U.S. History: 1492-1877—Semester B

The history of America, or as Columbus would say, India.

  • Credit Recovery Enabled
  • Course Length: 18 weeks
  • Course Type: Basic
  • Category:
    • History and Social Science
    • Middle School

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Daniel Day-Lewis will tell you that the Civil War was all about slavery, and largely it was. But like everything in history, it was a lot more complicated than even an awesome movie could explain. But you know what can explain it? Shmoop, of course! You've likely got the basic gist of this mightiest of historical events, but do you really know what caused the United States to become Un-United States? Whether you're a seasoned Antietam expert or you can't tell your Wilmot Provisos from your Calhoun Resolutions, together we'll boldly go where Steven Spielberg has never gone before.

This 8th grade U.S. history course, aligned to Florida and California Social Studies standards, will take you through the twisted labyrinth of the lead-up to the Civil War, the war itself, and the ambivalent aftermath. This semester covers the period immediately before the Civil War, looking at perspectives from the North, South, and West, all the way up to the post-war Gilded Age. This is historical drama like you've never seen before.

With the help of more creative projects, quizzes, and activities than you could shake a stick at, you'll

  • trace the expansion of the nation from sea to shining sea, and study how every.single.new.territory brought the issue of slavery bubbling to the surface.
  • examine the varying lifestyles and beliefs of people in the industrial North, the agricultural South, and the (extremely) wild West.
  • watch all those decades of tension come to a head in America's deadliest and upsetting-est war in history. Yes, the Civil War. We meant the Civil War.
  • analyze the successes and failures of Reconstruction. Or should we say Reconstructions? 
  • describe the enormous changes brought by the Gilded Age, from electricity (yay!) to child labor (boo!).
  • critique the continuing inequalities of this period, and some of the crueler policies in our history, like Jim Crow laws and Native American removals.
  • sharpen those historian skills by breaking down primary sources, literature, and art, and forming and defending your own ideas.

P.S. U.S. History: 1492-1877 is a two-semester course. You're looking at Semester B, but you can find Semester A here


Unit Breakdown

6 U.S. History: 1492-1877—Semester B - Way Up in the North

The West and the South had issues, but the North had its own things to deal with. The same natural geography that made the North crummy for farming made it ideal for shipping, trading, and manufacturing. As the South's economy became more and more dependent on slave labor and agriculture, the North underwent an industrial revolution that catapulted it into a new era. Advances in technology and transportation, huge waves of immigrants, urbanization, industrialization—how did anyone in NYC ever sleep? Wait…

7 U.S. History: 1492-1877—Semester B - The Southern Way

Not all Southerners spent their days sipping sweet tea and fanning themselves. In fact, the Antebellum (that's "before the war" in Latin-talk) South had a rigid social structure, with only a select few enjoying the fruits of the majority's hard labor. Of course, not only was the labor hard, but mostly unpaid. The South was built on slavery, and that "peculiar institution" permeated every aspect of its economy and society.

8 U.S. History: 1492-1877—Semester B - How the West was Won

Hi-yo Silver! The West worked hard to earn its reputation as a gun-slingin', saloon-lovin', rompin' wild land, but before it was known as the home of surly gold miners and handsome cowboys, it was known as…Mexico. America wanted to see itself stretch from sea to shining sea, and it got its wish, but not without waging a war with Mexico that left the latter with only half of its original territory. It also really ticked off Thoreau. Finally, the addition of western territories brought up the age-old question: "to allow slavery, or forbid it?"

9 U.S. History: 1492-1877—Semester B - Abolition Is the Name of the Game

The winds of change were a-blowin' in the mid-19th century, and they wanted an end to slavery. Abolitionists had been around since colonial days, but as the Civil War drew near, they began to gain steam. They certainly were a disparate bunch, though, with feuds and disagreements of their own. Some were former slaves and free Blacks, some were white sympathizers and pacifists, and some—or at least one—were crazy-eyed freedom fighters with delusions of grandeur and access to firearms.

10 U.S. History: 1492-1877—Semester B - A Very Uncivil War

Finally, the moment you've all been waiting for/wanting to avoid: the Civil War. It was brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor, Lincoln against…almost everybody in Congress. The road to war was long, but when it finally erupted it erupted with a vengeance. For years North and South were locked in a stalemate, punctuated by horrible outbreaks of disease and morally questionable military actions. This was, and still is, the deadliest conflict in America's history, made all the worse by our former union. You always hurt the ones you love.

11 U.S. History: 1492-1877—Semester B - The Reconstruction Experiment

After years of fighting, many people (Lincoln included) wanted to put the war behind them as fast as possible. Others thought the rebel South was getting off way too easy, and wanted a little bit of well-deserved vengeance. The most radical of all were the ones who thought, "hey, now that slavery's been abolished, how about we actually protect the rights of former slaves?" Yeah, that was radical at the time. Different Reconstruction plans had their moment in the sun, with mixed results, but after more than ten years of attempts the whole project was basically abandoned, for better or for worse.

12 U.S. History: 1492-1877—Semester B - Gilded or Gold?

As memories of the Civil War and Reconstruction faded into the distance, the nation rushed on into a period of massive industrialization. Even the South got in on the action! "Modern" was the word on everyone's lips, as cities grew (and got really crowded and unpleasant), immigrants came in droves and transformed urban centers into beacons of diversity (to the chagrin of Nativists), and a handful of mustachioed men amassed incredible wealth (while workers toiled in low-skilled, dangerous, soulless jobs for little pay). Needless to say it was a time of extremes, proving that there truly is never a dull moment in U.S. history—at least not with Shmoop.


Recommended prerequisites:

  • U.S. History: 1492-1877—Semester A

  • Sample Lesson - Introduction

    Lesson 8.02: The Golden State

    An oil painting of Father Junipero Serra, looking very monk-ly and humble.
    If Mexico still owned California, would this be the standard haircut? It's probably better if we don't think about it.
    (Source)

    Here's a fact for you: one out of every eight Americans lives in California. But before it was the most populated state and the home of Shmoop headquarters, Britney Spears, and Justin Timberlake (who says the Mickey Mouse Club doesn't bring people together?), California belonged to Mexico.

    Before the Mexican-American War, however, California was a very different place. We're talking way fewer valley girls, way more Spanish monks. You see, among the first Europeans to explore California were Spanish priests—specifically, Franciscan friars) and they set out right away to Christianize the territory.

    Father Junipero Serra established California's first mission in San Diego and made his way up the coast, building missions along the way until he reached San Francisco. These missions became the center of Spanish society and culture in California; if you're located in California, we bet you've gone on at least one mission field trip in your lifetime.

    Franciscan friars who looked to convert the native population to Christianity were called missionaries. Their biggest job right off the bat was converting the Native American population. With the help of Spanish soldiers, monks and missionaries converted or forcibly controlled of most of the population of natives living in California at the time. In Spaniards' eyes, the only hope for natives to "find salvation" was to convert them to Catholicism and get them to work in the missions as contributing members of society—or slave labor, depending on your perspective. Most white settlers at the time, however, weren't so enlightened...


    Sample Lesson - Reading

    Reading 8.8.02: California Living

    The California missions were more than just churches. They acted as homes, farms, military forts, and were so all-encompassing they could even be considered their own town. Read the section called "Historical Background" of this article to understand how missions shaped life in California.

    Once Spanish priests decided they were going to Christianize the natives—specifically, by converting them to the typically Spanish Catholicism—they used the power of the missions to achieve their goal. They often lured natives into the missions with promises of gifts or through "magical" religious practices. Once inside, the natives were forced into baptism and punished for practicing their traditional cultures instead of European Catholicism.

    Mission Impossible (Amounts of Labor)

    Since missions became agricultural as well as religious centers, there was a ton of work that went into keeping the missions functioning. Missions produced clothing, food, and raised livestock. They also produced household goods to supply Spanish forts and to use in trade.

    All of this work wasn't going to get accomplished without a steady labor force, and Native Americans who had been baptized became the laborers inside the missions. The workday at the mission began at dawn with daily prayer and extended to an hour after sundown. This was the schedule six days a week, and in return for work, natives were paid in clothing, food, and housing…as in everything they already had in their tribal lives, but didn't have to work 24/7 for. This is called exploitation, Shmoopers. Know it. Recognize it. Avoid it.

    Men were expected to perform the manual labor of farming, carpentry, and leatherwork, while women fulfilled a domestic role of cooking, cleaning, and sewing. Sounds like fun, right? It…wasn't. Revolts and rebellions occurred periodically in the missions, but severe force was used to put these rebellions down. Rebelling natives were whipped or imprisoned, and soldiers were sent to hunt down runaways. Makes you feel a bit better about only getting grounded when you don't clean your room.

    Wait—It Gets Worse

    Like pretty much all of our stories about Europeans and Native Americans, this one doesn't have a happy ending. Things went from bad to worse for Native Americans when Mexico declared its independence from Spain in 1821, and began to have a more vested interest in California. With the Mexican government so far from California, Catholic missions held more power than ever, as well as non-missionary Mexicans who came to turn a profit in California.

    The Mexican government granted huge portions of land to ranchos in 1824. Ranchos were huge farm estates were worked by natives who essentially served as slaves to Mexican rancheros. Rancheros lived the high life. They enjoyed a life of ease and luxury, profiting from the slave labor of natives.

    Rancheros soon turned their eyes to the profitable land of the missions and convinced the Mexican government to disband the missions and divide the spoils among the rancheros. Read each section of this article from "Life in Mexican California" to "Bull and Bear Fights" to get a closer look at life in California in the first half of the 1800s.

    Things began to change again in California when tales of the riches of rancheros and the natural beauty of the coast began to spread across the continent. Traders and shippers began arriving in California; it wouldn't be long until the discovery of gold would send California's popularity through the roof.


    Sample Lesson - Activity

    Activity 8.02: Come to California

    Ah, California—where the living is easy. Have you seen those ads enticing tourists to come to California? Take a gander. Hey, stop packing that suitcase and get back here!

    Now it's your turn to create just such a wonderfully enticing advertisement for California in the 1840s. Videotape a commercial from the perspective of a ranchero trying to entice your fellow Mexicans (or American traders) to come to California.

    As you come up with ways to entice others to come to California, think about the life of luxury that rancheros lived, especially with all the free labor they got from natives. Keep in mind economic, religious, and political reasons that would have made California appealing to traders, shippers, and other Mexicans. With all of this ammo, it should be easy for you to have three specific reasons in your commercial for why coming to California is a great idea. (Remember this is before the discovery of gold, though).

    Even though this was before the days of TV commercials and YouTube videos, word was already making it back to America that California was a land of milk and honey, ripe for the settling. This is your chance to explain why this would have been the perception of the time. For example, we might open with a fake moustache on (obviously, all evil ranchero planters had them), saying to the camera: "Come to California! There are beautiful missions, and cheap, cheap labor…"

    Your commercial should be one minute long. Make it funny, serious, musical, an emotional rollercoaster, whatever you like—just upload the link to the clip or the video file below.