HIST 1302: The US since 1877

Dr. Buzzanco
Exam 1 Review
Part I: Major Essay (50 points)

Three of the following questions will appear on the exam. You will need to pick ONE and
answer it thoroughly for a total of 50 points. Make sure you address ALL aspects of the question.
Additionally, you need to write in essay form, with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a
conclusion. Do not write one long paragraph. This should be 1 and ¼ page.
1. What is imperialism? Why did the United States begin to engage in imperialism? Make
sure to give at least three examples of countries towards which the US acted as an
imperialist in the 1890s.
2. What did Wilson mean by calling WWI “a war for democracy”? Did Wilson’s vision for
democracy abroad correlate to how democracy was being practiced within the United
States?
3. How did President Hoover impact the severity of the Great Depression? What were some
of his most prominent failures and/or successes? Give at least three examples of relevant
policies he enacted.
4. What were the aims of Reconstruction in the American South after the Civil War? How
did these change over time? Was Reconstruction a failure?
5. Once the U.S. industrialized after the Civil War there was immediate conflict.  Describe
some of the major episodes, both in cities and farms, of this class struggle from the 1870s
to the late 1800s

Part II: From the Readings (20 points)

THREE of the following questions will appear on the exam, of which you will need to address
ONE. Your response to the question you choose will be worth 20 points. Your response should
be ¾ of a page.
1. What was one achievement of the Progressive Era and what was, in your view, one
problem with the Progressive Movement?
2. What were two economic reasons behind expansion of U.S. territories?
3. What was one of the biggest failures of Reconstruction? Provide justification for your
answer from the text.
4. What was Andrew Mellon’s, Hoover’s Treasury Secretary, “solution” to the “liquidity
crisis” of the Great Depression? Why was this a harmful proposition?
5. When did the South begin erecting large numbers of Confederate monuments and what
was the purpose of doing it?

Part III: Identification Terms (30 points)

SIX of the following terms will appear on the exam. You will need to address THREE.
Each will be worth 10 points, for a total of 30 points for the whole section. A good ID will be
more than a sentence. It usually takes AT LEAST 4 or 5 sentences to respond to each ID.
Be sure that you use relevant information from both the lectures and class textbooks.

Each ID should have two parts: a basic definition of the term including who, what, where,
when, why, AND the significance of the term, or how it relates to a broader historical theme
and/or event. For example, if Sharecropping were a term, you would want to both define it
and explain the consequences of sharecropping: what it meant for ex-slaves, that it was part
of the failure of social reconstruction, etc.
The Open Door Freedmen’s Bureau
The Progressive Era William Jennings Bryan
Dawes Act Surplus Capital
Sharecropping Haymarket Affair
Military Reconstruction Act Wounded Knee
Queen Liliuokalani League of Nations