Modern US History Final Exam –Study guide

Complete for extra credit. Due the day of the final.

WWII

  1. Define the following terms: Militarism, Totalitarianism, Fascism, Nazism.
  2. How did the Great Depression contribute to the outbreak of WWII?
  3. Which countries belonged to the Allied Powers? Axis Powers?
  4. What was Executive Order 9066?
  5. What event caused the US to officially join the war?
  6. What are the arguments for and against dropping the atomic bomb?
  7. What happened at the battle of Midway? Who was this battle between?
  8. What was the goal of the Lend-Lease Act?
  9. What was the US strategy for fighting Japan? How was this different from the strategy used against Germany?

Cold War

  1. What is NATO? Why was it created?
  2. Explain the goal of the United Nations.
  3. What is the Truman Doctrine? What is the Marshall Plan?
  4. What started the Korean War?
  5. Explain the significance of the “Iron Curtain”.
  6. What is Containment?
  7. Was the US successful in their policy of Containment? Give examples.

The 1960s & the Civil Rights Movement

  1. What was the Great Society? Who created it? Was it successful?
  2. What was the New Frontier? Who created it? Was it successful?
  3. What was the goal behind the Bay of Pigs?
  4. What happened during the Cuban Missile Crisis? How was it resolved?
  5. Why was Brown v. Board of Education significant?
  6. Why was Browder v. Gayle significant?
  7. Who were the Little Rock Nine?
  8. What role did the SCLC pay in the Civil Rights Movement? Who started the organization?
  9. What was the Civil Rights Act of 1964?
  10. Why did many people begin supporting Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam?
  11. The Stonewall Riots began which movement for civil rights?

Vietnam –Present

  1. How did US support of South Vietnam change over time?
  2. Who was Ho Chi Minh? What ideology did he support? Which side of the conflict did he support?
  3. Who was Ngo Dinh Diem? What ideology did he support? Which side of the conflict did he support?
  4. Why did the government in South Vietnam fail?
  5. What did the Tonkin Gulf Resolution do?
  6. What are examples of US tactics in Vietnam? Vietcong tactics?
  7. What happened at the My Lai Massacre?
  8. What is a “War of Attrition”?
  9. Explain President Johnson’s “Credibility Gap”.
  10. What happened during the Tet Offensive? Why is this event significant for the Vietnam conflict?
  11. What role did music play during the counterculture movement? What was Woodstock?
  12. Explain the Domino Theory
  13. What was President Nixon’s policy of “Vietnamization”?
  14. How was Nixon’s approach to foreign policy different from other Cold War Presidents?
  15. What was the “Conservative Tide” during the 1980’s?
  16. Explain “Reganomics”. Who benefits? Who is hurt?
  17. What did the Americans with Disabilities Act do? Who supported it?
  18. What were some of President Clinton’s successes in office? Failures?
  19. Why was the election of 2000 so controversial? Who were the candidates? Who won?
  20. What happened on 9/11?
  21. What is the Patriot Act? What are the arguments for and against it?