entire course knowledge

Question 1

What were the political characteristics of America at the time?

Answer 1

• Constitution of 1717
• Federal and state governments

Question 2

What were the social characteristics of America at the time?

Answer 2

• Cultural melting pot
  -Inequality for women
  -Population growth
  -Northern urbanisation and industrialisation

Question 3

What were the similarities between the North and the South?

Answer 3

• A shared history, language and religion
• The Northwest was still largely agrarian

Question 4

What were the differences between the North and the South?
(6)

Answer 4

-Agrarian South, egalitarian North
-Planters led southern politics
-Different economic interests
-Disparity in education
-Southerners valued honour above all
-Tradition vs reform

Question 5

How many free slaves were there in the south in 1860?

Answer 5

50,000
They had no political rights and very limited job opportunities

Question 6

What impact did slavery have on the Southern economy?

Answer 6

Historians argue.
- Some believe that slavery was responsible for the downfall of Southern economy as it caused lack of white work ethic and halted industrial developments
-Others believe that slavery was an efficient from of economic and social organisation and didn’t halt the growth of Southern economy

Question 7

What drove western expansion?

Answer 7

Encouraged by federal government action such as the Louisiana purchase, driven by economic factors- especially the lure of fertile land in a time of agricultural distress

Question 8

What effect did western expansion have on Native Americans?

Answer 8

Immensely negative.
Through a series of treaties during Jeffersons administration, Native Americans were forced to hand over their ancestral lands.
President Jackson held a similar view that Native Americans were an obstacle to Western expansion- he passed the Indian Removal act of 1830 to relocate Natives to new land. It was immensely destructive.

Question 9

What was the Missouri compromise?

Answer 9

When Missouri applied to join the union as a slave state in 1819, the crucial balance was broken. To counter this, the Missouri compromise was established. It admitted Maine as a free state and outlawed Slavery above to 36,30 line.

Question 10

Summarise the Mexican war (4)

Answer 10

-The USA’S annexation of Texas angered Mexico.
Polk asked congress to declare war- they obliged, causing sectional conflict between the North and the South.
-The USA had far greater military potential than Mexico, and marched unopposed into New Mexico and California.
The treaty of Guadalupe=Hidalgo ended the war in 1848. California and New Mexico were ceded to the US for $15 million.

Question 11

What was the role of Henry Clay?

Answer 11

Proposed the joint compromise bill

Question 12

What was the role of John Calhoun?

Answer 12

Developed the doctrine of nullification

Question 13

What was the role of Stephen Douglas?

Answer 13

Responsible for separating the compromise
Established popular sovereignty

Question 14

Summarise the journey of the 1850 compromise (5)

Answer 14

• Needed to settle sectional division
  -Proposed as one bill in January- defeated
  -Douglas separated the bill
• All bills passed in September
  -Neither North or South were satisfied and the balance tilted in favour of the free states

Question 15

What were the bills of the 1850 compromise that passed? (5)

Answer 15

-Statehood for California- a free state
-Territorial status for Utah and New Mexico- popular sovereignty
- A new fugitive slave act
-Abolition of the slave trade in Washington D.C
-Resolution of Texas boundary disputes

Question 16

What was the significance of bleeding Kansas?

Answer 16

• Helped Republican fortunes due to the tit-for-tat killings that occurred because of John Brown

Question 17

Summarise the features and impact of the Kansas-Nebraska bill of 1854 (7)

Answer 17

-Repealed the missouri compromise
-Introduced popular sovereignty
- Divided Nebraska territory in two
Douglas was confident that neither territory would vote for slavery due to the harsh climate
-The North disdained the bill and the South saw it as a symbol of Southern honour
-Bill became law and heightened North/South tension
-Damaged the Northern Democrats

Question 18

What was the link between the Kansas-Nebraska bill and the Republican party?

Answer 18

The act awakened the specter of the slave power and many northerners were keen to support a party that was agressively anti- slavery expansion.

Question 19

Why was Lincoln popular?

Answer 19

His lack of formal schooling epitomised the American dream.
His lack of administrative experience helped his reputation for honesty
The Lincoln-Douglas debates had enhanced his reputation
Viewed as humble and relatable for Northerners

Question 20

Summarise John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry (7)

Answer 20

October 1859
Hoped to seize weapons and start a slave revolt
Flawed plan
Arsenal captured with remarkable ease
A train pulled in- shots were fired and a black man died
36 hour siege
Brown and members of his army were captured and wounded

Question 21

What was the impact of the raid on Harpers Ferry? (4)

Answer 21

• Occurred just before the presidential election of 1860
  -Raised sectional tension to new heights
  -Southerners were appalled at the idea of a slave revolt and generalised all Northerners as having the same views as Brown
• Heightened suspicion and dozens of slaves were suspected of planning revolts.

Question 22

What was the Republican platform in the 1860 election?

Answer 22

-No intention of interfering with slavery
-Higher protective tariffs
-Free 160 acre homesteads for western settlers
-A Northern transcontinental railway

Question 23

Summarise the drive for secession in the Southern states

Answer 23

• Southerners saw themselves as the aggrieved innocents in an unequal struggle.
  -Honour demanded that a stand be taken against the election of Lincoln.
  -Despite a disparity of interests, secession began to spread.

Question 24

Summarise the secession of South Carolina and its effects.

Answer 24

-Unforeseen rapidity
-Voted unopposed for secession in December 1860.
-By February; Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas had voted to secede.

Question 25

Summarise the confederacy

Answer 25

• A constitution closely modelled on that of the US, but with laws that more closely protected slavery and state rights.
• Elected Jefferson Davis, a well-trained Mexican war hero, as their president.

Question 26

Summarise the problem of Fort Sumter (9)

Answer 26

• One of the only Southern forts not taken over by the confederacy, Lincoln was determined to keep it this way, it was a test of his credibility.
• Confederate shots were fired at a supply ship heading to Sumter.
• Lincoln was advised to abandon Sumter, but he was resilient.
• Seward, the SOS, urged Lincoln to appease the confederacy and Lincoln declined. Seward, on his own initative, sent assurances to confederate leaders that the fort would be abandoned.
• Northern newspapers demanded that Sumter be held and the cabinet was heedful of Northern opinion.
  -Seward now suggested that Lincoln delegate his power, evacuate power and provoke a war with Europe to unite the nation, Lincoln disagreed and sent a ship to Sumter
  -It could be argued that Lincoln manipulated the confederacy into firing.
  -Davis issued orders that Sumter be taken before it was resupplied.
• On the 12th April, confederate guns opened fire on Sumter- the Union surrendered and the war began with Lincoln issuing a call to arms and a trading block on the confederacy.

Question 27

Summarise the second wave of secession

Answer 27

• Given that Lincoln issued a call to arms on all Union states, the upper South states had to commit themselves.
  -Virginia, a state of great industrial capacity, voted to secede.
• Arkansas, North Carolina and Tennessee joined the confederacy.
  -West Virginia split from Virginia and stayed with the union
  -Delaware, Maryland, Missouri, and Kentucky, all slave states remained in the union.