An Interpretive History of Life in America, 1492-1877
Exam Review
UNIT 4 EXAM: “A Nation Divided” -- 1840-1877
Multiple Choice -- 40% [NOTE: See quizzes and notes for lecture and textbook subjects.]
Essay -- 60%
Answer one (1) of the following questions with an extended essay that draws upon class lectures and assigned readings. Be sure to answer all parts of the question you select.
[NOTE: On your examination, you will have two choices from which you will select one.]
1. How did the desire for economic growth shape America between 1840-1877?
[HINT: Describe “young America.”]Address each of the following questions with at least one paragraph for each as you answer the question above.
2. How did the belief in “manifest destiny” shape debate in America through the Civil War?
- What was the slave economy?
- Why did most Americans believe in “manifest destiny”?
- Why did many Northerners promote "free soil"?
- Was the Civil War inevitable?
- How did the spread of the market economy affect life in the middle ground after 1860?
Be sure to give examples. Remember to define your terms.
[HINT: Define “young America.”]Address each of the following questions with at least one paragraph for each as you answer the question above.
- Why did Southerners want more land?
- Did Southern desire for more land fuel the Mexican War?
- How did the battle over slavery lead to “bloody Kansas”?
- Did slavery's unquenchable thirst for land cause the Civil War?
- Could the Civil War have been avoided?
Be sure to give examples. Remember to define your terms.
3. How did the modern two-party system shape politics in the United States between 1840-1877?
[HINT: explain why the second two-party system made its debut in 1840.]Address each of the following questions with at least one paragraph for each as you answer the question above.
4. Who won the battle over the meaning of freedom?
- Why did Henry Clay lose the election of 1844?
- How did the Mexican War shape party politics and the election of 1848?
- How did the election of 1856 change that system?
- How did party politics hurt Southerners in 1860 and help Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War?
- Why did Radical Republicans fail to survive the end of Reconstruction?
Be sure to give examples. Remember to define your terms.
[HINT: discuss the origins of Reconstruction.]Address each of the following questions with at least one paragraph for each as you answer the question above.
5. How did the “peculiar institution” shape life in the South before 1865?
- What was the “Tragic Legend of Reconstruction”?
- Why did Republicans seek to use federal law?
- How did the battles between the Radical Republicans and Andrew Johnson affect Reconstruction?
- Why did Southern democrats agree to let Rutherford B. Hayes become president?
- Did the freedman enjoy equal rights after 1877?
Be sure to give examples. Remember to define your terms.
[HINT: Explain the slave economy.]Address each of the following questions with at least one paragraph for each as you answer the question above.
- How did Southerners use “paternalism” to justify slavery?
- How was life different for house and field slaves?
- Who benefited most from “hiring out”?
- Why did Southerners fear abolition?
- Why did slavery fail to survive the Civil War?
Be sure to give examples. Remember to define your terms.
NOTE: Use your Blue Book to write your essay. Material written on the test sheet will NOT be considered. Stay cool and keep moving.
© David Marcus Lauderback, 2022 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED