Instructions: This is designed as a standard in-class final exam meant to be taken in 3 hours. It is NOT the same as an essay assignment. We don’t expect elaborate introductions, for example, a one or two sentence statement of your argument (the answer to the question) is enough. Body paragraphs should use evidence from lectures and reading to support your position. DO NOT use outside material. Like the midterm, this exam is testing your mastery of the course material as it was presented to you throughout the quarter. The content is more important than polished prose.
You must submit proof that this exam was not written by AI.
Essays are due on Monday, March 20th at 11am. (This is the university’s schedule for our class; I cannot change it. Email immediately if you have an emergency.)
Part One: Second Half Material (3-5 pages)
Your essay should address the material we studied after the midterm and include references to at least two different readings (from different weeks). Answer one of the following prompts:
Throughout the second half of the class, we’ve considered several responses to industrialization, wealth inequality, and classical liberalism from both rural and urban Americans. Among these were trade unionism, socialism, Populism, and Progressivism. Write an essay that (1) says which response was the most important, (2) justifies why you think so, and (3) suggests why you think other responses were less significant. (Hint: Your essay should also explain what classical liberalism is and say why there were objections to it in the first place.)
In 1903, W.E.B. DuBois famously remarked that “the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line—the relation of the darker to the lighter races of men in Asia and Africa, in America and the islands of the sea.” Given what you know about the history of the United States since the Civil War, write an essay that explains why DuBois reached this conclusion, and whether or not you think his assessment is accurate.
Part Two: Cumulative Essay (3-5 pages)
Your essay should address material from the entire course and include references to at least two different readings (from different weeks). Answer one of the following prompts:
In 1893, Frederick Jackson Turner delivered his paper “The Significance of the Frontier in American History.” He argued that the existence of a frontier shaped America in fundamental ways and that the frontier had closed. Was he right? Had the frontier closed? Why or why not? Write an essay that explores American expansion and empire that includes both westward/continental expansion and the development of a global empire.
Did violence tend to promote or limit major changes in American life over the period from the 1820s to the 1920s? Who did these changes benefit? Who did they harm? Consider episodes in the Northeast, South, and West. (Hint: As you organize your answer, you might want to think about groups of people, such as farmers, women, Native Americans, immigrants, African Americans, organized labor, capitalists, politicians, etc. as well as regions of the country.)
