US History Chapter 10-12 Study Guide questions

25. What was meant by the "peculiar institution"?

"Peculiar institution" means that the institution wasn't odd but it was distinctive, special.

39. Describe and analyze the popularity of Shakespeare's plays in antebellum America.

Shakespeare's plays were popular in antebellum America because many shakespearean plays were irrelevant, inaccurate, and romanticized. Tragedies were rewritten with happy endings, comedies were interlaced with contemporary regional humor, texts were reworked in American dialect, and plays were abbreviated and sandwiched into programs containing other popular work of time. Shakespearean plot were so familiar that audiences enjoyed seeing them parodied in productions such as " Julius Sneezer" " Hamlet and Egglet " and " Much Ado About a Merchant of Venice ". And all social classes attended to these plays so people could somewhat intermix.

6. Why did so many Irish come to America?

The devastating Potato Famine in 1845-1849, and the Irish were very dependent on Potatoes it was their main source of nutrition.

31. What was the fastest growing class in antebellum America?

The fastest growing class in antebellum America was factory workers rather than farmers in a materialistic way. They ate better, often better clothed and housed, and had a greater access to mto consumer goods.

18. How did manufacturing change after 1812?

The first in new England textile industry, Entrepreneurs began to make use of new and larger machines driven by water power which allowed textile operations under one single roof. The factory system ( spinning thread and weaving cloth)

11. By the 1820s, how were products from the West shipped to eastern ports?

by the 1820's products from the West were shipped to eastern ports by riverboats.

4. Find St. Louis, Cincinnati, Louisville, and Pittsburgh on the map of the United States (see inside cover). Why did those cities experience much growth from 1820-1840? Which cities grew faster after 1830 and why?

centers of trade that carried farmers Midwest w/ New Orleans and through it cities or on strategic positions on Mississippi River, Buffalo, Detroit, Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Chicago River ports on Mississippi

9. What was nativism?

A defense of native born people and a hostility to the foreign born, usually combined with a desire to stop or slow immigration.

19. How many illiterate whites were in the South?

A higher proportion of whites were illiterate in the South then in any other parts of the country.

40. How common was abolitionism in the North?

Abolitionism wasn't very common in the North, even though it was a powerful force, it was only a small dissenting minority.

42. How were abolitionists divided after 1840?

Abolitionist were divided after 1840 by the call of northern disunion from the South.

41. Why did agriculture decline in the Northeast?

Agriculture declined in the Northeast because it was dependent on the products of the northwest and the eastern industry had an important market for its products in the west.

46. What fraction of black families were broken up by the slave trade?

An average slave might expect during a lifetime to see ten or more relatives sold.

28. Who was considered to be black?

Anyone with even a trace of African ancestry was considered black.

11. Who was B.D. De Bow and how did the publication of his De Bow's Review illustrate the South's problem?

B.D. De Bow was a resident of New Orleans that published a magazine advocating southern commercial and agricultural expansion. The publication of De Bow's illustrated the South's problems because he pointed out evidence of the dependency of the South on the North.

26. Which areas of the Western world still had slavery in the mid-nineteenth century?

Brazil, Cuba, and Puerto Rico still allowed slavery.

29. By 1860, what percentage of the wealth was controlled by 5% of the population?

By 1860, the percent of wealth controlled by 5% of the population possessed 50% of the wealth.

26. What had happened to worker's pay and conditions by the midi-1840s?

By the mid-1840's workers pay and conditions were deteriorated with the vast arrival of all the immigrants. There was far less social pressure to create a decent working environment for irish workers, and they began paying wages by piece rates instead of daily wage.The average work day would consist of 12-10 hour s and wages for skilled men would be $4 to $10 per week and unskilled men workers would get paid $1 to $6 a week, and women and children were always paid less then than most men, no matter what skills they had.

38. Who was David Walker and what was his message?

David Walker was a freed man in Boston that published a harsh pamphlet Walker's Appeal to the Colonial Citizens in which he declared America being more the country of the black then the whites. He talks about how they've enriched America with their hard work and how it naturally belongs more them and he declared that the slaves should cut their masters' throats, should "kill or be killed".

41. Who was Elijah Lovejoy?

Elijah Lovejoy was the editor of an abolitionist newspaper in Alton, Illinois and a repeated victim of mob violence. He was shot and killed when attacks went to go burn down his press.

33. How did the farm economy change?

Farmers began to be more commercialized, farm owners began to rely less on their families and more on hired male workers.

42. Why was farming so profitable in the Northwest?

Farming was so profitable in the Northwest because the Northeast was more into factories and manufacturing goods, and the growing national worldwide demand for farm products resulted in steadily rising farms prices, for farmers, the 1840s and early 1850s were years of increasing prosperity.

39. Who was Fredrick Douglass?

Fredrick Douglass was an escaped slave who became a leader of antislavery sentiment, he spent two years in England where they assigned great social importance to his vigour anti slavery movement. Douglass later purchased his freedom from his master in Maryland, founded an anti slavery newspaper The North Star, Douglass leadership became more influential and he made alliances with moe white antislavery leaders such as Garrison.

30. Describe the free blacks in the North.

Free blacks in the North had access to very menial jobs that paid too little to allow workers to support their families or educate their children, in bad times they had no access to any jobs at all. Blacks could not vote, could not attend public schools , could not use any of the public services available to white residents. Most blacks still preferred living in the North , how arduous it is because it still had some level of freedom compared to the South.

44. How did Free-Soilers differ from abolitionists?

Free-Soilers differed from abolitionist because they didn't all care about the actual slaves, they just wanted them gone from the territory.

5. From which two countries did most immigrants come?

From Ireland and Germany

Who were Gabriel Prosser and Denmark Vesey?

Gabriel Prosser and Denmark Vesey gathered up rebellious slaves to cause a revolt but in both occasions the plot was given away and they were stopped.

45. Why was Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin so important?

Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's cabin was so important because it brought the message of abolitionist to a whole new audience, and her novel helped inflame sectional tensions to a new level of passion.

13. What obstacles did early railroads face?

Railroads were the secondary role in the nation's transportation system.

8. Who eagerly welcomed immigrants?

Industrialists and employees welcomed immigrants because they saw it as a large supply of cheap labor, and that would help maintain their wage costs low. And political leaders in the western states and territories because that'd swell their population, thus increasing political influence of the region.

27. How did industrialization affect artisans and craftsmen, and how did they fight against changing conditions?

Industrialization affected artisans and craftsmen because they were unable to compete with the quicker and cheaper manufactured goods that factories offered. They tried to fight against the changing conditions by forming organizations and the first American labor unions.

19. Why were interchangeable parts a revolution in the factory system?

Interchangeable parts helped revolutionize watches, clock making, the manufacturing of locomotives and steam engines, and the making of many farm tools.

35. How did laws concerning free blacks change?

Laws concerning free blacks changed many occupations for them, and placed many occupants to them, forbade them to assemble without white supervision, and placed numerous other restraints on them. They were only quasi-free, and yet they had all the burdens of freedom: necessity to support themselves, to find housing, to pay taxes. Yet , great as were the hardships of freedom, blacks usually referred them to slavery.

22. Why did many Americans leave the farm to work in the factory?

Many Americans left the farm to work in the factory because each region did not have to feed itself entirely from its own farms, it could import produce from other regions. they had small, poor lands for farming and working in factories were just more beneficial for them .

14. Where did the money for building the railroads come from?

Money for building railroads came from private American investors, and local governments- states, counties, cities, towns.

36. How many members did the American Antislavery Society have in 1838?

More than 250,000 members joined the American Antislavery Society in 1838.

42. Why was music so important to slaves?

Music was very important to slaves because it relied heavily on African heritage which was very important to them , and it also helped the field hands get through the day by singing together and at times when whites were around, they'd attach relatively innocuous words to them.

14. What fraction of white southerners owned slaves?

No more then one quarter of the white southern population were slave owners.

18. How likely was it for a poor southern white farmer move up the socioeconomic ladder?

Not very likely because even with their small farms, they wouldn't have enough to produce a larger amount and to expand their operations or to even get out of debt.

12. Why did people turn to canals after 1820?

People turned to canals because they could sell larger quantities of their manufactured goods and because of the costs of transporting goods were way too expensive.

41. What was "pidgin"?

Pidgin was a simple common language that was invented by the slaves so they could understand each other, when the first generation of African slaves arrived they couldn't communicate with each other and nonetheless with white either. It's a mixture of African speech patterns incorporated into English.

21. Why did poor southern whites accept a system dominated by the wealthy?

Poor southern whites accepted a system dominated by the wealthy because they were dependent on the local plantation aristocracy for many things: access to cotton gins , market for their modest crops and livestock, credit or other financial assistance in time of need .

3. Why was short staple cotton so important and what made its profitable cultivation possible?

Short staple cotton was so important because there was a decline of the tobacco economy in the Upper South and limits on sugar, rice, and long-staple cotton. It was possible because short-staple cotton was hardier and coarser strain of cotton that could grow successfully in a variety of soils.

25. Which jobs were performed by Irish immigrants?

Since they were unskilled, they worked on the turnpikes, canals, and railroads under intolerable conditions.

45. How were slave marriages unique?

Slave marriages were unique because they did not condemn premarital pregnancy in the way that white society did, couples would live together before getting married, it was customary for couples to marry in a ceremony involving formal vows soon after conceiving a child.

43. How did slaves adapt Christianity to their own culture?

Slaves adapted Christianity to their own culture by developing their own version of Christianity, at times incorporating into it such practices as voodoo or other polytheistic religious traditions of Africa. Or they simply bent religion to the special circumstances of bondage, natural leaders emerging within the slave community rose to the rank of preacher.

38. What were some forms of popular entertainment?

Some forms of popular entertainment were theatres and public sporting events. Theatres would attracted audiences that crossed class lines. Wealthy people, middle-class people, workers and their families all could sometimes be found watching a performance of Shakespeare or a melodrama based on a popular novel or an American myth. Minstrel shows were white white actors mimicking and ridiculing african American culture. And the public sporting events were boxing horse racing, cockfighting, and others.

40. What were some of the more subtle forms of slave resistance?

Some more subtle forms of slave resistance were the refusal to work hard. Some slaves stole from their masters or from their neighboring whites, some preformed isolated acts of sabotage: losing or breaking tools or performing tasks improperly.

27. What were some of the provisions of the slave codes?

Some provisions of the slave code were the forbidity for slaves to hold property, to leave their masters premises without permission, to be out after dark, to congregate with other slaves except at church, to carry firearms, or to strike a white person, even in self defense.

2. Why were sugar, rice, and long-staple cotton of limited profitability?

Sugar, rice, and long-staple cotton became of limited profitability because they could only grow in a limited area, the coastal regions of the Southeast and mainly only rich farmers could afford to cultivate these crops.

6. Where was the "cotton kingdom" located?

The "cotton kingdom" was located in the western areas of South Carolina and Georgia, production moved steadily westward, first into Alabama and mississippi, then into northern Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas.

36. What was the "cult of domesticity"? What made it possible?

The "cult of domesticity" was a prevailing value system among upper and middle classes for women. This value system emphasized new ideas of femininity, the woman's role within the home and the dynamics of work and family. This was made possible by woman staying more at home and not needing to have a job.

20. Who were the "hill people" and what was their relationship to the commercial plantation system?

The "hill people" were the people who lived in the Appalachian ranges east of the Mississippi , in the Ozarks to the west of the River and in other "hill countries" or "back country" areas cut off from the commercial world of the plantation system.

What arguments did "native Americans" use against immigrants? Who were the "Know-Nothings"?

The "native Americans" would say that because the foreigners were willing to work at such a low wage, they were stealing jobs from the native workforce. And that the Church of Rome was gaining a foothold in American government because the Irish were establishing footholds in urban politics. The Know-nothings were the outgrowth of the strong anti-immigrant and especially anti-Roman Catholic sentiment that started to manifest itself during the 1840s.

40. What happened in the Astor Place Riot of 1849?

The Astor Place Riot happened in the astor opera house in Manhattan new york, at least 25 died and more than 120 people were injured. The riot marked the first time a state militia had been called out and had shot into a crowd of citizens, and it led to the creation of the first police force armed with deadly weapons] yet its genesis was a dispute between Edwin Forest, one of the best-known American actors of that time, and William Charles Macready a similarly notable English actor, which largely revolved around which of them was better than the other at acting the major roles of Shakespeare.

13. Which Southern mind-set inhibited industrial growth?

The Cavalier Image was the Southern mind-set that inhibited industrial growth because they had a certain perspective on what southern life should be like, they believed on traditional values of chivalry, leisure, and elegance.

7. How did the German and Irish patterns of settlement

The German and Irish patterns in America were very different. The German immigrants that had some money, and were members of family groups or or single men that settled in in the Northwest. They became farmers or went into businesses in the Western towns.The Irish would come basically with no money at all, they'd settle in the eastern cities were factory and domestic work was available. Many of them were young single women.

43. What was the Liberty Party?

The Liberty Party was intentionally a political party but never really made it to elections, and was made up of free soilers which were people trying to keep slavery out of the territories.

23. What was the Lowell System? How did it contrast with English labor conditions?

The Lowell System was a system that gave young women who weren't married a job in a factory. This was different from English labor conditions because it was heavily based on women doing the work and for women that worked in England the conditions were horrifyingly bad. In England, women would crawl on their hands and knees, naked and filthy, through cramped, narrow tunnels, pulling heavy coal carts behind them.English visitors would consider the Lowell mills a female paradise because of the clean boarding houses and dormitories they lived in being well fed, and the generous pay that was given to them.

(Introduction) How did the market, early-industrial revolution both unite and divide the nation?

The Market and early industrial revolution united the nation because American farmers were now part of the nation and and increasingly, market economy.It also divided the nation in the aspect that the North began to glorify the ideal of being labor-free while the South were becoming more defensive when it came to slavery since slavery was a main aspect in the region. And with the early-industrial boom, the North became much more profitable with its products then the south did which caused a regional diversity.

43. Explain how Northeast and Northwest were joined by economic activity and how that reality led to sectional differences.

The Northeast replied on the raw products from the Northwest and its profitable market for their produced goods in the West. This was leading to sectional differences with the South because they weren't really involved with this system that the Northeast and Northwest had acquired.

12. Why didn't the South develop industry?

The South didn't develop industry because of the great profitability of the regions agricultural system and because wealthy southerners had so much capital invested in their land and slaves that they had little left for other investments.

10. What economic relationship developed between the North and the South?

The Southerners began to realize the economic subordination of their region to the North. The South wanted to remain far more different then the North.

39. What was the Underground Railroad?

The Underground Railroad was an escape route for slaves that was lead by Harriet Tubman.

17. How might the average white southerner be described?

The average white southerner can be described as not a great planter or a slaveholder but a modest yeoman farmer.

33. Describe slavery in the cities.

The conditions of slavery differed significantly from those in the countryside, on plantations slaves had little contact with free blacks and lower class whites, and masters maintained fairly direct and effective control. In the city however a master often could not supervise his slaves closely and at the same time use them profitably, even if they slept at night in a carefully watched backyard barracks, slaves moves about during the day alone, performing errands or various kinds. Urban slaves gained numerous opportunities to mingle with free blacks and with whites.

30. How did the conditions of slaves in the U.S. compare to those in other American countries?

The conditions of slaves in the US compare to those in other American countries they had better conditions than those of some northern factory workers and considerably better than those of both peasants and industrial workers in the nineteenth century Europe. The conditions were less severe.

3. Which three factors contributed to America's population increase from 1800-1840 ?

The first reason for the substantial population growth in America was the improvements in medical health. The amount of epidemics in urban and even rural had slowly declined. The second reason was the high birth rate, in 1840 white women bore an average of 6.14 children each. And the third is immigration, it was in decline due to wars in Europe and economic crisis in the first three decade in the early nineteenth century but it rapidly revived in the beginning of the 1830's.

32. Which two new household appliances made life easier?

The first was the invention of the cast iron stove, which began to replace fireplaces as the principal vehicle for cooking and heat. And iceboxes began to become common in wealthy and middle class homes. Iceboxes were able to keep their fresh meat and dairy products fresh for several days without spoiling.

What was necessary for the American industrial revolution to occur?

The flourishment of cotton in the South.

7. Describe the increase in the number of slaves in Alabama and Mississippi.

The increase in the number of slaves in Alabama and Mississippi rose about 100,000. In Alabama between 1820 and 1860 41,000 slaves turned into 435,000 and in Mississippi 32,000 to 436,000 slaves.

How important was industry in the South? How did southern textile manufacturing contrast with total value of raw cotton?

The industry was insignificant in the South because of the booming agricultural economy. The total value of southern textile manufactures in 1860 was $4.5 million which was a threefold increase over the value of those goods twenty years before. Only about 2 percent of the valid of raw cotton exported that year.

24. Who became the laborers in the factory system after 1840, and how did working conditions change?

The laborers in the factory system after 1840 were the Irish immigrants, the working conditions changed because there were so many immigrants who were unskilled that the wages reduced vastly to the point where the Irish workers weren't able to support their families so they lived in grim conditions that endangered the health of their families.

31. How was the life of a house servant different from the field hand?

The life of a house servant was different the life of the field hand because they just had an easier life. These people lives close to the master and his family, eating the leftovers front the family table and in some cases even sleep in the "big house".

1. What was the most important development in the south?

The most important development in the South was the shift of economic power from the "Upper South" to the "lower South". The "Upper South" were the original states along the Atlantic coast, and the "lower South" were the expanding agricultural region in the new states of the SouthWest. That shift reflected above all the growing dominance of cotton in the southern economy.

20. Which new energy source was crucial to industrial expansion and how did its production increase from 1820 to 1860?

The new energy source that was crucial to industrial expansion was coal. Its production increased from 1820 to 1860 by 50,000 tons in 1820 to 14 million tons by 1860.

22. How did paternalism work into acceptance of southern society?

The paternalism worked into acceptance into southern society because it was easy to believe in , small farmers were committed to a traditional, male-dominated family structure.

24. Why did the poorest of the whites in the South exhibit little opposition to the plantation system?

The poorest of the whites in the South experienced little opposition to the plantation system because these men and women were so benumbed by poverty that they has little strength to protest.

44. How was the religious worship of slaves different from the white community?

The religious worship of slaves was different from the white community because it was often more emotional and reflected the influence of African customs and practices. Black religion was also more joyful and affirming than that of many white denominations.

5. How did the removal of Native Americans in the Southwest lend itself to cotton production?

The removal of Native Americans in the Southwest lent itself to cotton production because there was more land to plant. Many ambitious men and women rapidly relocated to uncultivated lands that became newly opened to planter settlement due to the relocation of the tribes, establishing new cotton-growing regions.

15. Considering how few southerners owned slaves, why was the south seen as a society dominated by slavery?

The south was seen as a society dominated by slavery because slaves were so crucial to the agricultural economy in the South.

16. What was the status of white women in the South and what accounted for this?

The status of a white woman in the South was mainly being a stay at home mother that were hostesses to their husbands and nurturing mothers to their children .This was accounted by the cult of honor in the region which meant in theory that southern white men gave particular importance to the "defense" of women.

17. Which two factors greatly expanded the growth of newspapers and the spread of news?

The telegraph and the rotary press

15. Why was the telegraph developed and how did it change the nation?

The telegraph was developed so that railroad stations could communicate with each other. It changed the nation with the aspect that it permitted instant communication distant cities, which tied the nation together like never before. And it helped reinforce the schism between the North and South.

16. How did the telegraph reinforce the schism between North and South?

The telegraph was developed so that railroad stations could communicate with each other. It changed the nation with the aspect that it permitted instant communication distant cities, which tied the nation together like never before. And it helped reinforce the schism between the North and South.

23. What was the true underclass of the South?

The true underclass of the south were proffered to "crackers", "sand hillers", or "poor white trash".

4. Where were the two centers of the cotton textile industry?

The two centers of the cotton textile industry where in Britain during 1820's and 1830's, and in New England during 1840's and 1850's.

9. How can the transportation system in the South be contrasted with that in the North?

There was a lack of development in other basic services and structures necessary for industrial development in the South. During the antebellum period the North had invested in in roads, canals, and above all railroads. The North had adequete funds for investing money into all these projects when the South borrowed a lot from the Northern banks for their plantations.

37. How many free blacks were in the North in 1850 and what as their condition?

There was about 250,000 free black in the North in 1850, but they lived in conditions of poverty and oppression worse than the blacks who still remain slaves in the south.

34. How many free blacks lived in the South by the start of the Civil War?

There were about 250,000 free African Americans in slaveholding states by the start of the civil war.

29. Which special burdens and authority did slave women have?

They generally labored with the men in the fields and they also did crucial chores traditionally reserved for women like cooking, cleaning, and child rearing . Black women often found themselves acting in effect as single parents. Within the slave family, therefore, women had special burdens but also a special authority.

38. What happened in the Nat Turner Revolt of 1831?

They killed sixty white men, women, and children. More than a hundred blacks were executed in the aftermath and Nat Turner's revolt creates great fear in the whites that there'd be another slave revolt.

35. Why did urban, middle-class families in the North choose to have smaller families?

Urban middle-class families that lived in the North chose to have smaller families because they thought more about the future and on making careful decisions about bearing children.

34. How did urbanization and industrialization affect home life?

Urbanization and industrialization affected home life in the aspect that there was a significant decline in the traditional economic function of the family. The urban household became less important as a center of production, instead income earners would leave home each day to work elsewhere.

21. How did wealthy merchants change their investments and why did industry arise first in the Northeast?

Wealthy merchants changed their investments from trade to manufacturing because British competitors were stealing much of Americas export trade. Industry arose first in the Northeast because there was already an affluent merchant class that existed there and had the money and will to finance them.

32. Why were white women sometimes cruel toward female slaves?

White women were sometimes cruel Towards female slaves because they resented the sexual liaisons between their husbands and female slaves. Punishing their husbands wasn't possible, so they'd punish the female slave by giving her arbitrary beatings, increased work loads, and various forms of psychological torment.

35. Who was William Lloyd Garrison and how did he differ from previous abolitionists?

William Lloyd Garrison was an abolitionist and he was different from previous abolitionists because founded the Liberator , a newspaper that was in point of view of a black man not a white man.

28. How did women fare in the new craft unions?

Women established their own protective unions and were often supported by middle-class female reformers. Female protective unions had little power in dealing with employers, but they did serve an important role as mutual aid societies for women workers.

37. What part did working-class women play in the "cult of domesticity?"

Working class women were perceived as lower class, and they were because they couldn't afford to stay home and stay home and cultivate the "domestic virtues". They continued to work in factories and mills, but they worked in conditions far worse than the original , more "respectable' women workers.

36. How much did young field hand sell for in the 1850's?

Young field hands would sell from about $500 to $1700 dollars in the 1850s.