Modern America June 2017 Ms. Shen Study Guide for Modern America Final Exam Reminders: The final exam will count for 10-15% of your second semester grade. The exam is on Friday, June 16 th in the afternoon (11:30 AM - 2:30 PM.) Please bring a #2 pencil for the scantron portion of the exam. We will spend 2-3 days in class reviewing for the exam. The more you have studied at that point, the more effective the review session/time will be to you. At a minimum, between now and the end of classes, I would suggest that you at least read over the essay questions and begin thinking about how you might outline the essays. If you are so inclined, you may outline them completely. Extra Help: I am available for extra help as always during blocks 2, 4 or 7 or before/after school by appointment. If you would like to meet to review one-on-one before the exam, I would strongly encourage you to make an appointment sooner rather than later as there is only one of me and many of you! Exam Week Office Hours: I will be around most of exam week & the morning of our exam if you want to stop by, ask questions and say hi/bye when you finish your other exams. The final exam will consist of the following (for a total of 250 points): 60 Matching (you choose 50 terms to match) (75 points) 50 Multiple-choice (50 points) 1 Essay (100 points) The questions will be drawn from all units covered in the second semester (Postwar America & the Cold War, 1960s, Vietnam, 1970s & 1980s, 1990s)
Section III: Essay (100) Outline requirements: You may bring in a single-sided sheet outline to use during the essay portion of the exam which you will hand in with your exam. You may write out your thesis and topic sentences. Otherwise, everything should be in note form only. You cannot have a pre-written essay that you will simply copy onto the exam. If you type your outline, the font cannot be smaller than 12-point font, and the margins must be at least 1 inch on all sides. If you handwrite your outline, please single-space it and maintain margins. Please make sure that you follow these requirements or 10 points will be deducted from your essay. If you have any questions about your outline, please ask in advance! Your essay should include: Introduction which first introduces the idea, gives some historical/cultural context and then ends with a clear thesis statement. 3 body paragraphs which include detailed evidence from the units we covered this semester. Each body paragraph should have 3 specific examples to support the main idea of that paragraph (examples should be drawn from class notes, and detailed evidence would mean using quotes from primary or secondary sources, using statistics, etc.) and the evidence should be follow the requirements of the specific question. Essay Question: Over the course of the past year, we have examined the ways in which Americans of all ethnic and social backgrounds sought their own version of the American Dream. It would be fair to say that in the 19 th and early 20 th centuries, many different types of people had a minimal share of the American Dream. Women, African-Americans, the working class and other historically disenfranchised groups had a much smaller slice of the dream than white males did. In the latter half of the 20 th century, however, these groups and other historically disenfranchised groups have made great strides. In your opinion, in the period from 1945 to 2000, do you think America has truly become a land of opportunity for all people? Has America shown itself to be a place where the welfare and rights of all people are protected? Have all Americans been able to access the American Dream? Please take a position and discuss it in a concise, well-written essay which incorporates evidence on multiple units. Consider the ways which each group s opportunities have changed over time (this means using evidence from multiple units for each group in question.) Essay Question Two: In the fall, we discussed the political spectrum and you were asked to consider where you fell on that spectrum. Since that time, we have studied a number of modern presidents who have had their own ideas about the role and size of the federal govt. Looking at your updated political spectrum quiz, please evaluate which presidents have had the most profound impact (positive and negative) on creating a federal govt that aligns with your values. In what ways has the American government become a nation which reflects your political values? In your response, please make clear what type of approach to government you support AND provide detailed evidence on at least 3 presidents and the ways that they have supported or contradicted your values. Your response should incorporate evidence from 1945-2000.
Key Terms and Concepts While I would not focus exclusively on terms, you should be familiar with all of the following terms (this is where I get many of the matching or fill-in-the-blank questions) as well as any other concepts or events you have in your notes. ( Note: The following terms are drawn from the review sheets you have been given this semester they are not new.) Cold War: Capitalism Communism Potsdam Conference Winston Churchill Iron-Curtain speech Containment Berlin Airlift NATO NSC-68 Hydrogen bomb Arms race Red Scare House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) Joseph McCarthy McCarthyism Red Scare Alger Hiss Julius and Ethel Rosenberg John Service Edward Teller Dr. Suess Post-war America: Conformity Baby Boom GI Bill William Levitt & Levittown Restrictive covenants Interstate Highway Act McDonalds Ray Kroc Franchise Alfred Kinsey Kinsey Report Marilyn Monroe Rock n Roll Alan Freed Elvis Presley James Dean 1960s: New Frontier Camelot The Other America Great Society Plessy v. Ferguson Brown v. Board of Education Emmett Till Little Rock 9 Martin Luther King, Jr. Non-violent direct action Lunch counter sit-ins Albany Movement Gov. George Wallace Birmingham Eugene Bull Connor March on Washington Civil Rights Act of 1964 Voting Rights Act of 1965
Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh Democ. Republic of Vietnam Domino theory Dwight Eisenhower Geneva Agreement 17 th parallel Ngo Dinh Diem Military advisors John F. Kennedy Viet Cong Lyndon B. Johnson Gulf of Tonkin Resolution Guerrilla warfare Limited war Napalm/Agent Orange My Lai Selective Service Act (draft) Deferment Conscientious Objectors Teach-in Woodstock Hippies Counterculture Richard Nixon Vietnamization Paris Peace Accords 1970s & 1980s: Richard Nixon Pentagon Papers Plumbers Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter Iran hostage crisis Ronald Reagan New Right Reaganomics AIDS National Organization for Women Strike for Equality Equal Rights Amendment Roe v. Wade Title IX Billie Jean King & the Battle of the Sexes 1990s: Bill Clinton Ross Perot George Bush New Democrat NAFTA Family Medical Leave Act Child tax credit Don t Ask, Don t Tell Brady Bill Monica Lewinsky
Key Questions and Concepts The following questions are drawn from the review sheets you have been given this semester they are not new questions. Cold War: 1. What were the roots of the Cold War? (Consider the varying factors that led to the Cold War.) 2. What is the significance of Winston Churchill s Iron Curtain speech? What was the iron curtain a reference to? 3. What shape did American foreign policy take in the postwar era and what policies came about as a result of this foreign policy? 4. What events made 1949 an important year in terms of American foreign policy? 5. Who was Joseph McCarthy and how did his hunt for communists shape American politics and domestic life? 6. How did Americans fear of the bomb and communism impact life at home? Please consider the ways that Americans dealt with their fear, how they interacted with each other and the ways that these fears impacted the culture. 7. How did American popular culture in the 1950s reflect Americans fears? Postwar America: 1. Suburbs: a. How did William Levitt contribute to the development of the suburbs? b. What techniques did he use in home building? c. How did the suburbs encourage/enforce conformity? d. What were the pitfalls of living in suburbia? 2. How did the MacDonald brothers and Ray Kroc revolutionize the restaurant business? 3. How did the American economy change in the 1950s? How did workers lives make a change for the positive? 4. How did the television change American society? What was 1950s tv like? 5. Gender roles: a. What were the expectations for men and women in the 1950s? b. Where and how did men and women learn what was expected of them? 6. 1950s teens were seen as rebellious by their parents, however, this was not entirely true. In what ways did teenagers act like their parents? In what ways did they rebel? 7. Was 1950s life really as perfect as it seemed on the outside and on tv shows like Leave it to Beaver? Why or why not? 8. The 1950s were a decade of conformity but not all Americans able and willing to fit in in the way that mainstream American society demanded. Which groups did not did not fit in with the norm? Why?
1960s: 1. In spite of the rapid growth of the middle class in the 1950s, a number of Americans were dissatisfied. Who were these people and why were they unhappy? 2. JFK & LBJ: a. What specific steps did both JFK and LBJ take to address civil rights, economic problems, the issue of poverty, health care, education and urban issues? b. What impact did the Great Society have on the upper and lower classes? 3. Civil Rights: a. Provide 2-3 examples of progress that had been made for African-American prior to the 1950s. AND Provide 2-3 examples of how progress was still needed for African-Americans to be truly treated as equal prior to the 1950s. b. Brown v. Board of Education How did the ruling in Brown v. Board impact the lives of southerners? What bearing did it have on the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling of 1896? c. Who was Emmett Till and what happened to him in the summer of 1955? How did Emmett Till s murder impact black people nationwide? d. How was the theory of non-violent direct action designed to bring about change? (definition, role of media, response to protestors) e. What were some of the ways that civil rights protesters challenged discriminatory southern laws and practices? f. How did white southerners respond to the efforts for change made by civil rights activists? Consider how different responses from the local govt and citizens shaped the success of each campaign. g. What major legal changes were achieved during the modern civil rights movement? 4. While many political and social changes were made in the 1960s, in many ways, there was still work to be done. Describe were two problems that were left unaddressed by the end of the decade. 5. What specific role/actions did Americans take in the 1960s to make America a great society, a place where the meaning of man s life matches the marvels of man s labor? (CONSIDER ALL OF THE MOVEMENTS IN YOUR RESPONSE.) Vietnam: 1. Who was Ho Chi Minh and what role did he play in the events in Vietnam? 2. What reason did the U.S. have for being involved in Vietnam? Why did we get involved there? 3. What agreement came out of the 1954 Geneva Peace Conference? Who was in control of the north and the south? What was the dividing line? 4. How did the United States help support the government of South Vietnam?
5. What problems did the U.S. experience in Vietnam in the late 1950s and early 1960s? How did we deal with those problems? (Consider Diem s leadership and the U.S. financial and military involvement.) 6. What authority did Congress give President Johnson in the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution? How was the resolution a violation of the Constitution s system of checks and balances? 7. While President Johnson was in office, what was the U.S. strategy for winning the war? (Consider both the ground/air war strategies.) 8. How did battlefield conditions, as well as the sentiment of the American people, affect American soldiers? How did this differ from previous wars? What effect did this have on GIs during and after the war? o Consider how what happened at My Lai in 1968 symptomatic of larger problems in the Vietnam War. 9. How did the media shape how Americans regarded the war? 10. What role did students play in the protest movements of the 1960s? How did they protest the war? 11. What was the significance of Woodstock to the counterculture movement AND how did it embody (represent) the values of the counterculture? 12. What did President Nixon do about the war in Vietnam? 13. What agreement was reached at the end of the war in Vietnam in 1973? 14. What were the long-term effects of the Vietnam War? What effect did the war have on Cambodia & Laos? 1970s & 1980s: 1. Why were people increasingly distrustful of government/politicians by the 1970s? 2. What economic challenges faced the nation in the 1970s? (LOOK AT 1970s ECONOMIC CHALLENGES NOTES) 3. What efforts did the presidents of the 1970s make to address these issues? How successful were they? a. Richard Nixon: i. Why did Nixon feel a need to bring back law and order when he became president in 1968? ii. What did Nixon do to reverse the flow of power and resources away from the federal govt. and to state/local govts.? (New Federalism) iii. Watergate: How did the Watergate break-in and cover-up impact Nixon s administration, the presidency itself, and the American people as a whole? b. Gerald Ford: i. What domestic and international challenges did Ford face while in office and how did he respond to those challenges? ii. Ford was often regarded as a bumbler why was this? How did his physical awkwardness mirror some of the gaffes made while in office? c. Jimmy Carter: i. Carter used both the media and the fact that he was a Washington outsider to his advantage in the 1976 election. Many regarded Carter as a stark contrast from his predecessors. Consider why this was and how it was important.
ii. iii. What achievements did Carter make in the areas of Middle East peace? What impact did the conflict in Iran have on Carter s administration? 4. Ronald Reagan: a. What efforts did Ronald Reagan make to reform the federal government during his administration? i. How successful was he in this effort? ii. Who benefitted and who suffered? b. What efforts did Reagan take to end the Cold War and make America stronger? 5. Consider the political shift from Left to Right that happened between the 1960s and 1980s. What contributed to this shift and how did it play out in national politics? 6. What challenges did women s rights activists face in the 1970s and 1980s? How did they address those issues? What, if any, achievements were made during this time? 1990s: 1. Bill Clinton was a self-described New Democrat. What does this mean? How did he merge aspects of his Republican and Democratic predecessors into a new take on Democratic politics? 2. What did Clinton do domestically to bring about the change that he promised in the 1992 election? (Consider his approach to the economy, taxes, jobs, trade, debt, crime, health care, and aids to the middle/working classes.) 3. How do the modern Republican and Democratic parties take shape under Reagan/Bush and Clinton? (Consider each party s thoughts on the role of govt, supporters/voting base, and their approach to welfare, military spending, economic and social issues.)