Final Exam: From the U.S. Constitution to the Civil War

HIST 103 – 02

Final Exam: From the U.S. Constitution to the Civil War

Please type your answers on this document.
For section I, enter the letter of your choice on the line indicated.
For section II, type your short identification answer underneath the question.
For section III, type each of your three essays underneath the questions you are answering.

When you save the document, add your last name to the file name.

Submit the exam by posting your completed document —saved as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf file— to the assignment on Blackboard.

PART I: Multiple Choice

5 questions, 2 ½ points each

1. Why did many of the nation’s founders distrust true democracy?
   1. They believed that common people would not make smart decisions
   2. They feared that democracy would lead to racial equality
   3. The founders embraced democracy
   4. They worried that they would not win popular elections

1. How did the Second Great Awakening promote “spiritual egalitarianism”??
   1. Occasionally providing women with opportunities to openly express themselves and participate in spiritual communities
   2. Expressing equal concern for white and black people’s spiritual salvation
   3. Flouting the codes of self-restraint prescribed by upper-class elites
   4. All of the above

1. The idea of Manifest Destiny meant which of the following?
   1. The strength of American values and institutions justified moral claims to leadership
   2. Lands on the North American continent west of the Mississippi River (and later, in the Caribbean) were destined for political and agricultural development by the USA
   3. God and the U.S. Constitution ordained an irrepressible destiny to accomplish spiritual redemption and democratization
   4. All of the above

1. Why did Union soldiers feel that it was so important to defend the Union?
   1. They feared that if a minority could dissolve the agreement to Union whenever they lost a fair and open election, then the “great experiment” of the U.S. would collapse
   2. The Union represented the best hope for human rights
   3. If the Union dissolved, it would mean that a democratic people could not govern themselves
   4. All of the above

1. Which of the following statements describes the process of emancipation?
   1. African Americans took the issue into their own hands and forced the Union to create a policy to effect emancipation
   2. The First Confiscation Act provided the roots of emancipation, as Congress empowered military leaders to provide freedom to enslaved people
   3. The Thirteenth Amendment expanded on the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring slavery was illegal in all American territory
   4. All of the above

PART II: Short Identifications: Define FIVE of the following terms in two or three sentences

5 questions, 2 ½ points each

1. Haitian Revolution
2. Erie Canal
3. Nullification Crisis
4. Sarah and Angelina Grimké
5. Nat Turner’s Rebellion
6. Indian Removal
7. Fugitive Slave Act
8. Frederick Douglass
9. Contraband

10.  The Civil War Amendments

PART III: Essay Questions

3 questions, 25 points each

Choose THREE of the following questions.
Answer each of your chosen questions in an essay of 600 – 1200 words (2 to 4 pages)

Be sure to have a clear argument that you defend with relevant evidence. Organize your essay with a logical structure and use clear topic sentences and transitions to help your reader understand the logic of your response. Edit your paper thoroughly to avoid errors and to improve readability. Give your paper a title that reflects your argument.

Use assigned readings for the course to support your arguments. Cite your sources, using author, chapter or article title, and page number where available; or author, chapter and section numbers for The American Yawp.

Grading criteria:

• Argument: 25% Does your paper have a clear, singular, specific argument that answers the question?
• Evidence: 25% Do you use all of the relevant evidence to defend your argument?
• Organization: 25% Does your paper have a logical structure and use clear topic sentences and transitions?
• Clarity: 25% Is your prose efficient, crisp and polished, free of excessive passive voice or distracting spelling or grammatical errors?

1. How did slave rebellions, in the U.S. and beyond, change the life and laws of the United States? Cite specific examples.
2. How did economic change influence gender roles during the Market Revolution, and how was this related to and different from the earlier Consumer Revolution?
3. In what ways did the Second Great Awakening blend religious or spiritual ideas with social reform ideas?
4. How did white Southerners justify slavery?
5. How did enslaved people endure their oppression, or even find ways to thrive in some aspects of their lives?
6. What were some of the ways in which Native American peoples responded to the increasing dominance of the United States in North America?
7. What beliefs characterized Manifest Destiny, and what political developments reflected these ideas?
8. What were the main causes of the Civil War, why did politicians and soldiers on both sides fight, and how and why did slavery end in the United States?