The final exam will take place on Wednesday, June 8, 2016 from 12:30 – 2:30 pm in 123 Global Scholars Hall. Please remember to bring one or even two green books with you as well as a pen or two. Because I am providing you with all the questions in advance, no written or electronic notes will be permitted during the exam.
There will be three optional exam review sessions. All will take place in 375 McKenzie Hall as follows:
Friday, June 3, 2016, 11 – 11:50 am
Friday, June 3, 2016: 3 – 3:50 pm
Monday, June 6, 2016: 2 – 2:50 pm
Part 1: Identify, Compare, and Interpret
The final exam will include four of these questions, each worth 10%.
This part of the exam requires you to accurately identity, compare, and interpret the following terms. Answers should be three paragraphs in length. In the first paragraph, identify each term as specifically as possible, using concrete information and examples. In the second paragraph, compare the terms and note their similarities and differences. In the third paragraph, offer an interpretation that places the terms into context and explains their historical importance.
- Barry Goldwater; New Right
- Decolonization; Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
- War on Poverty; consumers’ republic
- 14th amendment; Civil Rights Act of 1964
- The Great Society; the U.S. War in Vietnam
- Civil Rights Act of 1964; 1964 presidential election
- Voting Rights Act of 1965; states’ rights
- Barry Goldwater; 10th Amendment
- French Indochina; containment
- student deferments; Students for a Democratic Society
- Engel v. Vitale; New Right
- the family wage ideal; second wave feminism
- Lyndon Johnson; Ronald Reagan
- reasoning from race; Americans with Disabilities Act
- Michael Harrington; Sargent Shriver
- Black Panther Party; non-violent civil disobedience
Part 2: Essay Questions
The final exam will include two of these questions, each worth 30%.
This part of the exam requires you to answer essay questions at greater length. Be sure to formulate a clear argument, organize your essay logically, and offer specific evidence and examples to support the points you make.
- What made the Vietnam War a “working-class war”? Explain how this feature of the Vietnam experience shaped cultural and political consensus about domestic and foreign policy in the United States between 1964 and 1975.
- The Cold War fundamentally shaped the United States during the 1960s. Select two examples that illustrate its impact 1) domestically, and 2) internationally.
- What were the basic elements of the “conservative conscience” that Barry Goldwater outlined in 1960? Compare these elements with the direction taken by the New Right in the 1970s.
- The United States waged a War on Poverty in the 1960s because it could afford to do so; it was an affluent society. Explain why you agree or disagree.
- The 1964 presidential election was a turning point in the history of both liberalism and conservatism. Explain why you agree or disagree.
- What was the sexual revolution and was it revolutionary?
- When did the 1960s begin and when did they end? Provide concrete dates and explain the major characteristics of the period you have defined. What developments make the 1960s cohere as an historical era?
- The year 1964 was the key “turning point” in the 1960s. Events during that year decisively altered the course of 1) the rights revolution, 2) the Cold War, 3) liberalism, and 4) conservatism. Select concrete examples in three of these four categories and explain how they illustrate the significance that year for what happened later on in the 1960s and 1970s.