11th and 12th Grade Modern History Final Exam Review (2025-2026)

Final Exam Format and Guidelines

Instructor: Dakota Lewis
Course: $11^{th}$ and $12^{th}$ Grade Modern History
Academic Year: $2025-2026$
Exam Type: Written (paper and pencil).
Duration: $90$ minutes.
Policy: Open-note. Students are permitted to use any of their colored notes packets from the year for assistance.
Structure of the Exam: * Section 1: Multiple Choice: Standard selection format. * Section 2: True/Make It True: Evaluating statements for accuracy and correcting false statements. * Section 3: Identification: There are $8$ choices total. Honors students must choose $4$ ; Academic students must choose $3$ . * Section 4: Short Answer: There are $10$ choices total. Honors students must choose $5$ ; Academic students must choose $3$ . * Section 5: Essay: There are $3$ choices total. Both Honors and Academic classes must choose $1$ .

Chapter 8: The Progressive Movement

Core Subsections: * 8.1: The Roots of Progressivism * 8.2: Roosevelt and Taft * 8.3: The Wilson Years
Key Figures: * Jacob Riis: Author of "How the Other Half Lives". * Upton Sinclair: Muckraker known for exposing industrial conditions. * Theodore Roosevelt: President associated with the Square Deal. * William H. Taft: Progressive President following Roosevelt. * Woodrow Wilson: President during the late Progressive Era.
Key Terms and Concepts: * Muckraking: Journalism focused on exposing corruption/societal ills. * Suffrage: The right to vote. * Temperance: Movement to limit alcohol consumption. * Prohibition: Legal ban on the manufacture and sale of alcohol. * Cult of Domesticity: Ideological belief in women's roles in the home. * How the Other Half Lives: Riis's work on urban poverty. * Square Deal: Roosevelt's domestic program (conservation, consumer protection, control of corporations). * Conservation: Preservation of natural resources. * Income Tax: Direct tax on earnings. * Progressive Party: Third party formed during the $1912$ election. * NAACP: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Legislation and Legal Cases: * $16^{th}$ Amendment: Established federal income tax. * $17^{th}$ Amendment: Direct election of Senators. * $19^{th}$ Amendment: Granted women the right to vote. * Northern Securities v. United States: Major antitrust case involving Roosevelt.
Critical Study Questions: * Who were muckrakers, what societal problems did they expose, and how did they do so? * What social issues were associated with the Progressive Era, and how have these ideals influenced society today? * How were Roosevelt and Taft's progressive presidencies alike, and how were they different? * In what ways did the Progressive Era affect citizens' expectations of the executive specifically, as well as the government as a whole? * What were the limitations of the Progressive Era, and why did this era fail to address them?

Chapter 9: World War I and Its Aftermath

Core Subsections: * 9.1: The United States Enters World War I * 9.2: The Home Front * 9.3: A Bloody Conflict * 9.4: The War's Impact
Key Figures: * Archduke Franz Ferdinand: Whose assassination triggered the war. * Woodrow Wilson: U.S. President during the war. * Calvin Coolidge and Warren G. Harding: Political figures post-war.
Key Terms and Concepts: * Militarism, Nationalism, Imperialism: The "Isms" contributing to conflict. * System of Alliances: Complex treaties drawing nations into war. * Allied Powers vs. Central Powers: The two main opposing sides. * U-boats: German submarines. * Propaganda: Information used to promote political causes. * Victory Gardens: Home gardens to support the food supply. * Great Migration: Movement of African Americans to the North. * Committee on Public Information (CPI): Agency to influence public opinion. * Espionage / Draft: Government control of intelligence and military service. * Trench Warfare: Standard combat method featuring "no-man's land" and the "Western Front". * "Shell-shock": Psychological impact of war on soldiers. * Armistice: An agreement to stop fighting. * Fourteen Points / National Self-Determination: Wilson's plans for peace. * League of Nations: International organization for cooperation. * Reparations / War Guilt Clause: Penalties imposed on Germany. * Cost of Living / Red Scare: Post-war domestic issues.
Events and Legislation: * The Lusitania / Zimmerman Telegram: Factors in U.S. entry. * Espionage Act / Sedition Act: Restrictions on dissent. * Schenck v. United States / Abrams v. United States: Supreme Court cases on free speech. * Selective Service Act: Established the draft. * Battle of Verdun / Battle of the Somme: Major trench battles. * Treaty of Versailles ( $1919$ ): Formal end to the war. * Election of $1920$ : Post-war political shift.
Critical Study Questions: * What factors contributed to the beginning of World War I in Europe? * What factors pushed the United States into World War I? * How did government efforts to ensure public support for the war conflict with ideas about civil rights? * How did technology change the way World War I was fought? * What were the results of the Paris peace conference of $1919$ ? * Why did the end of World War I bring turmoil to the United States? What kinds of unrest did it bring?

Chapter 10: The Jazz Age

Core Subsections: * 10.1: The Politics of the $1920s$ * 10.2: A Growing Economy * 10.3: A Clash of Values * 10.4: Cultural Innovations * 10.5: African American Culture
Key Figures: * Presidents: Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover. * Innovators: Henry Ford (assembly line), The Wright Brothers. * Legal: John T. Scopes, William Jennings Bryan, Clarence Darrow (Scopes Trial). * Cultures: Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald (Lost Generation), Langston Hughes, Duke Ellington (Harlem Renaissance), Marcus Garvey (Black Nationalism), Babe Ruth (Sports).
Key Terms and Concepts: * "Ohio Gang": Corruption in Harding's administration. * Supply-side Economics: Also known as "trickle-down" economics. * Isolationism: Policy of avoiding foreign involvement. * Mass Production / Assembly Line: Manufacturing shifts. * Consumer Goods / Credit / Mass Advertising: Economic drivers. * Welfare Capitalism: Companies providing benefits to stop unions. * Nativism / Anarchists / Second KKK / "Americanism": Anti-immigrant sentiments. * Fundamentalism: Traditional religious movement. * Speakeasies: Illegal bars during Prohibition. * Mass Media: Radio and film evolution. * Harlem Renaissance: Flourishing of African American arts. * Jazz / Blues: Musical innovations.
Legislation and Events: * Kellogg-Briand Pact: Effort to outlaw war. * $1920s$ Farm Crisis: Economic struggle for agriculture. * Sacco-Vanzetti Case: Trial highlighting nativism. * Scopes Trial: Conflict between evolution and creationism. * $18^{th}$ Amendment / $21^{st}$ Amendment: Prohibition and its repeal.
Critical Study Questions: * What factors, events, and policies characterized Warren G. Harding's and Calvin Coolidge's respective presidencies? * What factors led to the new consumer society in the United States during the $1920s$ ? * What groups of people were left behind by the postwar economic boom, and why? * What factors influenced the rise of nativism and racism in the $1920s$ ? What examples exist? * What are the characteristics of fundamentalism, and how did fundamentalism play out in the Scopes Trial? * Why did so many Americans support the Prohibition movement? Why did this movement ultimately fail? * How did African Americans fight against racism and injustice in different ways during the $1920s$ ?

Chapters 11 and 12: The Great Depression and the New Deal

Core Subsections: * 11.1: Causes of the Great Depression * 11.2: Life During the Depression * 11.3: Hoover Responds * 12.1: Roosevelt and the New Deal * 12.2: The Second New Deal * 12.3: The New Deal Coalition
Key Figures: * Herbert Hoover: President at the start of the Great Depression. * John Steinbeck: Author depicting Depression-era life. * Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR): Creator of the New Deal. * Eleanor Roosevelt: First Lady and social advocate.
Key Terms and Concepts: * Economics: Stock market, bull market, buying on margin, speculation, bank run, deficit spending. * Social Reality: Hobos, Okies, foreclosure, relief, public works. * FDR's Program: New Deal, The Hundred Days, fireside chats, safety net. * Agencies: * SEC: Securities and Exchange Commission. * FDIC: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. * AAA: Agricultural Adjustment Administration. * CCC: Civilian Conservation Corps. * PWA: Public Works Administration. * Political: "New Deal Coalition", court-packing plan.
Events and Legislation: * Black Tuesday ( $October\,29,\,1929$ ): The stock market crash. * Hawley-Smoot Tariff: High tariff that hindered global trade. * Dust Bowl: Ecological disaster in the Great Plains. * Wagner Act: Labor rights legislation. * Social Security Act: Pension and welfare system.
Critical Study Questions: * What factors led to the Great Depression? * What caused the Dust Bowl, and how did it worsen the Great Depression? * How did Hoover's policies attempt to lessen the Great Depression, and why were they unsuccessful? * In what areas did the New Deal attempt to make major economic improvements, especially in FDR's Hundred Days? * From what different perspectives and on what grounds did Americans criticize the New Deal? * Why was the Social Security Act an important piece of legislation? * What groups made up the New Deal coalition, and how was this a shift from previous political trends? * What was the legacy of the New Deal?

Chapters 13 and 14: World War II and the World in Flames

Core Subsections: * 13.1: America and the World; 13.2: World War II Begins; 13.3: The Holocaust; 13.4: America Enters the War * 14.1: Mobilizing for War; 14.2: The Early Battles; 14.3: Life on the Home Front; 14.4: Pushing Back the Axis; 14.5: The War Ends
Key Figures: * Axis Leaders: Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, Emperor Hirohito, Hideki Tojo. * Allied Leaders: Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, Vladimir Lenin (context), FDR, Harry S. Truman. * Military: Douglas MacArthur, Dwight D. Eisenhower. * Propaganda: Joseph Goebbels. * Spain: Francisco Franco.
Key Terms and Concepts: * Ideology: Fascism, Communism, Nazism, Internationalism. * War Tactics: Appeasement, Blitzkrieg, Maginot Line. * Holocaust: Gestapo, "final solution", concentration camps, extermination camps. * Domestic War Effort: America First Committee, Tuskegee Airmen, Rosie the Riveter, Bracero Program, Japanese Internment Camps (Executive Order $9066$ ), rationing, victory gardens. * End-of-War Tech/Policy: "Island hopping" strategy, kamikaze, napalm, Manhattan Project, United Nations, Nuremberg Trials.
Events and Legislation: * Pre-War: Austrian Anschluss, Munich Conference, Nuremberg Laws. * War Conflict: "Miracle at Dunkirk", Battle of Britain, Kristallnacht, Wannsee Conference. * Major Battles: Pearl Harbor ( $December\,7,\,1941$ ), Bataan Death March, Battle of Midway, North Africa Campaign, Battle for the Atlantic, Battle of Stalingrad, D-Day ( $June\,6,\,1944$ ), Battle of the Bulge, Battle of Iwo Jima, Okinawa. * Conclusion: V-E Day, Tokyo firebombing, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, V-J Day.
Critical Study Questions: * How did events after World War I lead to dictatorships abroad and American neutrality at home? * What steps led to war in Europe in the late $1930s$ ? * How did Germany gradually escalate its persecution of Jewish people? * Why were the Battles of Midway and Stalingrad such key conflicts in the war? * What challenges did Americans at home face during the war? * How did America help push the Axis powers back in the second half of the war, both in Europe and in the Pacific? * What key events led to the end of World War II? * How did the world reckon with the Nazis' actions?