Second Exam
Potential Essay Questions

Two of the following questions will appear on the exam. You will be asked to write on one of the two. (In addition to the essay questions, there will be multiple choice questions which can be drawn from any source.)

1. What were the origins of the French Revolution (through 1789)? Why did the French Revolution radicalize after 1789 (through 1795)? In what ways did Robespierre justify the radicalization of the revolution? In what ways were the American and French Revolutions similar and in what ways different?

2. How were liberalism, conservatism, and nationalism defined between 1815 and 1871? What were the successes and failures of each of these ideologies during this period?

3. What were the origins of the American Civil War? In what ways and to what extent did the Civil War reflect nationalist aspirations? Your answer should include a consideration of the perceptions and arguments of South Carolina's Address to the Slave-Holding States and Lincoln's Second Inaugural.

4. Reconstruct the arguments of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels in The Communist Manifesto. You should include a consideration of their ideas about (1) historical change (dialectical materialism); (2) the origins and historical role of the bourgeoisie; (3) the (predicted) origins and nature of the proletariat revolution; (4) and rationale for abolishing bourgeois private property.

5. Reconstruct the spectrum of political ideologies in late 19th century and early 20th century Europe, focusing especially on the changes in Socialism, Liberalism, and Feminism. To what extent were American perspectives similar to or different from European perspectives? Your essay should draw upon the texts of Bernstein and Webb, Green and Spencer, the House Committee Hearing of January 18 1892, Carnegie and the Populists, Washington and DuBois.


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