Period 5 Test (Part 1) Flashcards
In the time period, describe how every social and political decision was received in America.
Everything was an issue and there was always a protest from the other side, politics were so divided.
What was the most liberal area in the country?
The northeast
What major social groups came from the northeast? Why?
Many new religious movements started and lived there because they were open-minded to different things.
What groups came from or settled in the liberal northeast?
- Unitarians
- First Great Awakening
- Catholics
- Jews
What other part of the country became very liberal?
Some areas out west and other large major cities.
What is the idea of unitarianism?
One God, not three trinity persons.
Describe the Second Great Awakening.
Similar to First Great Awakening, but without intense preachers and members, more subdued people.
What was the mission of the Second Great Awakening?
It was about offering opportunity to people who wanted to find God again and join the Church.
Who were the top names of the Second Great Awakening?
- Charles Grandison Finney
- Peter Cartwright
Describe Charles Grandison Finney.
He was more radical with his ideas about sinners.
What other religious group came about during the Second Great Awakening?
Mormons
Who founded the Mormons?
Joseph Smith
What is Joseph Smith’s story of how Mormons were created?
He was in his house in NY and angel brought him gold plates with etchings of principles of the Mormon faith. He took the etchings and wrote a book for Latter Day Saints.
How did people in NY respond to Smith’s angel story?
People in NY are confused with the story and do not really believe it.
What was one of the main principles of the Mormon faith?
You can only marry once.
What was ironic about Smith asking people to marry only once?
He had multiple wives and is under heat for it.
After the controversy with his story and beliefs, what did Smith and Mormons do?
He moved his faith west to Indiana and Illinois.
What are Mormons also called? Describe them.
They are very different in many social ways than traditional Christians. Their other name is the Latter Day Saints.
As Smith and the Mormons march west, what happens to them?
Smith is killed in Illinois as well as many of his followers.
What happens after Smith and others are killed in Illinois?
Bringham Young, one of the followers steps up and takes over.
Where did Bringham Young lead the Mormons to?
Utah
Why did Young take the Mormons to Utah?
Nobody lived there to fight them, only had to contend with Natives.
How was Utah a safe place for the Mormons?
Pretty safe place with desolate population, nobody could attack them easily.
How did people view Mormons?
Very similar to how today we view the Amish, a conservative community of their own ways where they did not let people get into it.
What major university was founded on Mormon basis?
BYU
Why was there so much prejudice against Mormons?
There was major misunderstanding about their faith.
What was the key component of education reform?
access
What was the motive of having more education access?
It is essential to building your world for more successful youth.
Before education reform, describe northern education.
There were one room schoolhouses for boys only, which was mandatory for them until a certain age, as they learned for 9 months and worked on the farm.
Before education reform, describe southern education.
You were only educated in the south if you had money to pay a tutor, only esteemed families with lots of money and smart kids went to college.
Who were the top names in the education reform?
- Emma Willard
- Horace Mann
- Noah Webster
- Mary Lyon
What did Emma Willard do?
She opened up Oberlin College to women, wanted women to get college education.
How did other colleges respond to Oberlin College’s opening to be co-ed?
They followed suit very slowly over time.
What did Horace Mann do?
He comes about with a school theory for hands on learning, practical knowledge, stuff to know moving forward.
What did Noah Webster do?
He created the first dictionary we know.
What was Noah Webster’s first job?
teacher
What did Webster create? What has happened to it?
He created a million dollar reward for the person who makes a phonetical dictionary, and it has never been cashed out.
What did Mary Lyon do?
She pushed for women’s educational rights.
What was the legacy of the education reform?
Education kept growing. Every step we took, we gave access to more kids to learn.
What did Dorothea Dix do?
She tried to reform treatment for the insane.
At that time, where did the insane go to?
You went into a ward.
What were the insanity wards look like?
You were locked in like it was a prison.
How were the insane treated in the wards before Dix’s reform?
- like a prisoner
- 3 sloppy meals
- occasional visitor, but nobody wanted association with the insane.
What did you have to do to be considered insane?
You needed a slight mental incapacitation that affected your behavior.
Where were the insane put if they were deemed insane besides the wards?
Treatment centers, not at home.
What did William Ladd do?
He founded the American Peace Society
What was the American Peace Society?
An anti-war group filled with some peaceful protestors of war.
Who was Neal S. Dow and what did he do?
He was the first temperance movement leader and passed the Maine law before the Civil War.
What was the Maine Law?
It prohibited liquor in a temperance movement in Maine, before the federal laws took place.
What else came about with American Society with communities?
Utopian Communities
Who was Robert Owne and what did he do?
He was from New Harmony, IN and made a utopia there.
Describe the utopia in New Harmony, IN .
One said that everyone can live here if you are nice to each other if they unlock their doors as a sign of trust.
How did the New Harmony, IN utopia work out?
It went well until thieves came in and took everything from the unlocked doors.
What are two other major utopian communities during the utopian trend?
- Oneida Colony
- Shakers
Where was the Oneida colony? How long did it last?
It was in New York and it did not last long
Who led the Shakers?
Mother Ann Lee
What was the problem with the Shakers? How did it affect them?
They believed in celibacy, which gave them problems to build up their population.
How many Shakers are left today?
2
Describe science in the early 1800s.
It was big in Europe of questioning how things worked, being an American scientists did not help.
What changed science and helped bring it to the US?
Age of enlightenment
How did the age of enlightenment affect science?
It debated science and religion, and pushed against ageless beliefs, but science backed things up.
When sciences came to the us, what could people do?
They could engage in studies like more people around the world did.
Who were the main scientists of the scientific revolution in America?
Benjamin Silliman and John J. Audubon
What did Silliman study?
He studied rocks and archaeology
What did Audubon study?
He studies birds, took pictures out west of new birds never seen before.
Describe American literature before this social change.
We had writers, but no storytellers until this time.
Who were the main storytellers in America during this time?
- James Fenimore Cooper
- William Cullen Bryant
- Washington Erving
What did Cooper write about?
Mohicans and Indian wars
What did Cullen Bryant write?
Thanatopsis
What did Erving write about?
Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle
Why was having storytellers so important to American culture?
They are stories, places where Americans can get lost in their minds, do not need to deal with reality, it was accessible to everyone.
What group of writers emerged from the new literature culture?
Transcendentalists
What were the transcendentalists all about?
Earth and nature, pouring heart and soul out and let nature take course of the world.
Were transcendentalists influenced by anything else?
No
Who were the main transcendentalists?
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
- Henry David Thoreau
- Walt Whitman
What was Ralph Waldo Emerson’s main quote?
“The man who can make hard things easy is the educator.”
What did Thoreau write?
Walden
What was Thoreau’s legacy as a citizen?
He was arrested by government because he refused to pay taxes.
Why did Thoreau not like to pay taxes?
He never believed in paying homage to an outside entity.
What did Walt Whitman do?
He was a poet, part of the Dead Poet Society, valued self-sufficiency.
Who were the other major writers of the new writing era?
- Nathaniel Hawthorne
- Edgar Allan Poe
- John Greenleaf Whittier
- Herman Melville
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
What did Poe wrote?
poems about his dark life
What is Hawthorne most famous for writing?
Scarlet Letter
What is Longfellow most famous for writing?
The Paul Revere poem
What was the significance of cotton?
It was the backbone to the southern society and economy, dominated everything.
What was cotton’s nickname in the south?
King Cotton
How did the south justify slavery?
Necessary evil
How did the south justify slavery as a necessary evil?
They felt the economy would fall apart.
Describe southern slave life.
It was hard, you could be abused, whipped or lack of hours, you were trapped, no freedom at all.
Were there slaves in the north?
Yes, but very few areas
How many plantations were in the south?
About a few hundred
Where were southern plantations built?
along rivers
Why were plantations built on rivers?
For harvesting crops, you needed easy access to ship it, waterways made shipping, irrigation, and communication easy.
What was the name for the area of southern slavery?
Black Belt
Where did most slave plantations exist?
Along Southeast coast and near Mississippi River, near waterways.
How were slave plantations founded?
It was a first-come, first-serve basis, whoever found water and good land first near water got the plantation.
What was done to find runaway slaves?
Posters were put out to find them and people were willing to pay others to find them.
How did domestic slaves move plantations?
Through slave buying and selling, and slave auctions.
How did the north really feel about slavery?
They did not want slavery to happen, but wanted to send the slaves back to Africa.
What did the north’s slave views imply about them?
They were both abolitionists and racists, this comes with major hypocrisy.
Why did the northerners not want slaves to go back to Africa?
They did not want them to come north and take over jobs
What movement comes up from this northern slave viewpoint?
Back to Africa Movement
Who led the Back to Africa Movement?
American Colonization Society
Once more blacks are sent back to Africa, what happens?
They set up a colony called Liberia.
What was the capital of Liberia?
Monrovia
Why was Liberia’s capital called Monrovia?
This was set up during Monroe’s Presidency.
What was the problem with the Back to Africa Movement?
They were not born in Africa anymore, they were born and raised in US, they had never been to Africa because their ancestors were part of the slave trade.
How did blacks feel about the Back to Africa Movement? Why?
They were very angry because they lived in America for generations and Africa was a new place for them.
Who was Theodore Dwight Weld and what did he do?
He was an author who wrote a narrative “American Slavery as it is”
Who was Harriet Beecher Stowe and what did she do?
She was an author who wrote “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”
How were Stowe and Weld’s books similar?
They were anti-slavery propaganda, writing about the roughness of slave life.
Who’s book, Stowe’s or Weld’s, took off more in society?
Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”
How were “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and “American Slavery as it is” different?
Weld’s book was based on fact, as he interviewed 1000 witnesses himself in the south, while Stowe’s book was a story, but she did not travel south or see plantation life, and it was based on slave stories she heard.
Who was William Lloyd Garrison and what did he do?
He was a writer who wrote a pro-abolition newspaper.
What was the name of Garrison’s newspaper?
The Liberator
How did the south respond to Garrison’s newspaper?
They hated it and burned every copy coming to them. Some states even banned it.
What did the south try to do to Garrison after his newspaper was released?
They had a bounty to get after him.
Did the south succeed with Garrison’s bounty?
No
Who was Sojourner Truth and what did she do?
She was an escaped slave, who spoke from personal account as a girl slave and told people how bad and violent slavery was.
Who was Frederick Douglass?
An escaped slave from DC/Baltimore area, who was self-educated.
How did Frederick Douglass escape from slavery?
He made arrangements to onto a frigate ship in sailor garb from Baltimore to Philadelphia to New York.
After Douglass escaped, what was placed on him?
The south placed a bounty on him for a while.
What happens to Douglass when he gets to NY?
The abolition society had him tell his story to people for abolitionist propaganda.
Describe Douglass’ orations.
They were so passionate about banning slavery.
Where did Douglass make speeches at?
All over the north.
Could Douglass speak in the south? Why?
No because of the fugitive slave bounty on him. Could not appear to slave catchers.
What was the abolitionists’ goal of having Douglass speak a lot?
The abolitionists were out there and trying to limit slavery and make a cutoff date in the country.
How was Douglass received in the north?
His speeches were a popular draw to people in the north to abolish slavery.
Who won the 1840 election?
Harrison
What happened to Harrison after his election?
He lasted 32 days in office and died form pneumonia in 1941.
Who took over for Harrison when he died?
His VP John Tyler
What was the significance of Harrison’s death and Tyler taking over?
- never had a dead President in office.
- nothing in Constitution that said VP could take over.
What was the Harrison-Tyler change called?
Tyler Precedent
What was the significance of Harrison lasting a month in office?
It was the shortest term ever by a President.
What was the main problem with Tyler taking over without total Constitutional permission?
He is more Democratic, while Harrison was a Whig.
How did people in government and in the country respond to President Tyler?
Nobody really wanted him, did not think he deserved to be President.
How long was Tyler President?
One term
When did Tyler run for re-election? Against whom did he run?
In 1845, he ran against James K. Polk.
Did Tyler have a decent chance to get re-elected?
No
What was Tyler’s big goal to achieve as President?
Getting Texas in the Union
How did Tyler’s Texas goal work out?
He pushed hard to get it, but Congress would not let him.
What was our history before Tyler of trying to bring in Texas?
Texas wanted to come into the US, but Jackson would not bring them in because of slave-no slave issues.
Who was in the 1844 election?
Henry Clay and James K. Polk
What was Polk’s political party?
Democrat
How did Polk feel about tariffs?
He disliked them, as he was a southerner.
How did Tyler respond to be shut down with Texas by Congress?
He decided to use an executive order to say Texas is in.
Who won the election of 1844?
Polk
After Texas gets in from Tyler, what must happen as it becomes part of the country?
- boundary issues
- Mexico was still mad at us
- needed a smooth transition
Why did Tyler want to get Texas in so badly in 1845?
He knew he was only going to be a one-term President and wanted to get credit for it. Polk also said it as an idea as he was elected.
What pieces of land did Polk work with when he was President? How did he do it?
- He fought over Oregon and made sure 54-40 or fight line is secured.
- He made sure Texas was in, no matter how Mexico felt.
- He won the Mexican War
What was Polk’s major goal’s name?
Manifest Destiny
Who created the concept of Manifest Destiny? When did he do it?
John O’Sullivan in the 1830s.
What is the belief in manifest destiny?
It said that Americans are destined to rule the entire coast and continent.
What was Manifest Destiny really a theory of?
white superiority
What was the Arostook War?
A small war with lumberjacks debating the border of Maine.
When we went into war with Mexico, how much did they have?
They had Cancun all the way halfway up to the West Coast through New Mexico, California, Arizona, etc.
How long did the Mexican War last?
Almost 2 years
What current day states declared independence from Mexico before the war?
California and Texas
Why did California and Texas leave Mexico?
There were Americans there and said they were done with control from Mexico
What was the independent name of California?
Bear Flag Republic
What part of land do we get after winning the Mexican war?
We get over half of Mexico’s land in the North.
Before the Mexican War, what did Polk do with the Bear Flag Republic?
He wanted to buy California
Why did Polk buy California from Mexico? Did Mexico agree to do it initially?
Mexico was essentially broke and we wanted more land. They initially agreed to it.
Who did Polk send to buy California?
John Slidell
When Slidell tried to buy California, what did Mexico do?
They said they would never give him California, and Mexico stuffed us.
How did the US feel about Mexico stuffing us with California?
We took offense to it.
How did the US respond to getting stuffed by Mexico with California?
Polk sent General Zachary Taylor march into Texas.
Before Polk calling Taylor to go in, how far had we gone into Texas?
The Nueces River, which was about halfway down Texas. We only stayed above this river.
Where does Polk tell Taylor to go?
To the Rio Grande river, and take everything north of it.
What happens as the Americans are at the Rio Grande?
Taylor claimed and reported that Mexico shot at them when they were there.
What was the significance of the Rio Grande Altercation?
They were the opening shots of the Mexican war.
During the Mexican War, what was Lincoln’s Job?
He was in HOR
What did Lincoln propose in House as Mexican War started?
He proposed the Spot Resolution.
What did the Spot Resolution do?
It made Taylor show us the spot where Mexico fired to make sure they fired first.
Did Taylor show where Mexico fired?
No
What was speculated once Taylor could not explain the spot of the opening fire?
There was much question if we provoked the gun shots.
Who were the other major generals who emerged in the Mexican War?
- Ulysses Grant
- Robert E. Lee
- Jefferson Davis
- William Sherman
What was significant about Grant and others being in the Mexican War?
They would fight again in the Civil War and saw guerrilla warfare experience for the first time in the Mexican war.
What was Taylor’s nickname?
Old Rough and Ready
Why was Taylor called Old Rough and Ready?
His uniform was always in bad condition, never had good appearance, just fought no matter what.
Who was the second major general in the Mexican war?
Gerald Winfield Scott
What was Gerald Winfield Scott’s nickname?
Old Fuss and Feathers
Why was Scott called Old Fuss and Feathers?
He cared about his appearance to his troops, wanted to look like a proper general going into battle.
Who was John Fremont?
He made a name in the Mexican war, but was a major figure in California politically.
Where did the Mexican war start?
Near the Rio Grande
Who came back on the Mexican side to fight?
Santa Ann
How did the Mexican War start?
Between Taylor’s encounter at the Rio Grande and putting Santa Anna on the run, it started.
How did Santa Anna come back to fight again in the Mexican War?
After the Texas war, he took money and raised troops and was ready to fight again.
How did the US chase Santa Anna in the Mexican War?
They chased them through Northern Mexico.
