US History Final Exam Study Guide Notes

Exam Format

  • MCQs and SAQs

Final Exam

  • Date: May 28th, 2025
  • Time: 1:00 to 3:00
  • Note: All students should arrive 15 minutes before the exam for attendance and directions

Scopes Monkey Trial

Unit 4 - American Imperialism

U.S. Imperialism

Spanish-American War

Yellow Journalism

Annexation of Hawaii

Annexation of the Philippines

Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine

Panama Canal

Justifications for U.S. Imperialism

  • Manifest Destiny
  • Social Darwinism
  • Economic interests
  • Military strategy
  • White Man’s Burden

Unit 5 - Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression

The Great Migration

Harlem Renaissance

Jim Crow laws

Consumerism

  • Buying on Margin/Credit

Women’s Suffrage / 19th Amendment

Red Scare

  • Sacco and Vanzetti

Tulsa Race Massacre

Causes of the Great Depression

  • Short vs. Long-Term

Stock Market Crash

Herbert Hoover vs. Franklin D. Roosevelt

  • Actions, Role of Government

New Deal Programs

  • Relief, Recovery, Reform

Unit 6 - Decades Project

Instructions

  • What are the three most important events or developments that reflect your decade?
  • Consider how each event or development represents major themes, events, or values of the time.
  • To what extent was your decade a turning point?
  • Prepare to support your answer with specific evidence across the SPICE categories and explain what changed, what stayed the same, and what the lasting impacts were.

Platt Amendment

  • Legislation that severely restricted Cuba's sovereignty after the Spanish American War and gave the US the right to intervene in Cuba.

General Weyler "The Butcher"

  • A Spanish general who was sent to crush the Cuban revolt. By using "brutal" methods, he caused uproar in the United States, who called for immediate action to help the Cubans.

De Lome letter

  • The Spanish ambassador insults President McKinley in this document; accused America of being weak

White Man’s Burden

  • A paternalistic belief that it was the duty of Western nations to "civilize" and uplift non-Western peoples.
  • A poem by British poet Rudyard Kipling commenting on American imperialism. It created a phrase used by imperialists to justify the imperialistic actions the U.S. took - they had a duty to spread their religion and culture to those less 'civilized'

Tips for Using this Study Guide

  • Go through each topic to understand its significance, context, and connections with other topics.

Unit 4: American Imperialism

U.S. Imperialism

  • Definition: The expansion of U.S. political, military, and economic influence beyond its borders, particularly during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
  • Mark Twain’s role on US imperialism: He opposed imperialism, calling it a betrayal of American values
  • William McKinley: president of the US when conducting the successful spanish-american war. Took ownership of the Republic of Hawaii, and purchased the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto rico. Got assassinated
  • Teller Amendment: Legislation that promised the US would not annex Cuba after winning the Spanish-American war

Justifications for U.S. Imperialism

  • Economic: Desire for new markets and resources.
  • Military: Establishing strategic bases and global presence.
  • Nationalism: Competition with European powers to assert U.S. status as a world power.
  • Manifest Destiny: Belief that the U.S. was destined to expand its values, such as democracy and capitalism, beyond North America.
  • Social Darwinism: The idea that stronger nations were naturally superior and destined to dominate weaker ones.

Spanish-American War

  • Date: 1898
  • Causes: U.S. support for Cuban independence, the explosion of the USS Maine, and public pressure fueled by yellow journalism.

Treaty of Paris

  • The treaty that concluded the Spanish American War. From the treaty America acquired Guam, Puerto Rico and they paid 20 million dollars for the Philippines. Cuba was freed from Spain.

Anti-imperialist League

  • Objected to the annexation of the Philippines and the building of an American empire

Outcomes of Spanish-American War

  • U.S. victory; gained territories like Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines; marked a turning point in U.S. foreign policy.
  • “Remember the Maine” - a slogan of the Spanish-American war referring to the sinking of a battleship in Cuba. Stirred up by yellow journalism, this led to McKinley to declare war.
  • Rough riders: volunteer soldiers led by Theodore Roosevelt during the Spanish american war

Yellow Journalism

  • Definition: Sensationalized and exaggerated news reporting to attract readers and influence public opinion.
  • Role in Spanish-American War: Helped stir public support for the war through dramatic and often misleading stories.

Annexation of Hawaii

  • Date: 1898
  • Reason: Economic interests (sugar and pineapple plantations), military (Pearl Harbor), and U.S. strategic presence in the Pacific.
  • Bayonet constitution of 1887 forced the Hawaiian monarch to give up much of their power
  • Who opposed the Annexation of Hawaii: Queen Liliuokalani and native Americans
  • Emilio Aguinaldo: Leader of the filipino independence movement against Spain (1895-1898)

Annexation of the Philippines

  • Date: 1898
  • Debate: Controversial due to Filipino resistance and questions about U.S. imperialism.
  • Philippine-American War: 1899-1902; conflict following the annexation as the Philippines fought for independence.

Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine

  • Date: 1904
  • Definition: Extension of the Monroe Doctrine, asserting U.S. right to intervene in Latin America to maintain stability and protect U.S. interests.

Panama Canal

  • Date: Completed in 1914
  • Purpose: Connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans for faster maritime transport.
  • U.S. Involvement: U.S. supported Panama's independence from Colombia to secure rights to build the canal.

Unit 5: 1920s and the Great Depression

The Great Migration

  • Date: 1910s-1930s
  • Definition: Movement of African Americans from the rural South to urban areas in the North for economic opportunities and to escape Jim Crow laws.
  • Impact: Growth of black urban communities and cultural movements like the Harlem Renaissance.

Harlem Renaissance

  • Date: 1920s
  • Definition: A cultural, artistic, and intellectual movement centered in Harlem, New York, emphasizing African American creativity and expression.
  • Notable Figures: Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Duke Ellington.

Jim Crow Laws

  • Definition: State and local laws enforcing racial segregation and disenfranchisement in the American South.
  • Examples: Segregated schools, transportation, public facilities, and restrictions on voting rights.

Consumerism

  • Definition: An economic and social system centered on the consumption of goods and services.
  • 1920s: Rise of mass production, advertising, and consumer culture in the U.S.

Women’s Suffrage / 19th Amendment

  • Date: Ratified in 1920
  • Significance: Granted women the right to vote in the United States.
  • Key Figures: Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Alice Paul.

The Case of Sacco and Vanzetti

  • Date: 1920s
  • Description: Italian anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were convicted and executed for robbery and murder. Their trial was controversial due to alleged prejudice and lack of evidence.
  • Impact: Highlighted nativism and anti-immigrant sentiment in the U.S., leading to debates about justice and civil liberties.

The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes

  • Date: 1925
  • Description: Known as the "Scopes Monkey Trial," a legal case involving a high school teacher, John Scopes, accused of teaching evolution in violation of Tennessee law.
  • Impact: Highlighted the conflict between science and religion in American society.

Tulsa Race Massacre

  • Date: 1921
  • Description: Violent attack on the affluent African American community of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma, leading to significant destruction and loss of life.
  • Causes: Racial tension and a false accusation against a young black man.

Stock Market Crash

  • Date: 1929
  • Description: The collapse of the U.S. stock market, leading to the Great Depression.
  • Causes: Speculation, excessive credit, and underlying economic weaknesses.

Great Depression

  • Date: 1929- late 1930s
  • Short-term causes: stock market crash, bank failures, overproduction and underconsumption, decline in international trade
  • Long-term causes: uneven distribution of wealth, overreliance on credit, lack of regulation in banking and stock market
  • Effects: Massive unemployment (25% at its peak), widespread poverty and homelessness, Dust Bowl migration
  • Herbert Hoover (1929–1933): Limited government intervention; emphasis on voluntary cooperation and local aid
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) (1933–1945): New Deal programs
    • Relief– for the unemployed
    • Recovery– of the economy
    • Reform– to prevent future depressions