Explain the different political parties of the 1800s that we have examined since the midterm. What did they stand for? Why do the following elections stand out: 1824, 1866, and 1876? Explain what is meant by the First and Second Party Systems.
Explain the mechanics of the US slave system. Why was it so vital to the Southern economy? How did it differ in the US (Upper and Lower South)? Which way did the internal slave trade moved?
Explain the differences between field and house slaves. What were some of the best tasks? The worst? How did slaves maintain their own cultures? What role did marriage, family, and religion play in their lives?
Explain what is meant by manifest destiny. How does it tie into the market and transportation revolutions? Explain how the country expanded from East to West Coast including the major acquisitions of land, such as the Louisiana Purchase, and the contentious Congressional acts that followed.
Examine the distinctive sectional economic and societal characteristics that set the South apart from the North during the early to mid-nineteenth century. Discuss why these distinctions had not eroded over time, as some, like Thomas Jefferson, had predicted. Discuss in detail the various classes that comprised Northern and Southern societies.
Discuss the role of government and business in spurring westward migration during the early to mid-1800s.Discuss what motivated the migrants to make their westward trek, where most started, where they were headed. Was the Donner Party a political party? And how does the Gold Rush fit in?
Examine the advantages the North and South thought they had over one another at the onset of the Civil War. In your opinion, could the outcome have been predetermined? Compare and contrast the wartime hardships that different groups in the North and South faced, both those left behind and those that faced battle.
Compare and contrast A. Lincoln's Reconstruction Plan with that of A. Johnson and the Radical Republicans in Congress. What would the South have looked like if the federal government allowed for "home rule" in the South?