Discussion Questions

What ideas did the term Manifest Destiny reflect? Did it cause historical events, or was it merely a description of events? What were those events?

What groups comprised the Plains Indians? What was the cause of their growth and success during the early to mid 1800s?

Why did President Polk got to war with Mexico? Why did the war become so divisive in Congress and the country?

What issues were resolved by the Compromise of 1850? Who benefitted more from its terms: the North or the South? Why?

Did the Compromise of 1850 fail? Or would it have succeeded if the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 had either not been enacted or contained different provisions?

What were the main constitutional arguments advanced during the debate over slavery in the territories? Which of those arguments influenced Chief Justice Taney's opinion in Dred Scott?

What were the Lincoln-Douglas debates? What was Lincoln's position on slavery during the 1850s? Did it differ from that of Stephen Douglas? Explain your answer.

What was the relationship between the collapse of the Second Party System of Whigs and Democrats and the Republican victory in the election of 1860?

What is total war as it applies to the Civil War? Why was this form of war fought rather than a war against armies as the U.S. had fought in previous years? Why did the Civil War continue for as long as it did?

What was meant by "King Cotton"? Why did the South think that cotton would be their trump against the North?

What role did women play in the Civil War?

What was the impact of technology in the Civil War?

What was the battle of Gettysburg? Why was it called the turning point of the war?

What was Abraham Lincoln's strengths that allowed him to guide the North into victory and save the union? What were some of the challenges he faced in trying to conduct the war?

What was the impact and cost of the Civil War in lives, money, and changing attitudes?