Materials for the 27 January 2010 Gilder Lehrman Institute TAH Workshop for the Newark Public Schools

1. Connecting to Newark US History I and II Essential Questions How were gender, racial and economic interests and issues reflected in the structure of the Constitution (e.g. 3/5 Compromise, suffrage)? What were the consequences both positive and negative, of westward expansion (positive including increased resources, markets and land availability; shared national identity, expansion of gender and voters’ rights, negative free-state vs. slave state, xenophobia, and Indian removal-Trail of Tears)? What were the sources and character of cultural, religious and social reform movements in the antebellum period (ex. Abolition, Temperance, Women’s Rights, Second Great Awakening [i.e. Unitarian Movement and African-American church movement], Transcendentalism, and Utopianism, school, hospital and prison reform? What was the nature of the extension, restriction and reorganization of political democracy after 1800? How is politics a reflection of competing economic and social interests in American society? How did the rapid growth of “the peculiar institution” affect the lives of African Americans? What impact did the growth of the nation have on American policy and politics1820 -1860? (e.g. Missouri Compromise, Kansas -Nebraska Act, Native American relocation, Comprises of 1820 &1850, elections of 1820, 1850, and 1860? How did the difference of political ideologies in the North and the South lead to civil war? How did the importance of the ideology of “free labor” in the North and West and its appeal, contribute to preventing the further extension of slavery? What political and economic forces impacted the shape/nature of Reconstruction? How did the actions of post Civil War Southern legislatures and their constituents reflect the ongoing battle between federal governmental and regional interests (e.g. Black Codes, Freedmen’s Bureau, Jim Crow, Radical v s. Presidential Reconstruction)? How were the lives of freed blacks impacted by Reconstruction? Was Reconstruction a success or a failure? How did legislative actions in post Civil War New Jersey reflect NJ’s regional interests/biases? (13,14,15th amendments see civics) What were the goals of Industrial America’s newly emerging interests groups (e.g. labor unions, women’s and civil rights groups)?