American History Lecture Eight

Lecture - Questions - Student Answers

Next week: 30-question test, roughly broken down as follows: 10 questions political, 5 questions economic, 5 questions social, 5 questions intellectual and 5 questions foreign policy.

Know your list of presidents, by memorizing the list and counting forward. For example, who was 10th President? (Count forward from Washington until you reach John Tyler.) Who was the president in 1826? (John Quincy Adams) Best tip of all: understand each question before trying to answer it. That is essential.

Cartoons: a combination of facts and argument by the cartoonist. He uses caricatures to express a point of view. The key to deciphering cartoons is to have attention to detail, to pick up all the clues.

History exams are weighted by importance, and a big mistake in preparation is to spend too much time on an obscure time period or issue. Only one third of the first CLEP exam (through Reconstruction) is devoted to the beginning of time to 1789. So don't start with that period and burn out before you reach 1790 to 1877, where two-thirds of the questions will come from.

"Time is money" is a famous, and true, saying. The time you spend not making money, or making little money, could be spent making more money. Lost time is lost opportunity to make money, or do something else useful, such as charity or prayer.

You will spend a certain amount of time preparing for the midterm exam. Call that amount of time "x". How you allocate that time to different areas of 1500-1877 will make a difference on how well you do on the exam. If you spend 90% of x on the period between 1500 and 1700, then you will do poorly on 90% of the questions, because they will be from the period 1700 to 1877. You would have done far better to spend the 90% of x on the time period that will have 90% of the questions.

Why did the Republicans win the presidency every time between Andrew Johnson and World War I, except for Grover Cleveland’s victories? Because the Republicans would “wave the bloody shirt,” which means reminding the voters of how the Democrats sided with the South during the Civil War.

Debate: “spoils system,” which gave the victor (the President) the “spoils” (numerous appointments to easy government jobs for his supporters). Civil service reform ended the spoils system for most federal government jobs in 1883. But Jared argued persuasively that the President should be able to fire all the workers who were hired by his predecessor. After all, didn’t the voters want a change in how government ran things?

Reading maps: before Civil War there was no West Virginia. If you see West Virginia on a map, then it was after the Civil War started.

Three ingredients to a test score:

• time spent studying
• how effective your method of studying is
• how clever you are in taking the exam

On a 30 question exam, each of the above categories is worth a few more correct answers. Add them up and you can boost your score by 6 points or more on a 30-question exam, or 100 points or more on the SAT II.

I will give a prize to the student who improves the most by the end of class. What matters most is how well you can do at the end.

Consider the cartoon question on the midterm exam. Most students answered it too quickly. A cartoon is a mystery, like an unsolved crime. As soon as a cop arrives on a crime scene, he doesn’t jump to a conclusion about who committed the crime. He gathers all the evidence. He considers possibilities. He wants an explanation that fits all the facts. He looks for a motive. Approach cartoons the same way.

The model answers explain this question and the others.

More generally, look for a purpose to a question, particularly the cartoons. Develop a sense of historical purpose in these exams. Prefer an answer choice that adds meaning and purpose to a question.

Be sure to go over your exam and understand why you missed your answers. Was it due to lack of time spent studying? Was it due to lack of effectiveness in how you study, such not enough quizzing of yourself? Or the problem during the test itself, when you had the knowledge but approach the question poorly?

One more exam-taking tip: identify the time period of a history question before trying to answer it.

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We have covered a great deal of material spanning hundreds of years. We need to try to organize all these facts in our mind somehow. Develop a frame of reference to do this. You can choose whatever frame of reference you like. For me, my frame of reference in remembering each president is to think about how conservative he was. Every few decades we have a conservative president:

1788 – George Washington
1816 – James Monroe
1884 – Grover Cleveland (a conservative Democrat who was pro-gold, anti-union, and anti-government-spending)
1920 – Warren Harding
1980 – Ronald Reagan

Then I fill in the other presidents in between, with reasons why they were not so conservative.

For example, Thomas Jefferson was not conservative because he bought new territory, engaged in the Tripoli War, continued Hamilton’s programs and imposed the Embargo Act against trade with Europe. You may find this approach helpful in remembering all of American History since George Washington.

Key Terms Through Reconstruction

American Indians Thomas Paine/Common Sense Utopian communities Meso-America Valley Forge Examples of Utopian groups Europe: Crusades Franco-American Alliance Women's Rights/Seneca Falls Christopher Columbus Declaration of Independence Shakers Treaty of Tordesillas Articles of Confederation William Lloyd Garrison John Cabot Treaty of Paris American Antislavery Society Ponce de Leon Newburgh Addresses (or Conspiracy) Horace Mann/Public Education Hernando Cortes Land Ordinance of 1785 Liberty Party "St. Augustine, Florida" Northwest Ordinance of 1787 Mormon Church "Santa Fe, New Mexico" Annapolis Convention Emerson and Thoreau League of Iroquois Shay's Rebellion Commonwealth v. Hunt Sir Humphrey Gilbert Constitutional Convention of 1787 Seventh Day Adventist Church "Roanoke Island (""Lost Colony"")" Virginia Plan Elizabeth Blackwell Spanish Florida New Jersey Plan Oregon Trail Spanish Armada Connecticut Plan Texas secedes from Mexico Samuel de Champlain bill of attainder Gag rule Virginia Company Federalist Papers John Tyler Jamestown (Virginia) bicameral legislature Elijah Lovejoy economic system of Jamestown President George Washington Webster-Ashburton Treaty """Starving time""" Judiciary Act of 1789 James Polk Henry Hudson full ratification of Constitution Manifest Destiny House of Burgesses Hamilton's report on the public credit Texas enters Union "Jamestown's ""cash crop""" Hamilton's report on manufacturers Slidell Mission First slaves First Bank of the United States Oregon Treaty Plymouth Bay Colony Bill of Rights Wilmot Proviso Mayflower Compact cotton gin Iowa enters Union "economic system of Plymouth, Mass." federal assumption of state debts Mexican War difference between English & Spanish Washington's Neutrality Proclamation """Spot Resolutions""" Powhatan Confederacy Citizen Genet Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo Mercantilism Jay's Treaty Barnburners Royal Colony """Executive Privilege"" of President" Zachary Taylor Charter Colony Chisholm v. Georgia Gold in California Joint-Stock Colony Whiskey Rebellion Millard Fillmore Proprietary Colony Pinckney's Treaty Compromise of 1850 Massachusetts Bay Company Washington's Farewell Address Fugitive Slave Act Puritans Quids Minnesota and Oregon join US Puritans compared to Pilgrims John Adams Economy of South in 1850s Great Migration XYZ Affair Clayton-Bulwer Treaty Virginia as Royal Colony Alien and Sedition Acts Clipper ships Maryland Virginia and Kentucky Resolves German and Irish immigration Connecticut Undeclared naval war with France Perry/Japan Rhode Island "Adam's ""midnight judges""" Ostend Manifesto Pequot War """Revolution of 1800""" Transatlantic cable/telegraph Colonies settled 1607-39 Thomas Jefferson """Uncle Tom's Cabin""" Congregational Church Tripoli War Know-Nothing (American) Party Anne Hutchinson John Marshall Franklin Pierce Roger Williams Marbury v. Madison Kansas-Nebraska Act United Colonies of New England Lewis and Clark Republican Party Toleration Act of 1649 Burr-Hamilton Duel early leaders of Republican Party Fundamental Orders of Connecticut British Orders in Council Ostend Manifesto Religious Persecution in Mass. Chesapeake Affair (Leopard) """Bleeding Kansas""" New Amsterdam Embargo Act John Brown's attack New Jersey Nonintercourse Act Brooks-Sumner incident Carolina Harrison at Tippecanoe Creek James Buchanan King Philip's War James Madison Panic of 1857 Bacon's Rebellion "British burn Washington, D.C." Dred Scott v. Sanford Pennsylvania Star-Spangled Banner Lecompton Constitution Quaker beliefs Treaty of Ghent Lincoln-Douglas Debates Colonies with most religious freedom Hartford Convention "Freeport Doctrine (Freeport, IL)" Charter of Liberties Battle of New Orleans John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry Dominion of New England Bonus Bill 1860 Repub. Platform Glorious Revolution in England James Monroe Abraham Lincoln Delaware Rush-Bagot Agreement Copperheads Georgia Fulton's steamboat The Confederate States of America Middle Colonies Fletcher v. Peck Fort Sumter Founding of colleges in colonies Cumberland (National) Road Trent Affair Halfway Covenant Protective Tariff Confiscation Act Triangular trade Second Bank of the U.S. Emancipation Proclamation Salem Witchcraft Trials John Jacob Astor Clara Barton Scotch Irish Erie Canal Sherman's march through Georgia Great Awakening Tecumseh Absentee Voting Jonathan Edwards """Era of Good Feelings""" Southern Disunion George Whitefield Florida Homestead Act John Peter Zenger Case Dartmouth College v. Woodward Pacific Railway Act Stono Rebellion McCullough v. Maryland Morrill Land Grant Act King William's War Adams-Onis Treaty Procl. of Amnesty and Reconstr. Queen Anne's War Tallmadge Amendment Sioux Wars """Salutary Neglect""" Missouri Compromise Wade-Davis Bill King George's War Cohens v. Virginia Freedmen's Bureau Albany Congress Denmark Vesey Appomattox Court House Albany Plan of Union Monroe Doctrine Andrew Johnson French and Indian War John Marshall "13th, 14th, 15th Amendments" Treaty of Paris caucus Black Codes George III John Quincy Adams Civil Rights Act Colonial economy in 1763 Andrew Jackson carpetbaggers Pontiac's Rebellion Whigs Ku Klux Klan Louisiana territory Tariff of Abominations Burlingame Treaty British Proclamation of 1763 South Carolina Exposition and Protest Military Reconstruction Act Sugar Act Jackson's attitude towards Calhoun Tenure of Office Act Currency Act Maysville Road Veto Command of the Army Act Stamp Act Indian Removal Impeachment of Johnson Stamp Act Crisis Tom Thumb Ulysses S. Grant Stamp Act Congress Peggy Eaton Affair Gilded Age Quartering Act Cherokee Nation v. Georgia Fisk-Gould Scandal Sons of Liberty Antimasonic Party """Boss"" Tweed" Declaratory Act S.C. Ordinance of Nullification Force Act Townshend Duties Compromise Tariff Amnesty Act Boston Massacre Force Bill Credit Mobilier scandal Gaspee incident Whig Party """Salary Grab"" Act" Committees of Correspondence Whig supporters """Crime of '73""" Tea Act Martin Van Buren Greenback Party Boston Tea Party Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge Women's Christian Temperance Union Intolerable (Coercive) Acts """Trail of Tears""" Wounded Knee massacre First Continental Congress William Henry Harrison Whiskey Ring Second Continental Congress Nat Turner Rutherford B. Hayes Benjamin Franklin's achievements Lowell System Compromise of 1877 Colonial population Reform Movements Baseball