Homework Stuffs

11. What was the purpose of the Missouri Compromise?
 To prohibit slavery north of a certain latitude line, except in the proposed state of Missouri.
12. List the five parts of the Compromise of 1850?
 Slave trade abolished in the Washington D.C. area, California becomes a free state, Utah and New Mexico have restrictions on slavery cut, the fugitive slave law comes into play that hurts those working for the underground railroad and already free slaves, and a defined border between Texas and Mexico.
13. What was Stephen Douglas's solution to the slavery issue in the Kansas and Nebraska territories?
 To let new settlers decide on a majority whether or not slavery will be admitted to a new territory.
14. How did Abraham Lincoln become a national figure in politics?
He was tall, had a cool beard, and wore a pro top hat. More importantly, he gained fame with his debates with many men and his intellect was made apparent that he was going to be important in years to come in politics.
15. What was the Dred Scott decision? What did it mean for those opposed to slavery?
Considering slaves to be property, a supreme court Justice makes a decision that repeals almost all Compromise up to this point in history, which upset many people.
16. Why were there four parties and candidates in the presidential election of 1860?
There were heavy disagreements that split the Democrats up into selecting to candidates for presidential election. The republicans  
17. How did Lincoln plan to prevent secession?
Sends troops to Maryland so that the nation's capital didn't fall to the South.
18. Why was the balance of free and slave states in the Senate such an important issue?
Because when there was balance, there was no majority in the senate and no side felt left out or underprivileged. Government did not want an uproar of hate and feuds/war so they tried to settle the dispute whenever a new slave/free state entered the country. (Such as the Missouri Compromise.)

19. Why did Northerners protest Douglas's plan to repeal the Missouri Compromise?
20. List three ways pro- or antislavery groups changed the structure of political parties in the 1850's.
The Republican party was born out of the events during this era, the free-soil party was created out of the Republican party later on, and the Whigs were seeing a drop in numbers and eventually faded away into nothingness. 
21. How did the North's larger population give it an edge over the South in the 1860's election?
It had more votes to go around which led to larger representation in the election in the Northern part of the country. The democrats had two candidates as well which split the votes up more, whereas the Republicans only had one candidate, Abraham Lincoln, who got all of the Republican votes of the north, for some Southerners weren't allowed to vote for Lincoln.

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~--~ Chapter 16 ~--~
5. During what years was the Civil War fought?
April, 1861 - April, 1865
6. What 3 advantages did the Confederate states have in the war?
The Confederate leaders were much stronger than those in the Union. 
7. Who were the presidents of the United States and of the Confederate States of America?
Abraham Lincoln was the President of the United States and Jefferson Davis led the Confederate States for its entirety. 
8. What role did Clara Barton play in the Civil War?
She was a nurse/medic that is responsible for starting the American Red Cross.
9. Why did the union blockade Southern ports?
To cut them off financially so it'd be easier for the North to outproduce them to win the war with greater ease.
10. What was the outcome of the battle of Gettysburg?
The battle started with a large amount of Confederates that outnumbered the Union soliders, however the Union had come out victorious in this battle and this marked a turning point in the war due.
11. What did the Emancipation Proclamation do?
It ordered the Slaves in the Union fighting against the South were free and that the Confederate slaves would be free as well if they returned to the Union. More than 3,000,000 slaves were freed as Union soldiers advanced on Confederate lines and took action. This gave slaves an incentive to fight because if they fought they'd have a chance at their freedom.  
12. In what ways did African Americans contribute to the war efforts?
The tension between slave states, free states, balance/equality were big issues that built up to the start of the war. During the war however, Southern blacks weren't allowed to fight at first, yet the Union had many black volunteer soldiers that contributed to help the North compensate for the South's already huge number of men.
13. How did the Civil War hurt the South's economy?
The ports were blockaded which severely cut the South off from importing goods, and exporting their cash crops. the removal of slaves also hurt their livelihood and the cash crop and plantation work/production plummeted tremendously.
14. What terms of surrender did Grant offer to Lee?
The Confederates had to agree not to fight anymore and lay down their arms, but were free to go back to the South safely.
15. How did people of western Virginia respond to Virginia's secession from the Union?
They were super mad!@#!@#! Seriously, most were disappointed and it got to a point where the ones who disagreed with the secession, moved north to stay in the Union, away from their home state, just to stay away from the Confederacy. 
16. Why was controlling the Mississippi River vital to the North and to the South?
It was much like the Ohio River in the French Indian wars, it was a great barrier for whoever controlled it, and it was a source of many trade routes that would benefit the controller financially and led for easy transport for troops to different parts of the country as well.
17. Why do you think many leaders called for African Americans to be allowed to fight in the Civil War?
Because there were many African Americans to go around, and it would give both sides a boost in numbers. 
18. Why do you think General Lee was such an effective military leader?
He was professionally trained and had experience in previous wars which led to his decision making and leadership skills as well as fighting tactics.

Thy Questions of The Marvelous Chapter XII

1) What was Manifest Destiny?

The duty that God gave the white people to take full control of all American territories and bring life/civilization and technology to the people in order to introduce culture and positive change throughout the land. 

2) The Oregon Territory consisted of what area? Who claimed it?

"The huge area that lay between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains north of California." Wyoming, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana were among the present-day states that were in the territory. U.S. Spain, and Russia had claims in the area.

3) Who were the Mountain Men?

Americans who spent a lot of time in the mountains, engaging in trade with the Native Americans for fur and other goods. They were a huge community and would gather annually to compete and tell tales of adventures past.

4) Why was the Oregon Trail important?
Because it led the pioneers to Oregon, and the depression in the east helped the migration west to settle new land and find new stuff/jobs/wealth
 
5) Discuss the meaning behind the slogan "Fifty-Four Forty or Fight"?
The slogan for the Democratic party on the line of latitude for where they felt the national capital for Oregon country would be. If it wasn't the way they wanted, they would fight (go to war) about it. 

6) James Polk made what promises to the American public during the election of 1844 (list four - you might need to look up on the internet).
Promised to serve only one term.
Promised to colonize the Oregon country.
Promised to lower taxes.
Promised to take California territory from the Mexicans. 

7) Discuss how Texas became independent.
They needed to fight the Mexicans for independence. The Tejanos and Americans proclaimed their independence.  

8) Discuss the battles of The Alamo and San Jacinto.
The Alamo = Less than 200 Texan soldiers hold out for 12 days, fending off 1,000+ Mexican soldiers.
San Jacinto = Surprise attack on the Mexicans, capturing many captives and is the battle that ends with the taking of Santa Anna and the war as a whole.

9) How long did it take the U.S. to annex Texas? Why?
Eight years, and it took a while because the addition of yet another slave state to the nation might upset the balance of things. This was the reason Johnson hadn't done anything with the place, during his administration, but Polk does. 

10) How did the Mexican-American War start? Why did it start? Was it a "Just War"?
The Americans built a fort on the Rio Grande and the Mexicans got all mad and started attacking for it was built on their land which triggered the war. Perhaps it wasn't just because the Texans weren't really supposed to be in the land of the Mexicans and have no right to fight in the war. 

11) What was the American response to the war?

12) List the major battles of the war.
The Alamo. San Jacinto. Buena Vista. Monterey. Mexico City.

13) What was the cost of the war?
$100-125 million...?
 
14) Why was the California Gold Rush important?
Because it led to a lot of people moving west from all areas of the country in hopes to make it big by striking up a fortune in gold. California going 20,000 to 220,000 in a matter of 4 years really helped solidify the western United States and advanced the nation towards collecting more states to the union. Also brought the Mormons over to the west/Utah. 

15) Answer the following questions on page 380 - #6 - #10, #13-#15.
6. They remained on the 49th latitude line.
7. Because he didn't want to disrupt the ratio of slave states to non-slave states.
8. Strength in Numbers! Also, the borders on the east and west side would both be oceans instead of another foreign country. 
9. The invasion of their land. Annexation of Texas. Mexican doesn't sell it's land.
10. Because people were desperate to strike it rich and would buy anything because there was no other place to buy things around for miles. They needed the stuff, and the merchants charged quite a bit to make a fortune.
13. The states of Nevada, Colorado, Arizona, California, Utah, etc. etc. came out of it and the borders were the oceans instead of the foriegn countries/Rio Grande.
14. They were like "These fools be trippin'?" and they weren't all like "Whaaaat?". They felt it was just an excuse to hold land and take over everything. They were greedy little people!!!

Picture of Manifest Destiny

The picture is of the tall, white-robed lady (angel) that is bringing light into the undiscovered land. The area to the left is dark, and untouched by Americans and therefore it is hopeless. God has apparently given the duty to the Americans to fully control the land, and wherever they go, light is brought to the otherwise desolate area. The manifest destiny is how Americans feel they have the right to own all of the land area in America and to control everything in the new continent. God was guiding them on an adventure and the land was corrupted and impure without their presence.