Download The Era of Expansion

The Era of Expansion
Analysis Questions
Name: ____________________
1. Why is the candidacy and ultimate victory of James K. Polk in 1844 considered odd?
2. His political adversaries metaphorically and realistically attached James K. Polk to Andrew
Jackson in 1844 why would that be a curse and a blessing?
3. How did Martin Van Buren lose the election of 1844?
4. Describe the process that went into the annexation of Texas in a brief timeline.
5. Why was the annexation of Texas such a hot issue?
6. What challenges did the Wilmot Proviso present to President James K. Polk?
7. Describe the process that went into the annexation of Oregon in a brief timeline.
8. Using the charts below, analyze how the elections of 1844 and 1992 are very similar?
1844 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION RESULTS
(26 States in the Union)
Candidate
James K. Polk
Henry Clay
James G. Birney
Party
Popular Vote
(% of total)*
Electoral
Votes
Democratic
1,338,464 (49.6%)
170
Whig
1,300,097 (48.1%)
105
Liberty
62,300 (2.3%)
-0-
1992 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION RESULTS
(50 States in the Union)
Candidate
Party
Popular Vote
(% of total)*
Electoral
Votes
Bill Clinton
Democrat
44,908,232
(43.3%)
370
George
Bush
Republican
39,102,282
(37.7%)
168
United We Stand,
America
19,741,048
(19.1%)
-0-
Ross Perot
9. Why did Henry Clay lose yet another election in 1844? (He will lose 4 times)
10. Sectional roots in America run deep, that being said…how do the events of the Wilmot Proviso
illustrate the tense relationships between North and South in 1844?
11. Why was it vital to the history of the United States to pursue Oregon’s admittance to statehood?
12. Aside from Slavery, what other events splintered the US along sectional lines during the mid
1840’s?
13. The British continued to meddle in US policy and decision making through the Civil War…what
are some examples from the 1840’s of the British continuing her meddlesome ways of the war of
1812 era?
14. Presidents are supposed to have great authority and are usually the types of people that those
around them listen to implicitly…President Polk had some trouble during the Mexican American
War with persons who turned their back on him, what were these examples and what is their
significance?
15. Which side do you take when assessing the legacy of James K. Polk?
16. Which is the most significant of the consequences of the Mexican-American War and why?
1. The United States acquired the northern half of Mexico. This area later became the U.S. states
of California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
2. President Santa Anna lost power in Mexico following the war.
3. U.S. General Zachary "Old Rough and Ready" Taylor used his fame as a war hero to win the
Presidency in 1848. A true irony is that President Polk, a Democrat, pushed for the war that led to
Taylor, a Whig, winning the White House.
4. Relations between the United States and Mexico remained tense for many decades to come,
with several military encounters along the border.
5. For the United States, this war provided a training-ground for the men who would lead the
Northern and Southern armies in the upcoming American Civil War.
6. Despite early popularity at home, the war was marked by the growth of a loud anti-war
movement which included such noted Americans as Ralph Waldo Emerson, former president
John Quincy Adams and Henry David Thoreau. The center of anti-war sentiment gravitated
around New England, and was directly connected to the movement to abolish slavery. Texas
became a slave state upon entry into the Union.
7. One interesting aspect of the war involves the fate of U.S. Army deserters of Irish origin who
joined the Mexican Army as the Batallón San Patricio (Saint Patrick's Battalion). This group of
Catholic Irish immigrants rebelled at the abusive treatment by Protestant, American-born officers
and at the treatment of the Catholic Mexican population by the U.S. Army. At this time in
American history, Catholics were an ill-treated minority, and the Irish were an unwanted ethnic
group in the United States. In September, 1847, the U.S. Army hanged sixteen surviving members
of the San Patricios as traitors. To this day, they are considered heroes in Mexico.