1. Discuss immigration to the United States in the 1840s and 1850s. Who came? Why did immigrants come? Where did they settle? What economic and political roles did they play?
2. Discuss the rise of anti-Catholic and nativist sentiment and movements in the United States in the 1840s. What caused them? Who supported such groups? What impact did these groups have on American politics?
3. What did expansionists mean by the term manifest destiny? What arguments did they use to justify expansion? To whom did these arguments appeal? Why?
4. Discuss the causes of the Mexican War. To what extent did the United States provoke the confrontation? Why did some members of Congress and the public oppose the war?
5. Explain the following statement with as much illustrative evidence as possible: "[E]xpansion brought sectional antagonism to the boiling point, split the Democratic party in the late 1840s, and set the nation on the path to the Civil War."