Hist 152 - Second Exam

Question 1

ATF Chp. 11: HOW DO the ways LEGAL SCHOLARS AND LAWYERS STUDY the Sacco & Vanzetti court case COMPARE AND CONTRAST TO THE WAYS HISTORIANS EXAMINE the event? How and why do lawyers and historians study the Sacco and Vanzetti court case differently?

Question 2

ATF Chp. 11: How did America’s broader NATIVIST, racial/ethnic, immigrant, political, and economic CONTEXT in the 1920s play a role in why the Sacco and Vanzetti case happened and how it ended?

Question 3

ATF Chp. 11: Given the social and political context of that era, how did many Americans at the time understand and react to the Jury’s conviction of Sacco and Vanzetti?

Question 4

C.E Chp.22: What caused the GREAT DEPRESSION? Also, how was the Depression related to the 1920s? (see also Chapters 21 & 22)

Answer 4

High Economic Activity that was not sustainable in the long run, driven by the American consumers participation in the credit system that allowed things to be purchased and then paid back at a later time, which was not able to be paid back due to unemployment. Economic activity that led to the Great Depression started in the 1920’s as goods were being mass produced, and levels of consumption in America were high.

Question 5

C.E Chp. 22: What was the NEW DEAL? What made the deal “new?” What did the New Deal do, and how effective was it? Was the New Deal more radical or conservative?

Answer 5

The New Deal was a series of policies and programs rolled out by President Franklin Deleanor Roosevelt to deal with the struggle Americans were facing as a result of the Great Depression. Some of these included the establishing of social security, fireside chats, bank holidays, and more that aimed to relieve Americans from the great depression.

Question 6

C.E Chp. 22: 3. Did all Americans benefit equally from the “New Deal?” Why or why not?

Question 7

ATF Chp. 12: If a historian studies “artistic” primary source evidence that can NOT be measured or calculated such as Woody Guthrie’s folk songs, Dorothea Lange’s photography, and John Steinbeck’s novels to analyze the past, it is referred to as doing “QUALITATIVE HISTORY” since it uses QUALITATIVE PRIMARY SOURCE EVIDENCE. How does interpreting the Qualitative evidence about the Dust Bowl experience such as Guthrie’s songs, Lange’s photographs, and Steinbeck’s novels COMPARE TO interpreting the QUANTITATIVE/numerical/statistical evidence about the Dust Bowl experience such as census data, job statistics, and maps (see question #2)? How do you explain the similarities and differences between doing Qualitative History vs. Quantitative History? Why do many people prefer the Qualitative Popular Culture story of the Dust Bowl produced at the time by Steinbeck, Lange, and Guthrie?

Answer 7

Interpreting the qualitative evidence attaches more emotion to the time period and makes that be the same takeaway from that time. Quantitative however adds statistics to the time period and adds more credibility to whatever is being said during the time, as well as allows it to compare.

Qualitative history is more

Question 8

ATF Chp. 12: What does it mean to do “HISTORY BY THE NUMBERS?” Historians refer to the study of historical numbers data, statistical analysis, and evidence that can be measured, graphed, mapped, or calculated as “QUANTITATIVE HISTORY” using QUANTITATIVE (numbers-based) PRIMARY SOURCE EVIDENCE. What are the benefits as well as the drawbacks of doing “QUANTITATIVE HISTORY?” For example, what light do numbers, statistical analysis, and quantitative history shed on the Dust Bowl?

Question 9

C.E Chp. 23: What was the significance of the “DOUBLE V” for different racial and immigrant groups in American society during World War 2? How did World War 2 affect U.S. race and ethnic issues? In light of both what we have studied this semester and the broader global perspective presented in this chapter, how significant a motivation and factor was race and racism in World War 2 and its outcomes?

Question 10

C.E Chp. 23: What were the key political, diplomatic, & military turning points in WW2 (for the world and the broader war, NOT JUST the U.S.)? What do you see as the 5 most important things for understanding WW2 and its outcomes?

Question 11

C.E Chp. 23: What were the key Effects of WW2 on America’s different social groups, culture, and economy? Do you think the war had more significant short-term effects OR long-term effects on America?

Question 12

ATF Chp.13: The authors critique the common argument that “Truman dropped the atom bomb in order to win the war as quickly as possible” by explaining that “Historians routinely use such CONVENIENT SHORTHAND in their historical narratives…[but] the shorthand ‘Truman dropped the atom bomb’ CONCEALS AS MUCH AS IT REVEALS” (my capital letters emphasis). What did the authors mean that stating that Truman dropped the atom bomb to win the war as quickly as possible is just “convenient shorthand?” In what ways does that statement about Truman “conceal the truth?” If the statement about Truman conceals some truth, then why would many historians and people continue to use that particular explanation about why the atomic bombs were dropped?

Question 13

ATF chp.13: What does this chapter mean when it said that HISTORIANS USE SOCIAL SCIENTISTS’ MODELS to study and interpret history? What different social science models were applied to examining why the United States dropped atomic bombs on Japanese cities? Which social science model do you find to be the most useful and convincing in explaining why and how the atomic bombs were dropped? Be able to support your choice.

Question 14

C.E Chp. 24: WHAT WAS THE COLD WAR REALLY ABOUT? For example, WHY did the COLD WAR (against a recent U.S. ally) begin, and intensify? Was the Cold War a struggle over political ideas, territory, or economics/money? HOW – in what ways – was the Cold War fought? What strategies were used?

Question 15

C.E Chp. 24: How did the Cold War affect American society? Did the Cold War have similar or different effects on American society than World War 2 did? Why? (see also your notes on Ch. 23 on World War 2’s effects)

Question 16

C.E Chp. 24: Why did American SUBURBS grow rapidly in this period? How did this “suburbanization” trend influence America’s cities and their downtowns and older residential neighborhood and industrial areas? And, what effects did SUBURBAN LIVING have on family norms, men’s and women’s roles, and parent-child relations? (connects with Ch. 25 reading question)

Question 17

ATF Chp. 14: Compare and contrast WOMEN’S WORK opportunities, ideals, and expectations during World War 2 to women’s work opportunities, ideals, and expectations during the early Cold War era of the 1950s. What was the “FEMININE MYSTIQUE?” To what women did this concept apply, and why? What were the effects of this?

Question 18

ATF Chp. 14: How do historians make use of older “MASS MEDIA” (such as popular magazines, television, Hollywood films, propaganda, and advertising) as a PRIMARY SOURCE for studying the past? For example, how accurate are World War 2 or 1950s popular magazines, television, Hollywood films, propaganda, and advertising about real American society in the 1940s-1950s? How much did –and does – mass media influence people’s real ideas, expectations, and life experiences?

Question 19

C.E Chp. 25:What factors encouraged the growth of suburbs for white Americans? What factors influenced the development of the IDEAL SUBURBAN NUCLEAR FAMILY with a stay-at-home mother and breadwinner father? What were the appeals of this ideal? What were its problems and tensions?

Question 20

C.E Chp. 25: What were the key events, methods, goals, and organizations involved in the early CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT? And, why did this strengthened civil rights movement emerge at this particular time?

Question 21

C.E Chp. 25: Again, why and how did the U.S. fight the COLD WAR in this era? What were the strategic goals of the U.S. in fighting the Cold War in this era? Did the U.S. succeed?