Organize the 1800s by change and consequence

Questions about the 1800s mix new land, wars, slavery, changes to the Constitution, and reform. Place each fact on a time line, then ask what kind of change it describes.

Build four lanes across the century

The first lane is new land. In 1803, the U.S. bought the Louisiana Territory from France. Keep France, 1803, and the Louisiana Territory together as one three-part fact. The second lane is war. Several wars belong to the 1800s, but the Revolution belongs to the century before and the world wars to the century after. Check the century before choosing a familiar war name.

The third lane is the crisis over the Union and slavery. Southern states left the Union, and the war was fought between northern and southern sides. Abraham Lincoln led the U.S. during the Civil War. Identify the war by those sides and by the conflict inside the country, not by a famous foreign enemy. Events from a world war belong to a different century even when they are more familiar.

The fourth lane is Reconstruction and changes to the Constitution. After the war, three amendments dealt in order with slavery, national citizenship and equal legal protection, and racial limits on voting. Keep those jobs in order. Also separate law from daily life: new protection in the Constitution did not at once remove unfair laws, violence, or barriers to voting.

For a person, first connect the leader to a movement or job, then recall the name. Susan B. Anthony was a leader of the women's rights movement in the 1800s.

Where answers go wrong

• Putting the independence war against Britain in the 1800s. Check the century in which a war ended before using its familiar name.
• Confusing the war between northern and southern sections with a foreign war. Identify the sides before choosing a title.
• Using an attack from the 1900s as an event from the war inside the country in the 1800s. A famous event can still belong to the wrong war.
• Swapping the Reconstruction amendments. Remember the order of the problems: slavery, citizenship and legal protection, then racial limits on voting.

Try it aloud

Before answering, choose a lane: new land, war, Reconstruction law, or reform. Then check the century, the person or group, and the kind of legal change.