ESSAYS. PICK TWO OF THE ESSAYS LISTED ON THE BLACKBOARD THE DAY OF THE EXAM. 20 POINTS EACH. 40% OF TEST. USE STANDARD ESSAY FORMAT. The rest of the test will include 60 one-point multiple choice and/or map questions. The items listed in the questions below will be the correct answers to the multiple choice questions and the places for the map section of the test.

American History College Prep Final Exam Essay Questions Mr. Houston

1. Explain the key ways in which the American political, social, and economic atmosphere changed in the decade after World War I. Which aspects of change were for the better and which aspects of change were for the worse in your view? Be sure to use the following items in the answer: KKK, Teapot Dome, Harding, Coolidge, Red Scare, Andrew Mellon, Prohibition, Jazz Age, Sacco and Vanzetti, John Scopes.

2. Explain the changes that occurred in America after the Civil War. How was the nation transformed? Make reference to the following items in the answer: Red Cloud, Crazy Horse, Little Big Horn, George Armstrong Custer, cattle kingdoms, Bill Cody, Comstock Lode, Union Pacific, Homestead Act, Dawes Act.

3. Explain the roots of the Populist Movement. Who were the key leaders? What were the key issues in the 1896 Presidential Election? Be sure to use the following items in your answer: Oliver Kelley, Greenbacks, Wabash v. Illinois, Crime of 1873, James B. Weaver, Free Silver, William McKinley, Bland-Allison Act, Grover Cleveland, “Wizard of Oz,” Wilson-Gorman Tariff.

4. What was the Gilded Age? How did the politics of the 1870s and 1880s reflect the changes going on in American society? Who were the key political leaders in this period? Refer to the following items in your essay: Credit Mobilier, Whiskey Ring, Mugwumps, James Garfield, Chester Arthur, Civil Service Reform, Grover Cleveland, Interstate Commerce Act, Sherman Antitrust Act, Benjamin Harrison.

5. What were the historical forces that shaped American imperialism in the late 19th and early 20^th centuries? How did the Spanish-American War reflect these forces? Use the following items in your essay: Hawaii, Maine, Philippines, Treaty of Paris of 1898, Panama Canal, Open Door Policy, Panic of 1893, White Man's Burden, Teddy Roosevelt, yellow journalism.

6. What is the Progressive Era? What were the key changes that took place in American society? Who were the key leaders? Use the following items in your essay: “trustbuster”, conservation, Square Deal, Pinchot-Ballinger dispute, William Howard Taft, Election of 1912, Woodrow Wilson, Underwood Tariff, Federal Reserve, Federal Trade Commission, 16th Amendment, 17th Amendment, 19th Amendment.

7. What were the factors that led to World War I? How did the US get involved? What were President Wilson's goals during and after the war? Use the following items in your essay: Triple Alliance, Lusitania, Zimmermann Telegram, Russia, unrestricted submarine warfare, Meuse-Argonne Offensive, Treaty of Versailles, 14 Points, League of Nations, Sussex Pledge.

8. Explain the Urbanization process in the late 1800s.  What were the advantages and disadvantages of the transformation? Make reference to the following items in the answer:  business cycle, scabs, Railroad Strike of 1877, AFL, Terrence Powderly, Pullman Strike, New Immigration, Jane Addams, and Frederick Law Olmsted.

9.  What factors contributed to the US entry into World War II? How did the US shift from isolationism to war between the 1920s and 1941? Use the following terms in your answer: Kellogg-Briand Pact, Hoover-Stimson Doctrine, Good Neighbor Policy, Neutrality Acts, "Cash and Carry," Lend-Lease, Pearl Harbor, Franklin Roosevelt.

10.  Explain the role of Town Meeting in local government. How does the meeting represent the culmination of the budget process? Be sure to use the following items in the answer: Community Preservation Act, Property Tax, surtax, Tax Rate, Assessments, Main Budget Article, and Board of Selectman.

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