IB History of the Americas Topic 2 Study Guide
Nation Building and Challenges:
This section focuses on the new challenges and problems that came with independence. It explores the ways in which, and the reasons why, the countries of the region attempted to build their nations. Independent and new nations emerged; the colonial empires, with few exceptions, were gone; new world links were forged yet the colonial legacy remained. Two of the problems that confronted the new nations were how to challenge it or how to build on it. The task of building new nations opened the doors to novel ways of political, social and economic thinking and to the redefining of concepts such as nation and state.
• United States: Articles of Confederation; the Constitution of 1787: philosophical underpinnings; major compromises and changes in the US political system
• Latin America: challenges to the establishment of political systems; conditions for the rise of and impact of the caudillo rule in two countries (Rosas, Gomez, Artigas)
• War of 1812: causes and impact on British North America and the United States
• Mexican–American War 1846‑8: causes and effects on the region
• Canada: causes and effects of 1837 rebellions; the Durham Report and its implications; challenges to the Confederation; the British North America Act of 1867: compromises, unresolved issues, regionalism, effects
• Changes in the conditions of social groups such as Native Americans, mestizos, immigrants in the new nations
Related Chapters
American Pageant Chapters: 9-15
Founding Brothers
Zinn Chapters: 5-8
Charlip and Burns: 4
IB Course Companion: 2
Time Frame: 3 weeks
Concepts
Economic:
Nature of money
Taxation
Tariff
Excise
Supply and demand
Political:
“American” values:
Equality
Rights
Liberty
Opportunity
Democracy
Justice
Separation of powers
Checks and balances
Judicial review
AP Identifications and Terms-
Weekly Progress Checks***
General Terms
Locke/natural rights
Rousseau/ social contract
Montesquieu/ three branches
Declaration of Independence
State constitution features
Articles of Confederation
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
Nationalists
Newburgh Conspiracy
Shay’s Rebellion
Constitutional Convention
-causes
-deliberations
James Madison
VA and NJ Plans
Great (CT) Compromise
Three-fifths compromise
Ending of slave trade
Alexander Hamilton
Ratification dispute
Federalists
Antifederalists
The Federalist (Papers)
Bill of Rights
The Constitution
Preamble
Powers
Checks and balances
“Necessary and proper” clause
“Interstate commerce” clause
Other Chapters
Alexander Hamilton
Thomas Jefferson
Agrarianism v. industrialism
Whiskey Rebellion
Farewell Address
Alien and Sedition Acts
KY & VA Resolutions
Judiciary Act of 1801
John Marshall
Marbury v. Madison (1803)
Samuel Chase
Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819)
McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)
Additional Terms
Cabinet
Census
Constituent
Convention
Patronage
Quorum
Ratify
Speculation
Unicameral
Student Objectives:
By the end of this unit, students should be able to….
1. Assess the challenges to the establishment of political systems through analyzing conditions for the rise and impact of the caudillos
2. Address the causes and impact of the War of 1812 on British North America and the United States
3. Explain the causes and effects on the region of the US-Mexican War, 1846 48
4. Assess the causes, challenges, events, and leaders in the period (1837-67) that resulted in Canada’s confederation; the 1837 rebellions in Canada, the implications of the Durham Report, challenges to the confederation; the British North America Act of 1867: and the effects of various compromises, unresolved issues and regionalism
5. Evaluate the impact of nation-building on the social position and living conditions of Native Americans, Mestizos, African Americans and immigrants in the new nations during this period.
6. Analyze the causes/effects of the U.S. Civil War
7. Explain the changes in domestic/foreign policy in all regions of the Americas following the U.S. Civil War
Topics by region:
Canada Latin America
The impact of the War of 1812 Challenges to political systems
The causes/effects of confederation Rise and impact of caudillos
Rebellions of 1837 Juan Manuel de Rosas (Argentina)
The Durham Report Juan Vicente Gomez (Venezuela)
William Lyon MacKenzie Jose Gervasio Artigas (Uruguay)
Louis Joseph Papineau Impact of US-Mex War (Mexico)
John George Lambton Changes & conditions of Mestizoes
British North America Act of 1867 Immigration
Unresolved issues, regionalism & its effects
United States
Causes/Effects of War of 1812
Impact of US-Mexican War
Native American Removal
Westward Expansion
Jacksonian America
Major focus on U.S. Civil War (slavery, economy, abolitionists, origins of Civil War, Sectionalism, Union vs. Confederate, major battles, reconstruction)
African Americans in the Civil War and new South (legal issues, Black Codes, Jim Crow)
Presidencies of Lincoln, Johnson, and Grant (Jefferson Davis – Confederacy)