Hist 152 - First Exam Review Cards

Question 1

Reading Question W1: What are the benefits and the problems that professional historians encounter when trying to use OLD PHOTOGRAPHS as PRIMARY SOURCES to study history? In what ways are photographs BIASED by the person who took them? What do historians do about the fact that the primary sources like old photographs they use to analyze the past are ALL biased?

(For example, how did JACOB RIIS’s time period, background, beliefs, job, and motivations influence or “BIAS” the famous pictures he took about big city life for working-class immigrants in the late 1800s on pages 210, and 217-224??)

Answer 1

Benefits:
- the amount of detail that can go into it
-Photography is even more compelling

Drawbacks:
- with every subject, there is a bias placed by the one who captures them which is not immediately clear sometimes from the photo but exists

Historians break them down and analyze them as well as the source of the primary source which in that case was the photograph.

Question 2

Reading Question W1: WHAT GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT BIG CITY LIFE IN THE LATE 1800s DOES THIS CHAPTER TELL YOU? *HOW DOES THAT BROAD CONTEXT about CITY LIVING THEN HELP us UNDERSTAND and PUT INTO PERSPECTIVE the “BIAS” of JACOB RIIS that influenced his famous photos? Use this historical CONTEXT to assess this question, “HOW ACCURATE or MISLEADING were RIIS’s photos?”

Answer 2

This chapter conveys the struggle for the growing immigrant population post civil war (for the duration of 50 years). It also shows the way American cities accommodated this increase, and public opinion surrounding the issue during the time. There might have also been some prejudice for these people as it’s mentioned that there was difficulty distinguishing between good v. bad poverty. This was in some way fed by Riis’s photography which his work a bit unreliable to being a true reflection of immigrant morale or ideology during this time.

Question 3

Reading Question 1 W2: First, describe the CHANGING nature of the U.S. ECONOMY (manufacturing, machines, technology, styles of work, business, sources of workers-labor) by 1890. How did federal government policies and actions (or inactions) help shape these changes in the American economy?

Answer 3

There was an industrial revolution happening.

Question 4

Reading Question 2 W2 ch.16: Analyze the causes and effects of URBANIZATION and urban CONSUMER CULTURE. How was this different from community life, culture, and shopping previously in American society?

Question 5

Reading Question 3 W2 ch.16: To what degree did the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT take a “laissez faire” approach to the economy and society in the late 1800s? And why did it do so – or not do so? What were the effects of the federal government’s approach to the economy and society in this era?

Question 6

Reading Question 4 W2 Ch.17: What actions did the United States government, military, and American reformers take to deal with or solve what was then referred to as the “INDIAN PROBLEM” from 1860-1890s? And, how did NATIVE AMERICANS RESPOND to these actions

Question 7

Reading Question 5 W2 Ch.17: Describe the rights, status, activities, opportunities, and limitations for Hispanic American, Chinese American, and African Americans in the late 1800s, particularly in the “New South” and in the West. Were their lives and experiences more similar - or quite different? How/why or not? How did these groups of people react to their experiences and treatment in the 1877-1890 time period? (Just to let you know, next week you will read more about this topic in Ch. 18)

Question 8

Reading Question 6 W2 Chp. 17: Why AND how did factory, mine, farm labor, and other lower-paid workers try to UNIONIZE, STRIKE, or ALLY TOGETHER in the late 1800s? What broad changes in the U.S. economy and business (information partly from your Chapter 16 reading this week) helped prompt regular laborers to form different workers; and farmers’ alliances and unions and to start labor strikes? To what extent did workers’ and farmers’ efforts to form unions/alliances and hold strikes succeed or fail in this era? (Just to let you know, next week you will read more about this topic in Ch. 18)

Question 9

Reading Question 1 W3 Chp. 18: What were the NEW IDEAS ABOUT RACIAL CATEGORIES AND HIERARCHIES that became popular in the 1890s? How did these new ideas influence how different racial groups (white Anglo-Saxon, black, Native American, and “new immigrants” from South-Eastern Europe) were treated in 1890s American society, politics, and economy?

Question 10

Reading Question 2 W3 Chp. 18: What was the appeal of POPULISM? Who were the Populists? Why did it fail? (see also Ch. 17 for more background on this)

Question 11

Reading Question 3 W3 Chp.18: What was the appeal of POPULISM? Who were the Populists? Why did it fail? (see also Ch. 17 for more background on this)

Question 12

Reading Question 4 W3 Chp. 18: In what ways – and why – did certain American WOMEN begin to challenge “traditional gender roles” in this era? Which women were involved in challenging women’s traditional roles and expectations? Were they effective in making significant changes in American society then?

Question 13

Reading Question 5 W3 Chp. 18: Why and how did the United States embark on IMPERIALIST EXPANSION in this era? What FORM did American imperialism take? How did Imperialism work in practice? How did Imperialism relate to the new race ideas and hierarchy described in Question #1?

Question 14

Reading Question 1 W3 Chp. 10 (After the fact): This chapter argues that POLITICAL HISTORY is often written and presented as a clear, simple, black-and-white, morality story that pits SYMBOLIC “HEROES” against SYMBOLIC “VILLAINS,” but that the full and accurate story is usually much more complex than that. First, how is the story of the American meatpacking companies, muckraking writers, Teddy Roosevelt, progressive reformers, and the Meat Inspection Act usually told? Second, what complexities and further subtleties of this meatpacking and Meatpacking Law story does detailed historical research and analysis reveal? After comparing the 2 versions of this historical event, were there clear heroes and clear villains? Who? Why?

Question 15

Reading Question 2 W3 Chp. 10 (After the fact): This chapter also examines POLITICAL CARTOONS as a symbolic tool for politicians and newspapers at the time that the cartoon was drawn, which makes them a unique type of PRIMARY SOURCE FOR HISTORIANS. Explain the value and uses of political cartoons to American politicians and newspapers in the 1800s and early 1900s. *Therefore, what steps and cautions do professional historians need to make when using old political cartoons to study political history? In the specific case about the meatpacking business, Theodore Roosevelt, and the Meatpacking Act - what do the symbolic political cartoons drawn at the time suggest? HOW DO THEY COMPARE TO THE PHOTOGRAPHS AND “REALISTIC” SKETCHES OF Theodore Roosevelt and the meatpacking business in this chapter? (Are these political cartoons more true/accurate or more false/misleading than the photographs and “realistic” sketches in this chapter?) Which are more valuable and useful as primary sources for historians to use - and why?

Question 16

Reading Question 1 Week 4 Chp. 19: What global/international and American factors shaped the patterns of immigration to the U.S. in this era (economics, politics, laws, culture, etc.)? Why did groups of people from certain countries increase their rates of immigration in the early 1900s, while others decreased their rates and numbers of new immigrants moving to the U.S.?

Question 17

Reading Question 2 Week 4 Chp. 19: What were the key goals, methods, achievements, and limitations of PROGRESSIVE REFORM? Why did Progressivism emerge in this era? To what problems and changes was Progressive Reform responding? What role did immigration, economic class, race/ethnicity, and gender factors play in Progressive Reformers’ ideas and actions?

Question 18

Reading Question 3 Week 4 Chp. 19: HOW AND WHY did American WORK and LEISURE change in this era? What were the impacts of these changes on different people’s lives then?

Question 19

Reading Question 4 Week 4 Chp. 19: How does this chapter characterize Theodore Roosevelt? Does Theodore Roosevelt come across as a hero or a villain in this chapter? What were Theodore Roosevelt’s key appeal, ideas, achievements, and failures?

Question 20

Reading Question 1 week 4 chp. 20: Explain the forces of Reform (change) vs. the forces of Reaction/Conservatism (maintaining the status quo or keeping tradition) in the U.S. in the 1910s. Should we consider the American 1910s as a reform era or a reaction era? Why?

Question 21

Reading Question 2 Week 4 Chp. 20: What Caused World War One? And, what role did America play in its outcome?

Question 22

Reading Question 3 Week 4 Chp. 20: What Effects did World War 1 have on American society, different groups of Americans, and American politics? Which effect was the most significant - and why?

Question 23

Reading Question 1 Week 5 Chp. 21: Historians either call the 1920s the “Roaring ‘Twenties” or the era of the great “Culture Wars.” What evidence do you find for each of these 2 characterizations/era names in this chapter? Overall, which phrase do you find to be a more accurate characterization of the 1920s, and Why?

Question 24

Reading Question 2 Week 5 Chp. 21: What does this chapter mean by the section entitled, “SCIENCE ON TRIAL?” What concepts or forces challenged science in the 1920s? Which side won these battles, and how?

Question 25

Reading Question 3 Week 5 Chp.21: How did American POPULAR CULTURE AND CONSUMPTION change in the 1920s? What were the major elements of “Mass / Consumer Culture”, and its effects on U.S. society?