This repository houses the lecture notes documented over the lecture series conducted by AP Quek Ser Hwee for the Fall Semester of AY2014-15 (SEM 1).
The existing list of notes built can be found below.
- Week 2 notes/readings are encompassed in the Recess Week Mid-term compilation
- Week 3
- Week 4
- Week 5
- Week 6
- Recess Week Mid-term Compilation
- Week 7
- Week 8 does not exist because of the public holiday
- Week 9
- Week 10
- Week 11
- Week 12
- Week 13
- Course Full Text Summary
##Themes for Exam
Sample questions obtained from the NUSLib Exam Database
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Creating a constitutional nation (Free/Freedom/Liberty/Democracy/Equality)
- Since 1776, the US Constitution and its evolving interpretation have helped to define what it means to be American. Discuss.
- Why does the US Constitution have an iconic place in the way that Americans perceive their democratic rights and safeguards?
- In your opinion, what historical developments in 19th Century led to the American Civil War of 1861–65?
- Why has the ‘Imperial Presidency’ in the 20th Century been attributed to both wars and economic disruptions?
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt won the presidency four times. How did he change the presidency and American foreign policy?
- Why was the 1960s regarded as a watershed decade in American history?
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Developing a continental nation (Rich/Economy/Spending) 3. Mark Twain labeled the decades from the 1860s to the 1890s the “Gilded Age”. Discuss. 4. How were the reforms of Progressivism and the New Deal crucial to understanding American politics, economy and society in the 20th Century? 5. How did the outcome of the First World War affect the ways in which the American government and people interpreted and prepared for the Second World War? 6. “The industrialization of the US after the Civil War transformed society, cities and work.” Discuss. 7. Compare the reforms of the Progressive Era and the New Deal. In what ways did each period reflect different understandings of the role of the government in social and economic developments? 12. “By the 20th century, mass consumption came to occupy a central place in the description of American society and politics.” Critically assess this statement. 13. Both Progressivism and the New Deal represented attempts to address economic and political inequality. Discuss. 16. By the beginning of the 20th Century, ‘...a consumer definition of freedom began to supplant an older version centered on political freedom and economic equality’. Critically assess this statement.
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Becoming a global power (Powerful/Global) 6. The 1960s was a tumultuous decade in US history. Write a critical essay describing the domestic and foreign policy challenges that confronted the American people. 9. Critically examine the changes in American society and culture in the 1920s and 1930s. 10. How did the campaign for civil rights and the debate over the Vietnam War affect American democracy at home and abroad? 14. How did developments in the 1950s and 1960s result in Civil Rights legislation that addressed past injustices experienced by Blacks? 17. How did the outcome of the First World War affect the ways in which the American government and people interpreted and prepared for the Second World War? 18. Critically assess the impact of the 1960s on Americans’ perception of both their democracy at home and their exercise of power in the world. 19. “Public life in Progressive American reflected the attempts of many groups in American society to influence the political agenda of their nation”. Discuss.
Edit 10/11/2014: Final week of school, will be putting up an overall summary if I find the time to collate one with respect to the three themes.
This list is still a work in progress, and will be built over the semester.
Notes are free and open to anybody who would wish to use them for studying references.
Authored by Jonathan Tan