Expansion and reform, 1800–1850

Grade 11 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Land and law, 1803 to 1853 (cards A to F and a table). Card A, President James Monroe's annual message to Congress, December 2, 1823: "the occasion has been judged proper for asserting, as a principle in which the rights and interests of the United States are involved, that the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth [from now on] not to be considered [thought of] as subjects for future colonization [settling land as colonies] by any European powers."

2. 1.

   Monroe's words came in his yearly message to Congress. What does the excerpt, card A, show about his purpose, Kira asks?

   • He announced that existing European colonies in the Americas had to be given up, as the excerpt requires
   • He reported an agreement among the American nations, since the excerpt says they have 'assumed' independence
   • He warned Europe that the United States would fight to stop any new colony, as the excerpt promises
   • He declared a principle for the future: the continents were closed to new European colonies

3. Use this

   Land and law, 1803 to 1853 (cards A to F and a table). Card A, President James Monroe's annual message to Congress, December 2, 1823: "the occasion has been judged proper for asserting, as a principle in which the rights and interests of the United States are involved, that the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth [from now on] not to be considered [thought of] as subjects for future colonization [settling land as colonies] by any European powers." Card B, why the Monroe Doctrine? (Summary in our words, not a quotation): In 1823 many Latin American countries had just won independence from Spain, and Americans feared that Spain or France might try to take them back. Americans also worried that Russia was moving south from Alaska toward the Oregon Country. Britain suggested a joint statement, but Secretary of State John Quincy Adams wanted the United States to speak alone.

4. 2.

   Card B says Britain suggested a joint statement, but John Quincy Adams wanted the United States to speak alone. What does that suggest, Luz asks?

   • The statement answered Britain's suggestion, so it was written mainly to reply to Britain
   • The statement was aimed at Russia alone, since card B says Russia was moving south from Alaska
   • The United States chose to state its policy by itself instead of tying it to Britain
   • Britain opposed keeping new colonies out of the Americas, so the United States acted against Britain

5. Land added to the United States, 1803 to 1853

   Area	Year	Gross area (square miles)	How it was added
   Louisiana Purchase	1803	827,192	bought from France
   Florida	1819	58,560	ceded by Spain in a treaty
   Texas	1845	390,144	annexed
   Oregon	1846	285,580	settled by treaty with Great Britain
   Mexican Cession	1848	529,017	ceded by Mexico in a treaty after a war
   Gadsden Purchase	1853	29,640	bought from Mexico

   Gross area counts land and water together. The six areas add up to 2,120,133 square miles. Data: US Census Bureau, Historical Statistics of the United States, 1789-1945, series B 24-25.

6. 3.

   Milo says the Louisiana Purchase was nearly two-thirds of the land the table lists. Is that fair?

   • No: it was about 39 percent, but gross area overstates its share because water is counted
   • No: it was about 39 percent of the table's total, and about 64 percent against the other five areas
   • Yes: 827,192 is nearly two-thirds of the six-area total of 2,120,133 square miles, the table's grand total
   • No: it was about half of the table's total, since it is the largest of the six areas
7. 4.

   Which claim about the years 1845 to 1848 does the table support, Noah asks?

   • About 1.2 million square miles, more than half of the table's total, were added in those years
   • About 1.2 million square miles were added, each of them bought, as with the Louisiana Purchase
   • About 1.2 million square miles were added, mostly by war, since the Mexican Cession came after a war
   • About 920,000 square miles were added, nearly half of the table's total, from Texas and the Mexican Cession
8. 5.

   The table gives gross area, which counts land and water together. What does that mean for Pia using it to compare how much land each addition held?

   • The figures leave out the water along the coasts, so they understate the land each area held
   • The figures show how many people lived in each area, because they cover land and water
   • The figures include lakes and rivers, so they overstate the dry land each area held
   • The figures are exact surveys along each treaty line, so they show the land the treaty named

9. Use this

   Land and law, 1803 to 1853 (cards A to F and a table). Card C, the Indian Removal Act, section 1 (a federal law, May 28, 1830): "That it shall and may be lawful [allowed] for the President of the United States to cause so much of any territory belonging to the United States [the nation], west of the river Mississippi, not included in any state or organized territory, and to which the Indian title [a nation's legal claim to land] has been extinguished [ended], as he may judge necessary, to be divided into a suitable number of districts, for the reception of such tribes or nations of Indians as may choose to exchange the lands where they now reside, and remove there;" Card F, who lived in Louisiana? (Summary in our words, not a quotation): The National Park Service says the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1803 to 1806 followed the Missouri River through lands where many Native nations lived, and that tribes helped the expedition survive. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 later offered some of this same western land to nations moved from the Southeast.

10. 6.

    Card C says nations 'may choose to exchange' their lands. What can Tala conclude from that text, with card F beside it?

    • Each exchange was a free choice in practice, since the law uses the words 'may choose'
    • The law applied to land inside existing states, because it speaks of the lands where nations now reside
    • The law's wording makes the exchange a choice, but the text cannot show how it was carried out
    • The exchanges were forced, since card F says the Act offered land that nations already lived on
11. 7.

    Which claim do cards C and F support best, Zee asks?

    • Some western land already home to Native nations was later offered to nations from the Southeast
    • Lewis and Clark's expedition caused the Removal Act, since the Act came after the expedition by many years
    • Nations along the Missouri were moved west by the Act, since card F says it offered their land to others
    • France controlled and governed the Native nations living in these lands before the year 1803

12. Land added to the United States, 1803 to 1853

    Area	Year	Gross area (square miles)	How it was added
    Louisiana Purchase	1803	827,192	bought from France
    Florida	1819	58,560	ceded by Spain in a treaty
    Texas	1845	390,144	annexed
    Oregon	1846	285,580	settled by treaty with Great Britain
    Mexican Cession	1848	529,017	ceded by Mexico in a treaty after a war
    Gadsden Purchase	1853	29,640	bought from Mexico

    Gross area counts land and water together. The six areas add up to 2,120,133 square miles. Data: US Census Bureau, Historical Statistics of the United States, 1789-1945, series B 24-25.

13. 8.

    Compare 1803 to 1819 with 1845 to 1853 in the table. What does Bo find about the pace of adding land?

    • Less land came in 1845 to 1853, about 0.7 million square miles, than in 1803 to 1819, about 0.89 million
    • More land came in 1803 to 1819, because the Louisiana Purchase is larger than any later addition
    • More land came in 1845 to 1853 (about 1.23 million) than in 1803 to 1819 (about 0.89 million)
    • Land came faster later because the nation grew stronger after the War of 1812

14. Use this

    Land and law, 1803 to 1853 (cards A to F and a table). Card E, annexing Texas (Summary in our words, not a quotation): Congress passed a joint resolution on March 1, 1845, and Texas joined the United States on December 29, 1845. Texas and Mexico disagreed about Texas's southern border, the Nueces River or the Rio Grande. The United States declared war on Mexico on May 13, 1846, and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war on February 2, 1848.

15. 9.

    Texas joined on December 29, 1845, and war was declared on May 13, 1846. About how long was that gap, and what does it suggest, Esme asks?

    • About four and a half months, so the border dispute became a war soon after annexation
    • About four and a half months, which shows the war was planned before Texas joined
    • About four and a half months, long enough to show the border dispute had no part in the war
    • About fourteen months, counting from the March 1845 resolution, so war came long after annexation began

16. Use this

    Land and law, 1803 to 1853 (cards A to F and a table). Card C, the Indian Removal Act, section 1 (a federal law, May 28, 1830): "That it shall and may be lawful [allowed] for the President of the United States to cause so much of any territory belonging to the United States [the nation], west of the river Mississippi, not included in any state or organized territory, and to which the Indian title [a nation's legal claim to land] has been extinguished [ended], as he may judge necessary, to be divided into a suitable number of districts, for the reception of such tribes or nations of Indians as may choose to exchange the lands where they now reside, and remove there;"

17. 10.

    Which of these does the sentence in card C allow the president to do, Jun asks?

    • Require Congress to approve each exchange with each nation before any land is set aside
    • Order a nation that refused the exchange to leave its homeland, since the sentence gives the president that power
    • Divide land inside the existing states into districts for nations that agree to move
    • Set aside western territory outside any state and offer it to nations willing to exchange lands