Period 5 Key Concepts:
Students will understand/know that...
Key Concept 5.1: The United States became more connected with the world, pursued an expansionist foreign policy in the Western Hemisphere, and emerged as the destination for many migrants from other countries.
I. Popular enthusiasm for U.S. expansion, bolstered by economic and security interests, resulted in the acquisition of new territories, substantial migration westward, and new overseas initiatives.
A. The desire for access to natural and mineral resources and the hope of many settlers for economic opportunities or
religious refuge led to an increased migration to and settlement in the West. (ie. 49ers, Brigham Young, Mormons,
Marcus & Narcissa Whitman)
B. Advocates of annexing western lands argued that Manifest Destiny and the superiority of American institutions
compelled the United States to expand its borders westward to the Pacific Ocean. (i.e. John L. O’Sullivan, James K. Polk)
C. The U.S. added large territories in the West through victory in the Mexican–American War and diplomatic negotiations,
raising questions about the status of slavery, American Indians, and Mexicans in the newly acquired lands. (i.e. Treaty of
Guadalupe Hidalgo, Gadsden Purchase, “54-40 or Fight”)
D. Westward migration was boosted during and after the Civil War by the passage of new legislation promoting Western
transportation and economic development. (i.e. Homestead Act, Morrill Land Grant Act, Pacific Railway Act)
E. U.S. interest in expanding trade led to economic, diplomatic, and cultural initiatives to create more ties with Asia. (i.e.
Gentlemen’s Agreement, Open Door Policy, “Seward’s Folly”)
II. In the 1840s and 1850s, Americans continued to debate questions about rights and citizenship for various groups of U.S. inhabitants.
A. Substantial numbers of international migrants continued to arrive in the United States from Europe and Asia, mainly from
Ireland and Germany, often settling in ethnic communities where they could preserve elements of their languages and
customs.
B. A strongly anti-Catholic nativist movement arose that was aimed at limiting new immigrants’ political power and cultural
influence. (i.e. “Know Nothings”)
C. U.S. government interaction and conflict with Mexican Americans and American Indians increased in regions newly taken
from American Indians and Mexico, altering these groups’ economic self-sufficiency and cultures.
Key Concept 5.2: Intensified by expansion and deepening regional divisions, debates over slavery and other economic, cultural, and political issues led the nation into civil war.
I. Ideological and economic differences over slavery produced an array of diverging responses from Americans in the North and the South.
A. The North’s expanding manufacturing economy relied on free labor in contrast to the Southern economy’s dependence on
slave labor. Some Northerners did not object to slavery on principle but claimed that slavery would undermine the free
labor market. As a result, a free soil movement arose that portrayed the expansion of slavery as incompatible with free
labor. (i.e. Free Soil Party)
B. African American and white abolitionists, although a minority in the North, mounted a highly visible campaign against
slavery, presenting moral arguments against the institution, assisting slaves’ escapes, and sometimes expressing a
willingness to use violence to achieve their goals. (i.e. John Brown, William Lloyd Garrison, Harriet Tubman,
Underground Railroad, Frederick Douglass)
C. Defenders of slavery based their arguments on racial doctrines, the view that slavery was a positive social good, and the
belief that slavery and states’ rights were protected by the Constitution. (i.e. George Fitzhugh, John C. Calhoun)
II. Debates over slavery came to dominate political discussion in the 1850s, culminating in the bitter election of 1860 and the secession of Southern states.
A. The Mexican Cession led to heated controversies over whether to allow slavery in the newly acquired territories. (i.e.
Wilmot Proviso)
B. The courts and national leaders made a variety of attempts to resolve the issue of slavery in the territories, including the
Compromise of 1850, the Kansas–Nebraska Act, and the Dred Scott decision, but these ultimately failed to reduce
conflict. (i.e. popular sovereignty, Stephen Douglas, Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, William Seward, John C. Calhoun,
“Bleeding Kansas”)
C. The Second Party System ended when the issues of slavery and anti-immigrant nativism weakened loyalties to the two
major parties and fostered the emergence of sectional parties, most notably the Republican Party in the North.
D. Abraham Lincoln’s victory on the Republicans’ free-soil platform in the presidential election of 1860 was accomplished
without any Southern electoral votes. After a series of contested debates about secession, most slave states voted to
secede from the Union, precipitating the Civil War.
Key Concept 5.3 The Union victory in the Civil War and the contested reconstruction of the South settled the issues of slavery and secession, but left unresolved many questions about the power of the federal government and citizenship rights.
I. The North’s greater manpower and industrial resources, the leadership of Abraham Lincoln and others, and the decision to emancipate slaves eventually led to the Union military victory over the Confederacy in the devastating Civil War.
A. Both the Union and the Confederacy mobilized their economies and societies to wage the war even while facing
considerable home front opposition. (i.e. conscription, “Bread Riots”)
B. Lincoln and most Union supporters began the Civil War to preserve the Union, but Lincoln’s decision to issue the
Emancipation Proclamation reframed the purpose of the war and helped prevent the Confederacy from gaining full
diplomatic support from European powers. Many African Americans fled southern plantations and enlisted in the Union
Army, helping to undermine the Confederacy. (i.e. Antietam, 54th Massachusetts)
C. Lincoln sought to reunify the country and used speeches such as the Gettysburg Address to portray the struggle against
slavery as the fulfillment of America’s founding democratic ideals.
D. Although the Confederacy showed military initiative and daring early in the war, the Union ultimately succeeded due to
improvements in leadership and strategy, key victories, greater resources, and the wartime destruction of the South’s
infrastructure. (i.e. Battle of Bull Run, Ulysses S. Grant, Gettysburg, Vicksburg, March to the Sea)
II. Reconstruction and the Civil War ended slavery, altered relationships between the states and the federal government, and led to debates over new definitions of citizenship, particularly regarding the rights of African Americans, women, and other minorities.
A. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery, while the 14th and 15th amendments granted African Americans citizenship,
equal protection under the laws, and voting rights.
B. The women’s rights movement was both emboldened and divided over the 14th and 15th amendments to the
Constitution. (Susan B. Anthony, National Women’s Suffrage Association)
C. Efforts by radical and moderate Republicans to change the balance of power between Congress and the presidency and to
reorder race relations in the defeated South yielded some short-term successes. Reconstruction opened up political
opportunities and other leadership roles to former slaves, but it ultimately failed, due both to determined Southern
resistance and the North’s waning resolve. (Radical Republicans, Hiram Revels, carpetbaggers, scalawags,
Compromise of 1877)
D. Southern plantation owners continued to own the majority of the region’s land even after Reconstruction. Former slaves
sought land ownership but generally fell short of self-sufficiency, as an exploitative and soil-intensive sharecropping
system limited blacks’ and poor whites’ access to land in the South.
E. Segregation, violence, Supreme Court decisions, and local political tactics progressively stripped away African American
rights, but the 14th and 15th amendments eventually became the basis for court decisions upholding civil rights in the 20th
century. (i.e. black codes, KKK, Jim Crow, Plessy v. Ferguson)
Period 5 Thematic Learner Objectives:
Students will be able to…
Students will understand/know that...
Key Concept 5.1: The United States became more connected with the world, pursued an expansionist foreign policy in the Western Hemisphere, and emerged as the destination for many migrants from other countries.
I. Popular enthusiasm for U.S. expansion, bolstered by economic and security interests, resulted in the acquisition of new territories, substantial migration westward, and new overseas initiatives.
A. The desire for access to natural and mineral resources and the hope of many settlers for economic opportunities or
religious refuge led to an increased migration to and settlement in the West. (ie. 49ers, Brigham Young, Mormons,
Marcus & Narcissa Whitman)
B. Advocates of annexing western lands argued that Manifest Destiny and the superiority of American institutions
compelled the United States to expand its borders westward to the Pacific Ocean. (i.e. John L. O’Sullivan, James K. Polk)
C. The U.S. added large territories in the West through victory in the Mexican–American War and diplomatic negotiations,
raising questions about the status of slavery, American Indians, and Mexicans in the newly acquired lands. (i.e. Treaty of
Guadalupe Hidalgo, Gadsden Purchase, “54-40 or Fight”)
D. Westward migration was boosted during and after the Civil War by the passage of new legislation promoting Western
transportation and economic development. (i.e. Homestead Act, Morrill Land Grant Act, Pacific Railway Act)
E. U.S. interest in expanding trade led to economic, diplomatic, and cultural initiatives to create more ties with Asia. (i.e.
Gentlemen’s Agreement, Open Door Policy, “Seward’s Folly”)
II. In the 1840s and 1850s, Americans continued to debate questions about rights and citizenship for various groups of U.S. inhabitants.
A. Substantial numbers of international migrants continued to arrive in the United States from Europe and Asia, mainly from
Ireland and Germany, often settling in ethnic communities where they could preserve elements of their languages and
customs.
B. A strongly anti-Catholic nativist movement arose that was aimed at limiting new immigrants’ political power and cultural
influence. (i.e. “Know Nothings”)
C. U.S. government interaction and conflict with Mexican Americans and American Indians increased in regions newly taken
from American Indians and Mexico, altering these groups’ economic self-sufficiency and cultures.
Key Concept 5.2: Intensified by expansion and deepening regional divisions, debates over slavery and other economic, cultural, and political issues led the nation into civil war.
I. Ideological and economic differences over slavery produced an array of diverging responses from Americans in the North and the South.
A. The North’s expanding manufacturing economy relied on free labor in contrast to the Southern economy’s dependence on
slave labor. Some Northerners did not object to slavery on principle but claimed that slavery would undermine the free
labor market. As a result, a free soil movement arose that portrayed the expansion of slavery as incompatible with free
labor. (i.e. Free Soil Party)
B. African American and white abolitionists, although a minority in the North, mounted a highly visible campaign against
slavery, presenting moral arguments against the institution, assisting slaves’ escapes, and sometimes expressing a
willingness to use violence to achieve their goals. (i.e. John Brown, William Lloyd Garrison, Harriet Tubman,
Underground Railroad, Frederick Douglass)
C. Defenders of slavery based their arguments on racial doctrines, the view that slavery was a positive social good, and the
belief that slavery and states’ rights were protected by the Constitution. (i.e. George Fitzhugh, John C. Calhoun)
II. Debates over slavery came to dominate political discussion in the 1850s, culminating in the bitter election of 1860 and the secession of Southern states.
A. The Mexican Cession led to heated controversies over whether to allow slavery in the newly acquired territories. (i.e.
Wilmot Proviso)
B. The courts and national leaders made a variety of attempts to resolve the issue of slavery in the territories, including the
Compromise of 1850, the Kansas–Nebraska Act, and the Dred Scott decision, but these ultimately failed to reduce
conflict. (i.e. popular sovereignty, Stephen Douglas, Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, William Seward, John C. Calhoun,
“Bleeding Kansas”)
C. The Second Party System ended when the issues of slavery and anti-immigrant nativism weakened loyalties to the two
major parties and fostered the emergence of sectional parties, most notably the Republican Party in the North.
D. Abraham Lincoln’s victory on the Republicans’ free-soil platform in the presidential election of 1860 was accomplished
without any Southern electoral votes. After a series of contested debates about secession, most slave states voted to
secede from the Union, precipitating the Civil War.
Key Concept 5.3 The Union victory in the Civil War and the contested reconstruction of the South settled the issues of slavery and secession, but left unresolved many questions about the power of the federal government and citizenship rights.
I. The North’s greater manpower and industrial resources, the leadership of Abraham Lincoln and others, and the decision to emancipate slaves eventually led to the Union military victory over the Confederacy in the devastating Civil War.
A. Both the Union and the Confederacy mobilized their economies and societies to wage the war even while facing
considerable home front opposition. (i.e. conscription, “Bread Riots”)
B. Lincoln and most Union supporters began the Civil War to preserve the Union, but Lincoln’s decision to issue the
Emancipation Proclamation reframed the purpose of the war and helped prevent the Confederacy from gaining full
diplomatic support from European powers. Many African Americans fled southern plantations and enlisted in the Union
Army, helping to undermine the Confederacy. (i.e. Antietam, 54th Massachusetts)
C. Lincoln sought to reunify the country and used speeches such as the Gettysburg Address to portray the struggle against
slavery as the fulfillment of America’s founding democratic ideals.
D. Although the Confederacy showed military initiative and daring early in the war, the Union ultimately succeeded due to
improvements in leadership and strategy, key victories, greater resources, and the wartime destruction of the South’s
infrastructure. (i.e. Battle of Bull Run, Ulysses S. Grant, Gettysburg, Vicksburg, March to the Sea)
II. Reconstruction and the Civil War ended slavery, altered relationships between the states and the federal government, and led to debates over new definitions of citizenship, particularly regarding the rights of African Americans, women, and other minorities.
A. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery, while the 14th and 15th amendments granted African Americans citizenship,
equal protection under the laws, and voting rights.
B. The women’s rights movement was both emboldened and divided over the 14th and 15th amendments to the
Constitution. (Susan B. Anthony, National Women’s Suffrage Association)
C. Efforts by radical and moderate Republicans to change the balance of power between Congress and the presidency and to
reorder race relations in the defeated South yielded some short-term successes. Reconstruction opened up political
opportunities and other leadership roles to former slaves, but it ultimately failed, due both to determined Southern
resistance and the North’s waning resolve. (Radical Republicans, Hiram Revels, carpetbaggers, scalawags,
Compromise of 1877)
D. Southern plantation owners continued to own the majority of the region’s land even after Reconstruction. Former slaves
sought land ownership but generally fell short of self-sufficiency, as an exploitative and soil-intensive sharecropping
system limited blacks’ and poor whites’ access to land in the South.
E. Segregation, violence, Supreme Court decisions, and local political tactics progressively stripped away African American
rights, but the 14th and 15th amendments eventually became the basis for court decisions upholding civil rights in the 20th
century. (i.e. black codes, KKK, Jim Crow, Plessy v. Ferguson)
Period 5 Thematic Learner Objectives:
Students will be able to…
- Explain how ideas about democracy, freedom, and individualism found expression in the development of cultural values, political institutions, and American identity NAT-1.0
- Explain how interpretations of the Constitution and debates over rights, liberties, and definitions of citizenship have affected American values, politics, and society. NAT-2.0
- Analyze how ideas about national identity changed in response to U.S. involvement in international conflicts and the growth of the United States. NAT-3.0
- Analyze relationships among different regional, social, ethnic, and racial groups, and explain how these groups’ experiences have related to U.S. national identity. NAT-4.0
- Explain the causes of migration to colonial North America and, later, the United States, and analyze immigration’s effects on U.S. society. MIG-1.0
- Analyze causes of internal migration and patterns of settlement in what would become the United States, and explain how migration has affected American life. MIG-2.0
- Explain how geographic and environmental factors shaped the development of various communities, and analyze how competition for and debates over natural resources have affected both interactions among different groups and the development of government policies. GEO-1.0
- Explain how cultural interaction, cooperation, competition, and conflict between empires, nations, and peoples have influenced political, economic, and social developments in North America. WOR-1.0
- Analyze the reasons for, and results of, U.S. diplomatic, economic, and military initiatives in North America and overseas. WOR-2.0
- Explain how artistic, philosophical, and scientific ideas have developed and shaped society and institutions. CUL-2.0
- Explain how ideas about women’s rights and gender roles have affected society and politics. CUL-3.0
- Explain how different group identities, including racial, ethnic, class, and regional identities, have emerged and changed over time. CUL-4.0
- Explain how and why political ideas, beliefs, institutions, party systems, and alignments have developed and changed. POL-1.0
- Explain how popular movements, reform efforts, and activist groups have sought to change American society and institutions. POL-2.0
- Explain how different beliefs about the federal government’s role in U.S. social and economic life have affected political debates and policies. POL-3.0
- Explain how different labor systems developed in North America and the United States, and explain their effects on workers’ lives and U.S. society. WXT-1.0