USII Final Exam – Possible Essay Topics
1) At the turn of the century, several nations were competing for empires. After the
Spanish-American War, the United States government sought to extend and solidify its
influence in the Western hemisphere. Analyze the effects of American foreign policy in
Latin America in the period 1899 to 1917.
Think About:
 Spanish American War & Cuban Independence
 Monroe Doctrine and the Roosevelt Corollary
 Panama Canal
2) Explain how the economy went from apparent prosperity to a severe depression
between 1929 and 1932. What brought about this dramatic change? Who and what was
affected? Think About:
 Stock market buying policies and crash
 Farmers debts
 Banks and businesses financial policies
 Personal income and debt
3) Analyze the responses of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration to the problems of the
Great Depression. How effective were these responses? How did they change the role of
the federal government?
Think about:
 Government policies before FDR’s election
 The accomplishments of different Alphabet Agencies
 Expansion of federal government’s powers/role
4) Compare and contrast U.S. foreign policy after the First World War and after the
Second World War. Focus on the periods from 1919-1928 and 1945-1950.
Think About:
 Post war peace terms
 League of Nations versus United Nations
 Isolationism versus Containment and the Truman Doctrine
5) We discussed the similarities of society in the 1920 and 1950s, as well as the evidence
of a “learning curve” over time/ Compare and contrast U.S. society in the 1920s and
1950s.
Think About:
 Race relations
 Role of women
 Consumerism
 Red Scares
6) Fears about the spread of communism impacted both domestic and foreign policy
decisions in the U.S. during the Cold War. Explain how examples of both of these
impacted American life during this time period
Think About:
 Blacklisting and HUAC
 McCarthyism
 Truman Doctrine and Containment
 Chinese Civil War and the Korean War
 Cuban Missile Crisis