The Jacksonian Age

Thursday, 11/29. The rise of Jackson and mass democracy. Read pages 256-264.
1. What changes in American Democracy had occurred between 1800 and 1828?
2. What is Jacksonian Democracy?
3. Was Jackson in favor of a strong or weak central government?
4. Explain the nullification crisis.
5. How did Jackson change American politics and the presidency (why is he such a big deal in American history?
Know the significance of the following: Jacksonian democracy, silent ballot, extension of franchise, end of caucus, direct elections, John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster, John Calhoun, Henry Clay, Martin Van Buren, National Republicans, Peggy Eaton affair, Maysville Road veto, Nullification Crisis, South Carolina Expositionand Protest, Force Bill, Tariff of 1833

Monday, 12/3. Jackson re-evaluated. Read pages 264-275.  Jackson Memorial Assignment due.

1. Understand the important Supreme Court cases leading to Cherokee removal.
2. Explain the removal of the Cherokees.
3. Explain the causes of the Panic of 1837. Who was to blame. Who was blamed.
Know the significance of the following: Indian Removal, “Five Civilized Tribes”, Cherokee Nation v. Georgia(1831), Worcester v. Georgia(1832), Treaty of New Echota (1835), Trail of Tears, National Bank veto, “pet banks”, Nicholas Biddle, election of 1832, Whigs, Democrats,

Wednesday, 12/5. Martin Van Buren and the rise of the Second Party System. Read pages 275-286.

1. What was Van Buren’s view of political parties?
2. Why and how did Americans come to settle in Texas? What was the result of the Texan revolution? Why did Texas not become part of the United States in 1837?
3. Who were the Whigs? How and why were they organized?
4. What was the long-term affect of Jackson amd Van Buren on American politics?
Know the significance of the following: election of 1836, Independent Treasury, election of 1840, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, “Tippecanoe and Tyler too”.

Thursday, 12/6. Demographics of the new national economy. Read pages 287-297.
1. How did the demography of America change in the early 1800s? How did this affect our culture?
2. How did immigration change in the early 1800s? How did Americans reacty to these changes? What effect did this have on American culture and politics?

Friday, 12/7. Mechanics of the new national economy. Read pages 297-318.
1. What were the most important technological innovations in this period? How did technological innovations affect farming, the economy of the South and slavery?
2. Trace the development of industry from homes to factories. Trace the development of the form of business from the individual proprietor to the corporation.
3. What improvements in technology and changes in law enabled these developments? How did changes in transportation change the Mid-west, the Northeast, and the South?
4. Who were the first groups to work in these new industrial factories, and how were they recruited?
5. How effective were workers in controlling the conditions of their work?
6. How did the workplace, the lives of women and nature of families change due to working in industrial factories?
7. What is the significance of the Supreme Court cases Charles River Bridge v Warren Bridge (1837) and Commonwealth v. Hunt (1842)? (These will be covered in class)
Know the significance of the following: Nativism, “Know-Nothings”, Erie Canal, De Witt Clinton, Robert Fulton, Eli Whitney, general incorporation laws, Lowell system, Charles River Bridge v Warren Bridge (1837), Commonwealth v Hunt(1842)

Tuesday, 12/10. Religious revivalism and the reform movement. Read pages 320-332.
1. What was the Second Great Awakening? What caused it? What were the short and long-term results of the movement?
2. How is the Second Great Awakening related to Jacksonian Democracy?
3. Why were there so many reform movements in this era? What did they have in common?
4. Were these movements trying to make society more free or more controlled? What were the effects of this movement on the people it tried to help, on politics and society, and on women in particular?
5 How are these movements related to Jacksonian Democracy?
Know the significance of the following: Second Great Awakening, Charles G. Finney, Revivals, Unitarians, Mormons, Shakers, public school reform
Horace Mann, McGuffey Reader, penitentiary reform, asylum reform, Dorothea Dix, abolition, temperance , women’s rights, Margaret Fuller, Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Seneca Falls Convention, “Declaration of Rights and Sentiments” (1848)


Wednesdat, 12/11. Arts and letters in Jacksonian America. Read pages 332-347.
1. What was Transcendentalism? Does it fit in the general culture of Jacksonian America? Did Transcendentalists challenge or celebrate American society and culture?
2. How did the art and literature of this period in general fit into Jacksonian America?
Know the significance of the following: Hudson River school
Thomas Cole, romanticism, Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, transcendentalism, Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Self-Reliance”, Henry David Thoreau, Walden, “Civil Disobedience", Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, Edgar Allen Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, Herman Melville, Moby Dick


Thursday, 12/12. Manifest Destiny. Read pages 371-380.
1. What is Manifest Destiny? How did race and religion figure into the concept of Manifest Destiny? Was Manifest Destiny moral and/or proper?
2. Who owned Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and California? What difficulties did they have settling and governing the area?
3. How did Americans first begin to immigrate to Texas? What problems did this create for Mexico and the American immigrants?
4. Why did the Texans rebel? How did the Texans win their independence?
5. Who owned the Oregon Territory? Why? Why were immigrants coming there?
6. Why was the United States able to obtain Oregon without going to war with Great Britain?
Know the significance of the following: Manifest Destiny, John L. O’Sullivan, Oregon & California, Transcontinental Treaty, Adams-Onis Treaty, “54°,40’ Or Fight”, Sutter’s Mill, ‘49ers


Friday, 12/13. The US-Mexico War. Review your pervious notes on Texas and read pages 381-389.

1. Why did Texas not become part of the United States rights away?
2. How did Tyler add Texas to the United States?
3. Why did the United States go to war with Mexico?
4. Did Polk force war with Mexico?
5. Was our war with Mexico a moral and/or wise war?
6. What were the results of the war?
Know the significance of the following: Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston, Santa Anna, the Alamo, Goliad, San Jacinto, Lone Star Republic, Andrew Jackson, Stephen Tyler, James K. Polk, Nueces River, Rio Grande, Zachary Taylor, Winfield Scott, Santa Anna, Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, Gadsden Purchase

Good Documentary on the US-Mexico War:


Below is a phenomenal song about the US-Mexico War, by the Irish band The Chieftans and a number of Mexican musicians. It is about the San Patricios, a group of Irish immigrants in the US Army who switched sides in the middle of the war and chose to fight for Mexico against the United States.



An article on the San Patricios can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Patricios

Jeffersonian Democracy

For Thursday, 11/ 15: Thomas Jefferson, Read 211-225
1. How was Thomas Jefferson different from the two previous presidents?
2. Jefferson has been described as a man of the people, an aristocratic hypocrite, a frenzied radical, a philosopher, a scientist, a pragmatic politician, and a high-minded idealist. Which was he?
3. What was Jefferson’s vision of what America should be? Was he successful in achieving his vision?
4. What was the significance of the Marbury v. Madison case.
5. Why were we able to purchase Louisiana? Did Jefferson violate his principles in purchasing Louisiana? Why did he do it?
Know the significance of the following: Election of 1800,Aaron Burr, James Madison, Monticello, University of Virginia, Albert Gallatin, Marbury v. Madison (1801), judicial review, Louisiana Purchase (1803), Toussant L’Ouverture, Napoleon Bonaparte, William Clark, Meriwether Lewis, Sacjawea


For Friday, 11/16: James Madison, Read 225-232
1. Why did the U.S. get into conflict with Great Britain and France?
2. How did Jefferson react to these abridgements of our sovereignty and our citizens’ rights? What were the results?
3. How did Madison react? What were the results?
4. Why did we go to war with England instead of France?
Know the significance of the following: James Madison, Rule of 1756, Impressment, Leopard v. Chesapeake, Embargo Act (1807), Non-Intercourse Act (1809), Orders in Council (1809), Milan Decree (1809), Macon’s Bill #2 (1810), “war hawks”, John Calhoun , Henry Clay


For Monday11/26: War of 1812, Read 233-240.
1. Who should have won the war? What were the most important battles?
2. Why did the war end? Who won?
3. What were the results of the war for the U.S.? What were the results of the war for American Indians? What were the results of the war for the Federalists?
Know the significance of the following: Tenskwatawa (The Prophet), Tecumseh, William Henry Harrison, Battle of Tippecanoe (1811), Battle of Put-In-Bay (1813), Battle of the Thames (1813), Battle of New Orleans (1815), Treaty of Ghent (1814), Hartford Convention (1814)

Interesting documentary that shows the conflict over the MidWest from the eyes of Tecumseh



For Wednesday11/20: Monroe, Sectionalism and Nationalism in Era of Good Feelings, Read 242-255
1. Why was this era called the Era of Good Feelings.
2. What caused the Panic of 1819? What effect did it have?
3. What did the Missouri Compromise decide? Why was it so important?
4. What effect did John Marshall have on the Supreme Court?
5. How did the United States acquire Florida?
6. What was the Monroe Doctrine? Why was it so important?
7. Was John Quincy Adams an able diplomat? Why?
Know the significance of the following: James Monroe, Panic of 1819, Missouri Compromise, John Quincy Adams, Adams-Onis Treaty, Monroe Doctrine, John Marshall, Marbury v. Madison (1801), Dartmouth College v.Woodward (1819), McCullough v. Maryland(1819)

Election Resources

A site that allows you to take a quiz that matches your views with the views of the candidates can be found here.

The website procon.org also has a great site that shows each candidates positions (through their own statements) on may different issues.

A good site that allows you to plot diffeernt election day scenarios is 270 to Win

The best, most up-to-date analysis of polls and election predictions is the blog Five Thirty Eight

The Federalists: Washington, Hamilton and Adams

For Tuesday: Topic - Washington & Hamilton: Read 190-201
1. Who was Alexander Hamilton?
2. What were Alexander Hamilton’s goals and plans?
3. Know the basic recommendations of the Reports on the Public Credit, Manufactures, and the Bank.
4. Why were they so controversial?
5. Explain the ideological and political differences between the Federalists and the Democratic Republicans (Jeffersonian Democrats).
6. Who were the leaders of each party? What groups supported each party?
7. Why was the Whiskey Rebellion significant? (Think about the recent rebellions.)
8. What threats were there to the nation from American Indians, the British, and the French? How did they resolve each threat? Were they successful in resolving each threat?
9. What were Washington’s feelings about the development of parties? Look to his “Farewell Address.” Do you agree with him?
10. Was Washington a good president? What were his achievements and precedents?

Know the significance of the following: John Jay, Henry Knox, Report on the Public Credit, Report on Manufactures , Bank of the United States, strict interpretation/construction, loose interpretation/construction, Elastic Clause (Art. I, Sec. 8), Whiskey Rebellion, Citizen Genet, Gen. “Mad” Anthony Wayne, Battle of Fallen Timbers (1795), Treaty of Greenville (1795), Jay’s Treaty (1795), Pinckney’s Treaty (1796), Federalists, Democratic Republicans, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison

The Essential Debate Between Fedralists and Democratic-Republicans:


For Thursday: Topic - John Adams: Read 201-209
1. What was Adams like? Was he a good politician? Was he a good president?
2. Why was Jefferson his vice president? Was this a good situation?
3. Evaluate Adams’ presidency. Pay particular attention to the Alien and Sedition Acts, the XYZ Affair, and the Quasi-War with France.
4. Why was the election of 1800 so important?
Know the significance of the following: XYZ Affair, Quasi-War (1798-1800), Alien Act (1798), Alien Enemies Act (1798), Sedition Act (1798), Naturalization Act (1798)

John Adams at his best and worst in the two videos below:

Constitution Assignments

For Wednesday: Using your textbook and the resources found in the Study Guides and Resources page, learn the followingthe following:
1. What is federalism?
2. What does separation of powers mean?
3. Who has the power to declare war?
4. Who controls the military?
5. Who negotiates treaties?
6. Who approves treaties?
7. Who decides the constitutionality of laws?
8. How are federal judges chosen?
9. How are cabinet members chosen?
10. What is the process by which laws are made?
11. What is the process by which amendments are made?
12. What is the Electoral College?
13. How are judges and executive officials removed from office?
14. How are Senators selected and how long are they in office?
15. How are members of the House of Representatives selected and how long are they in office?




For Thursday Read 190-192 and Bill of Rights. Prepare for Chunky Monkey Case (found in the Study Guides and Resources page . Bring copy of Constitution to class for use during class. The Constitution can be found in your textbook or you can bring it in another form.
As you read pages 190-192, consider the follwoing questions

1. Who wrote the Bill of Rights?
2. Why was it written?
3. What basic rights does it protect?




For Friday: Chunky Monkey Assignment due

The Creation of Our National Government

for Monday: Read pages 164-176. Consider the following questions as you read:
1. How did the revolution change society? Were the changes radical?
2. How did the revolution change the lives of African-Americans, women, and American Indians? Were these changes substantial or incremental?
3. In the new governments, what was kept of English traditions and what was new?
4. What two groups or forces struggled over the form and direction of the new state governments?
5. How was the government under the Articles of Confederation different from our government under the Constitution?
6. What were the Articles of Confederation’s weaknesses?

Know the Significance of the following: Land Ordinance of 1785; Northwest Ordinance of 1787; Shays’s Rebellion.


For Tuesday: Read pages 177-189. Consider the following questions as you read:
1. Why did the writers of the Constitution want a new form of government?
2. What role did Shay’s Rebellion play in this decision?
3. How was the new Constitution different from the Articles of Confederation?
4. What groups opposed the Constitution and what groups supported it?
5. Why did it gain ratification?

Know the significance of the following: Philadelphia Convention; James Madison; Virginia Plan; William Patterson; New Jersey Plan; Roger Sherman; Connecticut Compromise; bicameral legislature; separation of powers; federalism; Senate; House of Representatives; Supreme Court; 3/5 Compromise; democratic; republican; Federalists; Anti-Federalists; Alexander Hamilton; John Jay; The Federalist Papers.

The War for Independence

for Tuesday: Read pages 150-156. Consider the following questions as you read:
1. Who should have won the Revolution and why?
2. What were the most significant events and battles that enabled the Americans to win?
3. Was Washington a great general?
for Friday: Read pages 156-163. Consider the following questions as you read:
1. Why did the Americans win their independence?
2. What were the most significant events and battles that enabled the Americans to win?
3. Was the Peace of Paris a good treaty for the United States? Why?
By Wednesday, know the significance of the following:
Thomas Paine;“Common Sense"; Battles of Lexington & Concord, 1775; Battle of Bunker Hill, 1775; Benedict Arnold; George Washington; Whigs; Tories; Continental Army; militias; Hessians; Henry Knox; Battle of New York, 1776 ; Battle of Trenton, 1776; Battle of Saratoga, 1777; Gen. Howe; Gen. Burgoyne; Gen. Cornwallis; Joseph Brant; Valley Forge; Friedrich von Stueben; George Rogers Clark; Marquis de Lafayette; Battle of Yorktown, 1781
 

Road to the Revolution

The Origins of Revolt: For Wednesday read 122-128.

1.       What effects did the Seven Years War have on the relationship between the colonies and the mother country?
2.       Why did the British increase taxes on colonial trade and the enforcement of these taxes?
3.       Why did the Writs of Assistance upset American colonists?
4.       How was the Sugar Act different from earlier duties?  Which group of colonists did it hurt most?
5.    How was the Stamp Act different from earlier taxes?  Why did this tax cause more resistance by the colonists?
6..    How did the colonists resist the Stamp Act?  Why were they successful?  What long-term effect might this act and the colonists’ resistance have had?

Rising Tide of Conflict:  For Friday read 128-137
1. What were the Towshend Duties?  Why did Townshend think they would work?  How did the colonists respond?  What were the long-term effects of the duties and the response they received?
2.   Who was responsible for the Boston Massacre?  How was the massacre seen by the colonists and why was it seen that way?
3. What was the importance of the Committees of Correspondence?
4. Why did the Tea Act upset so many colonists?

The Decision: For Tuesday Read 143-145 and Degler Artricle.  Write Constitutional Congress statement.  Instructions will be given two days prior to assignment.

1. What were the Coercive Acts and how did the colonists react to them?
2. Why did the Coercive Acts bring Americans closer to war?
3. What did the First Continental Congress do?  How important was it?
4. What effect did Lexington and Concord have on relations with England?
5. Why did the colonists finally declare independence?

Also read Degler article.
1.   What is Degler’s main argument?  Do you agree with him?
2.    Was the revolution conservative or radical?

TEST ON COLONIAL AMERICA UP TO JULY 4, 1776  (CHAPTERS 1-7 and pages 140-145) ON WEDNESDAY OR THURSDAY.

Know the significance of the following:

mercantilism; Navigation Acts; revenue raising tax; trade controlling tax; Sugar Act; Molassaes Act; Writs Of Assistance; James Otis; Stamp Act; Stamp Act Congress; Lord Grenville; “virtual representation”; “actual representation”; Patrick Henry; Loyal Nine; Sons of Liberty; Gov. Thomas Hutchinson; Declaratory Act; John Locke; “Two Treatises on Government”;  Charles Townshend; Quartering Act; Townshend Duties; internal tax ; external tax; John Dickinson; “Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania”; Sam Adams; John Hancock; Lord North; Boston Massacre; Paul Revere; Committees of Correspondence; Gaspee; Tea Act; Boston Tea Party; Coercive Acts; “Intolerable Acts”; Quebec Act; First Continental Congress; Suffolk Resolves; Battles of Lexington & Concord, 1775; Olive Branch Petition; Battle of Bunker Hill, 1775; James Galloway; John Adams; Thomas Jefferson; Benjamin Franklin; Thomas Paine; “Common Sense;

 
 

French and Indian Wars

French & Indian Wars:  for Thursday, read 106-114; for Tuesday, read pages 114-121.

1.       Why were the French & Indian Wars fought?
2.       Why did most Indians side with the French?  Was this prudent?  What was the result for the tribes that sided with the French?  What was the result for those who sided with the British?
3.       Who won the Seven Years War?  Why did they win?
4.       What long-term effects do you think this may have had on the colonies and their relationship with Great Britain?

Explain the siginficance of the following:
Seven Years War; Great War for Empire; Albany Congress; George Washington; Fort Duquesne; Fort Pitt; Gen. Braddock; William Pitt; Gen. Wolfe; Pontiac’s Rebellion; Proclamation of 1763

The song below is not only the only song I've ever heard about the French and Indian War, it's a great song about the Acadians -  French Canadians who were expelled from the Arcdia region of Quebec as a result of the last French and Indian War.  As your book describes on pages 116-117, many Arcadians moved to the French colony of Louisiana, where they settled and became known as the Cajuns.  Their distinct ethnic culture and language survives today in regions of Lousiana.  If you've ever had jambalaya, gumbo, crawfish pie, etc. you have the Cajuns to thank. Beneath that first song are a couple of examples of Cajun influenced music. Enjoy the songs; they are a big part of what is great about America!

Enlightenment and Great Awakening:  Read 84 – 105 and “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”

1.      What was the Enlightenment, and how did it affect the British American colonies?
2.      What was the Great Awakening, and why was it important?

Know the significance of the following: Enlightenment; proprietary colony; royal colony; charter colony; established church; Pennsylvania; Maryland; Rhode Island; Great Awakening; Jonathan Edwards; George Whitefield; Deism.

 

First Essay

Our first essay is due on Wednesday, September 26.  It should be 4-5 pages in length and it should follow standard MLA format.  Your paper must be submitted to www.turnitin.com.  Our turnitin.com class ID is 5563289 and our password is "history."  In addition to submitting the paper through turnitin.com, you must bring a paper copy to class on Wednesday, September 26 - we will do some work with the papers in class, so you must have it with you on Wednesday.  The essay question is:

Although New England and the Chesapeake region were both settled largely by people of English origin, by 1700 the regions had evolved into two distinct societies. Why did this difference in development occur?

The Middle Colonies and the Dominion of New England

For Friday, 9/21:  Read 52-65

1.         What distinguishing characteristics did Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey hold in common in terms of their economy and society?  Have any of these characteristics survived to today?  Are they a part of American culture, socity, economy, and/or politics?
2.         How was Pennsylvania different from all the other colonies?
3.         What was the Dominion of New England and why might it be important to the long-term history of the colonies and the American revolution?

Know the significance of the following:

William Penn; Holy Experiment; Society of Friends (Quakers); Peter Stuyvesant; Iroquois; Benjamin Franklin.

 

For Friday, 9/21:

From time to time I will post parts of the documentary New York by Ken Burns so that you can see the correlatiosn between what we are studying in class and the great city you live in. Below is the first part (1/8) of Episode 1.   I ask that you watch the first three parts of Episode 1 by Friday. I think it will give you some real insight into colonial life in your city. After watching the episodes please post your reactions to teh film in the comments section of the blog.

The Puritan Mission in New England

The Puritan Mission. Read 43-52 and  &; Degler Article for Tuesday.  Read 76-82 for Wednesday

1.      According to Degler, what is the difference between the stereotypes of the Puritans and reality?  According to Degler, how have the Puritans influenced Anerica in the long run?
2.   What was the Puritan mission?
3.      How were the Puritans different from the Pilgrims (Separatists)?
4.      How did the New England economy, society, culture, and government differ from the southern colonies?  Why were these differences present?
5.   Can you see any long-term affects that the New England colonies had on American society, culture, economy, and politics?

Know the significance of the following:

Pilgrims; Puritans; Separatist; Non-Separatists; Church of England; John Winthrop; Calvinism; Anne Hutchinson; Antinomianism; Roger Williams; “elect” or “saints”; Half-Way Covenant; Thomas Hooker; Fundamental Orders of Connecticut; Old Deluder Act; King Phillip’s War; Salem Witch Trials; Dominion of New England

 

 

Just Bragging about My Brother...

This is probably incredibly boring to most, but it's a video of my brother testifying before a U.S. House Sub-Committee on Labor.

http://edworkforcehouse.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=110

The Southern British Colonies

For Wednesday, 9/12:  England’s First Colony:  Read 25-33

1.      What events and new ideas enabled English colonization of the Americas?
2.      Was Jamestown a success?

For Friday,  9/13: The Chesapeake Colonies & The Carolinas:  Read 33-39, 66-76

1.      In what ways were Maryland and Virginia the same and different?
2.      What affect did tobacco have on Chesapeake economy, culture, and society?
3.      Why was Bacon’s Rebellion important?
4.      What important precedents do you see developing in Virginia by 1700?
5.      Describe the development of slavery in the southern British colonies.
6.      How were the Carolinas different from the Chesapeake colonies?
7.      Can you see any long-term affects that the southern colonies had on American society, culture, economy, and politics?

Know the significance of the following: joint stock company; headright system; John Smith; John Rolfe; House of Burgesses; Bacon’s Rebellion; James Oglethorpe.

 

A Prayer for September 11th, 2012

Last year the prayer below was prayed at the memorial Mass for my friend Sean Lugano. I think it puts our response to the attack on our country on 9/11/2001 in the right perspective. I think it's also a good prayer to keep in mind as we begin to study the proud history of our own nation.

This is my prayer, O God of all nations,

A prayer of peace for lands afar mine.

This is my home, the country where my heart is,

Here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine.

But other hearts in other lands are beating,

With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

 

My country's skies are bluer than the ocean,

And sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine;

But other lands have sunlight too, and clover,

And skies everywhere are as blue as mine...

O hear my prayer, thou God of all nations,

A prayer of peace, for their land and for mine.

The Columbian Exchange

Homework for Tuesday, Sept. 11:  Finish reading Chapter 1.     

1. In what ways were American Indian societies different from European or later Euro-American societies?
2.  Why do Historians have different interpretations of past events?
3.  What social, political, economic, and technological “forces” led to the European exploration and conquest of the New World?
4.   How did the transfer of people, cultures, and germs affect the Americas and Europe?

Please see the podcast below. It is an interview (on NPR's Fresh Air) with Charles Mann, the author of 1493 a book about how the exchange of plants, animals, and microbes radically changed the course of history for both the Old World and the New World. It's a great example of how unitended consequences are often even more important than intended consequences.

Columbus and Zinn; An Introduction to Historiography

Homework For Monday, September 10:
Read Course Outline, found on my edline website and blog.
Read pages 2-14 in your textbook.  You do not need to take notes on this reading.
Read the section on Christopher Columbus from Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States (distributed in class).  Answer the following reflection questions in your notebook.  Be ready to discuss them in class.

1. What do you think of Christopher Columbus after reading Zinn's article?  Is this a different opinion than you had before the reading?  Does this change your perspective on American history?
2. What do you think of Howard Zinn?  Does he write good history?

 

Great Depression & New Deal Study Sheet

Big Questions
1. What factors and events caused the Great Depression?

2. Why was FDR such a successful politician? Why was Hoover a failure?
3. Describe the differences between the First, Second, and Third New Deals.
4. Describe the new Democratic coalition created by FDR?
5. How did the war New Deal affect the labor movement?
6. How did the New Deal change government?
7. Why did the FDR’s “court-packing” scheme fail?
8. How did the New Deal affect African Americans?
9. What is Keynesian economics?

Know the significance of the following:
New Deal Programs: Emergency Banking Relief Act; Glass-Steagall Act.; Civilian Conservation Act; National Industrial Recovery Act; National Recovery Administration; Agricultural Adjustment Act; Soil Conservation Act; Farm Credit Administration; Tennessee Valley Authority; Rural Electrification Administration; Truth in Securities Act; Public Works Administration; Works Progress Administration; Resettlement Administration

Economics: Roosevelt Recession ; Francis Keynes

Labor: Section 7a of NIRA; Wagner Act; National Labor Relations Board; AFL; CIO; John L. Lewis; Trade union; Industrial Union; UAW; Walter Ruether; Sit-down strike; Fair Labor Standards Act; National Housing Act

Politics: FDR; Frances Perkins; Harold Ickes; Al Smith; Herbert Hoover; Fr. Coughlin; Dr. Townsend; Huey Long; Court-packing scheme; Alf Landon

1920s Study Guide

1. Why was there great and prolonged prosperity throughout the 1920s?

2. How had the economy changed?
3. What happened to the labor movement?
4. What happened to the women’s movement?
5. What were the prevailing political moods, policies, and issues of the 1920s?
6. How did consumerism and “mass culture” affect American culture?
7. What new entertainments emerged during the 1920s?
8. What were the prominent developments and authors in literature?
9. Was this a period of increasing personal freedom and liberty, or of social control and oppression?

Know the significance of the following: open shop; welfare capitalism; National Association of Manufacturers; Henry Ford; Warren Harding; Calvin Coolidge; Smoot-Hawley Tariff; Teapot Dome; Kellog-Briand Pact Herbert Hoover; “rugged individualism”; Al Smith; jazz; Jelly Roll Morton; Louis Armstrong; Duke Ellington; the Charleston; George Gershwin;  F. Scott Fitzgerald; Ernest Hemingway; Sinclair Lewis; T.S. Eliot; Langston Hughes; Thomas Hart Benton; Edward Hopper; Georgia O’Keefe; Alfred Steiglist; Social Conflicts; Red Scare; National Origins Act; Ku Klux Klan; Great Migration; Harlem Renaissance; Marcus Garvey; Scopes Trial; 18th Amendment; Volstead Act; Margaret Sanger

World War I Study Guide

Major Questions:
• Why did the United States finally get involved in a European war when we had resisted them for so long?
• How did our involvement in World War I change the United States at that time?
• Did it in any way change us permanently?

Tues, 3/6; The Road to War: Read pages 688-694.
1. What factors caused the war?
2. How did the U.S. government and public respond to the war?
3. What challenges were there to the U.S. remaining neutral? Were we ever really neutral?
4. Why did the U.S. enter the war? Why did we enter on the side of Britain and France?

Wed, 3/7; The War and American Society: Read 696-710.
1. How did the U.S. raise an army?
2. What did the federal government do to supply the troops with the proper material and food? What long-term effect might this have had?
3. How did the war affect the economy?
4. What effect did U.S. troops have on the war? What effect did the war have on American soldiers?
5. What did the government do to get Americans to support the war?
6. Who opposed the war? What happened to those who opposed the war? Why? Was the government responsible?

Thursday, 3/8; The Search for a New World Order: Read 710-719 and handouts
1. What were Wilson’s Fourteen Points generally aiming at doing? Was this a new idea? Was it a good idea?
2. Why did Wilson fail to get his Fourteen Points into the Treaty of Versailles?
3. Was the League of Nations a good idea? Why did the Senate reject it? Was it the Senate’s fault, or Wilson’s?

Explain the significance of the following:
Lusitannia; Sussex; Jane Addams; George Creel; General John Pershing; Eugene V. Debs; Bernard Baruch; Herbert Hoover; Zimmermann note; Selective Service Act; Committee on Public ; Information; Espionage and Sedition Acts; Industrial Workers of the World ; “Wobblies”; War Information Board; War Industries Board; National War Labor Board; Sixteenth Amendment; Eighteenth Amendment; Nineteenth Amendment; Food Administration; Russian Revolution; Bolshevism; Big Four; Henry Cabot Lodge; collective security; Irreconcilables; Reservationists; Fourteen Points; self-determination; Treaty of Versailles; Article 10; League of Nations.

2/29 Homework

Write an outline for an essay that would answer the question, "Does Teddy Roosevelt belong on Mount Rushmore?" In your answer be sure to address both domestic and foreign policy. Your answer should an outline of an essay and may be in "bulleted" form. It should start with a thesis that addresses both domestic and foreign policy. You must present specific evidence to support your evidence. Since this was not posted until after school on Tuseday, it is not due until Thursday. The reading(664-677) is still due by Wednesday.

2/28 Homework

2/28; The Muckrakers and the Beginnings of Progressivism; Read pages 656-664. 

1.      In the views of the progressives, what was wrong with American society, and what did they propose to fix it? 

2. Were their views revolutionary?

3. Progressivism is generally viewed by most historians as a positive movement in American politics.  Were their any negative sides to progressivism?

Know the significance of the following:

Muckrakers; McClure’s; Jacob Riis, How the Other Half Lives; Lincoln Steffens, Shame of the Cities; Ida Tarbell; Upton Sinclair, The Jungle; Triangle Waistshirt Factory fire; Social Gospel; Jane Adams; Hull House; Eugene V. Debs; Socialist Party; Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W. or “wobblies); commission plan; city manager; initiative; referendum; recall; direct primary; Robert LaFollette; Margaret Sanger; 16th Amendment; 17th Amendment; 18th Amendment; Theodore Roosevelt; Square Deal; Northern Securities Act; Hepburn Act; Meat Inspection Act; Pure Food and Drug Act; New Nationalism; Bull Moose Party; Conservation; John Muir; Gifford Pinchot; Forest Reserve Act; William Howard Taft; Ballinger-Pinchot incident; Payne-Aldrich Tarif; Mann-Elkins Act; Woodrow Wilson; New Freedom; Louis Brandeis; Underwood-Simmons Tariff; Federal Reserve Act; Federal Trade Commission; Clayton Antitrust Act; Workman’s Compensation

Extra Credit Opportunities

Your February Break may give you the opportunity to get away from the rush of daily homework assignments and do something away from your textbook that you’ll enjoy and will help give you a deeper understanding of the period we are currently studying.  Do one of the following and write a 2-page reflection on the movie/book/visit and what insight it gives you into America at the turn of the century. The project is worth ten points if done well (i.e. an 85 on a test would turn into a 95 if the project is done thoroughly and with some intelligent thought).

Watch Episodes 3 "Sunshine and Shadow" and 4 "The Power and the People" of the PBS docmentary film New York, by Ric Burns.  This will fill in many of the blanks that we did not cover in our discussions about urbanization in new York City from 1865-1918.  You can find these on netflix, etc. as well as youtube.  This is the series that I have often posted on our class blog.


Watch the movie Matewan which is an excellent film about a community of coal miners who struggle to organize a union against a brutal and abusive mining company. It gives a good insight into the challenges for workers and unions at the turn of the century.  You shoudl be able to find this on both netflix and youtube.

Read the book The Alienist. It’s long, but it’s a great murder mystery that takes place in New York City in the 1880s. The novel is a real page-turner and it exposes the seedy side of New York City better than any history book I’ve read. Everyone who reads it loves it.

Visit the Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side. Visits to the museum have to be arranged in advance as the visit is a guided tour of an authentically recreated tenement. The tour is led by actors who actually play the role of the people who lived in the tenement 100 years ago and tell you their story of life on the Lower East Side at the turn of the century.

Due date is March 23.

Wednesday 3rd Period Assignment

Simply pair up with a classmate to do a peer review of each other's papers. Read the essay and make comments based on the following questions:

1. Is there a clear thesis? Does the thesis answer the specific question asked? Is it too simple, or does it make an interesting, well defined argument? Does the writer develop/explain the thesis in the first paragraph.

2. Does each topic sentence refer to and advance the thesis?

3. Is each topic sentence explained and proven with specific historical evidence throughout the paragraph?

4. Does the writer use at least half of the documents? Does the author refer to each document by name? Does each document actually support the argument in that paragraph?

Empire and Expansion Assignments

Tuesday: Stirrings of Imperialism: Read 626-630
1. Why did the United States begin to expand overseas?
2. Was this a change from earlier American foreign policy?
3. How and why did the United States acquire Hawaii? Why did Cleveland oppose the annexation?

Tuesday: War With Spain: Read 630-636
1. What effect did the Platt Amendment have on Cuba and its relationship to the United States?
2. Why did the United States declare war on Spain? Was it for selfish or selfless reasons?
3. Why did we invade the Philippines?
4. Why did the United States hold onto the Philippines? Was this the right thing to do?
5. Did the United States become an imperialist power as a result of the Spanish-American War?

Wednesday: The Republic as Empire: Read 636-647
1. What were the results of the Philippine War for the Philippines and America?
2. Explain the arguments of the Anti-Imperialist League.
3. What was the Open Door in China? Why did the United States call for it? Was it successful?

Thursday: The Big Stick: USA and Latin America, 1901-1917: Read 647-653 & 675-676 & 685-688
1. Explain the Roosevelt Corollary? How did it relate to the Monroe Doctrine? Was it good for the United States? Was it good for Latin America?
2. How did the United States gain the Panama Canal? Was this just? Why was it so important to the United States?
3. How was Dollar Diplomacy different from Roosevelt’s policies? How was it the same?
4. How was Wilson’s policy towards Latin America different? How was it the same?
5. What was the overall affect of these three presidents’ policies towards Latin America? Does it have any affect on today? Were these policies wise? Were they moral?


Know the significance of the following: The Influence of Sea Power upon History by Alfred Thayer Mahan; Frederck Jackson Turner and his “Frontier Thesis”; Samoa; Hawaii; Queen Liliuokalani; Spanish-American War; William McKinley; William Randolph Hearst; yellow journalism; U.S.S. Maine ; Teller Amendment; Admiral Dewey; Battle of San Juan Hill; Platt Amendment; Philippines; Anti-Imperialist League; Theodore Roosevelt; Open Door; John Hay; Panama Canal; Roosevelt Corollary; Gunboat Diplomacy; “Speak Softly, but Carry a Big Stick”; “Great White Fleet”; William Howard Taft; Dollar Diplomacy; Woodrow Wilson; Pancho Villa

Reconstruction DBQ Preparatory Assignment

Download the document 1996ReconstructionDBQ.pdf (you can find it in the Study Guides and Resources link to the right if clicking on the link didn't work).  Print out the document and bring it to Monday's class.  Before you come to class read through and annotate each document.  In your annotations note three things:

1. Who is the author and why that may be important to the document (consider the author's knowledge and bias)?
2. What does the document actually say?
3. Does this document offer opinion or facts or both?
4. How might you use this document to support one aspect of your argument?  Note that some documents won't fit your argument and you should not use them.

In class I will return your reconstruction papers and give you time to look at them and my feedback.  Then I'll give your tables time to discuss the documents and how you might use them in your individual papers.

Politics in The Gilded Age

Wednesday, 2/8: Race, Ethnicity and the Bloody Shirt in Urban and National Politics: Read 502-514
1. What was machine politics? Why did it develop and why was it politically successful? Was it a successful response to the challenges of governing a city?
2. How did blacks fare politically in the 1880s and 1890s?
3. How was the Civil War used by politicians throughout this period?

Thursday, 2/9: National Politics in the Gilded Age: Read 515-629.
1. Why did the authors choose this title for this chapter? Is it appropriate? Why?
2. What was different about politics during the Gilded Age?
3. What were the political strengths, strategies, and platforms of each party?
4. Who were the populists? To whom did they appeal? What was their platform? Why did they fail to win a presidential election?
6. Explain the conflict over monetization of silver and gold.
7. What is your personal opinion of politics and political leaders in the Gilded Age?

Know the significance of the following: Grantism; Schuyler Colfax; Credit Mobilier; Liberal Republicans; Horace Greeley; Panic of 1873; Rutherford B. Hayes; Election of 1876; “the bloody shirt”; Grand Army of the Republic; Sherman Silver Purchase Act, 1890; Stalwarts; Roscoe Conkling; James A Garfield; Half-Breeds; James G. Blaine; Pendleton Civil Service Act, 1883; Chester A. Arthur; Grover Cleveland; Benjamin Harrison;  im Crow Laws; lynchings; Plessy v Feguson(1896); Civil Rights Cases, 1883; Depression of 1893; Coxey’s Army ; Greenback-Labor Party; Populists; James Weaver; William McKinley; William Jennings Bryan; Cross of Gold Speech


Friday, 2/10; Test on Chapters 22-26 - Reconstruction, the West, Insutrialization, Urbanization & the Politics of the Gilded Age.

The Arrival of Modern America: Industrial Revolution and Urbanization

INDUUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
Tuesday, Jan. 31st; Industrial Growth: Read 530-545
1. In what ways and to what extent did the economy change from 1865-1900?
2. How did new ways of organizing business help create this change?
3. How did new technologies and inventions help create this change?
4. How and why did railroads lead this change?
5. What were the costs and benefits of industrialism?
6. What were the arguments of its supporters and critics?

Wednesday, Feb, 1st;  Industrial Workers and the Economy: Read 545-557
1. How did industrial work change the lives and culture of American workers?
2. How did industrialism affect immigration rates and experiences?
3. Did industrialism improve their lives?
4. Did industrialism provide an avenue for Americans to pursue the “American Dream?”
5. What successes did the labor movement achieve, and why were its successes limited?
6. Why did the Knights of Labor fail?
7. Why was the American Federation of Labor more successful than the Knights of Labor?

Know the significance of the following:
Scientists and Industrialists: George Washington Carver; Thomas Alva Edison; Alexander Graham Bell; Henry Bessemer; Henry Ford; Frederick Winslow Taylor; Leland Stanford; Cornelius Vanderbilt; Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Steel; John D. Rockefeller & Standard Oil; J.P. Morgan & U.S. Steel

Social Theories: Herbert Spencer & Social Darwinism; Andrew Carnegie & Gospel of Wealth; Russell Conwell & Acres of Diamonds; Henry Ward Beecher & Protestant Ethic

New Business Organizations: vertical integration; horizontal integration; corporations; pools; trusts; holding companies; interlocking directorate

Labor Movement: Eugene V. Debs; Samuel Gompers; Terence Powderly; Molly Maguires; Knights of Labor; American Federation of Labor; Haymarket Square Riot; Homestead Strike; Pullman Strike; Railroad strike of 1877

URBANIZATION
Thursday, February 2nd; Immigration: Read 558-572

1. How did immigration change from 1865-1920?
2.What were the cultural, material and social difficulties that immigrants and migrants faced when they migrated to American cities? What attempts were made to stop immigration?
3. Why was transportation so important to the growth of cities? What were the most important new technologies of transportation?
4. What were the challenges in housing the new urban population? Were they successfully met?

Friday, Feb. 3rd; Responses to Strains of Urban Life: Read 572-582
1. How did the cities attempt to solve the problems of urban poverty? Were they successful? Why?
2. How did different reformers respond to the problems of the city?  Was these attempts at liberation or control of the working class?  were they succesfull in tehir reforms?
3. (This topic will be covered in class)What was machine politics? Why did it develop and why was it so succesful? Was machine politics a successful response to the challenges of governing a city?

Monday, Feb. 6; High Culture &The Rise of Mass Consumption in Age of the City : Read 582-593.
1. How did industrialism and urbanization affect th epress, education and literature?
2. How did art portray this new urban culture?
3. How did urbanization and industrialization affect women and the family?
4.What is “mass consumption?” What are some good examples of it? How did it change American culture? Did it improve American life?

Know the significance of the following:
Jacob Riis, How the Other Half Lives; Jane Addams; Hull House;  the social gospel; Boss Tweed; Tammany Hall; settlement houses; Mark Twain; Theodore Dreiser; Upton Sinclair; The Ashcan School

Ric Burns' New York Documentary on NYC in this era:

Railroads, Mining, Ranching and Farming in the West

For Wednesday, 1/25; Railroads Open the West: Read pages 530-538 & 604-611.
1. What effect did railroads have on populating the West and promoting the economy there.
2. How did the government enable and support the railroads?
3. How did railroads abuse their clients, investors, and the government?
4. How did the government try to control these abuses? Were they successful?
5. How and why did cattle-raising evolve from the “Long Drive” to an organized “big business?”
6. What were the factors that led farmers to settle the West? How did government laws, the military, railroads, economic and environmental factors impact this movement?
7. Was the Homestead Act successful? Why?
8. What obstacles did the western environment present to farmers? How were they overcome? What problems were not overcome?
9. What was Frederick Jackson Turner’s “frontier thesis?” Was it a realistic and accurate explanation of American history?


For Thursday, 1/26; Success and Defeat for the American Farmer:  Read 612-625.
1. How and why did farming become an “industrialized” big business? What effect did this have on farmers and farming?
2. How did immigration affect the West? From what countries did immigrants to the West come?
3. Why did so many farmers get caught up in a cycle of debt that they could not get out of?
4. How and why did farmers organize themselves for their benefit?
5. Were the National Grange, the Farmer’s Alliance and the Populists successful? Why?


Know the significance of the following:
Union Pacific Railroad; Central pacific Railroad; Land grants; Credit Mobilier scandal; Cornelius Vanderbilt; Wabash case; Interstate Commerce Commission; “49ers”; Comstock Lode; “Long Drive”; Homestead Act; 100th Meridian; dry farming; “sooners”; Frederick Jackson Turner; Montgomery Ward Catalog; “combine” harvester; “bonanza farms”; National Grange; Farmer’s Alliance; Populist Party; William McKinley; William Jennings Bryant; Cross of Gold Speech; “gold standard

Anglo-Indian Conflict and the "Settling" of the West

For Friday: Read the wikipedia article on the Sand Creek Massacre.  As you read, consider the following questions for a discussion on Friday.
1. Why did the Sand Creek Massacre occur?
2. What does this tell you about the nature of Anglo-Indian conflict in the West?
3. What does it tell you about the nature of ethnic conflict through history and in the present?

You might also view the brief documentary segments below:






For Tuesday, 1/24; Anglo-Indian Conflict in the Trans-Mississippi Westl: Read 594-604.
Anglo-Indian Conflict in the West:


1. After reading the handout write a brief reflection on the Sand Creek Massacre. Why do you think this happened? Could it happen today in the United States? Does the Massacre inform you in any way about your world today?
2. What was the relationship between the Plains Indians and the buffalo?
3. Was there always conflict on the Plains between whites and Indians? Why was there eventual conflict between the two?
4. Why did the Sioux go to war with the United States in 1876? What was the result? Why did the Sioux and other tribes eventually loose to the United States?
5. What was the Dawes Severalty Act? Who supported it and why? What was the effect on the tribes and on their land?
6. What was the Ghost Dance? Why did Indians follow this new religion? Why is Wounded Knee significant?
7. What was the overall effect of reservations on Indian society and culture?

Know the significance of the following:
Sand Creek Massacre; Red Cloud; Crazy Horse; Sitting Bull; Col. George Armstrong Custer; Battle of Little Big Horn, 1876; “Custer’s Last Stand”; Geronimo; Chief Joseph; Dawes Severalty Act, 1887; Ghost Dance; Wounded Knee, 1890

Reconstruction Assignments

For Wednesday:
The Problems of Peace-Making & Radical Reconstruction: 479-492
1. What were the general goals and obstacles to Reconstruction?
2. Describe both Lincoln's and Johnson's Reconstruction plans. What were their different goals, strong points and failings? Why was each opposed by Congress?
3. What were the Black Codes and why were they so odious to Northern Congressmen?
4. Why was there so much conflict between Johnson and Congress?
5. What is your opinion of Johnson?
6. What is your opinion of the Republican Congressional leaders?

For Thursday:
The South in Reconstruction: 492-501
1. What were the successes and failures of the Reconstruction governments in the South?
2. How did Reconstruction change the lives of African-Americans?
3. How did Reconstruction change the lives of white southerners?
4. What methods did white southerners use to keep black southerners in the same economic, social, and political position?
5. How did northern politics and economic issues affect Reconstruction?
6. Did he deserve to be impeached and removed from office?
7. Why was Reconstruction abandoned? Who was responsible for the end of Reconstruction?
8. Was Reconstruction successful? Who was responsible for its successes and failures? Could Reconstruction have fully succeeded?

Know the significance of the following: Lincoln’s 10% Plan; Andrew Johnson; Johnson’s Restoration Plan; “Black Codes”; Radical Republicans; Charles Sumner; William Seward; Thaddeus Stevens; Wade-Davis Bill; Freedman’s Bureau; 13th Amendment; 14th Amendment; 15th Amendment; Military Reconstruction; Tenure of Office Act; Edwin Stanton; Johnson’s impeachment; Scalawags; Carpetbaggers; Ku Klux Klan; White League; sharecropping; crop-lien system; poll tax; literacy tests; President Grant; Horace Greeley; Compromise of 1877; Rutherford B. Hayes; Samuel Tilden

Paper due Monday: "In what ways and to what extent did constitutional and social developments between 1860 and 1877 amount to a revolution?"

Assignments: 1/4-1/6

Wednesday, 1/4: the Civil War I; Read pages 434-447.
1. How did each side finance the war? Is there anything problematic with these methods? In what ways were they similar?
2. How did each side raise their armies? Is there anything problematic with these methods? In what ways were they similar?
3. Why did the South need and expect help from Great Britain and France? Why did they fail to gain help?
4. Did Lincoln violate the Constitution to win the war? Was he right to do so?
5. What advantages did each side have at the outbreak of war? Who should have won?
6. What was different about the Civil War? What new technologies were used and what effects did they have on the war?

Thursday, 1/5: Civil War II; Read 448-463.
1. Who had the upper hand in the first two years of the war? Why?
2. Why was the Battle of Antietam important?
3. What were the US policies towards slaves before the Emancipation Proclamation? What did the Proclamation do for slaves? Why did Lincoln choose that moment to change his policies? Were the proclamation and its timing wise?
4. What was life like for African-Americans during the war? What effect did African-Americans have on the war’s outcome?

Friday, 1/6: Civil War III; Read 464-478.
1. What was the turning point of the war? Why do historians consider this to be the turning point?
2. Why was the siege of Vicksburg important?
3. Why was Grant a successful general when so many earlier generals were unsuccessful?
4. What was the effect of Sherman’s “March to the Sea” on the South?
5. Why did Lincoln almost loose the election of 1864? Who opposed him? Why did Lincoln win?
6. How did Grant finally defeat Lee? What was his treatment of Lee and the Confederate soldiers like? Why did he treat his adversaries that way?

Know the significance of the following:
Jefferson Davis, Abraham Lincoln, Salmon Chase, William Seward, Andrew Johnson, Conscription Act, 20-Negro Law, Trent affair, the Alabama, Laird Rams, Confiscation Act, Emancipation Proclamation, Copperheads, Peace Democrats, New York Draft Riot,Battle of Bull Run (Manassas), Battle of Antietam, Battle of Fredericksburg, Anaconda Plan, blockade, border states, Invasion of New Orleans, Siege of Vicksburg, Battle of Gettysburg, Sherman’s March to the Sea, Appomattox Courthouse, USS Monitor, CSS Virginia (Merrimack), Robert E. Lee, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, George B. McClellan, George G. Meade, Ulysses S. Grant, William Tecumseh Sherman, Admiral David Farragut, John Wilkes Booth, Gettysburg Address