Us History Final Test Questions – Flashcards

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How did Malinche contribute to Hernando Cortés's conquest of the Aztec empire?
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She interpreted Spanish and Nathuatl languages so he could speak with native people.
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How did the first Native Americans (the Paleo-Indians) survive?
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They hunted and gathered foods available in nature.
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Eastern Woodlands Indians of the Mississippi culture were known for _______.
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Building mounds, some for ceremonial purposes and some as burial sites.
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Spain and Portugal were among the first European nations that _______.
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accepted the authority of a single hereditary monarch for the entire country.
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Traders sought new trading opportunities primarily to have access to _____
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luxuries such as sugar and spices demanded by the elite.
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Portugal, the first European country that sent explorers to the Atlantic coast of Africa, was seeking ______
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an all-water route to Asia.
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Europeans, Africans, and Native Americans
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represented different races but had economic organizations sufficiently similar to make trade possible.
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Columbus and other early explorers typically described the New World as
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an earthly paradise.
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Under Spanish authority, an encomienda was a
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plan to provide labor for land seized from Native Americans.
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In 1513 the Spanish Crown issued the Requerimiento, which
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promised Indians who accepted Christianity and the authority of Spain that they would be left in peace.
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The most important factor in the sharp decline in the Indian population following the arrival of Europeans was
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diseases were introduced inadvertently by the Spanish.
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Ponce de León was the first European who
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set foot on the mainland that would become the United States.
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After silver and gold, _________ was the most important product of the New World.
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sugar
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Hernando de Soto led the expedition that
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explored the southeastern part of the United States from Florida to Texas.
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When the population of Indians was depleted, Spain turned to what to provide labor needed to extract wealth from the New World?
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African slaves
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According to Cherokee legend, the Appalachian Mountains, home to the Cherokee, were created when ________________________________.
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the Great Buzzard flapped his wings and struck the earth
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Identify CAHOKIA.
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Cahokia was the central city of the Mississippian mound builders (700 BCE), located near present-day St. Louis, MI. The Native Americans who inhabited the city built burial mounds as well as mounds for temples and other public structures. The Cahokians thrived as craftsmen and agriculturalists, and were quite a complex society. Their political and social systems were hierarchal and with a population between 10,000 and 30,000.
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Explain why Europeans began exploring the world in the 15th century.
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The first Europeans to set out were fueled by a desire for luxury goods and more efficient trade routes. Marco Polo's accounts of riches in India and China inspired Christopher Columbus and the Spaniards to explore in hopes of gold and other luxuries. The Spanish also saw the opportunity to launch a religious crusade, spreading the reign of Christianity and Spanish culture. The later explorers sought to conquer the native peoples and eventually establish settlements but the first explorers were primarily driven by trade.
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What influenced European countries other than Portugal and Spain to become active in the New World?
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hope for wealth, glory, and power
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Most colonies established by European nations in the first half of the seventeenth century were
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outposts in the global economy.
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French claims to the area of their first colony were based on the explorations of whom?
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Jacques Cartier
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Because the French and English found no gold or silver in areas they claimed in the New World, they
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stole from the Spanish, who did find gold and silver.
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In the mourning wars among Iroquois, when a member of a clan was lost in battle, his
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tribesmen killed or seized a warrior of the offending clan.
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How did the French learn to survive in New France?
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They adapted to Indian customs and assisted Indian friends against their enemies.
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Under the theory of mercantilism, what was a nation's economic objective?
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to secure as much of the world's wealth as possible
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To encourage development of the New Netherlands, the Dutch offered patroons, which was/were
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large plots of land along the Hudson River.
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Why did New Sweden, a colony located on the Delaware River, fail?
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It failed to return a profit for investors quickly.
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What was the attitude of the leaders of Dutch colonialism with regard to Indian territory?
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Land must be purchased from Indians before it could be settled.
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The Beaver Wars erupted when
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the Hurons cut off trade between the Iroquois and the French.
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England's first activity in the New World was to
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steal wealth from Spain.
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Roanoke, England's first colony in North America, was intended primarily as a
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military base from which to raid Spanish ships.
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The Virginia Company was the
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a joint-stock company sponsoring the first successful English colony in North America.
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English men and women from the lowest ranks of society who agreed to work in exchange for passage money to the colonies were known as
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indentured servants.
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What was the most notable characteristic of Jamestown during its first decade?
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an appallingly high mortality rate
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Captain John Smith blamed starvation among early settlers in Virginia on
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laziness and a preference for hunting riches to planting crops.
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To increase the number of workers in Virginia, company officials
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awarded 50 acres of land to those who came or brought another person to Virginia.
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The House of Burgesses was the first
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elected representative government in the New World.
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By an Act of Toleration, settlement in Maryland was open to
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those who believed in Jesus Christ.
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In the first half of the seventeenth century, Chesapeake society was shaped by
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weak government, market for tobacco, availability of land, and shortage of labor.
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Primary factors dictating how quickly English colonists adopted African slavery included
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the need for plantation laborers and availability of slaves at a good price.
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The first generation of women immigrants to the Chesapeake region
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married relatively late, usually not until their mid-twenties.
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What was the primary impetus behind the Massachusetts settlements?
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religion
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Puritans wanted to
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eliminate aspects of Roman Catholicism from the Church of England.
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The survival of the Plymouth colony was made possible by
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assistance from friendly Indians.
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Who was Massasoit?
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Chief of the Wampanoag Indians who allied with the Pilgrims in New England.
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One way New Englanders differed from Chesapeake colonists is that they
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migrated as families rather than as individuals.
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New England towns were usually governed by
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adult male property owners at a town meeting.
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Puritans came to New England
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in search of the freedom to worship as they wished, but not freedom of religion for all.
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Identify SIR WALTER RALEIGH.
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Sir Walter Raleigh was appointed to lead England's first chartered venture to establish a colony in North America. He was received a charter from Queen Elizabeth in 1584 to establish what would become Roanoke as a colony and a privateering base north of the Spanish settlement of St. Augustine. Although he was knighted, he was not allowed to lead the expedition himself.
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Identify ANNE HUTCHINSON.
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Anne Hutchinson moved to Massachusetts with her family, following the Puritan John Cotton. She proclaimed that she had direct revelations with God and was accused of heresy and witchcraft. She was put on trial and convicted of slander, and forced to leave the colony.
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Using everything you have learned in this module, write a brief but thorough essay answering the following question: compare and contrast the attitude toward and treatment of Native Americans by the French, Dutch, and English explorers and colonists.
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The explorers and colonists of North America all shared one thing: interactions with Native Americans. Although their existence and survival sometimes depended on the local Indians, the relations among the colonists and the natives was rarely peaceful. Along with the Spanish, the French and the English viewed the Native Americans as "savage" and thus treated them as such. The first French explorers established themselves as accepting of Indian customs and maintained alliances with the Huron and Algonquian Indians. Many of the English's interactions with the natives were violent, beginning with the colony at Roanoke. The native Roanoke Indians were familiar with Europeans and ready to trade peacefully, but the English quickly poisoned that well quickly by using force to get the supplies they needed to survive. The Roanokes left the island and the English starved. The Dutch relations with Native Americans were more civil, focusing mainly on trade and commerce than conflict.
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The American Revolution grew out of
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Britain's ineffective effort to govern the enlarged empire it gained after victory over France in 1763.
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How did Miami chieftain Memeskia react when English traders from Pennsylvania reached the Ohio River valley?
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He welcomed them because their trade goods were better and cheaper than French goods.
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The French and Indian War began when
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Virginians led by George Washington attacked a French scouting party near the Forks of the Ohio.
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The French victory in the battle for Fort William Henry in 1757 resulted in
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an Indian massacre of British captives, including women and children.
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As a consequence of the Treat of Paris (Paris Peace) in 1763,
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France lost its American empire except for its sugar islands.
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By the Proclamation of 1763, the British government hoped to
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confine colonists to an area east of the Allegheny Mountains.
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Why did colonists object to the Sugar Act even though the new law lowered an existing tax?
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New procedures made sure it was collected.
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The Stamp Act became a liability for the government because it
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angered printers, editors, and lawyers—groups with the ability to broadcast their displeasure.
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A concept of British government known as __________ was composed of two elements—the rule of law and the principle of consent.
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constitutionalism
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The concept of virtual representation held that
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each member of Parliament acted on behalf of the whole empire.
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Prime Minister Charles Townshend decided to test the colonists' protests against "internal taxes" such as the Stamp Tax by taxing
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imports such as glass, lead, paper, paint, and tea.
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Republicanism represented a growing body of thought on the role of government that believed that
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power is always dangerous and those who wield it must be watched carefully.
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Why did the incident known as the Boston Massacre occur on March 5, 1770?
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Soldiers guarding the customhouse panicked when a mob formed and a scuffle broke out.
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How did Parliament respond to the Boston Tea Party in December 1773?
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Parliament passed the Coercive Acts, which included closing the port of Boston and taking over the colony's governance.
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Why did General Thomas Gage order British troops to march to Concord in April 1775?
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to seize military supplies stored there by colonial militia
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What important lesson did the British learn from their experience in the battle on Breed's Hill?
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Do not make frontal assaults against fortified positions.
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In addition to his military experience, George Washington's appointment to lead the Continental army had what benefit?
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It helped solidify the alliance between New England and the South.
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What was Thomas Jefferson's most significant achievement in the Declaration of Independence?
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It reformulated familiar principles in a simple, clear, and applicable way to the situation.
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What was England's strategy in the first part of the American Revolution?
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to punish and isolate Boston because England believed resistance to English policy was centered in New England.
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What consequences did George Washington's defeat of the British soldiers and mercenaries at Trenton, New Jersey have on his army?
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A thousand more recruits volunteered for service under Washington's command.
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What was Washington's basic tactic during most of the Revolutionary War?
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to lead the British on chases because he lacked sufficient soldiers to confront them
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What was the major consequence of the American victory over General John Burgoyne's army at Saratoga, New York?
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It led to the alliance with France.
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What enabled George Washington's victory over Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown?
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assistance from French soldiers and the French fleet
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What was the most significant American failure in negotiating the 1783 Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary War?
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commercial concessions allowing Americans to continue to sell products in England.
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What offered the greatest opportunity for profit and prosperity once the Revolutionary War ended?
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speculation in land and currency
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Weakness of the central government under the Articles of Confederation
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meant that it could not address economic problems hurting most Americans.
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Under the principle of coverture
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women could not hold property in their own names.
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What impact did revolutionary ideals have on African slavery in the former English colonies?
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Every state north of Delaware banned slavery.
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Why was the selection of George Washington as presiding officer of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia crucial to its success?
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Washington was the mostly widely respected person in the nation, and his leadership gave the convention credibility.
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At the Constitutional Convention, what was the principal difference between the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan for a new national government?
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the method of selecting representatives to Congress
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Identify COERCIVE (INTOLERABLE) ACTS.
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In the spring of 1774 Parliament passed five bills later known as the "Intolerable/Coercive Acts" in reaction to the Boston Tea Party. The British government was outraged over the riot, and the passage of the following bills directly followed the tea party. Together known as the Coercive or Intolerable Acts (The Boston Port Bill, the Massachusetts Government Act, the Administration of Justice Act, a new Quartering Act and the Quebec Act), this legislation was not welcomed by the colonists. They felt that the acts were violating their constitutional rights, and ultimately the acts led to the outrage and resistance that was the beginnings of a Revolution.
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Identify SHAYS' REBELLION.
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In 1780 the weak war-worn central government struggled to decide about what to do considering its debt. In western Massachusetts, a group of farmers led by Revolutionary War captain Daniel Shays forcefully shut down the courts in order to prevent them from collecting debts.
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Slaves had many different assignments in America, but what made all of them "slaves"?
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being defined, treated, and defended as property
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Why did slaveholders believe slave codes were necessary?
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Slaves were human property, so a distinction between them and nonhuman property such as livestock was necessary.
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What invention enabled an economic boom in the South and created a demand for new land in the West?
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Eli Whitney's cotton gin
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Slave rice cultivators commonly worked by the ________, which involved a specific assignment for a day's work.
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task system
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What impact did slavery have on the general economic development of the South?
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Fewer stores and businesses existed because the labor force had no access to them.
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White Southern society was ruled by
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patriarchs who regarded slave property and land as their responsibility.
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Why was Gabriel motivated to lead a slave uprising in Virginia in 1800?
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Gabriel's wages went to his owner while free laborers kept their earnings.
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Where did the slave Charles Deslondes lead a massive slave uprising in 1811?
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St. John Parish, Louisiana, with the intent of marching on New Orleans
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How did the majority of slaves protest their condition without resorting to violence?
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feigning illness or ignorance, carelessness, and a slow pace
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Because slaveholders shipped ever increasing cash crops to the North, they
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expected northerners to accept slavery because of the wealth produced through the system.
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The textile industry relied on southerners as producers of a necessary raw material and
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as customers for finished products.
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How did the Constitution recognize and protect slavery in states in which it was established?
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The three-fifths compromise provided for counting slaves for representation in Congress and in the electoral college.
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What did the Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 prohibit?
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aid to an escaping slave
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Some northern states sought to protect former slaves within their territory by
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following personal liberty laws.
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How were free blacks treated in the United States during the first decades of the nineteenth century?
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with formidable discrimination in all parts of the country
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What motivated Nat Turner to lead a slave uprising in Virginia in 1831?
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Turner believed he was ordained by God to free the slaves.
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Separatist communities withdrew from daily contact with the outside world to
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create a more perfect society here on earth
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Women were particularly drawn to Shakerism because
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of a belief in the spiritual equality of women and men.
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George Rapp, who also thought the Second Coming of Christ was imminent, believed
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that members should amass material wealth to place at Christ's disposal.
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What about Joseph Smith's teachings most offended others?
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the doctrine of plural marriage
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Who was Charles G. Finney?
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He was the most influential advocate of dynamic Protestantism.
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What is meant by the term "Benevolent Empire"?
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People, as God's agents, should care for other people.
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What was the most successful association of workers in the 1830s?
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National Trades' Union
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What did Seth Luther mean by the term "middle class"?
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persons whose jobs required mental rather than physical labor
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What was the native country of the greatest number of immigrants to the United States in the early decades of the nineteenth century?
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Ireland
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In the new culture of self-improvement that characterized the 1830s, what did reformers believe was the key to individual success?
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hard work, industriousness, and frugality
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What group believed in the power of the mind to achieve spiritual wholeness?
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Transcendentalists
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According to Horace Mann, secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education, what barred the poor from prosperity?
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lack of education
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One of the American Anti-Slavery Society's greatest internal problems involved
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admission of women.
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Where did women gather in 1848 to pass their Declaration of Sentiments, a kind of declaration of independence from male domination?
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Seneca Falls, New York
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Identify the MISSOURI COMPROMISE.
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When Missouri applied for statehood in 1819, the country was deep in dispute over the morality of slavery. Because the Constitution's three-fifths compromise, the tension between the antislavery (northern) states and the southern (proslavery) states had become heated given the moral argument but also the political power involved. The addition of Missouri could tip the balance and would give slave states domination in Congress and ultimately the presidency. In the House of Representatives, James Tallmadge proposed that Missouri be accepted on two conditions: no more slaves were to be brought into the state and slavery was to be gradually abolished. This was voted for and carried on to the Senate, where it was voted against and died. In 1820 when Maine applied for statehood (as a free state), the problem seemed be resolved as far as the imbalance in politics. However, once Missouri was accepted into the Union, they submitted a state constitution barring free blacks from the state. This was important because it foreshadowed later political (congressional) debates over slavery for years to come.
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Identify WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON.
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In 1831, William Lloyd Garrison founded his own abolitionist newspaper "The Liberty" in Boston. He used this paper to publicly adamantly refuse to accept any form of compromise in terms of slavery. An "immediatist," Garrison bonded together with others and led them to found the New England Anti-Slavery Society. In 1835 he was a victim of an antiabolitionist mob that dragged him through the streets of Boston.
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What contributed to this period of reform and conflict? Consider the roles of slave rebellions, women's rights, abolition of slavery, and labor in the reform context. What does this period of reflection say about Americans during the 1820s and 1830s?
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This period is marked by political, industrial, economic, and social reform; the reforms generally being sparked by conflict, but sometimes it was the other way around. Slavery and slave rebellions were one of the main conflicts during this time period. The industrial and economic structure of the South (the mass production of cash crops, especially cotton) relied on slavery. As slave rebellions led to the abolition of slavery, America was ultimately forced to reform (or at least acknowledge) its political, economic and social problems (racism and sexism).
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How did the major political parties handle the issue of slavery between the Missouri Compromise (1820) and the Mexican-American War (1846-1848)?
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They avoided the issue if at all possible.
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What helped tie the sections of the United States into a single national market?
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extensive development in transportation and communication
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What MOST spurred economic growth in the North in the 1850s?
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urbanization and industrialization
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What had become the most profitable product of the South by 1850?
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cotton
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What percentage of Southern white families owned slaves in 1860?
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25%
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The Wilmot Proviso would have
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banned slavery from all territory acquired from Mexico.
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What was the primary platform of the Free Soil Party in the election of 1848?
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Slavery should be barred from all territories.
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How was the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 received by African American communities in the North?
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with terror, as they believed every African American was subject to slavery
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The American Party was founded early in the 1850s to
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oppose continued admission of Catholic immigrants
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When he proposed to divide Nebraska Territory into two territories, Stephen Douglas expected popular sovereignty to
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result in one slave state and one free state.
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The New England Immigrant Aid Company
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sent settlers to Kansas to vote against slavery in the territory.
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Why was the first popular sovereignty vote in Kansas so one-sided in favor of slavery?
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Proslavery advocates from Missouri cast fraudulent votes in the election.
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What created the uproar in the North in reaction to Judge Roger B. Taney's decision in the Dred Scott case?
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Dred Scott was not a citizen because he was black.
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What policy regarding slavery did President Abraham Lincoln state in his first inaugural address?
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leaving slavery alone in the South
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What did delegates to South Carolina's secession convention cite as their reason for leaving the Union?
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A president who denied the right of property in slaves had been elected.
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Who were the "cooperationists" during the secession crisis?
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residents of the Upper South who agreed to remain in the Union if the US cooperated with remaining slave states
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What was President Abraham Lincoln's response to the Confederate capture of Fort Sumter?
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He called for 75,000 volunteers to put down a "combination of individuals" in South Carolina.
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When hostilities began between Union and Confederate forces in April 1861, most Americans
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thought the war would last only a few months.
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To what does the term "contraband" refer?
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runaway slaves in Union custody
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In general, what strategy characterized the Confederate military effort during the Civil War?
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a defensive strategy, hoping to wear down the North
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The first real test of Union and Confederate arms came in July 1861 at the Battle of
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First Bull Run.
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Who was selected to serve as president of the Confederate States of America?
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Jefferson F. Davis of Mississippi, a moderate
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What was the most consistent source of tension in Confederate government?
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states' rights
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What was the South's GREATEST military advantage?
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its defense of its own territory
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To win the Civil War, the North had to
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defeat the armies and occupy the territory of the Confederacy.
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What motivated most Confederate soldiers to serve in the army?
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protecting their homes from Yankee invaders
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What motivated most northern men to serve in the Union army?
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patriotism and preservation of the Union
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In what battle did General George McClellan's army stop General Robert E. Lee's first invasion of Maryland in 1862?
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Antietam
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What events in July 1863 made that the pivotal month in the outcome of the Civil War?
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Confederate losses at Gettysburg and Vicksburg
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Where did General Robert E. Lee surrender the Army of Northern Virginia to General U. S. Grant effectively ending the Civil War?
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Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia
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Identify HARPERS FERRY To earn full credit, answer the questions who?, what?, when?, where?, and why it is important to American History for the item.
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Harpers Ferry was the town in western Virginia where John Brown planned and attempted to execute a rebellion on October 16,1859. Brown had planned to invade a federal arsenal and distribute ammunition to local slaves. Brown and his followers successfully seized the armory, then spread over the countryside to free slaves and hold slaveowners as prisoners. Contrary to his plans, however, the slaves did not take up the ammunition and rise to fight for their freedom. The federal military was sent to put a stop to the Harpers Ferry rebellion; they surrounded then captured Brown at the arsenal. Brown's capture marked the end of his rebellion, and the nation's initial reaction was condemnation and embarrassment. However, soon the northern view changed from dismay to admiration - after his dignified behavior during his trial continued until he was hung at the gallows, many people were moved to sympathy . The change caused the South to become enraged and sparked the response that they could not live under a government that regarded Brown as a Christian martyr rather than a murderer.
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Identify THIRTEENTH AMENDMENT. To earn full credit, answer the questions who?, what?, when?, where?, and why it is important to American History for the item.
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After President Lincoln's emancipation, there was still a need to resolve any possibility of the resurgence of slavery. The proposed 13th Amendment to the Constitution outlawed slavery forever; Congress passed the amendment in January 1865. By the fall, most slaves had been emancipated as states were readmitted into the Union. The Thirteenth Amendment further sealed the process, liberating the slaves in Kentucky and promising to keep slavery out of our nation forever.
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Using everything you have learned in this module, answer the following question: Describe how America's westward movement in the period 1820-1860 contributed to the tensions that led to the Civil War.
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America's westward movement in the period 1820-1860 was not the cause of the Civil War, but it exaggerated existing problems (with slavery) and forced the nation to acknowledge the issue by presenting more states. The expansion was accompanied by the need to decide whether the new states would be slave states or free state, causing a resurgence of the debate over slavery. Both the North and the South wanted to obtain more states (and legislative power). This struggle to gain states as the west expanded boosted the intensity of the slavery/aboliton divide, contributing to the causes of the Civil War.
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