History/WS 326 Midterm Study Guide

The midterm examination is scheduled for Thursday, March 6th.  The test will consist of 25 multiple-choice questions (50 points) (based on the weekly quizzes) and 2 topical essay questions (50 points) chosen at random by me from those listed below. Each essay is worth up to 25 points. Good essays will include a thesis statement (a sentence stating your major argument) and several specific historical examples to support your conclusions. Good organization, reasonable spelling and neatness, and logical arguments make a difference. You will have the full class period to complete your exam.

1. Historians argue that women held a larger role  in the "public sphere" by the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. What were the opportunities and limitations of this shift to a larger public role for women in American life?

2. The American West of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century is often used to represent what it means to be an American. What were the major trends and experiences for American women who lived in the West from 1870-1920? Did gender make a difference in the lives of men and women living in the West?

3. What were the major characteristics defining the late nineteenth and early twentieth century "new woman"? In other words, what was new?

4. From 1870-1920, what social and political issues were particularly attractive to women reformers and why?

5. The effort to gain suffrage for women had a long history. What changes after 1890, both within the movement and in the general society, contributed to the final passage and ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment?

6. Woman's Rights activists had been lobbying for the right to vote since 1848, with little success. What changes after 1890 contributed to the eventual success of the woman suffrage movement in 1920?

*Arrangements for make-ups must be made the day the examination is scheduled or before. Warning: I am strict about this policy and make-up examinations are more difficult.