generalization. (74)
2. In the seventeenth century, New England
Puritans tried to create a model society.
What were
their aspirations, and to what extent were those aspirations fulfilled during the
seventeenth century? (83)
institutions. To what
extent and in what ways do you agree or disagree with this statement? (71)
4. What role did unfree
labor play in colonial American society? (72)
having separate
civilizations, the Northern and Southern colonies in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries were in fact more similar than different. Assess the validity of this statement. (75)
6. Although the thirteen American colonies
were founded at different times by people
with different
motives and with different forms of colonial charters and political
organization,
the Revolution the thirteen colonies had become remarkably similar.
Assess the validity of this
statement. (78)
7. Throughout the colonial period, economic
concerns had more to do with the settling
of
statement with
specific reference to economic and religious concerns. (90)
8, To what extent and
why did religious toleration increase in the American colonies
during the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries?
Answer with reference to Three
individuals,
events, or movements in American religion during the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries. (81)
9. From 1600 – 1763, several European nations
vied for control of the North American
continent. Why did
10. The American Revolution should really be
called the “British Revolution” because
marked changes in
British colonial policy were responsible for final political division than were
American actions. Assess the validity of
this statement for the period 1763 – 1776.
(82)
economic fortunes of
Assess the
validity of this statement. (87)
profound shift in the
way many Americans thought and felt about the British government and their colonial
governments. Assess the validity of this
statement in view of the political and constitutional debates of these decades.
(89)
13. For the period before 1750, analyze the ways
in which
neglect influenced the
development of American society as illustrated in the following:
Legislative assemblies
Commerce Religion (95)
14. Analyze the extent to which religious
freedom existed in the British North American
colonies prior to 1700.
(98)
15.
Analyze the
cultural and economic responses of TWO of the following groups to the Indians
of North America before 1750.
British French Spanish (00)
1. To what extent did economic issues provoke
the American Revolution? ( 74)
2. The Declaration of
support, an attempt to
swing uncommitted Americans to the revolutionary cause, a statement of
universal principles, and an affirmation
of the traditional rights of Englishmen.
To what extent, if any are these interpretations in
conflict? ( 75)
3. During the
seventeenth and increasingly in the eighteenth century, British colonists in
thirteen North
American colonies was economic in origin, in fact the American
Revolution had its
roots in politics and other areas of American life. Assess the
validity of this
statement. ( 86)
5. This history of the present King of Great
Britain is a history of repeated injuries and
usurpation, all having
in direct object, the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these
States. Evaluate this accusation made
against George III in the Declaration of
6. Analyze the extent to which the American
Revolution represented a radical alteration
in American political
ideas and institutions. Confine your
answer to the period 1775 to 1800. (97)
Analyze the degree to
which the Articles of Confederation provided an effective form of government
with respect to any TWO of the
following:
Foreign
relations
Economic conditions
Western lands ( 96)
8. Evaluate the relative importance of
domestic and foreign affairs in shaping American
politics in the
1790’s. (94)
9. The Bill of Rights did not come from a
desire to protect the liberties won in the
American Revolution, but rather from a
fear of the powers of the new federal
government. Assess the validity of the statement. (91)
10. Evaluate the relative importance of the
following as factors prompting Americans to
rebel in 1776:
Parliamentary taxation British military measures
Restriction of civil liberties The legacy of colonial religious and
political ideas (92)
11. “ Our prevailing
passions are ambition and interest; and it will be the duty of a wise
government to avail
itself of those passions, in order to make them subservient to the public
good.”
Alexander
Hamilton, 1787
How was this
viewpoint manifested in
12. What evidence is there for the assertion that
the basic principles of the Constitution
were firmly grounded in
the political and religious experience of
13. Between 1783 and 1800, the new government of
the
political, economic ,
and constitutional issues that troubled the British government’s relations with
the colonies prior to the Revolution.
Assess the validity of this generalization. (80)
profound shift occurred
in the way many Americans thought and felt about the British government and
their colonial governments. Assess the
validity of this statement in view of the political and constitutional debate
of these decades. (89)
15. What evidence is there for the assertion
that the basic principles of the Constitution
were firmly grounded in
the political and religious experience of
1. There is no American history separate from
the history of
generalization by
examining the impact of European events on the domestic policies of the
2. The achievements of Generals are in the
long run more decisive than the
achievements of
diplomats. Assess the validity of this
generalization for the
the period 1800
– 1825. (74)
3. Early
actual threats
from
to United
States foreign policy on TWO major issues during the period from 1789 –
1825.
(83)
4. The Era of Good Feeling (1816-1824) marked
the appearance of issues that
transformed
American politics in the next 20 years.
Assess the validity of this
generalization. (75)
1. Andrew Jackson’s election as President
marked the beginning of a new age in
American political
history. Assess the validity of
this generalization. (71)
2. From the American Revolution to the Civil
War, American writers (both fiction and
non-fiction)
sought to discuss a uniquely national culture.
Analyze this statement for
any period of
approximately thirty years between 1775 and 1860. (73)
3. Account for the emergence of utopian
communities from the mid-1820’s through the
1840’s and
evaluate their success
and/ or failure. (74)
community contributed
to the development of a distinctive American national consciousness. Assess the validity of this statement. (86)
unyielding
perfectionism, impatience with compromise, and distrust of established social
institutions. These qualities explain
the degree of success or failure of these movements in achieving their
objectives. Discuss with reference to
BOTH anti-slavery and ONE other reform movement of the period 1820 –1860 (for
example, temperance, women’s rights, communitarianism,
prison reform or educational reform).
(79)
6. American reform movements between 1820 and
1860 reflected both optimistic and
pessimistic views of
human nature and society. Assess the
validity of this statement in reference to reform movements of THREE of the
following areas:
Education Utopian experiments
Temperance Penal
Institutions (88)
Women’s
Rights
American society.
Puritanism
during the seventeenth century The Great Awakening during the eighteenth
century The Second Great Awakening during the nineteenth century (94)
8. In what ways did the early nineteenth
–century reform movements for abolition and
women’s rights
illustrate both the strengths and weaknesses of democracy in the early American
republic? (93)
democracy between 1820
and 1840.
Jacksonian economic policy Changes in electoral politics
Second Great Awakening
Westward movement (96)
10. How did Two of the
following contribute to the reemergence of a two party system
in the period 1820 to 1840?
Major political
personalities States’ rights Economic issues (99)
11. Discuss the impact of the “transportation
revolution,” 1820 – 1860, on the
regional trade should
have united Americans, but instead produced sectional division and finally disunion. Discuss with reference to the impact of
improved transportation and increased inter-regional trade on the Northeast
(New England and
13. Developments in transportation, rather than
in manufacturing and agriculture, sparked American economic growth in the first
half of the nineteenth century. Assess
the validity of this statement. (89)
1. Although Americans perceived Manifest
Destiny as a benevolent movement, it was
infact
an aggressive imperialism pursued at the expense of others. Assess the
validity of
this statement with specific reference to American expansionism in the
1840’s.
(90)
2. Although historically represented as
distinct parties, the Federalists and the Whigs in fact shared a common political
ideology, represented many of the same interest groups, and proposed similar
programs and policies. Assess the
validity of the statement. (91)
Compare the expansionist
foreign policies of Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James K. Polk. To what extent did their policies strengthen
the
4. Discuss the impact of territorial expansion
on national unity between 1800 and 1850.
(97)
1. Why did the institution of slavery command
the loyalty of the vast majority of ante-
bellum whites, despite
the fact that only a small percentage of them owned slaves (73)
generalization for TWO
of the following aspects of southern life from about 1840 to 1860: political,
social, economic, and intellectual life.
(84)
3. Supreme Court decisions reinforce state and
federal legislation. Assess the validity
of
this generalization for
THREE decisions of the Supreme Court prior to the Civil War. (72)
4. At various times between 1789 and 1861,
Americans changed their positions on the
constitutional question
of loose construction or strict construction as best suited their economic or
political interests. Discuss this
statement with reference to any TWO individuals or groups who took positions on
this constitutional question. (81)
rather than a neutral
arbiter of constitutional principles.
Assess the validity of this generalization for the period 1800 –
1860. (84)
6. Analyze the ways in which supporters of slavery
in the nineteenth century used legal,
religious, and economic
arguments to defend the institution of slavery. (95)
7.
Assess the
moral arguments and political actions of those opposed to the spread of slavery
in the context of TWO of the following:
Compromise
of 1850
1. The South never had a chance to win the
Civil War. To what extent, and why, do
you
agree or disagree with
this statement? (71)
political equality of
the white and black races.” How can this
1858 statement of Abraham Lincoln be reconciled with his 1862 Emancipation
Proclamation? (88)
3. How do you account for the failure of
Reconstruction (1865 – 1877) to bring social
and economic equality
of opportunity to the former slaves?
(83)
another, but the ultimate price of success is usually
the alteration or subversion of the
original ideas and programs. For the period 1830-1870, discuss this
statement with
reference to
BOTH (A) the ideas and activities of abolitionists and (B) the policies of
the Republican
Party. ( 78)
5. Discuss the political, economic, and social
reforms introduced in the South between
1864
and 1877. To what extent did these reforms survive the
Compromise of 1877?
(92)
the following in the
Agriculture Transportation
Labor
Industrialization (97)
1. A number of writers and reformers in the
period 1865-1914 discussed the growing
gap between wealth and
poverty in the
Henry George :
Progress and Poverty
Edward Bellamy: Looking Backwards
Andrew Carnegie: The Gospel of
Wealth
William Graham Sumner: What
Social Classes Owe to Each Other
Upton Sinclair: The Jungle
2. Andrew Carnegie has been viewed by some
historians as the “prime representative of
the industrial age” and by others as “an industrial
leader atypical of the period.
Assess the
validity of these views. (86)
3. The path to labor organization was marked by
false starts and wrong moves. Assess
the validity of this
generalization for the period 1865 – 1900.
(77)
4. Popular fascination with the cowboy, the
pioneer, and stories of Horatio Alger in the
period 1870 to 1915
reflected
increased during the nineteenth century as the reality
behind these beliefs faded.
Assess the
validity of this statement. (79)
that was created in the
Andrew
Carnegie Horatio
Alger Ida M. Tarbell
Eugene
V. Debs Booker
T. Washington (94)
7. Although the economic development of the
Trans-Mississippi West is popularly associated with hardy individualism, it was
in fact largely dependent on the federal government. Assess the validity of this statement with
specific reference to western economic activities in the nineteenth
century. (91)
8. Analyze the impact of any TWO of the
following on the American industrial worker between 1865 and 1900.
Government actions Labor
Unions
Immigration Technology
changes (98)
1. Describe the thesis advanced by Frederick
Jackson Turner about the relationship of
the frontier to
political democracy, and assess the principal arguments that later historians
have made to attack or defend the thesis.
(71)
2. The
in all forms of
artistic expression. Assess the validity
of this statement by discussing literature and the arts (include architecture
if you wish) (71)
3. Although the
values, and materialism, American fiction since 1865
has generally been critical of
business behavior and values. Assess the validity of this generalization
with
reference to the
work of at least TWO writers who have treated the behavior and
values of businessmen
in their fiction since 1865. (80)
Seventeenth century Puritans The Second Great Awakening
The First Great Awakening The
Social Gospel Movement (85)
5. Assess the validity of this statement in
view of the experience of TWO of the following:
The
Scotch-Irish on the eighteenth century Appalachian frontier The Irish in the
nineteenth century urban Northeast The Chinese in the nineteenth century
west (87)
economic and political
spheres effectively challenged traditional attitudes about women’s place in
society. Assess the validity of this statement. (91)
7. Account for the growth of ONE of the
following major urban centers during the period indicated:
8. Assess the changing status of Blacks between
emancipation and the end of the nineteenth century. (74)
9. Americans have been a highly mobile
people. Describe and account for the
dominant
Population Movements between 1820 and 1900. (82)
1. Did the Republican Party from 1877 –1896
abandon its earlier principles and succumb to expediency? (72)
2. Although the economic growth of the
3. Political movements in the
4. Both the Jacksonian
Democrats during 1824-1840 and the Populists during 1890 –1896 attacked and
sought out special privilege in American life.
The Jacksonian Democrats attained power and
succeeded; the populists failed. Assess
the validity of this view. Give roughly
equal attention to the Jacksonian Democrats and the
Populists. (74)
5. In what ways were the late nineteenth
century Populists the heirs of the Jacksonian
Democrats with respect to overall objectives AND specific proposals for
reform? (89)
nineteenth century.
(95)
7. How were the lives of the Plains Indians in
the second half of the nineteenth century
affected by
technological developments and government actions? ( 99)
1.
2. How and why did the Monroe Doctrine become
the cornerstone of
3. Both the Mexican War and the Spanish
American War were premeditated resulting
from deliberately
calculated schemes of robbery on the part of a superior power against weak and defenseless neighbors. (86)
4. Compare the debates that took place over
American expansionism in the 1840’s with those that took place in the 1890’s,
analyzing the similarities and differences in the debates of the two eras. (92)
1. Analyze and evaluate Booker T. Washington’s
program for American Blacks and
W.E.B. DuBois’s challenge to that program. (71)
3. The legal, political, and economic rights
achieved by minorities and women in the
United States have
come largely during periods of major reform movements, which
both helped the
struggle of these groups and set limits to them. Assess the validity of this statement for the history of one or
more of these groups in the period 1830-1920.
(76)
4. Paradoxically, Darwinism provided a
justification for both social conservatism and
social reform in the
period from 1870-1915. Discuss this
statement (77)
parties rather than
between them. Discuss this statement
with reference to the periods 1850 –1861 and 1900 –1912. (81)
than a victory for
liberalism. Assess the validity of this
generalization. (87)
including those of the
Supreme Court, affected the efforts of any TWO of the following groups to
improve their position in society between 1880 and 1920.
African
Americans Farmers Workers (93)
the state and local level on public indifference or
greedy politicians, such corruption
reflected a serious crisis of traditional institutions in
dealing with social and
economic problems of modern
(75)
The
2. The
democracy” as President
Wilson claimed, but to safeguard American economic interests. Assess the validity of this statement. (74)
to declare war on
German naval policy Allied propaganda
American economic interests
Woodrow Wilson’s idealism (95)
3.
To what
extent did the United States achieve the objectives that led it to enter the
First World War? (00)
1. Alienation from American society is a
dominant theme of the literature of the
1920’s. Discuss this
statement with reference to TWO writers (novelists, poets, playwrights,
journalists, etc.) citing evidence from their works. (72)
3. From 1790 to the 1870’s, state and national
governments intervened in the American
economy mainly to aid
private economic interests and promote economic growth. Between 1890 and 1929, however, government
intervention was designed primarily to curb and regulate private economic
activity in the public interest. Assess
the validity of this statement, discussing for EACH of these periods at least
TWO major areas of public economic policy.
(77)
entertainment help
create the reputation of the 1920’s as the Roaring Twenties? (99)
mirrored
United
States have come largely during periods of major reform movements, which both
helped the struggles of these groups and set limits to them. Assess the validity of this statement for the
history of one or more of these groups in the period 1830 –
1920. (76)
responsible for the
nation’s depression of the 1930’s.
Assess the validity of this generalization. (83)
1. How do you account for the onset of the
Great Depression of the 1930’s? (71)
1945. (72)
3. The depression of the 1890’s delayed reform;
the depression of the 1930’s stimulated
it. To what extent and in what ways do you agree
or disagree with this statement?(72)
4. The New Deal did not radically alter
American business, but conserved and protected
it. Assess the validity of this statement. (73)
5. Despite artificial similarities, the
domestic programs of the New Deal constituted a fundamental departure from
those of the Progressive Era. Assess the
validity of this generalization. (74)
6. The history of the
7. Although often defended and attacked on
purely economic grounds, the federal tariff policies of the
8. Major American writers have been
indifferent to the social problems of their day.
State whether you agree or disagree with
generalization and defend your position
with reference
to THREE novelists/ or poets. (75)
9. Most reform legislation since 1900 has been
the work of special interests seeking to
advance their own
well-being, but the adoption of such legislation has required the general
support of others who were not directly affected but who perceived it to be in the
public interest. Assess the validity of
this statement with reference to THREE examples of reform legislation since
1900. You may draw your examples from
reform at any level of government:
national, state or municipal.
(79)
Republican
party had secured the support of industry and commerce
since 1920 – with special interest programs giving financial aid, legal
privileges, and other types of assistance.
Assess the validity of this statement, giving attention to both periods
(1920 –1932 and 1932 – 1940). (81)
11. Despite often
brutal clashes between labor and capital in the
period 1865-1940,
collective working-class protest did not constitute a basic attack on the
capitalistic system. Assess the validity
of this statement. (82)
12. During the past four decades, historians have
consistently have rated
Lincoln,
and FDR as the
greatest presidents.
Assess the greatness of any TWO of these, making clear the criteria on
which you base your judgement. (85)
and strategies. Assess
the validity of this statement for ONE of the following pairs of reform
movements.
Women’s
suffrage and post-Second World War Feminism The New Deal and the Great Society (86)
14. Why did socialism fail to become a major
force in American politics between 1900
and 1940 despite
widespread dissatisfaction with the social and economic order and significant
support for radical movements during that time period? (88)
15. Analyze the ways
in which the Great Depression altered the American social fabric
in the 1930’s. (96)
16. Identify Three of
the following New Deal measures and analyze the ways in which
each of the three
attempted to fashion a more stable economy and a more equitable society.
Agricultural Adjustment Act Wagner National Labor relations Act
Securities and Exchange Commission Social Security Act (93)
17. Although American writers of the 1920’s and
1930’s criticized American society, the
nature of their
criticisms differed markedly in the two decades. Assess the validity of
this statement
with specific reference to writers in both decades. (90)
1. President Franklin Roosevelt was naïve and
ineffective in his conduct of foreign
policy from 1933 and
1941. To what extent and in what ways do
you agree or disagree with this statement.
(71)
States foreign policy or
policy but has seldom
resulted in major reorientations of
policy. Discuss with
reference to the
First and Second world wars giving about equal attention to each.
(78)
4. Prior to American involvement in both the First and Second World Wars, the United
States
adopted an official policy of neutrality. Compare the policy and its modifications
during the period 1914-17 to the policy and its modifications during
1939-41. (82)
success in foreign
policy when confronted with the two principal European powers,
1914 – 1932 OR 1933 -1950. (77)
1920’s and 1930’s? (98)
1. Discuss the changing attitudes of historians
towards the origins of the Cold War.
(72)
2. Harry S. Truman was a realistic, pragmatic
President who skillfully led the American
people against the
menace posed by the
significantly during
the late nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century. Apply this statement to TWO of the periods:
1870
-1915 1915 - 1935 1935 - 1950 (85)
world. Discuss the developments in the thirty years
following Churchill’s speech which called the global preeminence of the
5. Analyze the influence of TWO of the following
on American-Soviet relations in the
decade following the
Second World War.
Korean War McCarthysim (96)
6. To what extent did the decade of the 1950’s
deserve its reputation as an age of
political, social, and
cultural conformity? (94)
following the Second
World War? (97)
for Black civil rights, the 1940’s and 1950’s were
periods of equally important gains.
Assess the
validity of this statement. (91)
1. Discuss the adjustments of ONE of the
following minority groups to American life.
American Indians from 1860 -1900 Puerto Ricans from 1910 – 1970 (72)
Mexican -Americans from 1910 – 1970 Japanese Americans from 1910 - 1970
2. Controversy between integrationist and
separatist viewpoints has long been a dominant theme within the black
community. Analyze the controversy among
blacks for the period 1920 - 1970. (73)
3. In the period since 1945, the Republican
Party, as represented in the administrations of Dwight Eisenhower (1953-1961) and
Richard M. Nixon (1969-1974), virtually abandoned the opposition to the New
Deal expressed in the 1930’s. assess the validity of this generalization. (75)
4. Greater similarities than differences have
characterized the experiences of all ethnic and racial groups who have migrated
to American cities. Assess the validity
of this generalization with reference to the Irish and Germans from the 1840’s
to the 1890’s AND black Americans from 1915 - 1970. (75)
5. Presidents who have been notably successful
in either foreign affairs or domestic affairs have seldom been notably
successful in both. Assess this
statement with reference to TWO presidents, on in the nineteenth century, and the other in the twentieth century, giving
reasons for success or failure in each case.
(77)
6. The leadership, organization, and programs of ethnic and racial minority movements after 1945 represented a fundamental departure from those which had existed from 1900 to 1945. Discuss with reference to black Americans or Mexican Americans, giving about equal attention to the periods b