27. What was the goal of southern “fire-eaters?”
28. Give examples of the polarized responses to John Brown’s unsuccessful raid at Harper’s Ferry in 1859.
29. What was the successful Republican strategy in the 1860 presidential election?
SUMMARY: Use the chapter summary on p. 440 to fill in the blanks.
In this chapter, we examined four related themes: the ideology of _____________ _____________ and the
westward movement of Americans in the 1840s, the impact of American traders and settlers on the Indian
peoples of the ________ _________ and California, the causes and consequences of the ___________ ______
(1846–1848), and the disintegration of the _________ ________ _________ during the 1850s.
We saw that the determination of Presidents _____ _______ and _______ _____ to ____ ___________
and _______ ________ to the Union pushed the United States into the ___________ ______ and into a new
debate over the ________________ ___ ___________. To resolve the resulting crisis, Henry ______, Daniel
__________, and Stephen __________ devised the _________________ ___ _______. Their efforts were in
vain: antislavery northerners defied the _____________ ________ ____, and expansionist-minded southerners
sought new slave states in the _____________. ____________ (the pursuit of absolutes) replaced _________
(the art of compromise) as the ruling principle of American political life.
The __________ ________ ___________ rapidly disintegrated. The ______ ________ vanished, and two
issue-oriented parties, the __________ American Party and the ___________ Republican Party, competed for
its members. As the _________________ gained strength, the _____________ Party splintered into sectional
factions over ___________ __________ and other slavery-related issues. The stage was set for __________
victory in the climactic ___________ ___ ______.
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