Exam Review Notes

Hoover's Response to the Great Depression

  • Rugged Individualism: Hoover believed individuals should be responsible for improving their circumstances through their own efforts.
  • Charity: Reliance on charitable organizations was considered a primary solution for insufficient individual resources.
  • Limited Government Intervention: Hoover advocated for minimal government involvement, emphasizing local and state governments as the primary providers of assistance.
  • Support for Businesses: Federal government intervention, if necessary, should focus on supporting businesses to stimulate job creation.
  • Hoover Dam: The Hoover Dam project was a major initiative during his presidency.

Roosevelt's New Deal

  • Government-Provided Jobs: Roosevelt proposed that the government should provide jobs if industry fails to do so.
  • Economic Reform: The New Deal aimed to reform the economy to prevent future depressions.
  • Programs Classification: Included relief (direct assistance), recovery (economic improvement), and reform (preventative measures).
  • Direct Relief: Involves providing direct aid to people, such as money for home mortgages to prevent foreclosure.

Comparisons: New Deal, Progressive Era, and Great Society

  • Similarities: The New Deal is compared to the Progressive Era and the Great Society due to direct government involvement.
  • Differences:
    • The New Deal focused on economic problems and the Great Depression.
    • The Great Society addressed social change, such as racial equality and poverty reduction.

Great Society Programs

  • Medicare and Medicaid: Examples of Great Society programs with ongoing relevance.

Conservative Backlash

  • Reaction to Civil Rights and Great Society: The conservative backlash in the late 1960s opposed extensive government intervention.

Historical Periodization

  • Presidents in Order: Knowing the presidents in order can help recall events during their administrations.
  • Events as Markers: Alternatively, focusing on key events can serve as a framework for understanding historical periods.

Vietnam War

  • Post-WWII Context: Initial support for France regaining its colony, then support for South Vietnam after its independence.
  • Eisenhower: Supported South Vietnam to prevent the spread of communism.
  • Kennedy: Sent military advisors.
  • Johnson: Increased involvement due to the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, leading to ground troops.
  • Nixon: Implemented Vietnamization (troop withdrawal) and détente with the Soviet Union and China.
  • Nixon's China Policy: Nixon recognized China, prioritizing pragmatism over ideological divisions.

Social and Cultural Shifts

  • Counter-Arguments:
    • Youth movements (e.g., the V movement)
    • Rock and roll
    • The Civil Rights Movement
  • Challenge to Conformity: The civil rights movement of the 1950s challenged conformity.
  • Economic Shifts: Increased participation of women in the workforce after World War II.
  • Civil Rights Movements:
    • Black civil rights movement inspired other movements using similar strategies.
    • Later movements included those for Americans with disabilities and LGBTQ+ rights.

Exam Preparation Strategy

  • Focus on Essentials: Prioritize key topics to pass the exam.
  • Unit One: Be prepared, but don't overemphasize due to its small grade percentage (5%).
  • Unit Two: British colonial America (approximately 8%).
  • Timeline Review: Review timelines of colonial America and causes of the American Revolution.
  • Early Republic: Focus on debates over the Constitution and the Articles of Confederation (12-15% of the test).
  • War of 1812: Rarely tested.
  • Arguments Against Slavery: Understand arguments against slavery in different time periods (ending in 1848 and 1848 to the Civil War).

Key Themes

  • National Identity: Focus on what it means to be an American in different time periods.
  • Conformity and Resistance: Consider themes of conformity and resistance, especially post-World War II.
  • Equal Rights:
    • Who was afforded equal rights?
    • Who was denied equal rights?
  • Manifest Destiny: Tested in multiple-choice or short-answer questions.
  • Causes of the Civil War: Tested, but not the Civil War itself.
  • Reconstruction: A frequently tested topic.
  • Gilded Age and Progressive Era: Understand the Progressive Era as a response to the Gilded Age.
  • World War One: Not frequently tested.
  • The Twenties: Tested more than the New Deal.

Foreign Policy

  • Focus: Isolationism, containment, specific policies, and their effects.

Effects of World War II on Specific Groups

  • Women: Women have been a focus in recent essay questions; understand women's rights and changes during this period.