​Abraham Lincoln​Ambrose Bierce​Ann Bell​The Civilization Fund Act​Filibustering​The Free State Legacy​Fort Pillow​Harpers Ferry​Hinton Rowan Helper​”I Hope to Have God on My Side, but I Must Have Kentucky”​James Lane​John L. O’Sullivan​Lawrence​Leavenworth​Martha Read​The Mexican-American War​”A Rich Man’s War but a Poor Man’s Fight”​Northern Advantages​Southern Advantages​The Texas Revolution

Prior to around 1800, slavery appeared to be dying a natural death in the United States. Many northern states had outlawed the practice, manumission was on the rise, and many Americans saw that the institution ran counter to the new nation’s ideals (such as liberty). However, [BLANK-1] began around the turn of the century and breathed new life into the institution. Innovations to a gin machine that deseeded raw materials and the development of a new strain known as Petit Gulf made a previously impractical crop the Lower South’s most important cash crop. The process of Indian Removal throughout the 1820s and 1830s, and the abundance of cheap land that had previously been owned by Native Americans, further fueled this resurgence of slavery. These changes made slavery more integral than ever to the southern economy and worsened the divide between the North and the South.

While Americans initially supported [BLANK-1] almost universally, as the event grew more chaotic, violent, and radical by the early 1790s, support for or against the new republic firmly divided Americans along political factions. Supporters tended to become Democratic-Republicans and opponents tended to be Federalists. As the event spiraled into general warfare in Europe, maintaining neutrality with European powers became the prime focus on the new American government throughout the 1790s.

[BLANK-1] traveled extensively throughout the United States during the 1830s to write his book, Democracy in America. He argued that the United States, more than any other country, had taken steps to make distinct lines between men and women in the public and private spheres. Therefore, he concluded, it was justified that women were denied political rights as they were largely absent from the public sphere of business and industry. The author observed that women did not feel ill-treated as a result of their lack of political rights.

Most founding fathers, such as Alexander Hamilton, were wary of ordinary citizens’ influence on government and favored severe limits to democracy. They tended to believe that too much participation by the masses would undermine good order and prevent the creation of a secure and united republican society. [BLANK-1], a Massachusetts delegate to the Constitutional Convention who initially refused to sign the finished Constitution, summed up these fears by saying, “the evils we experience flow from an excess of democracy.” In the first decades of the United States, there were protections in place (such as property ownership requirements) that prevented ordinary people (even white men) from voting. It was only with the Growth of Democracy in the 1820s and 1830s that property-ownership requirements were dropped in all states and the franchise expanded to include poor or propertyless white men.

[BLANK-1] was a huge economic depression that occurred during Martin Van Buren’s presidency, but which was largely caused by Andrew Jackson’s presidential policies (including the Bank War, his attack on the monetary system, his condemnation of Henry Clay’s American System, and his decision to veto national infrastructure legislation). The situation worsened when Jackson passed the Specie Circular a few months before the end of his second term, requiring all land to be purchased using hard specie (gold or silver). These further deprived banks of specie and, alongside an overinvestment of British capital and land speculation, led to an increase in American foreign indebtedness. This depression tanked Van Buren’s popularity and it took six years for the American economy to begin to recover.

Part 3 Essay Question [40%]: Your essay should have an introduction with a clear and specific thesis, a body with evidence, and a conclusion that reinforces your central argument. Select the option you feel the most comfortable with and answer it to the best of your ability.Choose ONE (1) of the following options:Identify the major myths of the “Wild West.” What characteristics, qualities, and traits typified these myths? Who, in the popular imagination, occupied the West? How did the reality of Western settlement differ from these myths? Be sure to provide specific examples.Who was Henry Clay and what were some of his major contributions to nineteenth-century America? Describe in detail some of the policies that Clay supported. Which politicians opposed these policies? How did Clay help the United States avoid (or perhaps only delay) major crises? What is his legacy in American history?Explain the outcome of the Civil War. What advantages did the North have? What were the major Southern disadvantages? What battles do you believe were the decisive engagements of the war and why? Why did the North win? Why did the South lose?

Explain why experimental studies are often better for determining causality than observational studies and why they are not always possible.

Part 2 [8% points each = 40% total] Short Identification Questions (IDs):A short answer ID should briefly address the basic journalistic questions: who or what, when, where, and why. Each term should be at least 4-5 sentences long. Be sure to discuss the significance. Write an answer for FIVE (5) of the following, even if you must guess somewhat (partial credit is better than none):The American Fur TradeThe California Gold RushThe Compromise of 1850Cotton DiplomacyDavid Rice AtchisonGrant’s Overland CampaignJohn BrownMajor Stephen LongThe Overland TrailsWestern Campaigns

Part 3 Essay Question [40%]:Your essay should have an introduction with a clear and specific thesis, a body with evidence, and a conclusion that reinforces your central argument. Select the option you feel the most comfortable with and answer it to the best of your ability.Choose ONE (1) of the following options: Identify three major economic revolutions that developed in the Northern portion of the United States during the early-nineteenth century. Describe each revolution in detail. What were some key components of each revolution? In what ways were these revolutions related to one another? How did they come to be central parts of the Northern economy? How did they further divide the Northern economic system from the South?How did Southerners come to think of slavery as a normal part of society? Why did so few Southerners raise a moral objection to slavery? How did Southerners come to justify the institution of slavery as moral, just, and natural? Identify several individuals who defended slavery and explain how they rationalized their defense of the institution.Describe the American culture of moral reform of the first-half of the nineteenth century, known as the Benevolent Empire. What motivated the rise of moral reform during this time? Who were the primary moral reformers and what types of reform did they enact? What social problems did reformers seek to address? In what ways did the movement offer prominent roles in society for certain reformers that would have been unthinkable in the previous decades? How successful were these reform movements? In what ways did reform efforts merge with political participation?