1. What were the different visions of America expressed by Federalists and Republicans?
2. What developments of the 1790s resulted in the rise of the Republican Party? What mistakes did the Federalists make?
3. How successful was Thomas Jefferson in living up to his republican ideals during his two terms as president?
4. What were the main causes and consequences of the War of 1812?
5. Describe three political controversies of the 1830s or 1840s that reveal key divisions among Americans regarding the future of the nation.
6. How did the annexation of Texas emerge as an important political issue? Why were the Democrats more in favor of expansion than the Whigs?
7. What conditions personified the typical lifestyle of a plantation slave?
8. How did southern whites attempt to defend slavery and reconcile it with their Christian beliefs? Why did they feel compelled to express these defenses?
9. What profound changes in slavery occurred in the period 1815-1860? What were the causes and consequences of this significant shift?
10. How can the rapid surge of American industrialism in the period of 1815-1850 be explained?
11. Describe the events that led to more of the citizens of the United States becoming abolitionists. Which religious groups were involved in decrying slavery and why? What political organizations grew out of the abolitionist movement?
12. What factors accounted for the massive westward movement of Americans?
13. Who was responsible for the outbreak of the Mexican War? Cite specific examples to support your claim.
14. Discuss the ways in which the North and South had become far different cultures in the areas of politics, economics, and social customs.
15. Write a series of letters from Abraham Lincoln to Stephen Douglas that reveals the two men's different visions of solving the nation's problems.
16. What evidence reveals that, in 1861 and 1862, Confederate generals were consistently outwitting their Union opponents?
17. In what ways were the battles of Antietam and Gettysburg turning points in the Civil War?
18. What were the vital factors that led to a Union victory in the Civil War?