2014-2015 US History Semester 1 Exam Study Guide
(in order of NGSSS benchmark)
Question
1. What measures did the North take to cripple the South’s economy?
2. Why did Reconstruction come to an end?
3. What was the Southern states’ view of the 14th Amendment?
4. What measures (social, political, etc.) did African Americans take in response to
the passage of Jim Crow laws?
5. What was the purpose of poll taxes?
6. What were the major social and economic effects of the completion of the
transcontinental railroad?
7. How did settlers and farmers survive the harsh conditions on the Great Plains?
8. Define social Darwinism.
9. What was the purpose of settlement houses?
10. Why did the US Government create the Federal Reserve?
11. What were the push factors driving immigration from Eastern Europe in the late
19th and early 20th centuries?
12. Identify and define the causes of the major labor strikes in the late 19th century.
13. Who was Boss Tweed and why is he important?
14. What did Upton Sinclair write about in his book The Jungle? What happened as a
result of his book?
15. What was the impact of the 19th Amendment on the US government?
16. What was the impact of the Homestead Act?
17. What two 19th century factors led to the rise of United States imperialism?
18. When and why did the United States acquire its territories in the Caribbean and
Pacific? Create a map to illustrate showing locations, dates, and other information.
19. What were the events leading up to the United States building the Panama Canal?
20. What was the impact of Yellow Press Journalism?
21. What are the major events of the Spanish-American War?
22. What is jazz music’s link to World War I?
23. Create a timeline of events leading up to the United States’ entry into World War I.
24. How did the United States manage to increase the size of the military so quickly at
the start of WWI?
25. How are industrialization, Jim Crow, and WWI related?
26. Why did the government promote the use of “Victory Gardens” in WWI?
27. Compare the views of isolationists and interventionists about the League of
Nations.
28. What was life like for African Americans during World War I?
29. What were the effects of agricultural over-production after World War I?
30. How did the economic policies pursued by the United States following WWI
contribute to the Great Depression?
31. What type of foreign policy (political and economic) did the Republican
administrations follow after World War I?
Benchmark
[SS.912.A.2.1]
[SS.912.A.2.1]
[SS.912.A.2.1]
[SS.912.A.2.1]
[SS.912.A.2.1]
[SS.912.A.2.1;
SS.912.A.3.1]
[SS.912.A.3.1]
[SS.912.A.3.2]
[SS.912.A.3.2]
[SS.912.A.3.2]
[SS.912.A.3.2]
[SS.912.A.3.2]
[SS.912.A.3.2]
[SS.912.A.3.2]
[SS.912.A.3.2]
[SS.912.A.3.2]
[SS.912.A.4.1]
[SS.912.A.4.1]
[SS.912.A.4.1]
[SS.912.A.4.1]
[SS.912.A.4.3]
[SS.912.A.4.5]
[SS.912.A.4.5]
[SS.912.A.4.5]
[SS.912.A.4.5]
[SS.912.A.4.5]
[SS.912.A.4.5]
[SS.912.A.4.8]
[SS.912.A.5.3]
[SS.912.A.5.3]
[SS.912.A.5.3;
SS.912.A.5.5]