Chapter 12: Expansion and Reaction
1846-1854

     I. War With Mexico
          A. Wilmot Proviso
          B. Treaty of Guadalupe Hildalgo

     II. Election of 1848
          A. Popular Sovreignty

     III. Americans on the Move
          A. Gold Rush
          B. Mormon Migration
          C. Immigration

     IV. Women's Rights
          A. Seneca Falls Convention, 1848

     V. Crisis of 1850
          A. Compromise of 1850
               1. Fugitive Slave Act
               2. Uncle Tom's Cabin

     VI. Politics is Chaos
          A. Whigs fade away
          B. Kansas-Nebraska Scheme
               1. Gadsden Purchase
          C. The Republican Party

Key Terms

     Nueces River
     Zachary Taylor
     Winfield Scott
     Mexican Cession
     John Sutter
     Forty-niners
     Brigham Young
     Potato Famine
     Elizabeth Cady Stanton
     Lucretia Mott
     Declaration of Rights and Sentiments
     Daniel Webster
     Stephen A. Douglas
     Harriet Beecher Stowe
     The Know-Nothings
     Free-Soilers

Study Questions

1. In what ways did the war with Mexico inflame public opinion in the United States?  Who criticized the war and why?  Describe the outcome of the war, and explain the effect this had on American politics.

2. Discuss the Gold Rush of 1849.  Who came and what were conditions like for them in the gold fields?  What happened to California because of the Gold Rush.  (make sure you read the section in book "The Crisis of 1850" before you answer the last part of the question)

3. What convinced Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott to begin the women's rights movement?  Identify their aims, and detail how they went about achieving their goals.  Evaluate the success of the Seneca Falls Convention.

4. Discuss the issues that led to the slow death of the Whig party in the 1840s and 1850s.  Who challenged the party, and with what success?  What implications did the breakup of the Whig party have for the future of the nation?

5. Discuss the Kansas-Nebraska Act in regard to its key components, the problems it presented to northerners, ways in which it inflamed public opinion, and the effect it had on American politics.