Unit 4 - Chapters 13 - 15 - Results/Contributions

Question 1

Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836)

Answer 1

Results / Contribution

• The battle was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution where Texan defenders were outnumbered and overwhelmed by the Mexican Army, resulting in their defeat.
• However, the battle served as a rallying cry (“Remember the Alamo!”) for the Texan army in subsequent battles, symbolizing their struggle for independence.

Question 2

Battle of San Jacinto (April 21, 1836)

Answer 2

Results / Contribution

• The Texan army, led by General Sam Houston, defeated the Mexican forces, leading to Texas’s independence from Mexico.
• The victory ensured the success of Texan independence and it later led to the annexation of Texas by the United States.

Question 3

The Trent Affair (November 1861)

Answer 3

Results / Contribution

• The Trent Affair was a diplomatic incident during the American Civil War that threatened to bring the British into the conflict on the side of the Confederacy. This occurred when Union naval forces detained two Confederate envoys aboard the British mail ship Trent.
• The incident resulted in increased tension between the United States and Great Britain. Eventually, the U.S. released the diplomats to defuse the crisis and maintain British neutrality in the Civil War.

Question 4

Commodore Matthew Perry (1794 – 1858)

Answer 4

Results / Contribution

• Perry led an expedition to Japan in 1853-1854 that resulted in the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854. This marked the end of Japan’s 200-year policy of isolation by opening two ports to American ships for supplies.
• This expedition played a significant role in the Westernization of Japan, leading the country to modernize and engage in international trade and politics.

Question 5

Andersonville, Georgia Prison (February 1864 – April 1865)

Answer 5

Results / Contribution

• Andersonville Prison, officially known as Camp Sumter, was one of the largest Confederate military prisons during the Civil War. The prison was notorious for its extremely harsh conditions and high death rate.
• The prison’s commander, Captain Henry Wirz, was tried and executed after the war for war crimes. It was one of the few times someone was held accountable for the war crimes committed during the Civil War.
• The Andersonville site serves as a reminder of the horrors of Civil War prisons and is now a National Historic Site.

Question 6

Clara Barton (1821-1912)

Answer 6

Results / Contribution

• Barton was a nurse during the Civil War and is best known for founding the American Red Cross. She spent much of the war attending to the wounded, providing supplies, and offering support.
• After the war, she campaigned for the rights of veterans and eventually founded the American Red Cross in 1881, an organization dedicated to providing emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States.

Question 7

John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry (October 16, 1859)

Answer 7

Results / Contribution

• John Brown led a small group in an attack on the federal armory at Harper’s Ferry, intending to start a slave revolt. He was captured, tried for treason against the Commonwealth of Virginia, and executed.
• The raid stirred and polarized public opinion, increasing tensions between the North and South. It contributed to the onset of the Civil War as it revealed deep divisions over the issue of slavery in the United States.

Question 8

Battle of Antietam (September 17, 1862)

Answer 8

Results / Contribution

• Known as the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, the Battle of Antietam near Sharpsburg, Maryland, resulted in significant casualties for both the Union and Confederate armies, with no decisive victory.
• However, the Confederate retreat gave President Abraham Lincoln the “victory” he desired before announcing the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared slaves in Confederate-held territory to be free (but did not affect those in Union-held territory).

Question 9

James Pike

Answer 9

A journalist and author who wrote a scathing critique of the Reconstruction era South in his book, “The Prostrate State”. While his work was deeply biased, it contributed to the growing opposition to Reconstruction policies and the eventual end of Reconstruction. However, it’s important to note that his writings and call for the restoration of “white rule” were rooted in the prevalent racist beliefs of his era.