Mid Term Exam - You Can Observe A Lot Just By Watching

Yogi Berra, the legendary New York Yankees catcher is most remembered for his colorful personality and his special brand of wisdom which he shared with the world through the sometimes counterintuitive quotes he left with the sports media. The title for this blog entry uses one of Berra's famous "Yogiisms". Hopefully it will have meaning for you as you consider this review in preparation for the exam.

Some other gems from Yogi --

"Baseball is 90% mental. The other half is physical."

"If you come to a fork in the road, take it."

"It's like deja vu all over again."

"The future ain't what it used to be."

"If the world were perfect, it wouldn't be."

"If you don't know where you're going, you might end up someplace else."

Yogi was more than just a personable, gentle and amusing man. See the link below and check out a very short list of his serious accomplishments as a baseball player that stand the test of time.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/top-10-career-accomplishments-yogi-berra-article-1.2370924

Below you will find information that you will need concerning the exam based on our class discussions. 

Exam Format:

• Two hour exam (an extra 30 minutes if required)
• Essay - (scored out of 9 using course rubric) 
• 50% of first term grade

Remember that the exam is a choice between two essay questions that have some relationship to the concept of American exceptionalism. You will need to use items from the reading package you will be provided with and your own background in the course to answer the essay question with supporting details from all seven eras studied so far this year. 

Regardless of which essay question you choose, in your answer you are required to address all seven eras listed below. You must use ALL separate items from the reading package covering the seven different eras.  Also, be sure to make reference to seven historical events from seven different eras that are distinct from the ones referenced in the reading package.

The reading items will be organized under the following headings:

•the Beginnings of a Colonial Presence

•the Growth of the Thirteen Colonies

•the American Revolution 

•the Federalist Era 

•the Louisiana Purchase, American Expansionism and Manifest Destiny 

•Recession, Government Bailouts, Entitlement Programs, and the Culture War 

•Donald Trump - Outsider Campaign and Presidency (2015-present)

From Revolution to Civil War

Over the past few days I mentioned to you the direction we will be taking as we move forward. That is, we will examine the period of time from the American Revolution to the Civil War with an eye towards answering the following question:

How do we go from a patriotic victory over the world's most powerful nation to fighting amongst each other?

Or, put another way, one could ask:

What were the causes of the Civil War?

In broad strokes, there are five potential causes that we will explore here:

• Rapid expansion of the nation, like the Louisiana Purchase, leading to more states


• The emerging Industrial Revolution vs the Agrarian Age and how the Cotton Gin raised the stakes in the conflict


• Sectional politics (protecting interests and the fear of Southern marginalization -- i.e. The growing Northern states would come to dominate the South.)


• Jefferson's phrase in the Declaration of Independence stands in stark contrast to the evils of slavery and must eventually be resolved if the nation is to be true to its highest ideals- "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal..."


• The ongoing struggle over the legitimate power of the federal government over the states -- To paraphrase Shelby Foote, "Are the United States a nation? Or is the United States a nation?" (The debate largely centers around how to pay for the Revolutionary War debt. Those who favor a strong federal government argue that the federal government requires the power to tax in order to pay for the debt as well as common defense and other pressing matters. Those who favor "state's rights" fear a strong federal government that will dominate the entire country.)

To help answer the original question, you are to embark on a timeline assignment which will require you to do some research on a particular historical period that you have been assigned. The final result will be that you will construct a timeline that fits together in a continuum from the Revolutionary War period (1776-1781) to the beginning of the Civil War (1850-1860).


As a means of standardizing the final product, two 11x17 pages that have been supplied will be used for the timeline. Your timeline should meet the following guidelines:


•landscape format


•24 individual points within the timeline (1 point each )


•details concerning each point should be "staggered" on either side of the line (1 point each)


•a title appropriate and original from the handout given in class should be prominent across the top two inches of the page (5 points)


•the bottom two inches should include a summary of the time period (10 points)


•all text should be typed as follows: Font - Times New Roman - Title at top - 72 point; Summary text at bottom - no smaller than 12 point; major point on timeline - 24 point; details for each major point - no smaller than 12 point

•"pictures are worth a thousand words" - apparently, so you are required to find a few images that you can put on your page -- these should be iconic in nature (10 points)
•Supply a typed list of your 5 sources attached at the back in APA style (10 points)

Evaluation total: 83 points

Be prepared to do a short oral presentation regarding your timeline Thursday, January 16, 2020, when it is due.

The groups are as listed below:

1789-1800 

1801-1811 

1812-1823 

1824-1837 

1838-1849 

1850-1860