Advanced Placement
Mrs. Gensheimer
Unit 3: Testing the New Nation
Chapters 16-21
Rationale:
The period leading up to the Civil War saw many reform movements and a growth of American culture, but it also saw the growth of its own “peculiar institution”: slavery. As cotton became King in the South, the number of slaves in the country quadrupled by 1860. As the nation expanded westward, the question over the expansion of slavery led the country down a road of increased sectionalism and conflict. The Civil War was the destination at the end of that road.
Extra Credit: Research foods from the Civil War period. Produce the food item and bring it to
class (enough for everyone to have a small portion). We will have a “tasting day.” Due: Thursday,
December 7th
Chapter 16: The South and the Slavery Controversy, 1793-1860
1. Identify the economic strengths and weaknesses of the “Cotton Kingdom.”
2. Describe the southern planter aristocracy and identify its strengths and weaknesses.
3. Describe the non-slaveholding white majority of the South and explain its relations with both the planter elite and the black slaves.
4. Describe the nature of African-American life, both free and slave, before the Civil War.
5. Describe the effects of the “peculiar institution” of slavery on both blacks and whites.
6. Explain why abolitionism was at first unpopular in the North and describe how it gradually gained strength.
7. Describe the fierce southern response to abolitionism and the growing defense of slavery as a “positive good.”
Chapter 17: Manifest Destiny and Its Legacy, 1841-1848
1. Explain the spirit of “Manifest Destiny” that inspired American expansionism in the 1840s.
2. Indicate how American anti-British feeling led to various conflicts over debts, Maine, Canadian rebellion, Texas, and Oregon.
3. Explain why the movement to annex Texas gained New momentum and why the issue aroused such controversy.
4. Indicate how the issues of Oregon and Texas became central in the election of 1844 and why Polk’s victory was seen as a mandate for ‘Manifest Destiny.”
5. Describe how the issues of California and the Texas boundary created conflicted and war with Mexico.
6. Describe how the dramatic American victory in the Mexican War led to the breathtaking territorial acquisition of the whole Southwest.
7. Describe the consequences of the Mexican War, especially its effect on the slavery question.
Chapter 18: Renewing the Sectional struggle, 1848-1854
1. Explain how the issue of slavery in the territories acquired from Mexico disrupted American politics from 1848 to 1850.
2. Identify the major terms of the Compromise of 1850 and indicate how this agreement attempted to deal with the issue of slavery.
3. Indicate how the Whig party disintegrated and disappeared because of its divisions over slavery.
4. Describe how the Pierce administration engaged in various pro-southern overseas and expansionist ventures.
5. Describe Douglas’s Kansas-Nebraska Act and explain why it stirred the sectional controversy to new heights.
Chapter 19: Drifting Toward Disunion, 1854-1861
1. Identify the major crises that led from the Kansas-Nebraska Act to secession.
2. Explain how and why “bleeding Kansas” became a dress rehearsal for the Civil War.
3. Trace the growing power of the Republican party in the 1850s and the increasing divisions and helplessness of the Democrats.
4. Explain how the Dred Scott decision and Brown’s Harpers Ferry raid deepened sectional antagonism.
5. Trace the rise of Lincoln as the leading exponent of the Republican doctrine of no expansion of slavery.
6. Analyze the complex election of 1860 in relation to the sectional crisis.
7.
Describe the movement toward secession, the formation
of the Confederacy, and the failure of the last compromise effort.
Chapter 20: Girding for War: The North and the South, 1861-1865
1. Explain how the firing on Fort Sumter and Lincoln’s call for troops galvanized both sides for war.
2. Describe the crucial early struggle for the Border States.
3. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of the North and the South as they began the war.
4. Describe the diplomatic struggle for the sympathies of the European powers.
5. Compare Lincoln’s and Davis’s political leadership during the war.
6. Describe the curtailment of civil liberties and the mobilization of military manpower during the war.
7. Analyze the economic and social consequences of the war for both the North and the South.
Chapter 21: The Furnace of Civil War, 1861-1865
1. Describe the failure of the North to gain its expected early victory in 1861.
2. Explain the significance of Antietam and the Northern turn to a “total war” against slavery.
3. Describe the role that African-Americans played during the war.
4. Discuss the military significance of the battles of Gettysburg in the East and Vicksburg in the West.
5. Describe the political struggle between Lincoln’s “Union party” and the antiwar Copperheads.
6. Describe the end of the war and identify its final consequences.
Daily Agenda
Monday, November 6–
Discuss the growth and conditions of slavery in the South. Read Human
Cattle For
Homework: Read the rest of Chapter 16.
Tuesday, November 7– Discuss the abolition movement and the Southern response. Read excerpt from The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass.
Homework: Prepare for
a quiz over Chapter 16.
Wednesday, November 8 – Quiz. Begin discussing Chapter 17. Discuss President Taylor’s administration.
Homework: Begin reading Chapter 17.
Thursday, November 9
– Discuss Manifest Destiny in
Homework: Finish
reading Chapter 17. Read President Polk Justifies the
Friday, November 10 – Finish Chapter 17 and review for test.
Monday, November 13 – Test.
Homework: Begin reading Chapter 18.
Tuesday, November 14
– Discuss
Homework: Continue reading Chapter 18.
Wednesday, November 15 – Discuss the Kansas-Nebraska Act and other sectional problems.
Homework: Prepare for a quiz over Chapter 18.
Thursday, November 16 – Quiz. Read David Wilmot Appeals for Free Soil and Southerners Threaten Secession.
Homework: Begin reading Chapter 19.
Friday, November 17 – Discuss Uncle Tom’s Cabin and its impact. Read Tom Defies Simon Legree and The South Scorns Mrs. Stowe.
Homework: Continue reading Chapter 19.
Monday, November 20–
Discuss “Bleeding
Tuesday, November 21 – Discuss the impact of Dred Scott and John Brown’s Raid.
Homework: Finish reading Chapter 19.
Wednesday, November
22 – Friday, November 24 – Thanksgiving Holidays!
Monday, November 27– Finish Chapter 19.
Homework: Prepare for a test over Chapters 18 and 19.
Tuesday, November 28 – Test.
Wednesday, November 29 – Begin discuss the Civil War chapters – the advantages and disadvantages of the North and South as the war began.
Homework: Review for a quiz over Chapter 20.
Thursday, November 30 – Quiz. Continue discussing the war. Briefly discuss foreign entanglements during the war, limitations of wartime liberties, and the draft.
Homework: Read Abraham
Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address in your Documentary History.
Friday, December 1 – In groups, create a chart that discusses the date, location, important events, generals, and victors of Objective 4 engagements.
Homework: Review for a quiz over Chapter 21.
Monday, December 4
– Quiz. Read
Homework: Read Chapter 22.
Tuesday, December 5 – Finish discussing the Civil War. Review for test.
Wednesday, December 6
– Objective Test over the Civil War.
Thursday, December 7 – Take Sample AP Exam.
Friday, December 8
– Discuss the exam and the Final Exam DBQ
Monday, December 11 – DBQ for Final Exam – taken from the material from Chapters 16-19.
Tuesday, December 12
– Thursday, December 13 – Review for Final Exam.