The Antebellum West

Unit Review Sheet

Facts and Definitions

Lesson 1: America in 1800

• Antebellum refers to the period before the American Civil War (1861-1865), particularly in the Southern United States. It is often associated with plantation life, slavery, and the economic, social, and political structures of the time.
• The Bank of the United States was chartered by Congress and, during Andrew Jackson's presidency, it was at the center of a debate between wealthy aristocrats who had money and privilege and upstart manufacturers and businessmen who wanted access to money to invest with few regulations or limitations.
• The United States was founded, in part, on the idea of the pursuit of happiness, but the antebellum period saw many debates about how best to allow many different individuals to pursue happiness in different forms within a single nation.

Lesson 2: The Early Presidents

• The first six presidents were George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, and John Quincy Adams.
• Political parties have not remained the same over the course of United States history. Parties began to emerge early in the life of the new nation and have changed over time as different issues have become important in American politics and different groups of people have come together in coalitions to create change.

Lesson 3: The Beginnings of Westward Expansion

• The Northwest Territory covered the land that is now occupied by the modern states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
• The Northwest Ordinance was passed in 1787, and it defined the process for new states to be created in the Northwest Territory and admitted to the Union.
• Daniel Boone explored and settled the area that is presently the state of Kentucky, opening up that territory for further settlement.

Lesson 4: The Louisiana Purchase

• Thomas Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803.
• Merriwether Lewis and William Clark led the Corps of Discovery on an expedition to explore the newly purchased territory and report back to President Jefferson about their findings.
• Sacagawea traveled with Lewis and Clark as a guide and interpreter.

Lesson 5: The War of 1812

• The War of 1812 was a conflict between the young United States and Great Britain. It ended in a stalemate with no change in boundaries or territorial ownership.
• The Monroe Doctrine (1823) stated that any European efforts to create new colonies or interfere with independent states in North America or South America would be regarded as acts of aggression. It also affirmed that the U.S. would not interfere with existing European colonies.

Lesson 6: The Trail of Tears

• Andrew Jackson was elected president in 1828. He is well known for his opposition to the National Bank and for orchestrating Indian Removal.
• The Indian Removal Act authorized the president to negotiate with American Indian tribes to entice them to move west of the Mississippi and give up their ancestral lands. Eventually, tribes that did not leave voluntarily were forced to do so.
• The forced removal of southeastern American Indians became known as the Trail of Tears because so many people died on the journey.

Lesson 7: Border Conflict and the Mexican War

• Manifest Destiny was the idea that the U.S. was destined to expand to cover the continent from coast to coast.
• John C. Frémont described California as a land rich in natural resources that the U.S. could easily obtain from Mexico.
• The Mexican War was focused on the southern border of Texas.

Lesson 8: The Gold Rush and Further Expansion

• James Marshall discovered gold on John Sutter's land in January of 1848, touching off the California Gold Rush.
• The Pony Express and other mail services allowed for faster delivery of mail across the country, just as the stagecoach allowed for faster transportation of travelers.
• Samuel Morse's telegraph allowed messages to be sent and received within seconds.

Lesson 9: Life in the Mid-Nineteenth Century West

• Pioneers headed west on the Oregon Trail for a variety of reasons — wanting to find new opportunities for a better life, feeling restless, economic hardship back east, and more.

Final Project: A Westward Migration Story

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