Reconstruction, III

1. On what grounds were impeachment proceedings against Andrew Johnson begun?
2. What was the result of the impeachment trial in the House and Senate?
3. From the section "The Heritage of Reconstruction," what is the legacy of Reconstruction? Sum it up. Success? Failure? Both?

Daniel Inouye, 1924-2012

The second longest-serving Senator in U.S. History and decorated WWII veteran Daniel Inouye has passed away.

Reconstruction, II

For your consideration:

1. What "shocked" and "disgusted" Republicans in Congress in December, 1865?
2. The abolition of slavery through the 13th Amendment put an end to the 3/5 Compromise. Why, then, would many Republicans be concerned about the political consequences of this new reality after the war?
3. What made a clash between Congress and the President inevitable?
4. What does the 14th Amendment do? Why did Republicans push for it even though they had passed a Civil Rights Bill?
5. What happened in the fall of 1866 that really began Congressional Reconstruction? (Politics!)
6. Who was Thaddeus Stevens?
7. What did The Reconstruction Act do?
8. What were the new conditions for readmittance to the Union laid down by Congress?
9. What was the purpose of the Fifteenth Amendment?
10. Who were the Redeemers?
11. Define: The Union League
12. Define carpetbaggers and scalawags

STOP AT "THE KU KLUX KLAN"

Reconstruction, I (465-472)

1. What were the four large questions that faced the nation after the Civil War?
2. What were some other questions? (Apart from the big four.)
3. Summarize the range of reactions to Emancipation across the South, on the part of former slaves and masters, from pages 466-469
4. Define The Freedmen's Bureau. What were its successes and failures?
5. "[Andrew Johnson] was the wrong man in the wrong place and the wrong time." Explain.
6. Define: 10 percent plan, Wade-Davis Bill, Black Codes

The Civil War, III

Some questions:

1. What does Kennedy mean with the lines "...his death could not have been better timed if he had hired the assassin."
2. Why, over time, did many Southerners come to believe that Lincoln's death was a disaster for the South?
3. Reading the section "The Aftermath of the Nightmare," what to you are the most important legacies/consequences of the war? Be specific.
4. When watching films in class, which do you prefer: taking notes on your own, or completing questions that I have prepared in advance (Movie Sheets)? Why? Which is more enjoyable, and, more importantly, which helps you learn best?

The Civil War, II

1. Why were the battles of Gettysburg and Vicksburg so important?
2. What was Sherman's March?
3. Who were the Copperheads?
4. Describe the presidential election of 1864. Key issues, players, etc.
5. Describe the fighting between Grant and Lee at the close of the war.

The Civil War, I

Tonight's reading opens right where the film ended, on the eve of the First Battle of Bull Run (Manassas). This was the first major battle of the war, and confirmed for many observers that it was going to be a long  and bloody conflict, not the 90 day war that many had hoped for.

Here are some questions from your reading on 435-445:

1. What were the major consequences of the First Battle of Bull Run? (436)
2. Who was George McClellan, and what were his major strengths and weaknesses as a commander? (436-437)
3. What are some of the ironies of Lee's successful Peninsula Campaign (437-438)?
4. What were the six components of the Union's Total War plan? (438, above "The War at Sea")
5. What is "blockade-running"? (438)
6. Describe the historical importance of the battle of Antietam, with a particular focus on its relationship to the Emancipation Proclamation (440).
7. Explain this quote from page 441: "..where he could he would not, and where he would, he could not."
8. What helped convince many Northern soldiers of the necessity of ending slavery? (441)
9. What did the 13th Amendment do?
10. How did the Emancipation Proclamation change the war? (441-443, "public reactions" to "blacks battle bondage")
11. Describe the role of both slaves and freedmen (former slaves) in the war effort, North and South (443-444).

Historiography

Girls,

Instead of a long reading about Civil War historiography, I've decided to assign the Wikipedia entry on historiography. To be more specific, I'm assigning the first paragraph of the Wikipedia entry on historiography. You may read more if you'd like, but not less (the second paragraph begins "The research interests...," so stop there).

I need to be sure you know what historiography is. If you really don't get it, please come see me.

Take a Breather, Girls.

No homework tonight. Take a break and we'll slow down a little next class (Friday and Monday) so we can do some contextual stuff.  I'll change up the Assignment Page accordingly. Do some Yoga or something. Here is an enjoyable video of baby sloths:

Towards the War, I

We shift gears again tonight, this time towards national politics in the 1840s and 1850s. Here are some questions, for your consideration:

1. What is Manifest Destiny?
2. What was the Liberty Party?
3. How did the Mexican-American War breakout?
4. What were Lincoln's spot resolutions?
5. What was the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo?
6. Who were the Conscience Whigs
7. What was "most ominous of all" about the Mexican-American War?
8. What was the Wilmot Proviso?

"The Burdens of Bondage"

Enjoy your Thanksgiving Break! Here are some questions for the next reading, 348-357:

1. In what ways did slaves resist their masters?
2. How did slave rebellions affect the psychology of the South?
3. Define: American Colonization Society
4. What motivated the early Abolitionist movement?
5. Who was William Lloyed Garrison?
6. Define: American Anti-Slavery Society
7. Who was Frederick Douglass?
8. What were the intellectual arguments behind Southern defenses of slavery?
9. How did the growing Abolitionist movement complicate politics in the North?

"The South and the Slavery Controversy," I

Tonight you read about the rapid expansion of slavery in the Deep South in the 19th century. Here are some questions, for your consideration:

1. Why was the Deep South called the Cotton Kingdom?
2. What role did cotton play in the economic relationship between Great Britain and the United States?
3. Describe the "Planter Aristocracy."
4. Why was the plantation system economically unstable (consider everything from "slaves of the slave system" to "the white majority").
5. Read the section called "The White Majority": what does it tell you about Southern Society before the Civil War? Do the statistics change any of your previously held assumptions?
6. Who were the so-called "mountain whites"?
7. Look at the maps that show the growth of slavery from 1820-1860. Jot down your observations.
8. Describe the social spectrum of free blacks in the United States, North and South. 

THERE WILL NOT BE A READING QUIZ ON TUESDAY.

Don't forget about your Missouri Compromise maps! A map quiz in which I ask you to identify the  24 states in 1821 and which are slave and free is on the horizon, as in, Tuesday!

A Simple Question: 232-238

All you need to do for homework tonight, girls, is be able to explain the Missouri Compromise. I'll fill in the holes in class.

Here is the map of the slave trade from class:

Colonial Slavery

Here are some questions from 62-70:

1. Where did most of the 11 millions Africans who were brought to the New World as slaves end up?
2. What happened in the 1680s that made slavery more entrenched in the British colonies?
3. What is The Royal African Company?
4. Where did most slaves in North America come from?
5. What is the middle passage?
6. What are the slave codes?
7. What were some distinctions between slavery in the Deep South and slavery in Virginia?
8. What made slavery in the Chesapeake region unique among slave societies in history?
9. How was Colonial Southern society structured?

Here is the video from Class:
http://youtu.be/xzDAbXQbEzM

Rick Perry

for anyone that was in my class today... this is the guy who i was talking about
(i knew it wasn't rick santorum!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PAJNntoRgA

"The Silence"

Your first reading in Unit 2 comes from Joseph Ellis' Pulitzer Prize-winning Founding Brothers. In a chapter he calls "The Silence," Ellis writes about the first debates over slavery in Congress, in 1790. For this reading, there will be no questions. Find somewhere comfortable and quiet to read this, make notes in the margins if you like, but above all, come to class next week ready to talk about this. If it becomes clear to me that people have not held up their end, we will have a quiz.

Click here for the reading, and please print it out and bring it to class.

Review Sheet for Unit 1

Get your Unit 1 Review Sheet, right here.

'A' Day: Test on Tuesday
'B' Day: Test on Wednesay

Last Reading of Unit 1!

First of all, as part of your homework, I'd like for you to begin organizing your notes and documents. Make sure you have everything, and bring everything to class. Here are some questions from the reading:

1. Describe the Election of 1800. What happened? Was it important? Why? Why did Jefferson refer to it as a revolution?
2. Why did Napoleon suddenly decide to sell Louisiana?
3. Why did Jefferson find it so hard to accept the deal for Louisiana?
4. Why was the Louisiana Purchase so significant?
5. What was the Corps of Discovery?

The 1790s Draw to a close.

Your reading is quite short, so no specific questions. Review the parties (handy chart helps), and get a sense of the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions.

From Washington to Adams: 190-197

There is a lot going on in this reading, folks. So pay attention and get after it. Here are some questions for your consideration:

1. Go back to Washington's Neutrality Proclamation. What was happening globally that forced Washington's hand?
2. Define: Jay's Treaty. Pay particular attention to why it was so controversial.
3. Define: Washington's Farewell Address. What precedent did Washington establish for future presidents?
4. Why did things get so nasty politically after Washington's departure?
5. What were the issues in the campaign of 1796?
6. Define: The XYZ Affair. Why were the French so angry with the USA in the first place?
7. Adams could have become a Federalist superstar if he had pursued war with France. What held him back?
8. Define: Alien Laws and Sedition Act.

The Emergence of Political Parties, and The New Nation, Continued

Check out the video above for an explanation of what happens in a tie in the electoral college. Here are some questions for your consideration, from 186-191:

1. How did the first political parties take shape? Who were the major figures and issues around which parties were formed?
2. What were the first parties called?
3. How did the French Revolution affect American politics? How did the two parties view it?
4. Washington wanted to stay out of European conflict, but what made that very difficult for him to do?
5. What was the Neutrality Proclamation, and who was Edmond Genet?

Launching the New Ship of State: 181-184



Not a president...but



Here are some questions for your consideration:

1. How are amendments to the Constitution proposed?
2. What is the Bill of Rights? What are some things it/they does/do?
3. What was the point of the 9th Amendment?
4. How did Hamilton plan on reviving public credit and what is assumption?
5. How can debt be a good thing? Put this into the context of your reading.
6. What is a tariff? What is an excise tax?

Ratifying the Constitution: 174-178

S-T-E-E-L-E-R-S!

Here are some questions for the nest reading, found on pages 174-178:

1. How did the federalists convince some anti-federalists to support ratification of the constitution? Give an example.
2. Define: The Federalist.
3. Elaborate on the section titles "A Conservative Triumph." What does this mean? Think of question 6 from the last reading.
4. How was the principle of republican government preserved in the United States Constitution?

"We, the people..."

Your next reading takes you into the Constitutional Convention, convened for the express purpose of revising the weak Articles of Confederation. What happened, of course, was something much more than that. Here are some questions for your consideration from pages 170-174:

1. What was the Virginia Plan?
2. What was the New Jersey Plan?
3. What was the Great Compromise?
4. How did the common law legal tradition influence the length of the Constitution? How is this different from other constitutions?
5. How did the institution of slavery impact the making of the Constitution?
6. In what ways is the Constitution essentially a conservative document (as in, not radical), and in what ways was it innovative? How did it attempt to resolve the tensions left over from the Revolution? To reconcile with the Spirit of '76?
7. What was the main point of disagreement between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists?

America's First Constitution

Remember that we didn't finish our discussion about the radicalism of the American Revolution. Keep thinking about it! Here are some questions from the reading, 162-165 and 167-170:

1. So, you're at this party and you find yourself in a discussion about the Articles of Confederation. What the heck is that?
2. What was the argument over Western lands about? How did this delay ratification of the Articles?
3. What were the biggest problems with the Articles of Confederation? In what way was the Articles government not up to the challenges facing the new nation?
4. Define: Shay's Rebellion
5. What was the defining issue that "touched off the chain reaction that led to a constitutional convention?" Can you elaborate? (168-169.)
6. Who was the chairman of the Constitutional Convention?
7. Describe the delegates at the convention. What were they like?

How Radical was the Revolution?

This radical?

Please remember to review Common Sense before next class. If you didn't get a chance to do so in class, please mark the passages that stick with you about arguing for separation. That is what we will start with.

We are skipping over the military history of the Revolution, so that we can start to talk about what it actually did. The answer may not be as clear as you think. Here are some questions for your consideration:

1. What effect did the Loyalist departure have on the new United States?
2. What evidence does your book present to show that society was really changed by the Revolution?  This is a big question and you can look on pages 158 and 159 for answers. Think how broad the term society is. Think about slaves and women, lower classes and upper classes. Be prepared to devote several sentences to this answer.
3. What innovation did Massachusetts add to the flurry of constitution making in the states?
4. What was different about the American conception of constitutions and the British one?
5. Why did many state legislatures move their capitals westward? Do you think this is important?
6. What were the economic drawbacks of the Revolution? How did Britain react?
7. What were the biggest economic problems facing the country?
8. "Prospects for erecting a lasting regime were far from bright." Elaborate; provide context.

Common Sense Revolution: 134-142

T-Paine!

Your reading opens in early 1776, when the rebellion was still contained in New England. It is really important to remember that not everyone in the colonies was a revolutionary, especially during the early phases of the war. Keep that in mind as you answer these questions:

1. "Why did Americans continue to deny any intention of independence"? That is to say, why were many American leaders eager to frame the Boston rebellion as a misunderstanding, and not reflective of a broader movement? What are some things that changed public opinion in favor of separation? (Two part question.)
2. What is republicanism (you should already know this)? Did everyone share Paine's vision of a republican society? Why or why not?
3. Why is the Declaration of Independence referred to sometimes as the "explanation" for independence?
4. What arguments did Jefferson set forth in the Declaration?
5. What impact did the Declaration have, at home and abroad?
6. Who was a typical Loyalist, and who was a typical Patriot (meaning what kinds of people would be one or the other, occupation, background, etc).
7. What did you learn in the section "Patriots and Loyalists" that changed your understanding of the Revolutionary War, and of American History in general?

The Road to Revolution, Continued: 122-124

Because your reading is so short, there will not be any questions. As always, be prepared for a quiz.

The Road to Revolution, Part I: Reading 1.4, 109-111 and 113-118

Your reading picks up at the end of the French and Indian War, in 1763, and mostly deals with the aftermath of that conflict in the colonies. This is big time stuff, girls, so read carefully. Here are some questions for your consideration:

1. Define: Pontiac's Rebellion
2. Define: Proclamation of 1763
3. Define: republicanism
4. Define: radical Whigs
5. Define: Mercantilism
6. Define: Stamp Act

Please try to read around these terms, too, so you get some context.

Map Work

Girls,

Your only homework is to finish your maps. You can find the instructions, here. Don't forget to include New France and New Spain. As I said in class, these are not bonus features.

Attach a separate piece of paper that summarizes your findings. What are the general features of the New England, Middle, and Southern Colonies (hint: you can find summaries in your books, but you better not plagiarize). This can be done in a few sentences.

Please feel free to use your search engines at home to find more detailed maps than the one in your books.

This is a completion grade. If you do your best to get everything on there, keep it neat, and bring it to class, you will get full credit.

Economy and Religion in the British Colonies: Reading 1.3

The next reading will take us into the 18th cenutry and look at economic and social features of the British colonies. Here are some questions for your consideration:

1. Name at least one major industry for each of the three regions (New England, Middle, and Plantation Colonies.
2. What is the triangular trade? (See map on pg. 84.)
3. Elaborate on the quote, "Yet strains appeared in this complex network as early as the 1730s" (referring to the Colonial economy).
4. What were the two most prominent "established" churches in the colonies?
5. How were the Anglican and Congregationalist churches different in the colonies?
6. In the shortest sentence possible, what was The Great Awakening?

Summer Reading Assignment

Get it while it's hot.

The Northern Colonies: Reading 1.2

We move North now, out of the so-called Plantation Colonies and into New England. This is a longer reading, so please feel free to follow the reading guide, rather than try and read the whole thing. I have tried to provide questions that I feel are the most significant from the reading (remember to STOP when you reach the second subject heading listed):

1. Where does the Protestant Reformation fit into the story of America? What does it have to do with settlement, if anything? (Think Cause and Effect.)
2. Define: Puritans, Separatists
3. What is the Mayflower Compact, and why is it significant?
4. Put this quote into context: "the beaver and the Bible were the early mainstays: the one for the sustenance of the body, the other for the sustenance of the soul" (Kennedy, 43).
5. How was The Massachusetts Bay Colony founded?
6. What did John Winthrop think of democracy? Why does this matter? Does it tell us anything about the mindset of early leaders in Colonial American society?
7. Was the New England settlers' experience with Native Americans similar to that of the Virginians, or different? How so?
8. Describe two distinct features of the Middle Colonies.

"England on the Eve of Empire": Reading 1.1

Tonight marks, for you A dayers, the start of nightly readings. (B dayers, feel free to get started.) Every night, you will come to the blog to check for reading questions, guides, and overviews. Ideally, you will read through once, annotate, and then come back to the questions. So, without further ado, here are your first set of questions, from 26-31, and 38:

1. What do you think is the connection between population growth in England and settling the New World (America) in the late 16th and early 17th centuries?
2. What is primogenture?
3. What is a joint-stock company?
4. Why is the Virginia Company charter such a significant document?
5. What is the real story of John Smith and Pocahontas?
6. Describe early Virginians' relationship with local Indian tribes.
7. What were the most significant consequences of European arrival in America for Native Americans?
8. Name three distinctive features of the Plantation Colonies.
9. PLEASE BRING COMPUTER TO FIRST DAY OF CLASS IF YOU HAVE ONE

"What makes a great photograph great?"

(Hat tip: Buzzfeed)