Expansion and reform, 1800–1850

Grade 11 Social Studies Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Reform and removal, 1830 to 1848 (cards A to F). Card A, William Lloyd Garrison in the first issue of his antislavery newspaper The Liberator, Boston, January 1, 1831: "I am in earnest—I will not equivocate [dodge]—I will not excuse—I will not retreat a single inch—and I WILL BE HEARD." A summary in our words: in December 1833, abolitionists who met in Philadelphia formed the American Anti-Slavery Society. Card E, a strip of dates from 1830 to 1850, with a mark every 5 years: May 28, 1830, the Indian Removal Act. January 1, 1831, The Liberator begins in Boston. December 1833, the American Anti-Slavery Society forms. 1837, Massachusetts creates a Board of Education and Horace Mann becomes its secretary. January 1843, Dorothea Dix sends her memorial to the Massachusetts legislature. July 19 and 20, 1848, the Seneca Falls convention.

2. 1.

   Garrison wrote card A as editor in 1831; the Anti-Slavery Society formed in December 1833. Which claim do the cards support, Kira asks?

   • Card A shows Garrison's resolve and a society formed nearly three years later, but not that his paper caused it
   • Garrison's newspaper led to the society, since the society formed after the newspaper had begun and used its aims
   • Card A shows most readers in Boston agreed with Garrison, since a society formed within three years
   • Card A shows the society formed two years after the newspaper, since 1833 minus 1831 is two

3. Use this

   Reform and removal, 1830 to 1848 (cards A to F). Card A, William Lloyd Garrison in the first issue of his antislavery newspaper The Liberator, Boston, January 1, 1831: "I am in earnest—I will not equivocate [dodge]—I will not excuse—I will not retreat a single inch—and I WILL BE HEARD." A summary in our words: in December 1833, abolitionists who met in Philadelphia formed the American Anti-Slavery Society. Card B, Dorothea Dix, memorial to the Massachusetts legislature, January 1843: "I applied myself diligently to trace the causes of these evils, and sought to supply remedies. As one obstacle was surmounted [overcome], fresh difficulties appeared. Every new investigation has given depth to the conviction that it is only by decided, prompt, and vigorous legislation the evils to which I refer, and which I shall proceed more fully to illustrate, can be remedied." A summary in our words: the memorial described what she had seen in jails and almshouses and asked the state to act for people with mental illness. The legislature voted to add room for 200 more patients at the state hospital in Worcester. Card C, Horace Mann, 1848: "Education, then, beyond all other devices of human origin, is the great equalizer [what makes people's chances more equal] of the conditions of men,—the balance-wheel of the social machinery." A summary in our words: in 1837 Massachusetts created a Board of Education and chose Mann as its secretary. Mann argued that public schools should serve all children, and he wrote a yearly report for the Board until 1848.

4. 2.

   Dix went to a legislature and Mann to a state Board, while Garrison appealed to readers. What does that comparison show about reform in the 1830s and 1840s, Luz asks?

   • Reformers who wrote for the public gained state money, while those who went to lawmakers won opinion
   • Garrison, Dix and Mann each appealed to the national Congress, which held power over their causes
   • Some reformers worked through state government to win public money; others tried to move opinion first
   • State government was the one route that worked, since Dix and Mann both won action and Garrison did not

5. Use this

   Reform and removal, 1830 to 1848 (cards A to F). Card B, Dorothea Dix, memorial to the Massachusetts legislature, January 1843: "I applied myself diligently to trace the causes of these evils, and sought to supply remedies. As one obstacle was surmounted [overcome], fresh difficulties appeared. Every new investigation has given depth to the conviction that it is only by decided, prompt, and vigorous legislation the evils to which I refer, and which I shall proceed more fully to illustrate, can be remedied." A summary in our words: the memorial described what she had seen in jails and almshouses and asked the state to act for people with mental illness. The legislature voted to add room for 200 more patients at the state hospital in Worcester.

6. 3.

   The legislature voted to add room for 200 more patients. What can Milo conclude from card B?

   • Lawmakers acted on her request, though the card does not say whether 200 more places met the need
   • Her memorial caused the vote, since the vote came after the memorial and added room she asked for
   • Her memorial solved the problem of care for people with mental illness in Massachusetts
   • The legislature gave her less than she asked, since 200 places is a small number

7. Use this

   Reform and removal, 1830 to 1848 (cards A to F). Card D, the Seneca Falls convention (Summary in our words, not a quotation): On July 19 and 20, 1848, about 300 women and men met in Seneca Falls, New York, for the first women's rights convention. Frederick Douglass was among them. At the end, 100 people signed the Declaration of Sentiments, which asked for equal rights, including the vote.

8. 4.

   About 300 attended and 100 signed. What does Pia conclude about the signers, and how sure can Pia be?

   • About one third signed, and the share is exact because the card gives both numbers
   • About one third signed, and the share is approximate because the card says about 300
   • About 30 percent signed, because 100 divided by 300 is 0.3 and 0.3 is 30 percent
   • About one third signed, which shows two-thirds of those present opposed the declaration

9. Use this

   Card F, the Cherokee Nation, 1835 to 1839 (Summary in our words, not a quotation): In late 1835 a small group of Cherokee leaders signed the Treaty of New Echota. Most of the Cherokee Nation opposed it, and Principal Chief John Ross led the protest. The Senate approved the treaty in May 1836 by one vote. Removal of more than 16,000 Cherokee people began in May 1838 and ended in March 1839. Today the Cherokee Nation is a self-governing nation based in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

10. 5.

    What do the strip in card E and the Cherokee story in card F suggest about the 1830s and 1840s, Ren asks?

    • The Cherokee removal ended in 1839, before any of the reform movements on the strip had begun
    • The era is described mainly by its reforms, since removal touched fewer people than reform did
    • Removal and reform were underway in the same years, so one label cannot describe the whole era
    • Reform movements were a reaction to the removal policy, since both of them began in the 1830s

11. Use this

    Reform and removal, 1830 to 1848 (cards A to F). Card D, the Seneca Falls convention (Summary in our words, not a quotation): On July 19 and 20, 1848, about 300 women and men met in Seneca Falls, New York, for the first women's rights convention. Frederick Douglass was among them. At the end, 100 people signed the Declaration of Sentiments, which asked for equal rights, including the vote.

12. 6.

    Card D says the Declaration of Sentiments asked for equal rights, including the vote. Is card D good evidence of the Declaration's exact words, Tala asks?

    • Yes, because a summary by a government agency carries the same authority as the original document
    • No, because a summary written after 1848 cannot give reliable dates or numbers about the convention
    • No, it is a summary written today, so the exact wording needs the Declaration itself
    • Yes, because card D quotes the Declaration in the words that the convention signed

13. Use this

    Reform and removal, 1830 to 1848 (cards A to F). Card A, William Lloyd Garrison in the first issue of his antislavery newspaper The Liberator, Boston, January 1, 1831: "I am in earnest—I will not equivocate [dodge]—I will not excuse—I will not retreat a single inch—and I WILL BE HEARD." A summary in our words: in December 1833, abolitionists who met in Philadelphia formed the American Anti-Slavery Society. Card B, Dorothea Dix, memorial to the Massachusetts legislature, January 1843: "I applied myself diligently to trace the causes of these evils, and sought to supply remedies. As one obstacle was surmounted [overcome], fresh difficulties appeared. Every new investigation has given depth to the conviction that it is only by decided, prompt, and vigorous legislation the evils to which I refer, and which I shall proceed more fully to illustrate, can be remedied." A summary in our words: the memorial described what she had seen in jails and almshouses and asked the state to act for people with mental illness. The legislature voted to add room for 200 more patients at the state hospital in Worcester. Card C, Horace Mann, 1848: "Education, then, beyond all other devices of human origin, is the great equalizer [what makes people's chances more equal] of the conditions of men,—the balance-wheel of the social machinery." A summary in our words: in 1837 Massachusetts created a Board of Education and chose Mann as its secretary. Mann argued that public schools should serve all children, and he wrote a yearly report for the Board until 1848. Card D, the Seneca Falls convention (Summary in our words, not a quotation): On July 19 and 20, 1848, about 300 women and men met in Seneca Falls, New York, for the first women's rights convention. Frederick Douglass was among them. At the end, 100 people signed the Declaration of Sentiments, which asked for equal rights, including the vote.

14. 7.

    What do the four reform cards have in common about how change was sought, Ari asks?

    • Each was aimed at the national Congress, since all four are written about national problems
    • Each tried to persuade an audience by writing or meeting, and none shows a court or army forcing change
    • Each won its main goal right away, since every card on the sheet shows a result that was achieved
    • Each used a court case to force the government to change its laws and so win the reform

15. Use this

    Reform and removal, 1830 to 1848 (cards A to F). Card B, Dorothea Dix, memorial to the Massachusetts legislature, January 1843: "I applied myself diligently to trace the causes of these evils, and sought to supply remedies. As one obstacle was surmounted [overcome], fresh difficulties appeared. Every new investigation has given depth to the conviction that it is only by decided, prompt, and vigorous legislation the evils to which I refer, and which I shall proceed more fully to illustrate, can be remedied." A summary in our words: the memorial described what she had seen in jails and almshouses and asked the state to act for people with mental illness. The legislature voted to add room for 200 more patients at the state hospital in Worcester.

16. 8.

    Bo's classmate says Dix's memorial proves Massachusetts lawmakers in 1843 cared about people with mental illness. Which reply is strongest?

    • The classmate is wrong, because a legislature acts just when public pressure forces it, not from concern
    • One vote for 200 places shows some action, but it cannot show the lawmakers' overall concern
    • The classmate is right, because the vote came after her memorial and so her memorial caused the vote
    • The classmate is right, because lawmakers who vote money usually care about the people it helps

17. Use this

    Card F, the Cherokee Nation, 1835 to 1839 (Summary in our words, not a quotation): In late 1835 a small group of Cherokee leaders signed the Treaty of New Echota. Most of the Cherokee Nation opposed it, and Principal Chief John Ross led the protest. The Senate approved the treaty in May 1836 by one vote. Removal of more than 16,000 Cherokee people began in May 1838 and ended in March 1839. Today the Cherokee Nation is a self-governing nation based in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

18. 9.

    The Removal Act passed in 1830 and the Cherokee removal began in 1838. What happened between, and what does it show, Esme asks?

    • The Senate approved the treaty by a wide margin in 1836, which shows broad support for removal
    • The Treaty of New Echota in 1835 led at once to removal, so the Act acted within about three years
    • The Cherokee Nation voted in council to accept the Treaty of New Echota, so removal followed their agreement
    • A small group signed in 1835 and the Senate approved it by one vote in 1836, so the Act did not act alone

19. Use this

    Reform and removal, 1830 to 1848 (cards A to F). Card A, William Lloyd Garrison in the first issue of his antislavery newspaper The Liberator, Boston, January 1, 1831: "I am in earnest—I will not equivocate [dodge]—I will not excuse—I will not retreat a single inch—and I WILL BE HEARD." A summary in our words: in December 1833, abolitionists who met in Philadelphia formed the American Anti-Slavery Society. Card D, the Seneca Falls convention (Summary in our words, not a quotation): On July 19 and 20, 1848, about 300 women and men met in Seneca Falls, New York, for the first women's rights convention. Frederick Douglass was among them. At the end, 100 people signed the Declaration of Sentiments, which asked for equal rights, including the vote.

20. 10.

    Frederick Douglass attended the 1848 Seneca Falls convention (card D), and Garrison led the antislavery press (card A). What can Jun conclude?

    • Antislavery and women's rights overlapped in one person, though one attendee does not link the movements
    • Garrison's paper caused the convention, since the paper began in 1831 and the convention met in 1848
    • Antislavery and women's rights merged into one movement in 1848, since Douglass was among those who attended
    • Douglass led the convention and wrote the Declaration of Sentiments, since card D names him