CULTURA Y SOCIEDADES DE LA LENGUA INGLESA B (II)

A New Nation

I. SHORT QUESTIONS. Definitions. Answer the following questions or

explain the meaning of each of these words or expressions.

1. What was the main problem in America that made it difficult to form a
new nation right after the Treaty of Paris?

2. What was the Constitutional Convention?

3. Who was George Washington?

4. What was the “moonshine whiskey”?

5. What is the Bill of Rights?

6. Who is John Marshall and why is he remembered by Americans?

7. If you hear the expression “Old Hickory” in American culture, who should
you think of?

8. Andrew Jackson was different from his six predecessors, how?

9. What is the importance of the “Trail of Tears” in American culture?

10. Who was Samuel Slater? How did he manage to bring the industrial
revolution to the US?

11. What was the war of 1812?

12. Louisiana was an inexpensive purchase from France. How much did it
cost the US?
13. Imagine you are interpreting a lecture and the names Lewis and Clark
are mentioned. What could you tell the audience to familiarize them with
what they symbolize?

14. What do “Oregon Trail” and “Oregon fever” suggest to you?

15. What is “Manifest Destiny”?

16. What were wagon trains like?

17. Comment on the history of slavery in the US.

18. What was the states’ rights doctrine? What was its influence on the
thoughts of division?

19. If you hear the name Eli Whitney, what would you associate it with?

20. Who were the abolitionists?

21. In what context would you likely have to translate this group of words:
“stockholders, conductors, and depots”.

22. Summarize the events that led to the so-called “Bleeding Kansas”.

23. The years 1860 and 1861 were very influential for the future of the US.
Why?

24. Indicate some of the causes of the Civil War.

25. What is Fort Sumter? Explain its significance in the American Civil War.

26. Who were the presidents on each side when the Civil War started?

27. Considering that the Northern side was much better prepared for war,
why did the conflict last so long?

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28. What did the Emancipation Proclamation mean for the Civil War cause?

29. What is the relevance of Vicksburg and Gettysburg in the development of

the Civil War?

30. What does the Gettysburg Address mean for American culture?

31. How did the Civil War come to an end?

32. When and how was slavery abolished?

33. Describe the circumstances of Lincoln’s assassination. Who was his

successor as president?

34. What were the Black Codes?

35. What was the Civil Rights Act?

36. In what context would you likely have to translate these words:
“carpetbagger and scalawag”.

37. Some Americans are shocked to see Easter Penitents in Andalusia, and
they tend to compare them to the KKK. How would you explain the
cultural differences to them?

38. How did some southern states prevent blacks from voting?

39. Why is the term “black” instead of “African American” used by Bryn O
´Callaghan?

40. Explain the Plessy v. Ferguson case (1896) and the “separate but equal”
doctrine.