Unit 4: 1800-1848

Unit 4: 1800-1848 – The American Pageant chapters 11-17; Don’t Know Much About History pages 141-195.  A People's History of The United States  pages 103-170.

Content: Definition of democratic practices; expansion of the vote; market revolution; Louisiana Purchase, War of 1812, territorial and demographic growth; two-party system; Andrew Jackson; and role of the federal government in slavery and the economy.

Activities:

History Log – notes and short answers on reading assignments.

Primary Sources Analysis: Letter to Mercy Otis Warren, Monroe Doctrine, The Nullification Proclamation, Self Reliance, Jackson’s First Message to Congress, Jackson’s Veto of the Bank, John O’Sullivan on Manifest Destiny, William B. Travis Letter from the Alamo, contrasting illustrations of the “Trail of Tears”, James Madison’s War Message. 

Students will complete a concept map on the following four Marshall Court Decisions: Marbury V. Madison; Mcculloch V. Maryland; Dartmouth College V. Woodward; Gibbons V. Ogden. 

Viewpoints: Looking at various sources students will decide whether the War of 1812 was the 2^nd War for Independence or a War for Territory.

Six Degrees of Separation: From Jefferson to the Reform Era.

Students will reflect on Seneca Falls – in what ways was it a consequence of pre-1848 reform activities and what did it contribute to the movement for women’s rights afterward?  Students will write an essay that makes an argument in response to this question.

During this unit students will discuss possible answers to the following essential questions:

Identity: How did debates over American democratic culture and the proximity of many different cultures living in close contact affect changing definitions of national identity?

Work, Exchange, and Technology: How did the growth of mass manufacturing in the rapidly urbanizing North affect definitions of and relationships between workers, and those for whom they worked?  How did the continuing dominance of agriculture and the slave system affect southern social, political, and economic life?

Peopling: How did the continued movement of individuals and groups into, out of, and within the United States shape the development of new communities and the evolution of old communities?

Politics and Power: How did the growth of ideas of mass democracy, including such concerns as expanding suffrage, public education, abolitionism, and care for the needy affect political life and discourse?

America in the World: How did the United States use diplomatic and economic means to project its power in the western hemisphere?  How did foreign governments and individuals describe and react to the new America Nation?

Environment and Geography: How did environmental and geographic factors affect the development of sectional economics and identities?

Ideas, Beliefs, and Cultures: How did the idea of democratization shape and reflect American arts, literature, ideals, and culture?