Final Exam
The final exam will take place on April 26 at 7-10 pm:
AA-JZ - Room H613
KA-ZZ - Room H620
The exam will have two parts:
Part A will consist of 4 short answer questions, worth 10 points each (40% altogether). Below are eight study questions. On the exam SIX of these will appear; you will be asked to answer any FOUR of the six.
Part B will consist of 2 essay-type questions, worth 30% each (60% of total mark). Below are five study questions. On the exam THREE of these will appear; you will be asked to answer any TWO of the three.
The final exam covers all the course material from the beginning of the semester, including lectures, texbook, and reader. The exam is worth 35% of the final grade.
Short Answer Study Questions
Identify the following quotes and answer these questions about each: Who said it? What was he or she referring to? What major theme in post-1877 American history this quote relates to? Why are this quote and the person who said it important?
1. "The Spaniards called them 'Smoked Yankees,' but we found them to be an excellent breed of Yankees. I am sure that I speak the sentiments of officers and men in the assemblage when I say that between you and the other cavalry regiments there exists a tie which we trust will never be broken."
2. "The cry that the 'Chinese must go' is both narrow and unjust. It represents no broad or universal principle. It is merely a repetition of the cry that was raised years ago by native Americans against the immigration of Irishmen, Englishmen, Germans and others from European nations."
3. "The question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent."
4. "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
5. "There we were out in those damn dirty trenches. Machine guns firing. Bombs dropping all around us. We would be exhausted, firghtened, confused and sometimes hopeless about our situation. When suddenly someone would pull your picture out of his wallet. Or we'd see a decal of you on a plane and then we'd know what we were fighting for."
6. "The State department ... is thoroughly infested with communists. I have in my hand a list of 201 individuals who appear to be either card-carrying members of the communist party or certainly loyal to the communist party, but who are still helping to shape our foriegn policy."
7. "Gandhi was a big dark elephant sitting on a little white mouse. King is a little black mouse sitting on top of a big white elephant."
8. "I am not a crook."
Essay Study Questions
1. How did the concept of "social darwinism" influence the economic, political, and social transformations at the end of the nineteenth century? Use at least three historical events and/or personalities as examples.
2. Between 1877 and 2006 the United States conducted several wars aimed to bring democracy to various world nations, from the war in the Philippines to the war in Iraq. How successful were these democratization projects? Discuss at least two wars as examples.
3. What were the major economic, political, and cultural consequences of the Great Depression? Discuss with reference to at least one economic aspect (for example, rise of unions), political figure (for example, Huey Long), and cultural phenomenon (for example, FSA photography).
4. Many historians consider the civil rights movement the most important social movement in the twentieth century US history. What were its successes and failures? Compare and contrast Martin Luther King's and Malcom X's views of the civil rights movement as examples.
5. What were the causes and consequences of the rise of conservative movements in the United States at the end of the twentieth century? What earlier movements can be called their precursors?