WELCOME TO THE AP US HISTORY

 GUIDED REVIEW WEB SITE

2010 NATIONAL EXAM 

FRIDAY, MAY 7th (morning)

This site is always under construction!

GANAS!  IF YOU NEED A GOOD LAUGH!

REMEMBER RYKKEN'S FORMULA FOR REVIEW!

HOW WILL WE BUILD TEST REVIEW INTO THE CLASS?

The best review and preparation that we can do for the national exam must come through our approach to the curriculum itself.  The skills you need to do well on the test need to be imbedded in the reading and writing that you are doing as we proceed through the material.  My intention is that we will devote 45 minutes each week talking about the exam in class more specifically.  The key idea here is that preparing for the test must simply become part of our normal procedures.  Beyond that, make a decision early in the semester to follow my FORMULA FOR REVIEW!   There is nothing complicated about getting this done -- you simply have to plan ahead and be willing to commit the time.         

HOW WILL WE HANDLE THE DOMESTIC POLITICAL HISTORY SINCE 1945?

Because we are moving the course into the second semester, we lose time for coverage prior to the exam.  If you look at our course calendar you will note that we will not be into this period "formally" prior to the national exam on in May.  You will be receiving a guide for that period at the very beginning of the semester and we will build in time as we go along.  This will help reinforce the notion that when we study the past we are continually moving in and out of the various time periods and seeing connections between past and present.      

WHAT ABOUT THE ON-LINE REVIEW PROGRAM?   

The on-line review program is designed to help you hit the highlights of the various periods of study.  Focus primarily on using the NOTECARD ID's, on-line QUIZZES, and MY REVIEW OUTLINE (the top row of the links).  The other links are there for reference purposes.  Also, of course, you should have your book handy as you review for problem areas.  We will talk about how to use this as we proceed through the material.  THE PLAN IS SET UP TO START FROM THE PRESENT AND WORK BACKWARDS TO THE EARLIEST PERIOD OF OUR HISTORY.  There are several reasons that it is set up in this manner which I will explain as we get into the course work.  Below the links you will find a suggested outline for review.  

START HERE WITH THE REVIEW PROCESS:  FOCUS TIME PERIOD:  1950-2000

Step 1:  Starting with #1301, go through the NOTECARD ID'S that relate to this period.  It is a lot of information, but you can scroll rather quickly and get an excellent review of important people, events, and developments.  

Step 2:  Go to the SPARKNOTES quizzes and do the ones related to this time period.  They are fast and effectively will help you review this material.  There are two other quiz links here -- I would suggest using them.  

Step 3:  Go over the "Review Outline" for this period (slides 1-4).  

Step 4:  Go to the "DBQ Topics" and take note that it is not common that the Document Based Question be drawn from the post-1950 time period.  However, that could easily begin to change.

Step 5:   If you have time, go the the "ELECTION MAPS" link and quickly go through the 12 elections that relate to this period.  Focus on ones that you simply do not recall or that are least memorable to you.  I would suggest that you look carefully at 1952, 1960, 1968, 1976, and 1980.  

GUIDING THEMES/ QUESTIONS FOR THE PERIOD OF 1950-2000

• CAUSES OF COLD WAR?  SOVIET ROLE IN THAT?  US ROLE IN THAT?  
• ORIGINS OF THE ARMS RACE? 
• SOVIET-AMERICAN RELATIONS PLAYED OUT IN "THIRD WORLD" AREAS? 
• SIGNIFICANCE OF THE KOREAN WAR?  
• 1950s -- AN AGE OF CONFORMITY?  SIMILAR TO THE 1920s? 
• WHY DID IKE WIN IN 1952? 
• IS IKE A FITTING IMAGE OF THE DECADE OF THE 1950s?    
• WHAT HAPPENED TO NEW DEAL IDEOLOGY AFTER WORLD WAR II?  
• THE RISE OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT IN THE 50s -- WHY?
• SIGNIFICANCE OF BROWN v. BOARD OF EDUCATION?    
• THE UPS AND DOWNS OF US-SOVIET RELATIONS DURING THE PERIOD?  
• WHY DID THE US GO TO WAR IN VIETNAM?  WHY THE FAILURE?  IMPACT AT HOME?  
• CIVIL RIGHTS SUCCESSES IN THE 1960s?  THE SPLIT IN THE "MOVEMENT?"  
• THE 1960s AS A REFORM ERA -- HOW BROAD WAS THE REFORM?  SIMILAR TO THE ERA OF REFORM IN THE 1830s and 1840s (the Second Great Awakening)? 
• THE ALIENATION OF YOUTH DURING THE 1960s?  CONNECTIONS TO THE "BEATS?" 
• WOMEN'S RIGHTS MOVEMENT?  SUCCESSES?  FAILURES?    
• THE ROLE OF THE SUPREME COURT DURING THIS PERIOD?  
• SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ELECTIONS OF 1968 AND 1980?
• NIXON AND VIETNAM?
• NIXON AND WATERGATE?  WHAT HAPPENED?      
• LIBERALISM vs. CONSERVATISM DURING THIS PERIOD?  
• THE RISE OF REAGAN AND CONSERVATISM?  WHAT ACCOUNTS FOR THAT?  
• CLINTON, THE "NEW DEMOCRAT" -- WHY "NEW?"  
• THE REPUBLICAN TAKEOVER OF CONGRESS IN 1994 -- WHY?  

Step 1:  Starting with #951, go through the NOTECARD ID's that relate to this 50 year time period.  That takes you up through #1300.  Again, scroll quickly and add big things to the cross-dimensional timeline that I gave you.  These notecards are a terrific quick review of material.

Step 2:  Go to the SPARKNOTES quizzes and do the ones related to this time period.  They are fast and effectively will help you review this material.  There are two other quiz links here -- I would suggest using them.

Step 3: Go over the "Review Outline" for this period (slides 5-8).      

Step 3:  Go to the ELECTION MAPS and look through the 13 elections from this period.  FOCUS ON the elections of 1912, 1920, and 1932..  Think of the changes that are happening in those elections.    

Step 4:  Go to the DBQ TOPICS and find the previous exam questions that relate somehow to 1900-1950.  Look those over to get a sense of what kinds of things are asked.  Also look at the "potential" topics in the lower portion of the listing.  

GUIDING QUESTIONS/ THEMES FOR THE TIME PERIOD OF 1900-1950

• CAUSES OF OVERSEAS EXPANSION BY THE UNITED STATES?  
• THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR:  WHY?  CONSEQUENCES?  THE PHILIPPINE SITUATION?  
• "BIG STICK" DIPLOMACY -- WHAT WAS THAT?  WHO DO YOU ASSOCIATE IT WITH?  
• ROOSEVELT'S ATTITUDE TOWARD THE TRUSTS?  WAS HE A "TRUST-BUSTER?"
• ROOTS OF PROGRESSIVISM?  GOALS OF PROGRESSIVISM?  
• NEW NATIONALISM?  WHO DO YOU ASSOCIATE THAT WITH?  WHAT WAS IT?
• HOW DID THE ROOSEVELT ADMINISTRATION OPERATE IN FOREIGN POLICY?  
• WHY WERE AMERICANS CONFLICTED OVER THE ISSUE OF IMPERIALISM?    
• NEW FREEDOM?  WHO DO YOU ASSOCIATE THAT WITH?  WHAT WAS IT?
• WHAT THINGS WAS WILSON TRYING TO REFORM (DOMESTICALLY)?
• HOW DID WILSON RESPOND TO THE EUROPEAN CONFLICT AT THE OUTSET?  
• WHAT PROMPTED WILSON, FINALLY, TO ASK FOR A DECLARATION OF WAR?  
• WHAT WERE THE 14 POINTS?  
• WHY WAS WILSON UNSUCCESSFUL IN SECURING APPROVAL OF THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES?  
• HOW DID AMERICANS RESPOND TO THE WORLD IN THE POST-WAR PERIOD?  WHY?  
• WHAT WAS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESS IN THE 1920s?  
• WHAT KINDS OF ECONOMIC POLICIES DID THE GOVERNMENT PURSUE DURING THE 1920s?
• WHAT KIND OF TARIFF POLICY WAS BEING PURSUED?
• HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY IN THE 1920s?      
• HOW DID THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY CHANGE DURING THE 1920s?  
• WHY THE RISE IN NATIVISM?  
• WHY THE RISE IN FUNDAMENTALISM?  
• HOW DID LITERATURE REFLECT THE CHANGING MOOD OF THE NATION DURING THIS PERIOD?  
• WHAT CAUSED THE DEPRESSION?  
• HOW DID THE HOOVER ADMINISTRATION RESPOND?  
• WHAT WAS THE UNDERLYING PHILOSOPHY OF THE NEW DEAL?  HOW WAS IT RELATED TO PREVIOUS REFORM MOVEMENTS?  HOW DID KEYNES FIT INTO THE PICTURE?    
• WHAT HAPPENED TO LABOR DURING THE 1930s?  
• WHY DID ROOSEVELT GET INTO A TANGLE WITH THE SUPREME COURT?  HOW DID HE RESPOND?  
• WAS THE NEW DEAL EFFECTIVE IN CONFRONTING THE DEPRESSION?  
• WHAT WAS THE INTENTION OF THE "GOOD NEIGHBOR" POLICY?  
• WHAT WAS THE CLARK MEMORANDUM?  THE MONTEVIDEO CONFERENCE?  
• WHAT WAS THE IMPORTANCE OF THE NEUTRALITY LEGISLATION OF THE LATE 1930s?  
• WHAT ACTIONS DID ROOSEVELT TAKE IN THE LATE 1930s TO MOVE THE CONGRESS AND THE PUBLIC TO SUPPORT GREAT BRITAIN (and the Allied cause)?  
• HOW DID PEARL HARBOR CHANGE THE "WAR" DEBATE IN THE US?  
• WHAT STEPS WERE TAKEN TO MOBILIZE THE NATION FOR WAR?  WHAT WAS THE WAR PRODUCTION BOARD?  HOW DID THE WAR IMPACT THE POSITION OF WOMEN IN AMERICA?   
• WHAT WAS THE IMPORTANCE OF D-DAY?  (JUNE 6, 1944)
• WHAT WAS THE IMPORTANCE OF AUGUST 6, 1945?  
• WHY DID THE ALLIES WIN THE WAR?  
• WHAT ROLE DID JOHN L. LEWIS PLAY IN THE POST-WAR LABOR MOVEMENT?  WHAT WAS THE TAFT-HARTLEY ACT?  HOW DID TRUMAN RESPOND TO THE MEASURE?  
• WHAT SIGNIFICANT ALLIED CONFERENCES DURING THE WAR ESTABLISHED THE FRAMEWORK OF THE POST-WAR WORLD?  WHY WAS THE YALTA CONFERENCE SO CONTROVERSIAL?  
• WHAT CONCEPT DO YOU ASSOCIATE WITH GEORGE KENNAN?  
• HOW DID HARRY TRUMAN RESPOND TO THE EVENTS IN GREECE AND TURKEY IN THE POST-WAR PERIOD?  
• WHAT HAPPENED TO GERMANY IN 1945?  WHAT CITY BECAME THE FOCAL POINT OF US-SOVIET TENSION IN 1945 AND BEYOND?  
• WHAT IMPORTANT MEASURES OF GOVERNMENT REORGANIZATION WERE IMPLEMENTED BY THE TRUMAN ADMINISTRATION IN 1947?  
• HOW WAS THE FAIR DEAL CONNECTED TO THE NEW DEAL?  
• WHAT WAS THE IMPORTANCE OF EXECUTIVE ORDER 9981?  
• WHAT HAPPENED TO CHINA IN THE POST WAR PERIOD?  WHO WAS MAO?  WHO WAS CHIANG?  WHO WAS THE US SUPPORTING?  
• WHAT HAPPENED IN JAPAN IN THE POST-WAR PERIOD?  
• WHAT WAS THE SITUATION IN KOREA BY 1948?    

APUSH ESSAY REVIEW: 1900-1950

Here is a sample question related to this period.  What follows is a step-by-step approach to the writing process.    

"Reform movements of the 20^th Century have shown continuity in their goals and strategies." Assess the validity of this statement for one of the following pairs of reform movements:

Progressivism and the New Deal

Women’s Suffrage and Post-2^nd World War Feminism

The New Deal and Great Society

STEP 1: KEY WORDS

reform movements   20^th century   continuity

goals   strategies   assess validity

women’s suffrage     post-2^nd ww feminism

STEP 2: THRUST OF THE QUESTION?

STEP 3: BRAINSTORM

WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT/ Earlier failed attempts, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Progressivism, tied to reform, temperance, goals of progressivism?, 19th Amendment, western states and the vote, political power first, Jeannette Rankin

POST-WAR FEMINISM/ economic changes and the war, "pink-collar" jobs, employment opportunities, dual role stresses, Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique, suburbia, boredom, "cult of domesticity," literary examples, sexual revolution, the pill, N.O.W., changing family structures, Gloria Steinem

STEP 4:  ANALYSIS OF GOALS?  ANALYSIS OF STRATEGIES?  (change-over-time is big!)

STEP 5: CONSTRUCTING A THESIS

SOME POSSIBILITIES

A: AGREEMENT WITH THE PREMISE

B: DISAGREEMENT WITH THE PREMISE

C: THE MIXED BAG/ AGREE, HOWEVER . . . .

STEP 6: THE LEAD PARAGRAPH

The impulse for reform is constant in American society and current movements often reflect previous reform attempts. The post-World War II feminist movement, while pushing for the empowerment of women, was more aggressive than the suffrage movement of the early century had been. While operating in a significantly changed environment, post-war feminists differed from their earlier counterparts in both goals and strategies.

STEP 7: WRITE!!!!!!

HERE'S ANOTHER SAMPLE!  

To what extent and why did the United States adopt an isolationist policy in the 1920s?  (1998 exam)

STEP 1:  KEY WORDS --- NOTE THOSE UNDERLINED

STEP 2:  THRUST OF THE QUESTION? 

Essentially, this question is asking HOW EXTENSIVELY the US became isolationist during the 1920s and WHY THIS HAPPENED.  That will involve a judgment on your part as to the first part of the question, backed by appropriate supporting evidence AND an analysis of WHY this was happening, again with supporting evidence. 

STEP 3:  BRAINSTORM (What do you know about this?  

EXAMPLES:  rejection of the Versailles Treaty and that whole battle, post-war disillusionment with world involvement, the failure to join the League of Nations, the "sink" to isolationism by the general public, the "return to normalcy" in 1920, the Washington Disarmament Conference of 1921-22, the Naval Treaties limiting the size of the Naval forces, the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, the preoccupation with consumerism and "good-times," protectionist trade policy such as the Fordney-McCumber Tariff and the Hawley-Smoot Tariff, the Red Scare and "nativism," restrictions on immigration (Immigration Act of 1924).  

STEP 4:  CONSTRUCTING A THESIS

The thesis here could address both parts of the question, or accent one.  For example:  

"The US became intensely isolationist during the 1920s."  or 

"Isolationism was a natural response to the feeling of disillusionment that followed World War I."   

STEP 5:  THE LEAD PARAGRAPH

     Dramatic swings in world involvement characterized American foreign policy throughout much of the 20th century.  After being intensely involved in the later stages of the Great War of 1914-1918, it was natural that the US government would reflect the isolationist impulses of the American public during the 1920s.  The negotiations at Versailles and the rejection by the Senate of the resulting Treaty, the military and economic policies pursued by the Republican administrations of the period, and the changing mood of the American public all evidence the dramatic shift to isolationism in the 1920s.  

STEP 6:  WRITE!!!  

BODY 1:  The Versailles Episode

BODY 2:  Disarmament and Trade Policy

BODY 3:  The public mood of the period

• Varying interpretations of the causes of the Civil War?
• The politics of the 1850s -- prelude to War
• The rise of the Republican Party and the Rise of Lincoln
• The significance of the 1860 election
• Why did the North win the war?  Turning Points?  
• To what extent was Reconstruction a reaction to the War?  
• The roots of 20th century race antagonism from the Reconstruction period
• Why did the President and Congress fight over Reconstruction issues?
• The major impact of Reconstruction on:  Southern Politics, African-Americans?
• The Washington-DuBois split 
• The transformation of the American west after the War -- Why?  
• The Turner Thesis -- validity?  
• The business climate of the late 19th century -- why the corporate scandal?
• What does it mean that this was a period of "laissez-faire" economic thinking?    
• Were the industrial leaders "captains of industry" or "robber barons?"
• How did Social Darwinism impact the intellectual climate of the late 19th century? 
• The growth of Labor Unions -- why?  What tactics?  
• Major political issues of the late 19th century?  
• What problems were created by increasing urbanization in America?  
• How did technology impact farming during this period?  
• Why were farmers increasingly dissatisfied during the latter years of the century?  
• The importance of the 1896 election -- issues?  Candidates?  Outcome?  Symbolism?  

• Jefferson stood for a number of principles collectively known as "Jeffersonian Democracy."  When and why did he compromise those principles?  
• Why did we go to war in 1812?  Issues?  Revised thinking on issues?  Outcome?  
• Why did America attempt to follow a policy of NEUTRALITY in the first generation of our Federal history?  
• What happened to the Federalist Party during the early years of the 19th century?  
• Why was the era after the war called the "Era of Good Feeling?"  
• What factors contributed to Nationalism after the War of 1812?
• The role of Chief Justice Marshall during this period -- analyze that.  
• Differences between Jeffersonian and Jacksonian Demcracy?
• Jacksonian Democracy:  How significant a change?  
• Emerging Sectionalism during this period -- connection to Tariff Issue?  
• Reform Movements of the Jacksonian Period?  Major areas of focus?  
• Changing role of women during this period?  
• The antebellum South -- defining characteristics?  
• The nature of slavery -- the pro-slavery argument?  The abolitionist movement?  
• What was Manifest Destiny?  Noble Cause?  Economic Imperialism?  
• Polk's actions related to Mexico in the 1840s?  
• Immigration in the 1840s

• The CULTURAL CLASH:  European Settlers, Native Americans, African Slaves
• Why did colonials come to the "New World?"  Attitudes toward liberty?  
• Geographic Influences in North America -- how did they shape economic, social, and political developments in the colonies?  
• Establishing Precedents:  Ideas and Institutions from the colonial period that extended into the formative years of the new nation?
• The "self-image" of America related to "exceptionalism?"  (City Upon a Hill)
• The Nature of Puritanism:  How did they impact early American culture?  
• Compare and Contrast Virginia and Massachusetts
• Intellectual impact of the Enlightenment
• The conflicts between European nations in North America?  Causes/Consequences of the French and Indian War?  Consequences of English victory?  
• Tax Laws and Mercantilism?  Salutary Neglect?  Why the need for taxation after 1763?  
• Economic Reasons for Revolt?  Intellectual Underpinnings for Revolt?  
• The Declaration of Independence --- what was this exactly?  
• The causes for war -- the turning point of war -- the role of France?  
• The Treaty of Paris -- the consequences?  
• Strengths and Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation?  
• The US Constitution:  Elitist?  Democratic?  Experiment?  
• The Washington Administration:  Major Figures?  Major Issues?  
• Conflicts between Jefferson and Hamilton?  
• Developing Party structures during the 1790s?  
• Partisan Legislation (1798) and response?  Importance of Doctrine of Nullification?  
• Washington's policies on the frontier?  Impact on Native Americans?  

3-7 MAY:  NATIONAL EXAM WEEK!  FRIDAY 7 MAY!