US History II An Interpretive History of Life in America, 1877-1989

Exam Review

UNIT 3 EXAM:  “Modern America” -- 1920-1939

Multiple Choice -- 40%  [NOTE:  See quizzes and notes for lecture and textbook subjects.]

Essay -- 60%

Answer one (1) of the following questions with an extended essay that draws upon class lectures and assigned readings.  Be sure to answer all parts of the question you select.

[NOTE:  On your test, you will have two essays from which to choose.]

1.    Why did the Great Depression lead to the rise of the Semi-Welfare State?
       [HINT: Define the “semi-welfare state.”]

Address each of the following questions with at least one paragraph for each as you answer the question above.

• How did the philosophy of Presidents Harding and Coolidge affect the role of the presidency in the 1920s?
• Why did Hoover refuse to use the power of the federal government in the early years of the Depression?
• Why did the Election of 1932 represent a critical realignment?
• How did FDRs activism change the presidency?
• How did American attitudes about the role of government change as a consequence of the Depression?

Remember to define your terms.  Be sure to give examples.

2.    How did the shift in American from a producer society to a consumer society change life in the United States between 1920-1929?
       [HINT:  Define producer and consumer society.]

Address each of the following questions with at least one paragraph for each as you answer the question above.

• What role did mass production play in the creation of a consumer society?
• How did advertising reflect and promote mass consumption?
• How did chain stores change consumption patterns?
• How did this new consumer society affect the women's movement and unionism after change after WWI?
• How did this new consumerism affect the onset of the Depression?

Remember to define your terms.  Be sure to give examples.

3.    Does fear for the social order explain why some opposed modern urban culture in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s.
       [HINT:  Explain the term Rural Counterattack.]

Address each of the following questions with at least one paragraph for each as you answer the question above.

• How did middle-class America define the role of women in modern America?
• How did the nationalism of WWI fuel the rise of the KKK and immigration restriction?
• Why did the South feel Jim Crow laws were necessary?
• Who were those Angry Voices of the Great Depression?
• Why did Congress form the house Un-American Activities Committee?

Remember to define your terms.  Be sure to give examples.

4.    How did life for the American woman change between 1920-1945?
       [HINT:  Explain the values of the New Middle Class.]

Address each of the following questions with at least one paragraph for each as you answer the question above.

• Who was the New Woman?
• Why did American mothers have to “make-do?
• Did the New Deal treat women the same as men?
• Did “Rosie the Riveter” lead to fundamental changes in the sexual division of labor?
• Did all women experience the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, and the Home Front the same?

Remember to define your terms.  Be sure to give examples.

5.    How did American foreign and domestic economic policy evolve between 1920-1945.
       [HINT:  Explain a “return to normalcy.”]

Address each of the following questions with at least one paragraph for each as you answer the question above.

• Did neoclassical economics encourage the Great Depression?
• Did the Hawley- Smoot tariff exacerbate the Great Depression?
• Why did FDR promote the Good Neighbor policy?
• Why did FDR resort to deceptive tactics to aid Britain?
• Why was American industrial capacity the key to victory World War II?

Remember to define your terms.  Be sure to give examples.

NOTE:  Use your Blue Book to write your essay.  Material written on the test sheet will NOT be considered.  Stay cool and keep moving.

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