Q&A Hero

Q: What factors encouraged some Americans to favor imperialism in the late nineteenth century? How did these goals contradict the American tradition of isolationism?

Q: What were the social consequences of the depression of the mid-1890s?

Q: What were the political consequences of the depression of the mid-1890s?

Q: What issues led to the Populist movement? Why did the Populist Party fail to achieve major status as a political party?

Q: What factors accounted for political party loyalty in the late nineteenth century? How was the sectional political balance related to high voter turnout in presidential elections?

Q: How did education change in the late nineteenth century? Explain the controversy over education for blacks. Why did new educational opportunities open up for women? What was the main goal of primary education? Why?

Q: How did economic change and urbanization affect family life?

Q: Compare the role of the political machines and the social reformers in dealing with the new urban environment of the late nineteenth century. Which group seems to have been more successful?

Q: How did technology affect patterns of urban life in late nineteenth-century America? Under what conditions did the urban poor live? Why did technology fail to help these people?

Q: How did industrialization affect the working class? How did workers attempt to improve their lot? To what extent did they succeed?

Q: What was the cultural impact of advances in marketing?

Q: What was the role of technology in economic growth in the late nineteenth century?

Q: What was the role of government in fostering economic growth in the late nineteenth century? What growth-related problems did businesses encounter? How did businesses cope with these problems?

Q: Contrast life on the western frontier for the miner, the cattleman, and the farmer. What social and economic factors contributed to the lifestyle developed by each group?

Q: What government policies facilitated the settlement and development of the West?

Q: What factors contributed to the defeat of the Plains Indians?

Q: How did the environment of the Great Plains differ from that of the eastern United States? What problems did this pose for farmers?

Q: What was the role of the North in the failure of Reconstruction?

Q: What groups comprised the southern Republican party during Reconstruction? What motivated each to support the Republicans? Why did the southern Republican party fail?

Q: Why did the South have such a difficult time restoring its economy? How did sharecropping reduce many African Americans to permanent tenant-farmer status?

Q: Analyze the political struggle between the presidency and Congress over how to reconstruct the Union. What was at stake in this contest?

Q: Evaluate the overall impact of emancipation on the outcome of the war.

Q: Compare Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis as wartime leaders. To what extent were these differences due to differing conditions in the Union and the Confederacy?

Q: Compare the adjustments the North and South made to meet the demands of total war. What factors gave the North the advantage?

Q: What arguments did secessionists develop to justify leaving the Union? What problems did secession create for both Lincoln's administrations?

Q: How did the people of each section increasingly view each other during the 1850s? What events intensified their fears and resentments? How did this lead to the breakup of the Union?

Q: How did national political parties help to hold the Union together during the 1840s and early 1850s? What role did the failure of the two-party system play in the breakup of the Union?

Q: Discuss the major elements of the Compromise of 1850 and how they were an attempt to balance the requirements of pro- and antislavery factions in the United States. Why did the compromise ultimately fail?

Q: How did technological advances open the way for the creation of a national market?

Q: How did the annexation of Texas differ from previous territorial acquisitions? How did the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo stimulate sectional controversies in the United States?

Q: What were the main ideas behind Manifest Destiny? How was this notion related to the Young America movement and the Puritan tradition?

Q: As early nineteenth-century American reformers struggled with the issue of slavery, what different approaches did they take in dealing with it? How did the rise of the "new perfectionism" affect the antislavery movement?

Q: What were the major goals of the expanded and improved public education system of the 1830s and 1840s? How did these goals reflect the influence of the Second Great Awakening?

Q: How did the social reform movement of the early nineteenth century affect women, children, and the family?

Q: How did the American social reform movement evolve out of the Second Great Awakening?

Q: In terms of the southern economy as a whole, analyze both the advantages and the drawbacks of cotton production and slave labor.

Q: How did slavery define the structure of white southern society? How did it both divide and unite southerners?

Q: What factors account for the development of community among slaves? What factors could make the development of community more difficult?

Q: How did the tumultuous political struggles of the Jacksonian era influence the rise of a second two-party system? What relationship did the Whigs and Democrats have with earlier party divisions?

Q: How did the democratization of the political system affect the practice of politics? What factors limited political participation during this era?

Q: How did American culture in the 1820s and 1830s reflect the democratic impulse of the period?

Q: Did changes in agriculture and industry in the decades following the War of 1812 constitute a real revolution, or just expansion of existing practices?

Q: What evidence is there that public policies between the War of 1812 and the Age of Jackson reflected nationalism? Include examples from all three branches of government.

Q: How did Native Americans of the trans-Appalachian West respond to encroachment by Anglo Americans?

Q: How did the transportation revolution contribute to the development of a national market economy in the United States between 1810 and 1840?

Q: Why is the War of 1812 sometimes called the "second war of independence"?

Q: What was the long-term significance of the Supreme Court's decision in the case of Marbury v. Madison?

Q: How did practical politics cause Jefferson to modify his initial political beliefs during his presidency?

Q: What factors encouraged the emergence of distinct regional identities in the early nineteenth century?

Q: What threat did the Alien and Sedition Acts pose to individual liberties? What threat did the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions pose to the integrity of the Union? How do these issues relate to the balance between liberty and order?

Q: What was the role of foreign policy issues in the bitter political polarization of the late 1790s?

Q: How did the conflicting views of Hamilton and Jefferson give rise to our first political parties?

Q: Analyze the Antifederalist critique of the Constitution. Have any of their warnings proven to be true?

Q: How did the struggle between large and small states and between northern and southern states influence the character of the government established by the 1787 Constitution?

Q: How did republican idealism challenge the traditional treatment of women and blacks?

Q: How did political reality cause Americans to modify their theories about republicanism during the 1780s? Why was balancing liberty and order so difficult?

Q: Why did some Americans oppose independence? How did their overall political beliefs compare with those of Americans who supported independence?

Q: What factors led to British defeat in the American Revolution?

Q: What was the impact of the approach to revolution on Native Americans?

Q: Why were parliamentary sovereignty and the meaning of representation the main points of conflict in the years leading up to the Revolution? Why would the writings of the Commonwealthmen have appealed to Americans influenced by the Great Awakening?

Q: Why did colonists believe that their governments replicated the English political system? What factors made these governments uniquely American? How may this have paved the way for eventual political union?

Q: Analyze the dynamic between the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening in shaping eighteenth-century American culture.

Q: What difficulties did Native Americans encounter in their struggle to maintain cultural independence? What was the function of the "middle ground"?

Q: How did mercantilism shape the economic and political relationship between England and its colonies?

Q: Describe the origins of slavery in the mainland English colonies. How did Africans adjust to life as slaves? What factors influenced the enactment of slave codes by colonial assemblies?

Q: What economic factors shaped the emerging social structures of colonial America?

Q: What was the cultural and economic role of the family in colonial New England?

Q: Analyze the dynamic between religious and economic motivations in the establishment and development of the English colonies in the seventeenth century.

Q: How did affairs in England impact changes in the colonies in the 1600s?

Q: What problems did early settlers in Virginia have to overcome? What factors attracted settlers to that area?

Q: Children form their basic food preferences and dietary habits during the early years. Identify and discuss factors that may contribute to, and influence, their ideas about food. What can families do to promote healthy eating behaviors?

Q: Discuss why pasta necklaces or finger painting with chocolate pudding are not appropriate nutrition education activities.

Q: Discuss how to evaluate the quality of nutrition information available in books, newsletters, newspapers, magazines, on television, or on the Internet.

Q: Why should children be taught to eat a variety of foods every day?

Q: For each of the following curriculum areas, describe a food-related educational activity that would also promote learning in these areas:a. language developmentb. cognitive developmentc. sensorimotor developmentd. social/emotional development

Q: Describe the four basic nutrition education concepts that should guide the development of children's learning experiences.

Q: Briefly discuss several ways that families can be involved in their children's nutritional education experiences.

Q: Children must be instructed to always _____when eating to decrease the risk of choking.

Q: Teachers and children should ______before and after cooking projects to prevent food-borne illnesses.

Q: Chopping, stirring, and squeezing are examples of activities that incorporate ____________________ coordination.