Hst202, MID-TERM EXAMINATION Clark This is a take-home examination due in class Wednesday, February 10. The exam is based on readings from Foner, Chapters 9-13 and notes, lectures and videos. The purpose of this exam is to give you a chance to review and summarize your understanding of the period 1820-1861 in the history of the US. Write clearly and concisely with the goal of demonstrating your grasp of the issues and events. The exam is open book, open library, open neighbor, open mind------use whatever resources are available to you as long as the final product is your own work. Your exam should be typed (ds), footnotes/bibliography are not necessary. (75 points) Part 1: Identification: Select 5 of the following terms, charts, or documents below. Briefly explain what about this term, chart, or document needs to be understood in order to make sense of this period of time in American history. (5 points each) 1. Ostend Manifesto 5. Feminism 2. Popular Sovereignty 6. Free Labor 3. Perfectionism 7. Free Blacks 4. Nullification 8. Assume that you are a Free-Soiler. Using the cartoon below, explain your politics.
9. Briefly explain the economic and political significance of the chart below. 10. What was the social and political significance of the information on the chart below?
Part 2: Essay Questions: Answer two (2) of the following essay questions in approximately 1-2 typewritten (ds) pages each. Be sure to use examples to illustrate each of your main ideas or arguments. (25 points each) 1. In the two decades before the Civil War, public talk about the future of the nation was becoming extravagant. For example, the Philadelphia Ledger announced that, America is bounded on the East by the sunrise, North by the Arctic Expedition, and South by as far as we darn please. Meanwhile, the New York Herald struck the same note saying that, National glory---national greatness---the spread of political liberty on this continent must be the thought and action by day, and the throbbing dream by night, of the whole American people, or they will sink into oblivion. Write an essay explaining the meaning of these comments. For example, why did statesmen adopt this theme? What were the immediate consequences of this theme? Finally, in what sense did this talk lead to the national tragedy of the Civil War 2. According to Foner, the market revolution transformed and divided American society and its conceptions of freedom. Write an essay in which you explain and illustrate both of these dimensions of the market revolution. Describe the political debate that resulted from the market revolution. 3. It has been said, looking back at the effects of the Civil War that, slavery would have been safer in the Union than out of it. Explain this point considering: The Constitutional status of slavery. President-elect Lincoln s position on slavery. The number of states in the Union as of November, 1860. The method for amending the Constitution. Then explain why, in spite of these facts, a majority of Southern leaders supported secession. 4. It is January 31, 1861. You are a foreign correspondent for the London Times on assignment in Washington D.C. Secession has begun. Federal forts are under siege. President Buchanan seems unable to act and the Lincoln inauguration is over a month off. Write a report for an English readership explaining the state of affairs in the US under the headline: E Pluribus Disunion!
5. As we have seen, the fabric of national unity was sustained by compromise, stretching from 1787 through 1820 into the 1850s. Write an essay explaining why compromise was necessary, how it was accomplished (use at least two examples) and why compromise became increasingly difficult to achieve. Finally, point to two (2) forces that seem to best explain why the politics of compromise became impossible, resulting in civil war. 6. The existence of national political parties in the Second Party System seems to be the key to holding the Union together through the conflict filled 1840s and 50s. Write an essay explaining how the national political party system held the Union together and why it broke down resulting in civil war. Use the results of the 1860 presidential election shown below as evidence for your explanation. Bonus Trivia: For 1 (one) additional point each, identify the following. Please note: you must cite your sources to get credit and you must work alone!!!! 1. The oldest existing corporation in Oregon was begun in Albany on January 31, 1867. It later relocated to Portland where it resides today under what name? 2. The National Woman s Suffrage Association was organized for the purpose of opposing what? 3. Who said about woman, we too are primary existences---not the satellites of men.?
4. What is the significance of phrenologist, Dr. Josiah Nott to this period of US history? 5. The rules of baseball as we know it today were first organized and refined by Alexander Cartwright in 1845. His changes included the elimination of plugging. What was plugging? 6. Who was Natty Bumpo? 7. Whose campaign slogan was No popery and slavery? 8. The Lyceum Movement? 9. Who was Orville Babcock? 10. On June 19, 1846, in Hoboken, New Jersey, the New York Club played the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club of New York in the first officially recorded match of which a score card has been preserved. The New York Club won. What was the score?