How did James K. Polk add Oregon Territory to the United States?

Which of the following is/are true of the Oregon Trail?

Americans got very interested in settling Oregon territory and the far west in the mid-1800s.  Consider, however, that the Pacific side of North America was separated from the United States by thousands of miles and the Rocky Mountains.  How did Americans even know that there was good land out there?

European exploration and colonization of the New World began after what two events significantly altered European culture?

Who was Preston Brooks?

Secession documents make clear that when southern states seceded from the United States, the made they were motivated to do so solely to defend states’ rights.

In the Election of 1860, who’s this guy?

Many of the lectures focused on the North and its contribution to national development.  What about the South?  Which of the following did the South contribute to American history? 

Civil War battles with particularly horrific casualty figures include

What was the first major battle of the Civil War?   Which Civil War battle inflicted the greatest number of single-day casualties in national history?