STUDY
GUIDE
U.S. History
1, HIST 1301
FALL 2015
Dr. T.
Thomas, Professor, History
Austin
Community College
This is
copyrighted material. Do not post this material on any website
(such as Quizlet, Study Blue, Facebook, etc.).
History is not
about “memorizing” data, facts, names, and dates. History is about knowing and understanding
the past and its impact on the present: what happened, when and where, who was involved, what motivated the participants, why events happened, and the consequences of these
events/actions. So in order to be
successful in this course, you must know the “who, what, when, where and why”
but also the “connections” between people and events, the “motivations”, and
the “consequences (short-term and long-term)” of the events of the past.
Memorizing can be
helpful, but it will not give you a complete understanding of history.
The questions in
this Study Guide are designed to help you achieve a greater understanding of the past. Some of the questions are easy to answer;
some require you to analyze what you have read and arrive at the best
answer. Some answers are short; some are
long.
The study
questions in this guide are provided to help you achieve success on the exams
and in this course and are not to be
turned in to Dr. Thomas.
With this in
mind, here are some other suggestions for achieving success in this course:
v Read the chapter first, to get a good overview of what the chapter is about.
Pay attention to the chapter subheadings (subtitles). They are often clues to the important themes of a chapter. Similarly, pay attention to the opening
paragraph of each section - here you will usually find the thesis, or "main point" of a section.
v Then read the chapter again, answering the
study questions.
v Write short
answers to each of these study questions. Some students use index cards,
writing one question/answer on each card. Don't just highlight the answers in
your textbook - write them.
v Read with a dictionary. Look up any word whose meaning you do not
know.
v Approach this course as you would a job.
Set aside a specific time each day - or every other day - to work on reading
and study questions. This is your work
schedule; honor it as you would your job schedule.
v Work on the reading and study questions
gradually, completing small amounts of work each day (or every other day). Research shows that people retain information
better if they work for no more than 2 hours at one task. For example, on Mondays from 2-4 pm, read
half the chapter. On Tuesday, read the
other half. On Wednesday, write out the
first 20 study questions; on Thursday, the next 20, and so on. Don't try to do
all the reading and the study questions the night before the exam. "Cramming" is not an effective, nor
is it a successful study method.
v If possible, form a study group with 2 or 3
other students. Work together to find
answers, quiz each other, and offer general support. Study groups are a proven, effective means of
studying.
v If you have any trouble finding answers, or
if you are unsure of your answers, contact Dr. Thomas for clarification.
Exam Strategy
Suggestion:
The first exam
(Map Test) is pretty easy - so don't spend more than a couple of hours studying
for it. However, the other four exams are much harder. Spend most of
your time on the other four exams!
UNIT 1
Map Test
Because the
history of the United States was shaped and influenced to a large degree by the
geography of the continent, it is important for you to know some basic North
American geography.
Your first exam
will be a 30-question “Map” test.
When you take
your exam, you will be given a map of the
You should be
able to locate all of these on a map:
Each of the 50 states of the United States
Canada All
5 Great Lakes Chicago, IL
Mexico Missouri
River Richmond, VA
Atlantic Ocean Red River Charleston,
SC
Pacific Ocean Columbia River Boston,
MA
Gulf of Mexico Chesapeake Bay San
Francisco, CA
Great Plains Hudson River Austin,
TX
Appalachian Mountains Ohio River Washington,
D.C.
Rocky Mountains Mississippi River New
York City
Philadelphia,
PA
Online Map Test
Practice Quiz of States in the U.S.
(This site also contains other world geography quizzes that you might
find fun and interesting.) |
This site can
test ONLY your knowledge of the 50 states of the United States. It does not
test you on the other geographic
features listed above. So, in addition to the states, make sure you also know
the rivers, lakes, oceans, mountain ranges, and cities listed above.
UNIT 2
(Chapters 1 - 5)
Chapter 1 – Ancient America: Before 1492
1. Locate the origin of the
Paleo-Indians, the first “Americans”.
2. Explain how environmental change and
the extinction of large game (i.e., mammoths) contributed
to the development of greater diversity among Native American cultures.
3. Describe
how Native American cultures differed from European cultures in the late 15th
century.
4. Identify
and locate the most powerful Native American culture in the New World and
describe how they rose to power.
5. Analyze
the role of “tribute” in the advances made by the Mexica society.
6. Identify the major weakness
of Mexican society that the Spanish conquerors eventually discovered.
Chapter 2 – Europeans Encounter the New World, 1492-1600
7. Identify
the demographic catastrophe and technological devices in Europe in the 14th
and 15th centuries that encouraged European voyages of exploration.
8. Explain
what motivated the Portuguese to explore foreign lands in the early 15th
century.
9. Define “caravel” and discuss its
importance in Portuguese exploration.
10. Name
the first Europeans to trade on the West African coast and the objects of their
journeys.
11. Name the countries of the “East Indies”.
12. List the consequences of the Portuguese
exploration of Africa during the 15th century`.
13. Explain how the competing Spanish and
Portuguese claims to the New World were settled.
14. Explain how “America”
got its name.
15. Discuss the significance of Magellan’s
voyage of 1519.
16. Define and give
examples of the “Columbian exchange”.
17. Analyze
how Hernán Cortés and his small army were able to
successfully conquer the vast and powerful Mexica empire.
18. Locate the two
geographic regions of greatest wealth in Spanish America.
19. Name the great
Portuguese colony in the Western Hemisphere.
20. Define “royal fifth”.
21. Define “encomienda”,
identify the goal of encomienda, and explain how it worked.
22. Identify the single most
important economic activity in Spanish America during the 16th
century.
23. Describe
the social class hierarchy that developed in New Spain.
24. Enumerate the
demographic impact of European diseases on Native Americans by 1570.
25. Explain why Martin
Luther’s ideas concerning religion were considered “dangerous” by church
officials and other defenders of the Catholic Church.
26. Discuss
how riches from New Spain resulted in short-term gains but also long-term
problems for Spain.
Chapter 3 – The Southern
Colonies in the 17th Century, 1601-1700
27. Describe the benefits that the Virginia
Company and its supporters hoped to derive from
its colony in North America.
28. Name the leader of the Algonquian peoples
who inhabited coastal Virginia in 1607.
29. Explain how English settlers were able to
survive their first year at Jamestown.
30. Discuss
the circumstances that resulted in Jamestown becoming a royal colony in 1624.
31. Identify
the oldest elected representative legislative assembly in the English colonies.
32. Identify
the main source of wealth of the Virginia colony in the 17th
century.
33. Locate
the geographic areas known as the “Chesapeake region”.
34. Identify
and describe the predominant labor system used in the Chesapeake colonies in
the 17th century.
35. Show how Chesapeake
planters profited from the indenture system.
36. Identify the two main
social classes that had developed in Chesapeake society by the 1670s - and the
relationship between the two.
37. Discuss
the King’s response to Bacon’s Rebellion and how this impacted the different
social classes of the Chesapeake region.
38. Explain
how Carolina was a “frontier outpost” of the British West Indies in the 17th
century.
39. Compare how planters
viewed the advantages of slaves over free laborers in the 17th
century Chesapeake.
40. Discuss how slavery
indirectly contributed to reducing class tensions between rich white plantation
owners and poor white farmers.
Chapter 4 – The Northern
Colonies in the 17th Century, 1601-1700
41. Define
16th century “Puritanism” and its goals and principles.
42. Explain
how Puritans in Massachusetts Bay Colony hoped to achieve their goal of
becoming “a city upon a hill”.
43. Compare
the demographic characteristics (race, class, gender, occupation, etc.) of
Massachusetts settlers with those of Chesapeake settlers.
44. Discuss how Puritans in
New England would ensure that only “godly” men would decide government
policies.
45. Name the most prominent
“dissenters” in Puritan New England and describe what happened to them.
46.
Describe the Quakers’ attitudes toward gender, race, and class.
47. Locate the “middle colonies” founded in
the late 17th century.
48. List
the goals of English economic policies towards the colonies in the mid-17th
century, and how the Navigation Acts supported those goals.
49. Identify the person
called “King Philip” by the New England colonists and explain the consequences
of King Philip’s War.
50. Discuss how the Glorious
Revolution affected the Massachusetts colony.
Chapter 5 – Colonial America in
the 18th Century, 1701-1770
51. Enumerate
the population growth of the colonies in the 18th century and
discuss its significance.
52. Explain
the significance of increased immigration to the colonies in the 18th
century.
53. Explain
how “partible inheritance” resulted in the growth and expansion of New England
settlements.
54. Locate
the geographic origins of the immigrants known as “Pennsylvania-Dutch” and “Scots-Irish”
and explain why they often felt compelled to leave their homelands.
55. Identify
the demographic and economic differences between the “upper South” and the
“Lower South” in the 18th century.
56. Define and describe the
“Middle Passage”.
57. Identify colonial
America’s only slave rebellion and evaluate its consequences.
58. Explain how slave labor
resulted in making the southern colonies the wealthiest region in North
America.
59. Define the “Great
Awakening” and what its leaders sought to achieve.
60. Describe the
relationship between colonial governors and colonial assemblies and how this
shaped colonists’ expectations concerning power.
UNIT 3
(Chapters 6 - 9)
Chapter 6 – The British Empire
and the Colonial Crisis, 1754-1775
1. Identify
the participants, and discuss the issues that resulted in a French-British
conflict in the Ohio Country beginning in the 1740s.
2. Discuss
the goal(s) of the Albany Conference.
3. Explain how the 1763
Treaty of Paris changed the political map of North America.
4. Explain how the
Proclamation of 1763 provoked American anger.
5. Name the act of
Parliament that triggered widespread, open colonial resistance in 1765.
6. Explain
what colonists meant when they distinguished between Parliament’s authority to
levy “internal” and “external” taxes.
7. Define
the colonists’ concepts of “liberty” and “slavery”.
8. Name
the political principle upheld by the Declaratory Act.
9. Define “nonconsumption agreements” and what they hoped to
accomplish.
10. Compare the actions of
the “Sons of Liberty” with the “Daughters of Liberty” during protests against
British policies.
11. Define “committee of
correspondence” and explain the significance of these committees.
12. Describe Boston colonists’
reaction to the Tea Act and Britain’s response.
13. Identify the goals and
outcomes of the First Continental Congress of 1774.
14. Show where the first
shots of the American Revolutionary War were fired.
15. Name the young domestic
slave from Boston who wrote so eloquently of the hypocrisy of Africans enslaved
in a liberty-loving America.
Chapter 7 – The War for
America, 1775-1783
16. Identify
the objectives and the results of the Second Continental Congress.
17. Name
the delegate to the Second Continental Congress who was feared to be a British
spy.
18. Explain
why George Washington was chosen to command the Continental Army.
19. Describe the obstacles
faced by George Washington as he took charge of the Continental Army.
20. Discuss
Tom Paine’s role in American independence.
21. Explain
why printed copies of the Declaration of Independence did not include the
signers’ names.
22. Define
“militia” and discuss the traditional roles played by militias in the colonies.
23. Enumerate the number of
African American men who served the American cause in the Revolutionary War.
24. Discuss the American and
the British strategies for winning the War.
25. Analyze
how local “committees” were used to comply allegiance to
the American cause.
26. Define and enumerate
“loyalists”.
27. Explain why Joseph Brant
and other Native American leaders pledged Indian support for the British.
28. Explain what some
loyalists meant when they feared the “democratic tyranny” of an American
victory.
29. Summarize the financial
instabilities of the colonies during the war years.
30. Explain the significance
of the battle at Saratoga in 1777 as a turning point in the Revolutionary War.
31. Name the American traitor whose actions
ultimately contributed to reviving Americans’ commitment
to victory.
32. Discuss the impact on Native Americans of
the Treaty of Paris.
Chapter 8 – Building a
Republic, 1775-1789
33. Explain how the Articles
of Confederation provided for a central (“confederation”) government with very
little authority.
34. Discuss what early
Americans meant by “republicanism” as they wrote new state constitutions.
35. Define “bill of rights”
and identify some of the specific rights guaranteed in the state constitutions.
36. Define “suffrage,” and
“disfranchise”.
37. Compare the actions
taken towards slavery in the north and in the south during the 1770s and 1780s.
38. Identify the main
problems faced by the Confederation government in the early 1780s.
39. Explain how the Northwest Ordinance
provided for the orderly expansion of the U.S.
40. Explain the impact of
Shay’s Rebellion on the Confederation government (the government that operated
under the Articles of Confederation).
41. Discuss the differences
between the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan.
42. Describe how the U.S.
Constitution addressed slavery.
43. Name the groups who
supported, and those who opposed ratification of the Constitution.
44. Identify the most
widespread objection to the Constitution by those who opposed its ratification.
45. Explain how New Yorkers
were urged to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
Chapter 9 – The New Nation
Takes Form, 1789-1800
46. List
the most significant issues and ideologies that prompted intense and passionate
disagreements among political leaders of the 1790s.
47. Name
the first departments of government created by Congress, and the men appointed
to lead them.
48. Explain
why formal education for women became a priority in the new republic.
49. Discuss
the outcome of the First Congress’ debate on slavery in 1790.
50. List
the three areas in which the U.S. experienced significant growth in the 1790s.
51. Identify
the topics of the three major reports Hamilton presented to Congress.
52. Explain how Hamilton’s
plan for debt “assumption” increased the power of the federal government over
the states.
53. Discuss the compromise
between Hamilton and Madison that resolved conflict over the “assumption” plan.
54. Discuss the opposition
to a national bank, as offered by Madison and Jefferson.
55. Define
“tariff” and explain why Hamilton favored tariffs.
56. Show how the Whiskey
Rebellion tested the federal government’s power to maintain civil order.
57. List the terms of the
Treaty of New York.
58. Show the results of the U.S. attempts to resolve several long-standing
problems with England in the 1790s.
59. Discuss the positions of
the two distinct political factions that developed in response to economic and
foreign policy debates in the 1790s.
60. Analyze the purposes
(stated and intended) of the Alien and Sedition Acts.
UNIT 4 (Chapters 10 - 13)
Chapter 10 – Republicans in Power, 1800-1824
1. Discuss
Jefferson’s interpretation of “Republican simplicity”.
2. Describe
how Jefferson limited the size and power of the federal government.
3. Discuss
the historical significance of the Supreme Court case Marbury v. Madison.
4. Locate the geographic
area in which the Barbary Wars were fought.
5. Discuss
Jefferson’s urgency in acquiring the Louisiana Territory.
6. Name the explorers who
led the “secret” scientific and military expedition into the Louisiana
Territory.
7. Discuss the goals and the consequences
of the Embargo Act of 1807.
8. Describe Dolley Madison’s role in ensuring her husband’s successful
governance.
9. Name the leaders who
worked to unify and strengthen Native American rights on the northwestern
frontier.
10. Identify
the leaders and the goals of the War Hawks.
11. Discuss
the diplomatic and political results of the War of 1812.
12. Define
“feme covert” and discuss how it applied to
married women in the U.S.
13. Explain
why the south insisted on Missouri as a slave state.
14. Discuss the principles
of the Monroe Doctrine.
15. Discuss the results of the Election of
1824.
Chapter 11 – The Expanding Republic, 1815-1840
16. Identify the components
that revolutionized the economy and facilitated the development of a “market
revolution” after the War of 1812.
17. Identify the political
and cultural advantages of improved transportation.
18. Discuss the
significance of the Erie Canal.
19. Explain why an
all-female factory labor force was considered ideal.
20. Discuss the role of
banks in the growth of the market economy.
21. Discuss the role of
commercial law in the growth of the market economy
22. Describe
the new campaign styles and activities that appeared in the 1828 presidential
election.
23. Name
the main political parties in the U.S. in the mid-1830s.
24. Define
the “spoils system” first employed by Andrew Jackson.
25. Describe
Andrew Jackson’s Indian policy and its consequences for the Cherokee in
Georgia.
26. Identify the issue(s),
both stated and implied, at the heart of the Nullification Crisis.
27. Show how Andrew Jackson
destroyed the Bank of the U.S.
28. Describe
the changes in education motivated by the “market economy”.
29. Explain how the Second
Great Awakening sought to improve society, especially in towns.
30. Describe
the philosophy and goals of the Female Moral Reform Society.
31. Name
the abolitionist newspaper and the prominent Bostonian who published it.
32. Discuss
the opposition that the Grimké sisters faced on their
anti-slavery speaking tour.
33. Identify the most
prominent issue of the Van Buren presidency.
34. Name the new political
party that characterized and helped guide the activist moralism and state-sponsored
entrepreneurship of the 1830s.
Chapter 12 - The New West
& the Free North, 1840-1860
35. Name
the first American president born west of the Appalachian Mountains.
36. Discuss
the fundamental changes in American society that fueled an “industrial
evolution” between 1840 and 1860.
37. Identify
the factors that boosted agricultural production in the U.S.
38. Define
the “American system” of manufacturing and its significance.
39. Show
how the federal government contributed to the growth of railroads.
40. Discuss the
characteristics of the “free-labor” philosophy and its significance for the
average American.
41. Name the largest
immigrant group in antebellum America and why many came to America in the
1840s.
42. Explain
the philosophy of “manifest destiny”.
43. Describe the nature of
the conflicts between Anglo-Americans in Texas and the Mexican government that
prompted the Americans to establish the Lone Star Republic.
44. Identify the issue at
the center of the 1844 election and which set the stage for war between the
U.S. and Mexico.
45. Show how “manifest
destiny” impacted Chinese immigrants in California.
46. Explain
the purpose of the convention at Seneca Falls in 1848 and evaluate its success.
47. Describe
the condition of free African Americans in the North.
48. Define “underground railroad”.
Chapter
13 – The Slave South, 1820-1860
49. Locate and define the
Mason-Dixon Line.
50. Explain how the Lower
South had become the “cotton kingdom” by 1860.
51. Define “miscegenation”.
52. Show how white
southerners worked to defend and strengthen slavery.
53. Discuss how slavery
supported a sense of unity among whites of varying socioeconomic classes.
54. Enumerate the percentage
of families in the south that owned slaves and the percentage that were
considered “planters”.
55. Describe how plantation
slavery in the south benefited the north.
56. Define the concept of
“Christian guardianship” and its economic benefits to southern planters.
57. Describe how slaves
adapted the Christian religion to serve their spiritual, emotional, and worldly
needs.
58. Describe the ways in
which slaves resisted the will of their masters.
59. Enumerate and describe
the condition of free blacks in the South.
60. Identify the political
and cultural beliefs shared by both slaveholding and non-slaveholding southern
men.
UNIT 5
(Chapters 14 - 16)
Chapter 14 – The House Divided,
1846-1861
1. Identify the slavery-related
issue that divided north and South after the Mexican War.
2. Explain why northerners
supported the Wilmot Proviso and why southerners opposed the bill.
3. Define “popular
sovereignty” as proposed by Senator Lewis Cass.
4. List
the provisions of the Compromise of 1850.
5. Show
how Uncle Tom’s Cabin contributed to
the conflict between north and south.
6. Show
how the Kansas-Nebraska Act impacted political parties in the U.S.
7. Describe
the basic beliefs and goals of the “Know-Nothings”.
8. Describe the basic
beliefs and goals of the Republican Party.
9. Discuss the issues that
led to a “Bleeding Kansas” in the mid-1850s.
10. List the results of the
Dred Scott case.
11. Describe
Abraham Lincoln’s views on slavery and racial equality.
12. List
the events that northerners believed were evidence of a slave power conspiracy.
13. Name
the leader of the Harper’s Ferry raid in 1859.
14. Discuss
southerners’ reactions to Lincoln’s election in 1860.
15. Discuss Lincoln’s
reaction to secession.
Chapter 15 – The Crucible of
War, 1861-1865
16. Name the president of
the Confederate States of America.
17. Discuss the secession
decisions made by western states.
18. Compare Union and
Confederate advantages in the Civil War.
19. Explain how the Union
and the Confederacy financed the War.
20. Locate the capital of
the Confederacy.
21. Assess the significance
of the July, 1861 Confederate victory at the battle at Bull Run (Manassas).
22. Name the commander of
the Army of Northern Virginia.
23. Locate the Civil War’s
bloodiest single day of fighting.
24. Evaluate the success of
the Union’s naval blockade on the Atlantic coast.
25. Explain
and assess the effectiveness of “King Cotton diplomacy”.
26. Explain
the Union’s realization that it would have to destroy slavery in order to
defeat the Confederacy.
27. Identify
the limitations of the Emancipation Proclamation.
28. Describe
the military experiences of African American soldiers.
29. Describe
how the Civil War affected the lives and work of plantation slaves.
30. Discuss how a
Republican-dominated Congress changed the U.S. economy during the Civil War.
31. Show how women
contributed to the war effort.
32. Name
the founder of the American Red Cross.
33. Locate
the turning points of the Civil War in the east and in the west.
34. Identify
Sherman’s goal(s) in his march across Georgia in 1864.
35. Explain
the historical significance of actor John Wilkes Booth.
36. Discuss why the Civil
War has been called the “Second American Revolution”.
37. Identify the central
task of Reconstruction.
Chapter 16 – Reconstruction,
1863-1877
38. Compare the
Reconstruction terms of Lincoln and Congress.
39. Describe the “compulsory
free labor” system of the Mississippi Valley and its purpose.
40. List the activities of
the Freedmen’s Bureau.
41. List the goals that freedmen and
freedwomen adopted as priorities.
42. Name Lincoln’s successor
to the presidency and discuss his goals for Reconstruction.
43. List the provision(s) of
the 13th amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
44. Discuss the intent of
black codes.
45. Identify the goal(s) of
the radical wing of the Republican Party.
46. List the provision(s) of the 14th
amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
47. Describe public reaction to passage of the
14th amendment.
48. Explain the actions that led to Andrew
Johnson’s impeachment.
49. List the provision(s) of the 15th
amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
50. Discuss the impact of
the 15th Amendment on the post-War feminist movement.
51. Define “carpetbagger”
and “scalawag”.
52. Describe the goals and
methods of the Ku Klux Klan.
53. Explain what is meant by
“Jim Crow” laws.
54. Analyze how the “crop
lien” system contributed to a near-permanent state of poverty and dependence
for sharecroppers.
55. Name the
Reconstruction-era president scandalized by corruption in his administration.
56. Explain why northerners
abandoned Reconstruction.
57. Define and identify the
goals of the “Redeemers”.
58. Evaluate the successes
of the Redeemers, by 1876.
59. Explain why Congress had
to decide who would be president in 1876.
60. Discuss the provisions of the Compromise
of 1877.