american history
manifest
destiny
reading
guide—chapter 2: the nation’s beginnings
section 1: democracy, nationalism, and sectionalism: many
cultures meet
1. who became president in 1824? how was he chosen?
2. who became president in 1828? what was his party?
3. what state was andrew jackson from? what indian tribes
did he fight against in 1814 and 1818?
4. what did the indian removal act do?
5. who was jackson’s vice president during his first term?
what state was he from?
6. what was nullification? how did jackson and calhoun feel
about it?
7. why did jackson hate the bank of the united states? what
did he do about it?
8. who formed the whig party? when? what did they
stand for?
9. what effects did jackson’s presidency have on the u.s. economy?
10. what was the ‘log cabin campaign’ about?
reading guide—chapter 2: the nation’s beginnings
section 2: religion and
reform
1. where did the second great awakening begin? who was its
most famous preacher?
2. what new denominations (types of churches) formed during the
second great awakening?
3. what were the church of jesus christ of later-day saints
usually known as? why were they persecuted?
4. where did the mormons go to set up their own communities?
5. why did many protestant americans distrust catholics?
what country did many catholics immigrate to america from in the 1840s?
6. who led the campaign to reform the treatment of the mentally
ill in the mid-1800s?
7. how did some reformers want to change prisons in the 1800s?
8. what did the temperance movement want? why? in
what state did they have their first major success?
9. who led the movement to create tax-supported public
schools? how and why did he do this?
10. why did some people oppose public schools? in what part
of the country did they become most widespread?
reading guide—chapter 2: the nation’s beginnings
section 3: the
antislavery movement
1. by 1804, all states north of ____________________ had
passed laws gradually ending slavery. in the year
__________________ it became illegal to import slaves to america.
2. what were spirituals? why were they important to slaves?
3. what did nat turner do? how did the south respond?
4. what was the underground railroad? what were
‘conductors?’
5. who was the ‘black moses?’ where did that name come from?
6. what were abolitionists?
7. who was frederick douglass? what did he say the fourth
7. who was frederick douglass? what did he say the fourth
of july meant to a slave?
8. what is civil disobedience? who wrote a famous essay
about it?
9. why did some southerners say slavery was good—even better than
wage labor in a factory?
10. what was the gag rule? which former president tried to
amend the constitution to outlaw slavery?
reading guide—chapter
2: the nation’s beginnings
section 4: the women’s movement
section 4: the women’s movement
1. what two groups did sarah grimké and her sister
angelina grimké weld demand greater rights for?
2. what were some ways women were unequal to men in the early
1800s?
3. who was sojourner truth?
4. in what ways did factory work give young women some
independence?
5. what did many women reformers compare their lack of rights to?
6. how did elizabeth cady stanton change her wedding vows?
7. what two women did the most to organize the seneca falls
convention?
8. what did the declaration of sentiments say?
9. what is suffrage? what two women were most famous for
working towards it in the 1800s?
10. what state passed the married women’s property act?
what did it do?
reading
guide—chapter 2: the nation’s beginnings
section 5: manifest
destiny
1. what area in the west did america share with great britain in
the 1830s and early 1840s?
2. what was manifest destiny? why did different groups
support it?
3. how far was the journey from missouri to the west coast?
how long did the trip take before railroads were built?
4. why did americans move to texas in the 1820s? how many
had moved there by 1835? who actually owned texas at that time?
5. when did texas declare its independence? where was the
first battle between the texans and the mexicans and who won it?
what battle won independence for texas? did texas become a state
at that time?
6. what did president polk promise to do after being
elected? what state was he from?
7. what country did polk agree to split oregon with? what
country did he go to war with?
8. what areas did the united states take over in the
southwest? why did some northerners oppose this?
9. where did general zachary taylor fight? what major
cities did general winfield scott capture?
10. where and when did the gold rush begin? how many people
moved to that area within five years? what were some of the
effects of the gold rush?