Sherman’s March to the Sea is the name given to the campaign waged by Union General William Tecumseh Sherman in Georgia towards the end of the Civil War. Sherman marched his troops from Atlanta to Savannah over a one-month period. Sherman and his army destroyed Southern industry, agriculture and civilian property in a campaign historians refer to as total war. It is believed that Sherman’s March to the Sea contributed to a decline in Southern morale and strength.

Just based off of pure timing, this should have been a fairly easy answer—although the Compromise of 1852 may have been a tempting answer. The Crittenden Compromise is the correct answer, the reasoning being that Crittenden proposed his compromise two days before South Caroline announced its official secession. The Compromise was a last-ditch attempt at holding the country together before the inevitable war broke out after secession. The Compromise essentially proposed that the Missouri Compromise line be reinstated and extended west, and that slavery be constitutionally protected in any territory south of the line (including possible acquired territories).

Grover Cleveland is the only President in the history of the USA to win two non-consecutive elections. Grover Cleveland, a Democrat, first ran (and won) in 1884, and then was succeeded by Benjamin Harrison, a Republican, who beat him out in the general election the following cycle. Cleveland ran again in 1892 and won back the presidency.

Interestingly, Cleveland was the only Democrat President (other than Andrew Johnson, who, remember, succeeded Lincoln via presidential succession) from post-Civil War until Woodrow Wilson.

During the Presidency of George Washington, Americans rapidly began to settle westwards, expanding the new nation at a startling rate. Kentucky, Tennessee, Vermont, and Ohio were all added to the Union during Washington’s term in office. The Mississippi river became the nation’s western boundary. Louisiana did not become a part of the Union until after the Louisiana Purchase, which took place during the Presidency of Thomas Jefferson. 

Manifest Destiny describes  the idea that America had a right and need to extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.  This concept was a large driver of pre-Civil War American foreign policy, including the annexation of Texas, the Mexican-American War, and the California gold rush.

A loose constructionist believes that the Judiciary must take into account changes over time when making decisions to amend the Constitution. A strict constructionist is someone who believes the opposite, that the Judiciary should always base its decision off of the original intentions of the founding fathers. The Warren Court is an important example of a loose constructionist Court. 

The 1824 Presidential Election occurred during the interim between the First and Second Party System, after the fall of the Federalist Party and before the rise of the Whig Party.  With four legitimate candidates, the Electoral College could not produce a majority vote for one candidate, and thus the House of Representatives chose John Quincy Adams as the next president despite Andrew Jackson winning more popular and electoral votes.

The Wilmot Proviso, proposed by David Wilmot, argued that any territory acquired from Mexico should be forever closed to slavery. The Bill passed the House, but failed in the Senate – where the South had a much greater proportion of representation. For much of the recent history prior the introduction of this bill, both political parties had sought to keep the issue of slavery out of the national debate. The Wilmot Proviso is considered important by historians because it began a period of national fracturing, that would temporarily be solved by the Compromise of 1850, but would flare up again in the years building up to the Civil War. 

The “Era of Good Feelings” is the name given to the eight-year term of President James Monroe, from 1816-1824. The period of time was marked by an extensive geographic expansion of national territory and mostly sustained economic prosperity. It was also a period with little political maneuvering as the Democratic-Republican Party assumed almost complete control of government. Monroe even ran unopposed for election in 1820. 

The North had many advantages over the South throughout the Civil War. Firstly, the North was a much more industrialized society, able to draw on a greater wealth of resources and factories to produce weaponry. Secondly, the North had a national history, unity, collective consciousness and all the institutions that go with these ideas already set up at the time of the outbreak of war—the South had to develop these on the fly. Thirdly, the South struggled to gain international recognition from any European nations because no European country wanted to be seen to support the institution of slavery. Finally, the North had a much more developed navy and this proved to be the difference in the Mississippi River campaign. One of the few advantages that the South had over the North was superior military commanders, like Robert E. Lee, and more than a few battles were won or lost based on this difference. Many historians believe that the South might have won the war on the strength of the Generals and military tactics alone were it not for the overwhelming economic advantages of the North and the dwindling supply of Southern soldiers.