The election of Thomas Jefferson brought to power a new political party, the Democratic-Republicans. Was this party a national organization, representing the U.S. as a whole, or sectional party, representing only the South? What evidence is there for each position?

Why did a two-party system arise in the election of 1800? What effect did this system have on American political history? Was this a healthy or unhealthy development for American political life?

Write a diary as an observer from France in the United States during the Election of 1800. What are your views of the election? What do you think the election reveals about American political life? Compare America's peaceful transition to Democratic-Republican rule with political life in post-revolutionary France? How do you explain the differences?

Estimate the average duration of gold or silver booms. List the stages of a typical mining town from the first strike to ghost town. Why did most mining towns experience this boom, decline, and bust cycle? What techniques did corporations employ to extend the profitability of some regions well into the twentieth century?

For each time period on the map, pay special attention to the changing boundaries of the United States, Mexico, and the Native American nations. How did the previous occupants of the mining areas receive the Anglo-American migrants? Where did mining rushes spark conflicts between the United States and Native Americans? How were these conflicts resolved?

Describe in a few sentences the everyday life of mining boomtowns. Characterize relations between men and women, between various ethnic and racial groups, and between upper and lower classes. Contrast this society to that of northeastern cities like Boston and southeastern cities such as Charleston.

A young relative from Philadelphia writes that he or she is tired of the crowded city and wants to join you out West. From the perspective of a miner, a farmer, or a rancher, write a letter back to your relative with a fair appraisal of the opportunities, challenges, and conditions of life in your specific region. Describe your precise location, your living quarters, surrounding countryside, climate, and social conditions. What should your relative bring? Comment on his or her prospects for marriage and family life. When you are finished, explain how your advice would change if your correspondent were Mexican, Indian, Chinese, African-American, European, male or female (pick three different scenarios). Finally, does your portrait of opportunity in a mining town support or contradict the picture of the West presented by the historian Frederick Jackson Turner in his "Frontier Thesis"?

Why was there a greater concentration of railroads in the Northeast and Midwest than in the South? Give three hypotheses, and look for evidence on the map and in your text to back up each one. What effects would this have on sectional division and conflict?

Which cities grew up as a result of the new rail traffic? What economic impact did railroads have on the growth of cities across the North and Midwest? Which products were behind this growth in rail traffic?

Railroads in the South were fewer in number and served mostly to bring agricultural products from the hinterlands to cities and ports. Why did the railroads fail to bring about the economic changes it brought about in the North and Midwest?

You are a businessman interested in entering the railroad industry in 1840. Write a letter to Congress or to your state legislature asking for support of your project. What area of the country do you believe will offer the highest return on profit? What arguments will you make about the economic, political and social benefits of your enterprise? What assistance will you request?

You are a nineteenth century rail traveler on a cross-country journey. Write a diary of your travels, the landscape you pass, the travel experience on the railroads, and the people you meet on your trip.

What troop movements and strategies suggest that the Mexican War was the result of a larger idea of the "manifest destiny" of the United States to control the area between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans? Did some Americans disagree over whether any or some part of the Mexican territories should be part of the U.S? Make a list of the various arguments for and against expansion into Mexico and explain the motivations for each position.

President Polk was elected on an explicitly expansionist platform, strongly supporting the annexation of Texas and settlement of the Oregon border dispute with England. What political gains did Polk hope to achieve with a war on Mexico? What did Polk's opponents charge was behind Polk's decision to go to war?

The Mexican War went largely favorably for the United States from the beginning. US troops, however, had to overcome formidable geographic obstacles and climactic conditions. Describe the obstacles faced by the various campaigns. How did the commanders of the US forces circumvent them and successfully subdue the Mexican government?

What affects did the Mexican war have on American geography, demography and politics? What did the territory gained in the war add to the United States? What new citizens did the U.S. gain as a result of the war? What cultural influences were added to the nation? What political problems might the war cause? How would the new territory effect the balance of free and slave states?

Create a diary of a soldier involved in the Mexican War (on either side). Why did you enlist? What did you expect the war to be like? What events and experiences would define this war for you? What is your opinion of the results of the war?