U.S.

History: 1

st

Semester

Exam Study Guide

The Industrial Age: Urbanization & Immigration (Chapters
6 & 7)
1. What causes the Industrial Revolution in the United States? What was the immediate and long
term effects throughout the country?
2. What were the workplace and living conditions like? What caused some of these conditions to
change?
3. What important legislation was passed during this era? How did the legislation impact the
economy and society?
4. How was Social Darwinism justified during this era? What was the Americanization movement
and nativism? How do they impact society?
5. What political abuses and corruption were prevalent during the Gilded Age of politics? What
changed as a result? How did change occur?

The Turn of the 20th Century (Chapter 8)

6. What popular forms of leisure and entertainment were present at the turn of the 20th century?
What does this say about American society at the time?
7. How did education change during the turn of the 20th century? What were the popular trends?
8. What discrimination and prejudice existed in American society, especially in the south? What
were the Jim Crow Laws and voting restrictions? What impact did Plessy v Ferguson have
during this era?

The Progressive Era (Chapter 9)

9. What was the progressive movement? What were the goals and how did it impact society?
10. How does prohibition impact society? What were the movements goal and why did people feel
it was necessary?
11. What were the progressive amendments and why were these amendments ratified?
12. Describe the womens suffrage movement, what was its goals, strategies, and results? What was
the NAACP and why did it emerge during this era? Who were the muckrakers and what did they
feel was necessary to expose?
13. Describe the role of the Progressive Presidents, what change did they attempt?

America as a World Power: Imperialism & World War I

(Chapters 10 & 11)
14. Why did the United States become an imperial power during this time? What did the
country/individuals want to accomplish?
15. What role did the Presidency have during imperialism? What did individual Presidents do?
16. What regions did the United States want to control? What were the results?
17. What were the main causes of World War I?
18. Why did the United States want to remain neutral at the beginning? What eventually gets the
United States to declare war?

19. What was the home-front like during World War I? What impact did the Espionage and Sedition
Acts have on the country and citizens freedoms?
20. What were the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles? What were the Fourteen Points? Why
didnt the United States sign the Treaty of Versailles or join the League of Nations?

The 1920s and the Beginning of Economic Problems

(Chapters 12 & 13)
21. How did nativism and prejudice against outsiders continue during the 1920s? What happened
in the Sacco and Vanzetti trial?
22. What was the Red Scare? Why did it occur in the 1920s and what impact did it have on
American society?
23. What was the impact of the different social changes/movements that occurred in the 1920s?
(Harlem Renaissance, the flappers, the Scopes trial)
24. What were the economic troubles that were beginning to happen in the 1920s?

The Great Depression and New Deal (Chapters 14 & 15)

25. What were the overall causes of the Great Depression? What was the immediate cause?
26. What were the short and long-term effects of the Great Depression?
27. How does Franklin D. Roosevelt attempt to fix the Great Depression? How would you describe
his attitude? What were the important New Deal legislation and administrations created?
28. How would different groups in American society react to the New Deal? Think about who
benefited the most from the New Deal and the results of the programs.

Extended Essay
Each of your responses should be well-formulated with a proper introduction, thesis, and conclusion.
1) Topic: Size & Scope of the U.S. government
From the Age of Industrialization to the New Deal, the size and scope of the United States government
shifted dramatically. Examine the major shifts in the role and size of the government from the Age of
Industrialization to the New Deal.
Task: Compare TWO eras in U.S. history and for each:
Describe the historical circumstances leading to this shift in the government
Discuss the political, economic, and/or social effects of shift
Include: laws/reforms, social movements, economic changes, presidential goals or
actions
Eras in U.S. History
Industrialization & Urbanization
The Progressive Era
American Imperialism
U.S. Involvement in WWI
The Great Depression
The New Deal
2) Topic: Immigrations & Discrimination
Use the excerpts from the document packet and your knowledge of American history as evidence in
your answer to this question. In what ways did events during the period of 1880 and 1920 reinforce
the image of the United States as a melting pot for races and ethnic groups? In what ways did events
seem to contradict that image?

Task: Thoroughly answer the questions above and include:

Reference THREE documents and
TWO of the following groups: Asian immigrants, European immigrants, African Americans, and
women
Guidelines for both essays:
In your essays, be sure to:
Develop all aspects of the task
Support the theme with relevant facts, examples, and details
Use a logical and clear plan of organization, including an introduction and a conclusion
that are beyond a restatement of the theme