US History-

Semester I U.S. History F.I.T. Final Exam Study Guide


Units: Progressives, The Roaring 20s & the Great Depression (1920-1936)


“The business of America is business.”                               "I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a New Deal for the American People."

  • President Calvin Coolidge                                -          President Franklin Delano Roosevelt


   



Only 8 questions on your final will come from previous units. Be prepared to do the following:

  • What was Reconstruction?

  • How did the federal government try to help African American rights? (15th amendment, Freedmen’s Bureau)

  • After Reconstruction, how did southerners limit the freedoms of African Americans? (poll tax, Jim Crow laws)

  • What is a laissez-faire economic policy?

  • Why were some industrialists nicknamed robber barons?

  • What were some reasons the U.S. supported imperialism?

  • What were a few goals of Woodrow Wilson’s 14 points?

  • Why did the U.S. senate not support the Treaty of Versailles?



Key Concepts (Some of the bold questions will become short answer questions on the Semester I Final.)


  • What does the Harlem Renaissance reveal about African American culture in the 1920s?


  • What reforms did Progressives push the government to create law and policies in order to respond to the needs of citizens?


  • What effects did mass production and rising incomes have on Americans’ lives in the 1920s?


  • How did artists and writers of the time break tradition in the 1920s?


  • Why did nativism strengthen during the 1920s, and how did the government deal with the tension?


  • What cultural conflicts arose during the 1920s? (modern women vs. tradition, Christian fundamentalism vs. science)

  • How was President Warren Harding’s presidency impeded by scandals?


  • What were the Republican economic and foreign policies during the Coolidge administration?


  • What economic choices caused the economy to become unstable in the 1920s?


  • What were the causes and initial impacts of the Great Depression?


  • How did President Hoover’s governing philosophy influence his efforts to combat the Great Depression?


  • How did citizens respond to the government’s efforts during the early years of the Depression?


  • How did economic changes affect everyday life during the 1930s?


  • In what ways did culture reflect the Depression experience?


  • How did New Deal legislation try to stabilize the nation’s banks?


  • How did New Deal programs differ from President Hoover’s attempts to fight the Depression?


  • How did the Wagner Act and Social Security affect Americans?


  • What impact has the New Deal legislation had on federal and state governments?

- federal government change of regulations: SEC- Securities and Exchange Commission

Stock market will have more rules to stop buying on margin

- state government Wagner Act: states had to comply with national laws protecting unions