Reference no: EM133584620

Assignment:

Answer the following questions:

1. What was the place of women in American society between 1815 and 1860, especially with reference to the legal concept of coverture and social expectations placed upon women? How did class and changes in the class order shape the lives of women?
2. Describe "companionship marriage." In what ways might have "companionship marriage" improved the status of women?
3. What were the ways that class changed in America between 1815 and 1860? How did the upper and middle classes live? How did that differ from the lower classes, especially factory and mill workers who were wage workers?
4. How was education and childhood different for upper and middle class children compared to lower class children?
5. Describe the Waltham-Lowell System that influenced the early textile industry in the United States. How did it work? What was its primary labor force?
6. How did transportation change in the United States between 1815 and 1860? What was the role of new technology in transportation improvements? What was the role of government?
7. Why did the Erie Canal make New York City the nation's most economically important city?
8. Why did slavery decline in northern states after 1780? What sorts of laws did northern states pass with respect to slavery? How did companies located in the northern states profit from slavery in the South?
9. How did slavery become even more important in the South between 1815 and 1860? What was the role of the cotton gin and cotton in making slavery more profitable in the South?
10. Discuss the arrival of large numbers of Irish and German immigrants to the United States between 1840 and 1860. Why did these groups of immigrants come to the United States in such large numbers? Where did they tend to settle? What sorts of jobs did they tend to take? How were they treated?
11. How did many of the Founding Fathers view the idea of democracy? How did that change between 1820 and 1840?
12. How did ordinary men come to participate more in politics between 1820 and 1840? What trends showed that ordinary Americans were often critical of elites during this period?
13. Describe the Missouri Compromise. How was it a compromise on slavery and westward expansion? In what ways did it leave disagreements between the North and South unresolved?
14. What transpired in the 1824 election? Why did Andrew Jackson and his supporters consider John Quincy Adam's victory the result of a "corrupt bargain"?
15. In what ways was the election of 1828 a contentious election? Why was Jackson's victory seen as a victory for the common man?
16. In his view, how did Andrew Jackson defend the interests of common people as president in controversies such as the Nullification Crisis, the Eaton Affair and the debate over the Second Bank of the United States?
17. How did the Eaton Affair show that women could play an important role in politics? Why did Andrew Jackson side with Peggy Eaton and what were the political results?
18. Why did the Nullification Crisis occur? What were the main issues involved? How did Andrew Jackson resolve this crisis peacefully and preserve the Union?
19. How did Andrew Jackson play a key role in both the rise of the Democratic party and the Whig party?
20. Why did the Panic of 1837 take place? What impact did it have on the American economy?
21. How did the Whigs win the election of 1840? Why were the unable to implement much of their political agenda in the aftermath of the election?
22. What sorts of prejudices did African-Americans and Catholic immigrants face between 1820 and 1840? How was this reflected in the politics of this period?
23. Why did cotton become such an important crop in the nineteenth century?
24. What types of technology contributed to the growth of cotton in the 19th century?
25. Why did the free and non-free population of the South grow so rapidly in the 19th century?
26. Why was the South so resistant to change (particularly economic change) in the 19th century?
27. How did "King Cotton" impact the institution of slavery in the American South?
28. What forms of "resistance" existed for slaves in the antebellum South?
29. How did cotton (and the technologies that went along with cotton) contribute to the creation of southern cities in the 19th century?
30. How did cities complicate the traditional social order of the South?
31. Describe the (broad) characteristics of slave culture(s) in the antebellum South.
32. In what ways were concepts of honor and violence inextricably bound in the 19th-century South? How did the concept of honor differ based on gender and race?