Final Exam Study Questions

FINAL EXAMINATION 12:45 pm – 2:45 pm Thursday, December 9, 2004, SH 279

The final will have the same basic format as the midterm. In Part I, you will answer 10 of 15 short essay questions. In Part II, you will answer 1 of 4 long essay questions. The questions will be drawn from the following list and will appear on the final nearly word for word as they are written here. I will be in my office all afternoon Tuesday and Wednesday if you wish to speak with me or to pick up your Hip Hop America paper.

Identify and explain the major factors that caused the Great Depression.
In what ways did the Great Depression impact family life?
How did President Hoover’s faith in private charity (as opposed to aid from the federal government) influence the way he responded to the crisis of the Great Depression?
How did Franklin Roosevelt’s charisma and his use of the radio allow him to change the office of the presidency? How did he change the relationship between the people and their President?
What did Father Charles Coughlin and Huey Long of Louisiana think of Franklin Roosevelt and his New Deal?
How did the CIO help American workers?
How do the policies and programs associated with Roosevelt’s New Deal continue to affect our daily lives today?
Were the following New Deal programs concerned with “Relief,” “Recovery,” or “Reform?” AAA, FERA, TVA, Social Security. [As part of your answer tell what the programs were and what there purposes were. All of them need not be concerned with the same “R.”]
Explain the origins of World War II in Asia. How and why did the conflict begin? Who was involved? Why was the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor a miscalculation on the part of the Japanese?
Explain the origins of World War II in Europe. How and why did the conflict begin? Who was involved? What were the key events that led to the official beginning of the war on September 1, 1939 and why did the United States become involved?
What positive and negative effects did World War II produce for Americans on the homefront? How were people better off? What sacrifices did people have to make?
Why was the opening of a “second front” an important issue for Josef Stalin? What effect did the delay in opening a second front have on US-Soviet relations?
Why has the United States been criticized for its response to the Holocaust?
Why did Poland become an issue of contention among the Allies (US, Great Britain, Soviet Union) near the end of World War II?
How did the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan propose to “contain” Communism after World War II?
Why did the Soviet Union blockade the German city of Berlin in 1948? How did the United States reply? Who was the “winner” in this Cold War crisis?
Who was Alger Hiss? Why did his trial become such a significant event?
How did President Harry Truman and General Douglas MacArthur differ in their views of how to wage the Korean War?
Why are “The Four A’s” – “anxiety, anticommunism, affluence, and alienation” – appropriate words to describe American society during the 1950s?
Who was Senator Joseph McCarthy and why did he have a significant effect on American society during the early 1950s?
Identify the major events around the world and within the United States that made the vast majority of Americans anti-communist during the 1950s. Why did these events stir up anti-communist sentiment?
Who were some of the “cultural dissenters” of the 1950s? In what ways did they express their dissent from mainstream American culture?
Identify three problems Anne Moody faced as she tried to register black voters in Mississippi.
Why did Anne Moody come to believe that non-violent tactics were no longer working in the struggle for civil rights in Mississippi?
Why did many Americans believe that a new era was beginning when John F. Kennedy was inaugurated President in January 1961?
Explain why there was a “Cuban Missile Crisis” in 1962.
In the context of the Vietnam War, why are the following significant: Ngo Dinh Diem, the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, and the Tet Offensive
Why did many working class Americans resent members of the antiwar movement despite their own reservations about the Vietnam War?
What were some of the accomplishments and shortcomings of Lyndon B. Johnson’s “Great Society” programs?
Who was Eugene McCarthy and why did he play a significant role in the presidential election of 1968? [Do not confuse Eugene McCarthy with Joseph McCarthy, the leader of the anticommunist crusade during the early 1950s.]
In 1968, why did many Americans believe Robert F. Kennedy would make a good president?
What was the Watergate scandal? Why did it end up forcing President Nixon to resign?
What was “stagflation” and why did it seem to break the laws of economic theory?
How did the oil crisis of the 1970s affect the American economy?
Discuss the main reasons why Ronald Reagan defeated Jimmy Carter in the presidential election of 1980 even though many assumed he was too conservative to be elected.
Describe Ronald Reagan’s economic policies – these would include policies on such things as taxes, spending, and, balancing the budget. What effects did these policies have on different groups of Americans?
What role did the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) or “Star Wars” play in helping to bring about the end of the Cold War?
Bill Clinton called himself a “new Democrat.” How was he different than the “old Democrats?”
What were some of Bill Clinton’s greatest successes and greatest failures as President?
Was hip hop ever solely black owned, controlled, and consumed? Why has hip hop been so attractive to young white people?