History 201 & 202

Exam Materials

On this page you will find important terms that you will need to know and questions that will appear on the exams and final. The terms and questions will be divided by chapter.

Chapter 1: Worlds Collide.

1. Describe and discuss the various events that occurred in Europe that led to the colonization of the Western Hemisphere.

2. Analyze the rise and decline of Spain's fortunes in the New World.

Chapter 2: Invasion and Settlement of North America.

Lecture

1: Describe and discuss the obstacles to the colonization of Virginia and the means by which they were overcome. Be sure to discuss the unrealistic expectations of the colonists, the introduction of slave labor and tobacco, the incentives to lure prospective colonists, and the transformation from a corporate to a royal colony.

2: What problems did the Puritans face in their efforts to establish a polity based on religious conformity?

Chapter 3: The British Empire in America.

1: Describe and discuss some of the major colonial initiatives of the Stuart monarchy.

2: Compare and contrast the effects of slavery on England, the West Indies, Africa, and the American colonies.

Chapter 4: Growth and Crisis in Colonial Society.

1. How did colonists, primarily in New England, respond to the crisis of the shrinking supply of land to give to their children?

2. How was Great Britain, with a depleted treasury, able to defeat the French during the Seven Years' War (1756-1762) after having failed to achieve success against them in previous colonial wars?

Chapter 5: Toward Independence: The Years of Decision, 1763-1775.

1. What factors triggered the deterioration in relations between Great Britain and its American colonies? Be sure to discuss Americans' self-image, the long period of salutary neglect, and the attempt at boosting revenue from the colonies.

2. How did the actions of each side contribute to the military confrontation at Lexington and Concord?

3. Which groups in colonial society most actively supported the rebellion? Be sure to include the role of  intellectuals and ministers, the working-class, and women in your discussion.

Chapter 6: War and Revolution, 1775-1783.

Lecture

1. How did the American win the War of Independence?

2. Discuss the British military problems in North America during the American Revolution. What was the difference between the way the British Army fought and the way the Americans fought? Were British military operations in North America coordinated and effective? Why or why not?

Chapter 7: The New Political Order: 1776-1800.

1. Were the Articles of Confederation a success or a failure? Why?

2. What were the differences between Hamilton's and Jefferson's visions of the operation and the role of government?

Chapter 8: Dynamic Change: Western Settlement and Eastern Capitalism.

1.Describe and discuss the relationship between Tenkwatawa and Tecumseh. Historians have usually given more attention to Tecumseh that to Tenskwatawa. Why? How decisive was Tenskwatawa's role?

2. Why did Jefferson take such a conciliatory attitude toward the Federalists?

Chapter 9: The Quest for a Republican Society, 1790-1820.

1. Describe and discuss how the American social hierarchy differed from that of Europe in the early nineteenth century. In your discussion, be sure to consider the role of gender, race, and class.

2. Discuss why some southern planters called slavery a necessary evil.

Chapter 10: The Economic Revolution.

1. How did the Industrial Revolution alter the relationship among the social classes?

2. The South could have taken a different course and chosen to become involved in the Industrial Revolution in the 1820s and 1830s. Why didn't it?

Chapter 11: A Democratic Revolution, 1820-1844.

1. In what ways did the American political system become more democratic during this period? What legacies are seen today from this period?

2. Describe and discuss the policies of the federal government toward native Americans during the period from 1820-1844. What determined how the government dealt with Native Americans?

Chapter12: Religion and Reform, 1820-1860.

1. How and why did transcendentalists promote social reform?

2. How and why did abolitionism become the dominant American reform movement? What was the impact of antislavery activists on American society and politics?

Chapter 13: The Crisis of the Union, 1844-1860.

1. How and why did southerners change from claiming that slavery was a "necessary evil" to defending it as a "positive good?"

2. Why did the United States fight a war with Mexico? What was the larger impact of the war?

3. Was the development of free-soil ideology a positive or negative aspect of the movement to end slavery? Of the movement to make Afican Americans full citizens? Explain your response. Discuss the responses of people such as Garrison and Douglas to free-soil ideology.

Chapter 14: Two Societies at War: 1861-1865

Lecture Here

1. The Civil War has often been characterized as the first modern war. Do you agree or disagree with this idea. Justify your answer.

History 202

Chapter 15: Reconstruction Lecture

1. What were some of the major achievements and disappointments of Radical Reconstruction?

2. How did the federal government and the southern states limit African-American's ability to gain economic independence and personal freedom immediately after the Civil War?

Chapter 16: The American West

1. Describe and discuss the evolution of federal Indian policy in the last half of the 19th century.

2. Discuss some issues that still engage Americans today that have their roots in California and the Far West of the late 19th century. Be sure to include the tension between economic growth and environmental concerns, as well as the multicultural experience.

Chapter 17: Capital and Labor in the Age of Enterprise Lecture

1.  At the turn of the century the United States emerged as the world's leading industrial nation. What were the main factors that lead to this remarkable productivity? Be sure to include the role of natural resources, industry and cheap labor in your answer.

2. How did the nature of work change in the nineteenth century?

3. Describe and discuss the competing philosophies that animated the American labor movement at the turn of the century. Include the roles of the Knights of Labor, the American Federation of Labor, socialist ideas, and western radicalism.

Chapter 18: The Politics of late Nineteenth-Century America

1. Describe and discuss the major characteristics of the American governmental and political system between 1873 and 1893.

2. Explain how segregation came to be the essence of the southern way of life, and describe how blacks responded.

Chapter 19: The Rise of the City

1. What were the major characteristics of the urban culture that developed in late nineteenth-century America? Be sure to discuss diversity, ward politics, and popular culture.

2. Describe and discuss the class structure of late nineteenth-century America and the means by which status was determined.

Chapter 20: The Progressive Era

1. Describe and discuss progressivism and trace its rise in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century America.

2. Analyze Theodore Roosevelt's contributions to the progressive movement, and contrast his positions with those of William Howard Taft.

Chapter 21: An Emerging World Power

1. Why did the United States abandon its isolationist policy in the 1890's, and how did it implement its new foreign policy before the Spanish-American War?

2. What were the most important considerations in the U.S. government's decision to go to war with Spain in 1898? Be sure to address the issues of strategic interests, idealism, economic interests as well as journalism and American public opinion.

Chapter 22: War and the American State

1. How did World War I and its outcome change the nature of war and alter the structure of world politics?

2. In what ways did President Wilson's wartime administration alter the nature of the modern American state? Be sure to discuss the issues of taxation, regulatory agencies, and thought control.

Chapter 23: Modern Times: The 1920's

1. What developments in the 1920's contributed to the formation of a mass national culture? Discuss the issues of consumption, automobiles, movies, music, journalism, and radio.

Chapter 24: The Great Depression

1. Describe and discuss some of the factors that helped precipitate the Great Depression. In your essay, make sure to address the issues of stock market speculation, weaknesses of industrial and agricultural structures, interdependency of the world's economies, and national and international monetary policies.

Chapter 25: The New Deal, 1933-1939

1. Describe and discuss how the New Deal responded to the demands of both the right and the left by using legislation to restore confidence in business and reduce the suffering of the poor while avoiding radical change.

2. Discuss the New Deal's environmental initiatives.

Chapter 26: The World at War, 1939-1945

1. What were the World War II goals of the United States and its allies, and how were they achieved in battle and in wartime conferences?

2. What policies did the United States develop from the mid-1930s until Pearl Harbor in response to the acts of aggressor nations?

3. How did World War II alter the lives of African-Americans and Japanese-Americans?

Chapter 27: Cold War America, 1945-1960

1. Describe and discuss how the strategy of "containing" communism evolved in the Truman and Eisenhower administrations. Be sure to include the issues of the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, NSC-68, Korea, and nuclear policy in your discussion.

2. Assess the impact of the anticommunist crusade of the late 1940s and the 1950s on entertainment, education, labor, and government in the United States.

Chapter 28: The Affluent Society and the Liberal Consensus, 1945-1965

1. Some Americans look back on the 1950s and early 1960s with nostalgia and see this period as America at its best, the norm to which we should strive to return. In what ways were the years 1945 to 1965 unusual? What harsh realities were hidden by the buoyant optimism of those years?

Chapter 29: War Abroad and at Home: The Vietnam Era, 1961-1975

1. Describe and discuss the experience of the typical American soldier during and after the Vietnam War.

2. Describe the causes and the course of student activism in the 1960s.