African-American History, 1880-Present

Part I: Identification terms: The exam will include 5 of the following fifteen identification terms listed below. You will need to provide answers to all five id terms on the exam. Each answer should be approximately four sentences in length. Plan to spend approximately 5 minutes of exam time per term. Answers should 1) define the term, 2) place it in historical context (time, place, persons/issues involved), and, most importantly, 3) identify the significance of the term in African-American history. (5 points possible per term)

Thibodaux Sugar War Red Summer United Negro Improvement Association

National Urban League Anna Julia Cooper Plessy v. Ferguson

Fourteenth Amendment Jack Johnson War Risk Insurance Act

James Reese Europe Madame C.J. Walker Birth of a Nation

Lynching Silent March (NYC) Mamie Smith

Part II: Primary Source Analysis: The exam will consist of two of the primary documents listed below. You will select one to analyze. Your analysis should place the document in historical context, assess its significance to historical events and social movements of the period in which it was created, & interpret its meaning as an expression of African-American experience. Plan to spend approximately 20 minutes of exam time on primary source analysis. A copy of the primary documents will be provided with the exam. (25 points possible)

Claude McKay's "If We Must Die" (1919) (pg. 45-46 of From Timbuktu...)

Marcus Garvey's "Explanation of the Objects of the Universal Negro Improvement Association" (1921) (Canvas)

Alain Locke's "The New Negro: An Interpretation" (1925) (pg. 43-45 of From Timbuktu...)

Part III: Short Essay:

One of the following essays will appear on the exam. Prepare for both as you will not not be able to choose which question to answer. Please note that because a study guide is provided in advance, I expect a well-organized and well-argued paper that includes references to primary and secondary sources (however, quotations are not expected). I suggest that students prepare outlines of essays in advance (though you will not be able to bring them to the exam). Plan to spend approximately 30 minutes of exam time on the essay.

1. Discuss the development of Jim Crow policies and practices in the U.S. following Reconstruction. Be sure to consider both "legal" constraints to black equality such as poll taxes and segregation as well as extra-legal (outside or against the law) such as lynching and race riots.

2. Write an essay that describes the causes of the Great Migration. Consider both those factors that encouraged African Americans to leave the rural south and those factors that drew them to the urban north.

Tips for Writing a Historical Essay

The following components are essential to a historical essay:

1) An introductory paragraph that establishes the scope of the argument - including the specific time period, geographic area, & demographics of the group of people you'll discuss.

2) A thesis statement (located at the end of the introduction) in which you establish the specific position or take a stand that you will defend in the body of your essay.

3) Evidence to support your thesis derived from both lecture & course readings. No Quotations or citations are necessary because this is an in-class essay.

4) A concluding paragraph that restates your argument and explains its significance.