US History II Course Structure

TOPICAL SPECIFICATIONS:

• Political institutions and public policy: 35%
• Social developments: 25%
• Economic developments: 10%
• Cultural and intellectual developments: 15%
• Diplomacy and international relations: 15%

CHRONOLOGICAL SPECIFICATIONS:

• 1865 – 1914: 30%
• 1915 – present: 70%

The following themes are reflected in specific questions on the exam.

• The impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction upon the South
• The motivations and character of American expansionism
• The content of constitutional amendments and their interpretations by the Supreme Court
• The changing nature of agricultural life
• The development of American political parties
• The emergence of regulatory and welfare-state legislation
• The intellectual and political expressions of liberalism, conservatism, and other such movements
• Long-term demographic trends
• The process of economic growth and development
• The changing occupational structure, nature of work, and labor organization
• Immigration and the history of racial and ethnic minorities
• Urbanization and industrialization
• The causes and impacts of major wars in American history
• Major movements and individual figures in the history of American arts and letters
• Trends in the history of women and the family