HIST1107 History The First Slaves in America Essay

HIST 1107 WVU History The First Slaves in America Essay Questions

HIST 1107

History 1107 — U.S. History I From Colonial Encounters to Civil War Final Exam Study Guide

Your final exam will be held at the end of the summer session. It will “go live” at the beginning of the day on Sunday, June 16 and it will remain available until the end of the day on Thursday, June 20. You may plan to take the exam any time during that window of time that works for your schedule; however, you will only have one timed attempt at the exam. Once you have opened the exam, you will have to complete it within two hours time. For every minute taken past two hours, one point will be deducted from your final score.

The exam will consist roughly 40 multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, and T/F questions — like the kind of questions you find on your quizzes. Each of these questions will be worth one point apiece for a total of 40 points. There will also be an essay component (see below for more information).

Important Things To Keep in Mind:

• In addition to preparing for the essay questions (see below), you should be planning to review all of the course materials from Unit Five through Unit Eight — this includes the assigned chapters in the textbook, the lesson notes, the discussion forums, and the quizzes (which you can review via the grade book).

• While there is nothing to preclude you from making use of notes you have taken or your textbook while you are taking the exam, please be aware that the exam is timed. Once you begin the exam, you will have two hours (120 minutes) to complete it — which means you will not have adequate time to look up answers for every single question. Therefore, it will behoove you to prepare in advance and organize your notes accordingly.

• Do everything you can do ensure you have a secure connection while taking the exam and make arrangements to take it on a computer (rather than on a mobile device). Save your answers as you go along. In addition, do NOT close your browser while taking the exam and refrain from opening up any new browser tabs or windows — doing so may inadvertently break your connection and submit your exam before you are ready.

• If for any reason whatsoever you experience technology difficulties while taking the exam (ie you lose your internet connection), you must contact me immediately to notify me of the problem. If you have received an error message, send me a screen shot of it.

Essay Questions:

When you take the exam, two of the three questions below will be selected at random for you to answer. Each of your responses will be worth up to 30 points, for a total of 60 points on the exam. The questions will appear exactly as they do here, so you have every opportunity to prepare your responses in advance — and I strongly urge you to wait to take the exam until you feel absolutely ready to answer these questions! As you prepare, please take heed of the following requirements:

Essays should be three to five full paragraphs long and you should strive to write in full sentences with grammatically correct language (though since you are being timed, I don’t expect them to be perfect) Essays must be written entirely in your own words — anything not written in your own words will be considered plagiarism

1. Why and how was slavery such a divisive issue from the turn of the nineteenth century to the Civil War? In answering this question, you should discuss the institution of slavery, its spread, and the political debates it generated. A complete response will take into account both white and black (free and enslaved) experiences, as well as address the role slavery played in the coming of the Civil War.

2. What were some of the key ways in which people fought for greater inclusion in American society from the early 1800s until the outbreak of the Civil War — and to what extent did they succeed? In framing your response, you’ll want to draw comparisons between different groups of people (such as women, African Americans, Native Americans, white landowners, working class people, immigrants, etc.) and different topics, such as politics, reform work, religion, and so on.

3. America was founded on ideals of the inherent equality of “mankind” and liberty and justice for all. Based on what we’ve learned about American history from the establishment of the nation until the end of the Civil War, do you think that the United States lived up to those ideals? Why or why not? In building your argument, you should draw an examples that show change or continuity over time as well as diversity of experience within America.