The Making of America

Question 1

Give some factors in why slavery caused tension in the south

Answer 1

Economic - Most of it’s wealth came from growing crops such as tobacco, rice and cotton

Religious - Slavery was dividing the christian faith as the south preached that God had made black people to serve white people

Political - A compromise was made that slaves were now counted as 3/5 of a person

Question 2

Who invented the cotton gin

Answer 2

Eli Whitney in 1793

Question 3

How did the cotton gin affect the plantations

Answer 3

Sped up the cleaning of cotton by 50 times

Banks speedup the expansion of cotton fields and slavery by loaning thousands of dollars

Owners developed the ‘pushing system’ to increase productivity

Question 4

When was the Louisiana Purchase

Answer 4

1803

230 million acres

Question 5

What was the cotton kingdom

Answer 5

Deep south states became known as the ‘cotton kingdom’

New orleans tripled in size from 1803-1819 becoming th 4th biggest city in the USA

Question 6

From 1820 cotton made up ..% of all USA exports

Answer 6

40

Question 7

What is the Missouri compromise

Answer 7

1819 - a battle began over wether states from the territories of the Louisiana purchase would allow slavery

Both sides worried that if there were more slave states than free, they would be able to control the government through it’s increased votes

In 1820 the Missouri compromise was created to solve the issue

Question 8

Who is Andrew Jackson

Answer 8

President who openly supported slavery, used his power as president to open the cotton business up even more

Strengthened slavery by taking lands away from the indigenous American tribes

Question 9

What 3 points could you make on why slavery expanded in the USA

Answer 9

1) Cotton gin (Eli Whitney)
Pushing system is 6x faster
More slaves needed to pick as new technology

2) USA purchased Louisiana clone 1803
Boosted slavery along south
`405 of exports
Cotton kingdom

3) Missouri compromise
1819 battle
More slaves states added

Question 10

What three points could you make on expansion, expulsion and exploitation

Answer 10

1) Expansion
Louisiana purchase 230 million acres
Usa transformed form colonies to a country
NW and SW territories divided into neat grids of 6 mile squares each divided into 36 sections( 640 acres each)

2) Expulsion
Indian removal act 1830
Creeks - 7,000 us troops removed 18,000 into concentration camps

3) Exploitation
Slavery
Cotton kingdom
Pushing system

Question 11

When was the Indian removal Act

Answer 11

1830

Question 12

Give some pull factors that attracted settlement to the west

Answer 12

• Word spread that the west had a good climate for farming
• 1841 ‘Pre-emption act’. In Oregon, farmers would be given first opportunity to buy surrounding land, deterred land speculators.
• 1845 ‘Manifest of Destiny’. Some believed that it was God’s mission to convert the Indians of the west to christianity
• By 1840, mountain men had mapped routes and trails to do the 2000 mile journey to the west, people felt more secure abut going

Question 13

Why were the Mormons unpopular

Answer 13

People disagreed with the vision of land ownership

Thought Joseph Smith acted like a powerful king

Unpopular due to opposition to slavery by slave holders

Agressive in trying to convert people

Question 14

Why was the mormon settlement of Utah a success

Answer 14

People saw Young as the closest link to God so it was easy for orders to be followed

Carefully planed like how church owned all the land as quantity was based on each person’s need

Question 15

How did Californian gold rush occur

Answer 15

1848- James Marshall found a goldmine in the mountains.
People made their way from the port town of San Fransisco
In december, the president confirm that there was gold which caused people form afar to rush in

Question 16

How did the Californian gold rush affect the economy

Answer 16

San Fransisco expanded rapidly with it’s own police force

Merchant were able to sell their basic supplies (spades) for 5 times the price

Question 17

How did the Californian gold rush affect the individual miners

Answer 17

Gold panning was impossible from 1852, me were instead employed by big companies to dig tonnes of quartz crystals. Many returned home rejected

Question 18

How did the Californian gold rush affect the land and environment

Answer 18

By 1859, the surface gold was nearly all gone

Mining companies realised that it was quicker and cheaper to blast hills with high powered water jets destroying whole hillsides.

Chemicals used to extract gold killed fish and wildlife, flooding became a major problem with some towns being completely washed away

Question 19

How did the tensions between miners and Native Americans develop form the Californian gold rush

Answer 19

1850 - California passed an act for government and protection of Indians, any Indian who could not prove he had a job could be arrested and sold to white settles as labour.

Native americans believed that hills had their own souls, which were now being destroyed

Question 20

Give 3 economic factors caused by slavery which caused the civil war

Answer 20

Against - The population of the North was expanding rapidly and this created Southern paranoia that they would loose all their power in congress

Against - Harriet Stowe’s novel ‘Uncle tom’s Cabin’ sold 300,000 copies in first 3 months, Lincoln met her and said ‘so this is the little lady who started the big war’.

Against - 1854 - Kansas Nebraska act, pro slavery members of congress said that two states could vote if they wanted slavery (reversal of Missouri compromise) , Anti + pro slaver campaigners poured into the territories leading to violent clashes between the two sides.

Agree - Economies of the North and South relied heavily on slavery and encouraged slave holders that it’s natural. Northern factory owners thought it was unfair competition, since they had to pay their workers.

Question 21

Give some aspects of improvement for black men from the civil war

Answer 21

Second Confederate Act - Some generals took initiative to allow black people in army. New act meant that any piece of land taken by the US army meant all slaves were free in that area (Sea Islands)

1863 - Lincoln announced that if the Union won the war, all slaves would be free.

More white people away fighting in the war, so more jobs available in North and those black men were the key victors of the Union with many seeing them as ‘real people’.

Question 22

….., first black regiment in South Carolina, many followed. ….of Northern black men joined the army

Answer 22

1862

70%

Question 23

In 1865, how many freed slaves were taught how to read and write

Answer 23

200,000

Question 24

When was the civil war

Answer 24

1861 - 1865

Question 25

Give one evidence of progress in 1865

Answer 25

Lincoln granted the freedom of all slaves, when congress passed the 13th amendment

Question 26

Give some evidence if betrayal in 1865 (3)

Answer 26

December - Jackson announced that the reconstruction phase was over, which shocked most of the Republican party.

The state government of the south were back in the hands of plantation owners, some without even swearing an oath to the Union.

Southern states introduced ‘black codes’ which limited the rights of black workers, banning black + white marriages,, and not allowing them to hold weapons.

Question 27

Give some evidence of progress from 1866-1870

Answer 27

14th amendment said that all persons born in the US were to be seen as citizens regardless of their race.

1867 - black people in Washington were given the vote for the first time.

1867 - All those who fought against the union in the civil war were banned from voting, also required army officers to go to South to protect the rights of black people.

Question 28

What is the Pacific railroad Act

Answer 28

July, 1862 - Pacific Railroad Act, meant that the Us government would provide money for any company willing to link the East and West.

Government also offered free land either side of the track, which could be sold to settlers.

Question 29

Companies received…….acres of land for every…….they built

Answer 29

6400

Mile

Question 30

How much money was the government offering to encourage companies

Answer 30

$50 million

Question 31

How much did the government pay to survey routes

Answer 31

$150,000

Question 32

Give 3 positive impacts of the railroad

Answer 32

Thousands of workers received jobs
Towns emerged on the plains (good for cattle trade)
Network of lines spread across to the West

Question 33

Give some negative impacts the railroad had

Answer 33

Central Pacific Company employed 12,000 Chinese migrants to do the dangerous work, 150 died

Sanitation was poor and disease was a danger as they lived in temporary tents

Railroads divided the plains where the Indians hunted Buffalo

Americans came to dominate the plains

Question 34

What is Cattle driving

Answer 34

By the 1850’s when beef became a popular food in America, cattle men rounded up large herds and drove them North to market, sometimes as far as California and Chicago

Question 35

What were cattle towns

Answer 35

Became known as ideal places to bring cattle for transport to the cities of the North and East. First towns were often violent but in the 1870’s gun laws were introduced and sherifs were employed to keep everything in order. Most cowboys were young men on low wages.

Question 36

What are cow ranches

Answer 36

Cattle ranches on the plains - cowboys realised it was more efficient to set up ranches on the plains themselves. Led to a security of grass and water for buffalo herds

Question 37

What was the Homestead Act

Answer 37

1862 - Lincoln passed it which promised 160 acres of land for a small fee to families who farmed it for 5 years.

Question 38

How many homesteaders moved from Kansas alone in the 1870’s

Answer 38

Over half a million

Question 39

How did homesteaders solve the isolation problem

Answer 39

Gradually this started to decrease as more homesteaders moved on to the plains, churches and schools were built.

Question 40

What was Red Clouds War

Answer 40

1865 - 1868, Discovery of gold lead to conflict between the Lakota Sioux and the Us army. One gold miner found a trail to the gold mine, but it went through hunting ground son Lakota Sioux, broke Fort Laminae Treaty.

Red cloud and other Lakota leaders launched attacks on army forts, Captain Fetterman was lured out of his fort and entire troop of 80 men was killed

Government amsted defeat and signed a treaty that promised that Us troops and settlers would not enter their lands again.

Question 41

What was Sand Creek Massacre

Answer 41

1864, Gold was discovered on Pikes peak and Americans poured into the surrounding lands, Us government forced Indians into a small reservation.
The Indians failed to produce enough food on the area and many warriors were forced to hint outside the reservation.

John Chivilngton led attack, 105 Cheyenne children and women dead warriors dead

Question 42

What was the Little Crow War

Answer 42

1861, Santee Sioux were forced to give up 28 million acres of land in exchange for a small reservation in Southern Minnesota - a lack of meat and corn meant they faced starvation “if they are hungry, let them eat grass or their own dung”.

Sioux attacked surrounding land killing 500 white settlers, US army surrounded them and executed Little Crow.

Question 43

Give some factors that caused the Native American culture to be destroyed

Answer 43

Lots of plains Indian children sent away to be educated in English speaking schools, so looks of their culture and their indigenous language started to fade

Military power - Most indians were being rounded up into reservations. Badly run with little food + healthcare, made sure that the Indians would never gain be able to win a victory on the Us army

Wealth + Culture - Buffalo hunters killed 3 million buffalo , with 16 million kilos used as fertiliser. The destruction of buffalo was the primary cause of the warfare between Indians and Us troops.

Homesteaders on the plains fences off their water, stopped Indians from roaming freely on their horses

Big factories paid people to pick wild foods such as berries, increased the competition for food

The Us started splitting the tribes apart, stopped tribes reuniting as they had done in previous wars. Also diluted their identities.

Indian children were required to change their names and convert to christianity, deprived them of being able to pass their culture and heritage through generations.

Question 44

When was the ‘Friends of the Indians’ set up

Answer 44

1883, boarding school americanised native american children and erased their culture