Comprehensive Exam Study Guide for Autumn 2012, Slides of Political history

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BOWIE STATE UNIVERSITY

HIST 497

Dr. George Sochan

History Senior Seminar: Comprehensive Exam

Study Guide for Comprehensive Exam

Autumn 2012

HIST 497: 2011

Comprehensive Exam Questions

African History (two of the following four questions are on the exam; you answer one of them)

Dr. Woods and Dr. Sochan are the readers/graders of the African part of the exam.

1. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century Europeans established colonial rule in most of Africa. Beginning with the Congress of Berlin and ending with the close of the First World War, compose an essay that covers the European establishment of Colonial Africa. In the essay be sure to consider the following: the reasons for European colonization, the means to establish colonial rule, the impact of colonization on Africans, and Africans‟ the intellectual and political responses to European rule. Boahen, A. Adu, ed. African Perspectives on Colonialism. Boahen, A. Adu. Africa under Colonial Domination, 1880-1935. Davidson, Basil. Modern Africa: A Social and Political History. Falola, Toyin. Africa Vol. 3. Foster, S. W. J. Mommsen, and R. Robinson (eds.). Bismarck, Europe, and Africa: The Berlin Africa Conference 1884 -1885 and the onset of Partition. Maddox, Gregory. The Colonial Epoch in Africa. Mazrui, Ali, ed. UNESCO General History of Africa. Vol. 8. Uzoigwe, G. N. “European Partition and Conquest of Africa: An Overview.” in UNESCO General History of Africa. Vol. 7. Vandervort, Bruce. Wars of Imperial Conquest in Africa, 1830-1914. Young, Crawford. The African Colonial State in Comparative Perspective.
2. As a movement, the term Pan-Africanism in contemporary times is typically defined as a collective movement amongst continental Africans and Africans in the Diaspora to overcome the effects of slavery and colonialism and regain independence. Since the first Pan-African Conference organized by the Trinidadian lawyer, Henry Sylvester Williams, in London in 1900, Pan-Africanism has had two clearly definable phases in the twentieth century. Identify and analyze these two phases. Make sure your answer includes the main personages, characteristics, and goals of each phase. Moreover, what impact did the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1935-1936 have on Pan-Africanism? Furthermore, how does the Organization of African Unity (formed in 1963) relate to Pan-Africanism? Afigbo, A. E. The Making of Modern Africa Vol. 2. Ajala, Adekunle. Pan-Africanism: Evolution, Progress and Prospects. Amat, C.O.C. Inside the OAU: Pan-Africanism in Practice. Edem Kodjo and David Chanaiwa. “Pan-Africanism and Liberation” in UNESCO General History of Africa: Vol VIII , (1999), eds. Ali A. Mazrui and C. Wondji. Esedebe, P. Olisanwuche. Pan-Africanism: The Idea and Movement, 1776-1991. Falola, Toyin. Africa Vol. 4. Martin, Guy. Africa in World Politics: a Pan-African Perspective. Maturin, Owen. Henry Sylvester Williams and the Origins of the pan-African Movement, 1869-1911. McEwan, Peter. Twentieth Century Africa. Thompson, Vincent Bakpetu. Africa and Unity: The Evolution of Pan-Africanism.

European History (two of the following four questions are on the exam; you answer one)

Dr. Fenyo and Dr. Sochan are the readers/graders of the European part of the exam.

1. Based on the following four questions, write a comparative essay on Protestantism and Catholicism. (1) How is a person to be saved? (2) Where does religious authority reside? (3) What is the Church? (4) What is the (highest form of) Christian life? Although these questions refer to the religious aspect of the Reformation, your analysis must show the non-religious implications that correlate to these religious themes. Buck, Lawrence and Jonathan Zophy. The Social History of the Reformation. Chadwick, Owen. The Reformation. DeMolen, Richard. The Meaning of the Renaissance and the Reformation. Grimm, Harold. The Reformation Era, 1500-1650. Koenigsberger, Helmut. Early Modern Europe, 1500-1789. Latourette, Kenneth Scott. A History of Christianity. Lindberg, Carter. The European Reformations. Pettegree, Andrew. The Reformation World. Spitz, Lewis. The Renaissance and Reformation Movements. Thomson, Samuel. Europe in Renaissance and Reformation. Weber, Max. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.
2. In a recently published treatise on global power, Niall Ferguson argues, “What the British Empire proved is that empire is a form of international government that can work—and not just for the benefit of the ruling power.” In six chapters of study, distinguishes the British Empire from evil empires, like the Soviet Union, he examines the British Empire and concludes that it was “a Good Thing.” Based on Ferguson‟s Empire , compose an essay that provides an overview of the British Empire from 1707 to 1970, considers six areas of contributions, and examines British impact in, at least, three of the following continents: North America, Asia, Africa, Australia, and Europe. Conclude your essay by answering whether Ferguson is right to argue that the British Empire was “a good Thing.” Bridge, Carl and Kent Fedorowich. The British World: Diaspora, Culture, and Identity. Cunliffe, Bary. The Penguin Illustrated History of Britain and Ireland. Darwin, John. The Empire Project: The Rise and Fall of the British World-System, 1830-1970. Drayton, Richard. Nature’s Government: Science, Imperial Britain, and the ―Improvement‖ of the World. Ferguson, Niall. Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power. Ferguson, Niall. Civilization: The West and the Rest. Fischer-Tine, Harald and Michael Mann. Colonialism as Civilizing Mission: Cultural Ideology in British India. Gann, Lewis & Duignan, Peter. The Burden of Empire. James, Lawrence. Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British India. James, Lawrence. The Rise and Fall of the British Empire. Morris James. Farewell the Trumpets: An Imperial Retreat. Morris, James. Heaven’s Command: An Imperial Progress. Morris, James. Pax Britannica: The Climax of an Empire. Nasson, Bill. Britannia’s Empire: Making a British World. Parsons, Timothy. The British Imperial Century, 1815-1914: A World Perspective. Peterson, Derek. Abolition and Imperialism in Britain, Africa, and the Atlantic. Schama, Simon. A History of Britain: The Fate of Empire, 1776-2000.

3. Several of the major ISMs, or ideologies, were either initiated or evolved considerably during the „long‟ nineteenth century (1789 to 1914), mostly in Europe. Certain of these nineteenth century ideologies have had tremendous impact in modern world; they are liberalism, socialism, conservatism, and nationalism. Compose an essay that discusses three of the four ideologies within the context of nineteenth century European history. The essay should provide the main elements of the ideology and show the development of the ideology as a movement (or ongoing event) within nineteenth century Europe. Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities. Cawes, Mary Ann. A Century of Isms. Chadwick, Owen. The Secularization of the European Mind in the Nineteenth Century. Gildea, Robert. Borders and Barricades: Europe, 1814-1914. Hobsbawm, E. J. The Age of Capital, 1848-. Hobsbawm, E.J. The Age of Empire, 1875-1914. Hobsbawm, E.J. The Age of Revolution, 1789-1848. Goldwag, Arthur. -Isms and – ologies. Golob, Eugene. The ISMs: A History and an Evaluation. Gooch, Brison. Europe in the Nineteenth Century: A History. Merriman and Winter, eds. Europe 1789 to 1914 Encyclopedia of the Age of Industry and Empire. Palmer, R.R., Joel Colton, and Lloyd Kramer. A History of the Modern World. Taylor, Barbara. Eve and the New Jerusalem: Socialism and Feminism in the 19th^ century. Winks, Robin and Joan Neuberger. Europe and the Making of Modernity, 1815-1914.
4. In the 1960s historian, Geoffrey Barraclough, stated that contemporary history began in 1890. Surveying history from his vantage point, Barraclough saw that Europe‟s place in the world had drastically changed. Compose an essay that contrasts Europe‟s world-standing in 1965 with its world-standing in 1890, and which also explains what had happened during those seventy-five years to have altered Europe‟s position so significantly. This essay must have three sections: (1) Europe in 1890, (2) Europe in 1965, and an overview of European history between those dates that discusses key events that changed Europe‟s standing. (Dr. Sochan) Adas, Michael, Peter Stearns and Stuart Schwartz. Turbulent Passage: A Global History of the Twentieth Century. Aron, Raymond. The Dawn of Universal History: Selected Essays from a Witness of the Twentieth Century. Barraclough, Geoffrey. An Introduction to Contemporary History. Blainey, Geoffrey. A Short History of the Twentieth Century. Browne, Blaine T. and Robert Cottrell. Uncertain Order: The World in the Twentieth Century. Crampton, R.J. Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century—And After. Gilbert, Felix. The End of the European Era: 1890 to the Present. Gilbert, Martin. History of the Twentieth Century. Hale, Oron. The Great Illusion, 1900-1914. Hughes, H. Stuart and James Wilkinson. Contemporary Europe: A History. Johnson, Paul. Modern Times: The World from the Twenties to the Nineties. Keylor, William. The Twentieth-Century World: An International History. Laqueur, Walter. Europe in Our Time: A History, 1945-1992. Sontag, Raymond. A Broken World, 1919-1939. Vinen, Richard. A History in Fragments: Europe in the Twentieth Century. Wright, Gordon. An Age of Controversy: Discussion Problems in Twentieth Century European History.

3. Early twentieth century America is referred to as the Progressive Era during which time many political and constitutional changes occurred. These changes are usually called reforms. In an essay that establishes the historical context of late nineteenth and early twentieth century America, identify a number of these changes in order to present the essence of Progressivism. Also, determine in what ways the Progressives were connected to the Muckrakers and the Populists. Brasch, Walter. Forerunners of Revolution: Muckrakers and the American Social Conscience. Chambers, John. The Tyranny of Change: America in the Progressive Era, 1890-1920. Colburn, David and George Pozzetta. Reform and Reformers in the Progressive Era. Davis, Allen E. Spearhead for Reform: The Social Settlements and the Progressive Movement. Diner, Steven. A Very Different Age: America in the Progressive Era. Flanagan, Maureen. America Reformed: Progressives and Progressivisms, 1890s-1920s. Goodwyn, Lawrence. The Populist Movement: A Short History of the Agrarian Revolt in America. Gould, Lewis. The Progressive Era. Hays, Samuel. The Response to Industrialism. Hofstadter, Richard. The Age of Reform. Kazan, Michael. The Populist Persuasion: An American History. Licht, Walter. Industrializing America: The Nineteenth Century. Mann, Arthur. The Progressive Era: Liberal Renaissance or Liberal Failure? McGerr, Michael. A Fierce Discontent: The Rise and Fall of the Progressive Movement in America, 1870-1920. Sanders, Elizabeth. Roots of Reform: Farmers, Workers, and the American State, 1877-1917. Wiebe, Robert. The Search for Order, 1877-1920. Zunz, Oliver. Making Corporate America, 1870-1920.
4. One of the major events in U.S. history during the years after World War II is suburban development. Millions of persons in that period and still many people since then believe that the sprawl of suburban communities throughout the United States has enabled the fulfillment of the American Dream. Critics of America‟s postwar suburbs have not found a picturesque environment where dreams are fulfilled, but instead they see a seemingly endless sprawl from mall to mall where the alienated suburbanite is caught in a nightmare. Compose an essay that critically discusses life in the suburbs during the postwar era (1946-1963) and concludes with a determination as to whether the postwar suburb provided dream fulfillment or brought a nightmare. At least, one of the paragraphs in the essay must be about Levittown, NY. Cohen, Lizabeth. A Consumer’s Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America. Diamond, Etan. Souls of the Cities: Religion and the Search for Community in Postwar America. Halberstam, David. The Fifties. Hayden, Dolores. Building Suburbia: Green Fields and Urban Growth, 1820-2000. Hudnut-Beumler, James. Looking for God in the Suburbs: The Religion of the American Dream and its Critics, 1945-1965. Jackson, Kenneth T. Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States. Martinson, Tom. American Dreamscape: The Pursuit of Happiness in Postwar Suburbia. Mumford, Lewis. The Highway and the City. Nicolaides, Becky. My Blue Heaven: Life and Politics in the Working-Class Suburbs of Los Angeles, 1920-1965. Oakley, J. Ronald. God’s Country: America in the 1950s. O‟Neill, William. American High: The Years of Confidence, 1945-60. Sochan, George. “Levittown, NY: Suburban Dream or Nightmare?” in Humanities and Technology Review Fall 2009. Teaford, John. The American Suburb: The Basics.