"The Impending Crisis" Homework

The readings and questions below need to be completed by the week of March 17th. You will getthe exact due dates in class.

FYI - You will have another "pop quiz" based on the assigned readings below.

“The Impending Crisis”
chapter 13 (Brinkley)

Pages 344 - 350

1. What was the concept of Manifest Destiny? How and why was such a slogan used to justify the expansion urge of the American people in the 1840s?

2. How did Texas become available for annexation? What prevented its immediate annexation?
3. What was the history of American interest in Oregon?

4. What were the characteristics of western migrants? What problems did they face? How were these overcome?

Pages 350 - 367

1. What were the goals of President Polk? How did he solve the Oregon question?

2. What tensions emerged in the Southwest that threatened to lead the United States into war with Mexico?

3. How did the American interest in California develop?

4. What was the Compromise of 1850? How was it passed?

5. How did the Compromise of 1850 differ from the Missouri Compromise?

6. How did the issue of a transcontinental railroad help to reopen the sectional controversy? Explain.

7. What were the “immediate, sweeping, and ominous consequences” of the Kansas-Nebraska Act?

8. What were the origins of the Dred Scott case? What issues were involved, and what decision was handed down by the Court? How did the reaction to this case add to sectional tension?

Books of Possible Interest

A few of you have asked me about some possible history/cultural studies books to read outside of class. Below you will find a list of some various books.




Books by David McCullough:

John Adams
1776




Books by Ronald Takaki:

A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America
Race at the End of History
Strangers from a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans
A Pro-Slavery Crusade
Violence in the Black Imagination
Iron Cages: Race and Culture in 19th-Century America
Hiroshima: Why America Dropped the Atomic Bomb
Debating Diversity: Clashing Perspectives on Race and Ethnicity in America
A Larger Memory: A History of Our Diversity with Voices



Books by Howard Zinn:

A People's History of the United States: 1492 – Present
Postwar America: 1945 – 1971
Vietnam: The Logic of Withdrawal
Three Strikes: Miners, Musicians, Salesgirls, and the Fighting Spirit of Labor's Last Century
SNCC: The New Abolitionists
A Power Governments Cannot Suppress



Other Books:

A Little Matter of Genocide: Holocaust and Denial in the Americas, 1492 to the Present by Ward Churchill
The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century by Thomas L. Friedman
1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann
The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Two Voice Poem

I hope everyone is well rested and ready to begin our final trimester of the 2007 - 2008 school year.

Just a reminder that your Two Voice Poem is due on Wednesday, March 19. Be sure to include two different perspectives. For example, you could write about an Enslaved African American Woman and a Factory Worker or a Cherokee Woman and a Government Employee. You could be as creative as you like as long as you include accurate details explaining both perspectives.

Also, we will continue with the Civil War when we return from break. Then, we will begin Westward Expansion. You will have one more DBQ before the year ends.

Homework Questions

America’s Economic Revolution
Chapter 10

We will be talking about the information below all next week, so be sure you are prepared.
The answers to the questions below should be done in your notebook. When I return from MUN, I will check to make sure you have completed them.

Read pages 261 - 267 and answer the questions the below.
1. What were the reasons for and the effect of the rapid increase in population between 1820 and 1840?

2. What were the major immigrants groups that came to the United States and where did they settle?

3. Why was the rise of New York City so phenomenal? What forces combined to make it America’s leading city?

Read pages 278 - 283 and answer the questions the below.
1. What was the general condition of workers in the northeastern factories?

2. What attempts were made to better conditions in the northeastern factories? What role did unions play in these attempts, and what was accomplished?

Read pages 283 - 292 and answer the questions the below.
1. Why was the increasing wealth of America not widely or equally distributed?

2. How did the middle-class life in the years before the Civil War establish itself as the most influential cultural form of urban America?

Parent Conferences

Just a reminder that parent/teacher conferences will take place on
Tuesday, February 5th.

Be sure your parents sign up for a meeting!

Upcoming Quiz

Short Answer, True/False, Multiple Choice “Surprise Quiz”
Wednesday, January 23rd

Be sure to know the answers to the questions below.

Jeffersonian Era
What effect did America’s transportation system have on industrialization?

Explain the “cultural independence” that Jeffersonian Americans sought. What means of expression did this “independence” find?

What role did Native American religious leaders play in events leading to the War of 1812?

Explain the role that Eli Whitney played in America’s industrial revolution. What impact did his inventions have on the South? on the North?

What was the purchase of the Louis and Clark expedition and what did the expedition accomplish?

Jacksonian Era
What were the general characteristics of “Jacksonian Democracy,” its philosophy, and its practice?

How did the “party philosophy” of the Whigs differ from that of the democrats?

What was Jackson’s attitude towards Native Americans and how did it contribute to the decision in the favor of removal?

What was Jackson’s opinion on the Bank of the United States. On what did he base his views? What other factors contributed to his stand?

How did the spoils system fit into Jackson’s “democratic” plans? What other means did he use to bring more people into the political process?

Jackson DBQ

Just wanted to remind you that the Jackson DBQ is due on Monday, January 21. If I don't have you that day, just give it to Mrs. Hamery. Also, if you hand it in this week, you will receive 2 extra points and if you turn it in next week, you will receive 1 extra point. This extra credit point will be added to your final Jackson DBQ grade.

We will continue to talk about Jacksonian Democracy next week. Please, be sure to read the chapter on Jackson in the Brinkley book.

Your test on Jefferson and Jackson will be the last week of January. It will be a short answer/multiple choice test.