AP/IB US HISTORY - Mr. Ludlam

ASSIGNMENT SHEET #8: American Character and Culture, 1800 - 1850

AMERICAN PAGEANT: Chap. 14,15, 16 Read pp. 287-347, 362-366

Pair up with a partner for a presentation by choosing ONE topic, and presenting it for discussion in class.

First come - first served for topic choices. Answer the SQH. Why is it important! Think Significance!

All necessary information is in the textbook!

Your goal is to inform the class of the 6 most important things someone should know about the topic.

Try to connect to other topics if applicable.

Student Work

  • Complete Flow map – use as a guide for class presentation
  • Answer the appropriate question(s) and incorporate into presentation
  • Presentations and information must meet the standards of the class for interest, usefulness, and thoroughness.
  • Presentation times must be between 3-5 minutes. Time penalties will be assessed. (Practice)
  • All students are responsible to know all the information. Bad presentations hurt the entire class.

Presentations begin and end 10/29,30 – 10/26,27 will be a preparation days – bring your book

TOPICS

  1. Westward movement, pioneers, frontier life
  2. Nativism
  3. Workers and labor
  4. Transportation of goods and people
  5. Religion, Second Great Awakening, Mormons
  6. Reform of prisons and asylums
  7. Women’s rights movement
  8. Science, naturalists, medicine
  9. Communication
  10. Mechanization, Manufacturing, inventions
  11. Immigration - Irish and German
  12. Women's roles at work and home
  13. Literature and writers (not transcendentalists)
  14. Transcendentalism and transcendentalists
  15. Education
  16. History and historians
  17. Prohibition and temperance
  18. Utopias
  19. Art and music
  20. Abolitionism

THEMATIC LEARNING OBJECTIVES (TLO)

  • American and National Identity (NAT)
  • Politics and Power (POL)
  • Work, Exchange, and Technology (WXT)
  • Culture and Society (CUL)
  • Migration and Settlement (MIG)
  • Geography and the Environment (GEO)
  • America and the World (WOR)

KEY THEMES

  • Development of American character and culture
  • Growth of reform movements
  • Expansion of American democratic ideals
  • Creation of the market economy

QUESTIONS: think about and answer - These should be addressed in the presentations

  1. What does Emerson mean by his quote on the West on p. 287?
  2. What conclusions can be drawn from the demographic map on p. 290?
  3. Why was America attractive to European immigrants?
  4. Compare and contrast the quotes on pp. 292-293.
  5. Why did Catholicism alarm nativists?
  6. What was the relationship between land, labor, and the factory system in the US?
  7. How did the principle of interchangeable parts influence mass-production?
  8. Compare and contrast the pictures on pp. 304, 306, 309. How is the workplace changing?
  9. Describe the “cult of domesticity”.
  10. How did the steamboat revolutionize transportation in the US? What effect did this have?
  11. What do the maps on p. 313 have in common? What conclusion can you draw from this?
  12. What was the economic relationship between the North, South, and West?
  13. How did the market economy transform the daily life of most Americans?
  14. What is the meaning of Emerson’s quote on p. 320?
  15. Why did a greater interest in reform develop during the time period of 1820-1860?
  16. Compare and contrast the key ideas behind the First and Second Great Awakenings.
  17. How did religious diversity reflect Americanism?
  18. How did the idea of free public education connect with the rights and duties of citizenship?
  19. How did Dorothea Dix influence the reform movement?
  20. What did leaders of the temperance movement believed would be gained by banning alcohol?
  21. How did the Seneca Fall Convention launch the women’s rights movement?
  22. What conditions led to the establishment of many utopias during this time period?
  23. How did the art of the time period reflect American culture and character?
  24. What did the literature of the time period reflect about American culture and character?
  25. Who among the many writers listed would you want to read and/or learn more about? Why?
  26. Why were women prominent in many diverse reform movements in the US during this time?
  27. How were abolitionists able to grow in influence? What methods were most effective?

Practice

  • Describe the key ideas in the Varying Viewpoints section from Chapter 15.
  • Choose any three topics and explain the effect each had on the development of American character and culture.
  • Explain the relationship between reform movements in the US and its democratic ideals?
  • Quiz and DBQ on the information from this sheet and student presentations