Topic 1 - Americas Expansion

Question 1

When did USA fight for Independence from Great Britain?

Answer 1

Between 1776 and 1783

Question 2

Who could vote in the start of the USA?

Answer 2

Only white male, property-owning (usually land owning) Americans could vote.

Question 3

Did the USA have a King or Queen?

Answer 3

The USA was a republic and followed a set of rules set down in a document called the Constitution.

Question 4

What was the USA made up of?

Answer 4

The USA was made up of states and each state had its own government that was led by a state governor.

Question 5

What could the state government do?

Answer 5

The state government could make up its own laws but couldn’t go against the rules set down in the Constitution.

Question 6

When could the constitution be changed?

Answer 6

The Constitution could be amended if Congress and enough states agreed.

Question 7

What did each state do?

Answer 7

Each state sent representatives to Congress where they would help to make laws for the whole country.
Each state helped to elect a president every four years. The president could suggest laws but the Congress had to agree with them.

Question 8

What are territories?

Answer 8

Territoires are areas with too few people to have their own state government and they were controlled directly by Congress and run by a territorial governor.

Question 9

What were the original 13 states?

Answer 9

Connecticut, Delaware Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia.

Question 10

How many states did America have in 1790?

Answer 10

The USA only had 13 states. The rest of the land was lived in by Native Americans, or claimed by European powers.

Question 11

Between what years did the number of states double?

Answer 11

1790 - 1838

Question 12

Why did the USA grow so rapidly?

Answer 12

• George Washington, fought wars with Native Americans in the Northwest and took their lands.
• Slaveholders wanted to expand their plantation businesses, especially in the South.
• Early Presidents opened the Northwest and Southwest territories for settlement.
• Us gouvernement arranged the Louisiana Purchase (530 million acres of land bought from France) in 1803.

Question 13

What caused the conflict between White Americans and Native Americans?

Answer 13

All lands taken over by US government were already occupied by Native Americans so thousands of Plains Indians were forced to move further west to escape the growing USA.

Question 14

What caused the conflict between White Northerners and White Southerners?

Answer 14

Northern business owners thought that slavery was unfair competition for their factories and they also saw slavery as old fashioned. Many Southerners thought Northern business owners were greedy and morally corrupt and they saw a power North as a threat for their way of life.

Question 15

What caused conflict between abolitionists and other White Americans?

Answer 15

A small number of white and free-black Americans called abolitionists thought that the growth of slavery was immoral. They set about trying to stop it altogether.

Question 16

What was the impact of cotton and slavery on the economy in the South?

Answer 16

• By 1820, cotton made up 42% of all US exports.
• Southern traders shipped cotton to overseas markets in Europe.
• Between 1815 and 1819, around 100,000 enslaved people were sold in the South.

Question 17

What was the impact of cotton and slavery on the economy in the North?

Answer 17

• Northern factory owners bought Southern cotton and turned it into cloth which was sold across America.
• Northern business people invested in the sale of enslaved people.

Question 18

Why did slavery expand?

Answer 18

• Slave holders in the Old South decided to open new plantations in the Deep South.
• Children of enslaved people became enslaved themselves.
• New cotton-growing lands became available in the South after 1790.
• Banks loaned money to slave holders if they paid back with interest after the harvest.
• Many presidents were from the South.
• In 1793 Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin which made the process 50 times faster.
• By 1838 USA was producing 200,000 tons of cotton a year.

Question 19

Why did did the slavery expansion cause tension?

Answer 19

• Enslaved people couldn’t vote and White Americans had all the power.
• People in the North were worried that slave holders were becoming to powerful.
• Abolitionists thought slavery was morally wrong and spoke out against it.
• People were worried that if a new slave state was added to the USA, it would upset the balance of power.
• in the end the government created the Missouri Compromise of 1820 to solve the issue.

Question 20

What was the Missouri Compromise of 1820?

Answer 20

• It drew a virtual line across the middle of the USA.
• Any states created in the West which fell below the line could be slave states and any above had to be free (non-slave) states.
• All territories in the West would be free until they joined as states.
• Set down a pattern of adding states to USA in pairs: one slave and one non-slave, to keep the balance of power in government.

Question 21

What were the 5 civilised tribes?

Answer 21

-They were 5 tribes that tried to adapt and live alongside White Americans.
- Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole.

Question 22

How did the Cherokee adapt and live alongside White Americans?

Answer 22

• They tried to use the same political structures as the USA.
• They set up a capital city, used money for the economy and even created a written language.
• By the 1820s they has their own churches, schools and even a newspaper.

Question 23

Why did White settlers and cotton planters demand the remove of Native Americans from the East?

Answer 23

• White settlers started coming onto the land of the 5 civilised tribe. They wanted to farm the land and create plantations for enslaved people.
• In 1830 slave holder Andrew Jackson became president.
• Jackson persuaded congress to pass the Indian removal Act of 1830 (promised NAI money if they agreed to relocate).
• Jackson set aside permanent Indian territory west of the Mississippi River.
• Jackson believed that Native Americans needed to be treated like children.

Question 24

How did the Choctaw and Chickasaw respond to the Removal Act?

Answer 24

They quickly signed the treaties and began moving west. Despite their cooperation thousands died due to harsh winters, lack of govern funds and disease.

Question 25

How did the Cherokee respond to the Removal Act?

Answer 25

They took their case to the Supreme Court to complain at the actions of the state of Georgia in trying to remove them. In 1832, the Supreme Court ruled that the Cherokee should stay.

Question 26

How did the Creek respond to the Removal Act?

Answer 26

They refused to sign the treaty.

Question 27

How did the government try and remove the Seminole?

Answer 27

• In a 1830 a small group of Seminole signed a treaty and moved to Indian territory.
• Not all Seminole agreed to go so the government waged War against them (1835-42).
• The USA lost the War but killed Osceola (the Seminole chief) during pease talks.
• After his death the remaining Seminole were forced to move West.

Question 28

How did the government try and remove the Creek?

Answer 28

• The Creek we’re unwilling to move and so signed a treaty to give up some land in 1832.
• Some white settlers and planters moved on to land which hadn’t been sold.
• By 1835, the Creek began attacking settlers and stealing their livestock.
• By 1836-37 the army forcibly removed 15,000 Creeks to Indian territory.

Question 29

How did the government try and remove the Cherokee?

Answer 29

• Most of the Cherokee refused to move after the Supreme Court judgement in 1832.
• By 1838 only 2000 Cherokee had moved West and the army was sent to remove the 16,000 Cherokee who has stayed in Georgia.
• The Cherokee were forced into concentration camps until the winter.
• The Cherokee were force-marched to Indian territory on ‘the trail of tears’ where 4000 NAI died.