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Volume II - US History Sample Lessons

From Volume II—U.S. History: Particulars and U.S. Presidents Examples


U.S. Civil War 1 (1861-1865)

1. By the mid-1800’s, the U.S. was badly div_____. The No____ and the

So____ strongly disa_____ about questions of sta___’ ri____, of

ownership of sl____, and of whether sl_____ should be le____ in the new

territ_____ as the U.S. expa____.


  1. The Question of Slavery in the New Territories-The U.S. was ex________ at this time. The Miss_____ Comp________ of 1820 had basically spl__ the Louisiana Territory in half, making sl____ ill____ in the No___, but le___ in the So___. The Comp_________ of 1850 then admitted Cal_________ as a free st___, but created a Fugi____ Sl____ Act that angered many Northerners. The Ka_____-Ne_______ Act of 1854 gave these new territories the right to ch______ slavery or not, to v____ for themselves, but this led to much violence in these areas, and tensions between the N______ and the S_______ only incr________. Then, when Abraham Li_______, a man who was generally ag______ sl_______, was el______ president in 1860, the South felt it had lost its voice in the nat_______ go_________, and several Southern states decided to sec_____ (to br____ away) from the Un_____. They formed the Conf_______ States of America and were determined to be their o___ country, and to protect the inst_______ of sl_____.


  1. The Difference Between the North and the South-The No____ was mainly ind_________, and thus had a greater ability to pr_______ weaponry and supp_______ etc. It also had more peo_____ and a more extensive ra______ system from which to m_____ supplies. The So_____ was mainly large pla_________, from which it could sell co_______ to other countries. (Fortunately, for the Union, Gr___ Br_____ had built up a huge inv______ of cot____, and thus wasn’t forced to recog______ and help out the Confe______.) It had excellent ge______--Robert E. L___ and “St_______” Jac_____ among them—and its soldiers and people were highly moti________. Eventually, the South’s l_____ of reso_______ would wear it down.


  1. Fort Sumter (1861)-The battle over Fort S_______ in So____ Car_______

marked the beg________ of the war, and when it fe___ to the Confederates,

Lincoln called for Union vol________, and thousands of young men responded. This beginning and escal_______ of the war, however, also led several southern states to sec_____ and join the Confederacy. Vir______, Ark______, North C________, and Tenn________ were now part of the Conf_________, with the west of Virginia (who opp______ sl_____) later (in 1863) breaking away to form West Vir_______, which stayed in the Union. Lincoln did, however, succeed in keeping four key bo______ st_____—Mary_____, Ken______, Misso____, and Delaware—in the Union, something which was extremely impo_______.


5. The Battle of Bull Run (1861)-Bull Run was a little creek just outside of

Was_________ D.C. The Confederates, led by General “S________”

Jac_______, won the battle, but they were still too wea_______ to move forward and att______ Washington D.C. This Confederate vic______ gave the South great conf________, but it also led President L________ to step up enlistments (to get m____ sol_______). He also appoi_______ General George McClellan as comm________ of the U_____ Army.


6. The Battles in the West for Control of the Mississippi River/Shiloh (1862)-

The Union goal in the West was to c___ the Confederacy in t____ by

gaining total co_______ of the Miss__________ River. In 1862, the Union, led

by General Ulysses S. G______, captured two Confederate fo____, F____

Henry and F____ Donelson. These victories took away the Confederates

ability to sto____ supp______ along important ri_____ routes. Soon thereafter,

General Grant narrowly avo______ a Union disa______ when the Confederates

launched a sur______ att____ at Sh_____ in Tennessee. Grant reorg______ his

tr_____ and drove the Conf__________ away, but 25,000 out of 100,000

men were ki______, wou______, or cap________. As Grant pushed toward the

Mississippi River, New Or________, the Confederacy’s most important

p______ (where supp______ come in from sea), was cap________ by a Union

fleet of 40 sh_____ led by commander David G. Farragut. The Union was

getting cl______ to achieving its g____ of cut______ the Confederacy in t____,

but it still had a ways to go.



U.S. Presidents 1 General 1797-1837

1. George W____________ 1789-1797 No Political Party

1. The Fr_____ and In_______ War (1754-1763)

2. Co__________ of all American forces during The American R__________.

3. Judiciary A____ of 1789-Created a S________ C_______.

4. First Cabinet-Thomas J__________-Sec. of S_____; Alexander Ha_______-

Sec. of Tr_______; Henry Kn____-Sec. of W____.

5. The Whi______ Reb_______ 1794-Washington sent f_____ troops to enforce f_____ t___.

6. Jay’s Tre____ 1794-Kept U.S. out of w__ with B_____, but allowed Britain access to f__ t____.

7. Established Principle of T____ L_____ by ste______ down after 2 4yr terms.

8. Great Dan____, Hor______, Surveyo_, Desi____, Colle____/Woo___/Bo___ Teeth.


2. John A_______ 1797-1801 Fed____________

1. The Treaty of Pa___-Adams, John J__, and Benjamin F_____/Established U.S. bounda___ w E_

2. Strong F________-Wanted a ce______ gov’t that was str______ than the st_____ governments.

3. XYZ Affa___-Diplomatic disr_______ by Fr_____ led to anti-French sent______ and nav____

conflicts. Adams, however, avo_____ a full-sc____ wa___.

4. Ali___ and Sedit____Acts 1798-Depo___ foreigners and made it harder for immigrants to v___

5. Not the sm______ president, notoriously fei____ and prone to ang___/Let_____ to Abigail.

3. Thomas Je__________ 1801-1809 Democratic-Republican

1. Declaration of I________-Li__, Li_____, and the P_______ of H_______ are unalienable ri____.

2. Big Enl________ Rea____ and Th_____-Loc___, Hobb__, Rousse__, Volta__, Fran_____+

3. Nullif_______-States have right to nu____, to consider vo___ any act they deem unc__________.

4. Jeffersonian Republicanism-Sma____ central government/More shared po___ to the sta___,

lower ta_____/Build the Na___/ Reduce Influence of the Ba___ of the U.S.

5. The Louisiana P______ 1803-(From F____) Dou___ the si__ of America, led to expa______.

6. Archi____, left huge Li_____, had a child with a s____, Sally He_____, was mani______ and secretive.

4. James Madison 1809-1817 Democratic-Republican

1. Father of the C_________-Law____, intellect___, writer, was integ____ to U.S. Constitution.

2. Strict Inter_____ of U.S. C________-still a big question: How strictly can it be inter_____?

3. Pushed for Judicial Rev___-Su_____ Co___ has final say on all C__________ matters.

4. The W__ of 18__-Britain challenging a y____ America by se____ sh__ and sai____ and arming

Native tr_____ to fight against/U.S. wasn’t re___ for w__./Presidential Mansion b____/Andrew J___...


5. James Monroe 1817-1825 Democratic-Republican

1. The Moncroe D_______-Early America is ex_______ and growing/This is early America telling

Europeans and world to st___ o___ of our backyard, that we’re the main p_____ in this reg___ now.

2.The Missouri C_________ (1820)-Temporarily solved s____ issue btwn N____ and S_____ by

making slavery il____ in North and le___ in South, but crumbled as new sta___ were added to U___.

3.Ambassador to F______-helped negotiate Lo________ P_________/Was Madison’s Sec. of S______.



6. John Quincy Adams 1825-1829 Republican

1. As Monroe’s Sec. of St____-JQA reached a compromise w/ Brit___ over the Or____ Territory,

transferred Fl_____ from Sp____ (Adams-Onis Treaty 1819)/main architect of the Mo______ Doctrine.

2.JQA’s defeat of Andrew Ja______ in 1824 spl___ the Democratic-Republican Party. JQA’s (and Henry

Cl____’s) faction became the Rep_________ Party and Jackson’s faction became the D________ Party.

3.JQA would go on to serve 17 years in the H_____ of R____________/Outspoken critic of sl________.

4. Highly intelligent and well-re____, very arro______ and humorless, and a skinny-d_______. JQA was

also the first president to have his ph__________ taken.


7. Andrew Jackson 1829-1837 Democrat

1. Champion of the Common Man-America is e__________ west, there are thousands+ of new

vo_____, and Jackson claims he’s o___ of the__, will champion their cau___ against big b_________.

2.Jacksonian Democracy-Refers to the rise of this move______, the champion of co________

People, and the Sp_____ System, which allows presidents to hire f____ instead of the most qua____.

3.The Kitchen Cabinet-Jackson couldn’t get along with his official c______, so he turned to other

fri______ who would often snea__ into the Presidential Mansion through the ki________.

4.In_______ Rem____ Act (1830)-As the U.S. exp_____ west at this time, there were more and

more con_______ with many N_______ A__________ tr______. In theory, this act provided mo_____ to

negotiate tre_______ with tribes; in practice, it led to the for_____ relo_________ of many tribes.

5.The Nullification Act-When South C________, upset over rising tar_____ (ta_____ on

imported/exported goods), and feeling exploi____ by the No_____, threatened to sec____ (to br_____

away) from the Uni____, President Jackson sent the U.S. N____ to enforce the tariffs. A compro_____

was agreed upon, but Jackson had made his point: the fed______ (cen______) government wasn’t to

be messed with.

6.The Bank Issue-Jackson didn’t tr_____ the Bank of the Un_____ St______, run by its president

Nicholas Biddle. He thought that it suppo______ his political nemesis (e_____), Henry C____, and he

thought that it put too much po_____ in the hands of the wea_____. Therefore, he withd______ all

gov_________ money from the bank and placed it in certain “pet banks” (banks that were, by the way,

often loyal to the Democratic Party).

7.The Expansion of the Executive Branch-Part of Jackson’s legacy was the exp________

of the Ex_________ Br______, of incr_________ the powers of the Pres_________. Many, at the time,

however, accu_____ him of acting like a k______.

Tidbits: Was notoriously fei____ and prone to fits of ang____ and fig_______; he would often

cha_______ people to a du____. Smoked, gam_______, (had his own race ho______),

Aboliti_______ mov’t began (Nat Tu______ Rebellion), Te____ Independence (The Al_____).

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