ESSAY QUESTIONS
Below are two sets of questions. Full-year students should select a question from the first list for their first essay and from the second for their second essay. First term affiliates should chose TWO questions from the first list. Second term affiliates should chose their first essay from the second list. The second essay should be written from a list of questions which will be released at a later date. (Click here for more information on affiliate assessment.)

If you would rather write on a topic not listed below you may do so, so long as your title is approved by your class teacher in advance.
Two copies of each essay must be handed in to the History Department office, with a completed 3-part coversheet, which will be date stamped. The pink copy of the cover sheet will be returned to you as a receipt/proof of submission. Please keep this in case of any query. Essays that are not stamped will receive a mark of 0.

All essays must be well presented and clear. Please leave wide margins and use double-spacing to allow teachers to write comments. Proof-read word-processsed work carefully, and do not rely entirely on spell-checkers - they can introduce mistakes, particularly with proper names.

First Essay
1. To what extent did the Republican and Democratic parties represent opposing sides in a "culture war" during the 1920s?
2. How successfully did African Americans challenge Jim Crow between 1920 and 1945?
3. How and why did the position of women in society change during the 1920s?
4. In what ways did the Scopes Trial of 1925 illuminate the cultural and political tensions of 1920s America?
5. Why was the economic depression which began in 1929 so severe in its social consequences?
6. How new was the New Deal?
7. "The New Deal was driven by pragmatism rather than ideology". Discuss.
8. In what ways did the Depression and the New Deal affect the lives of African Americans?
9. Why was Franklin D. Roosevelt such a popular President for so long?
10. How did the Second World War affect the position of women in American society?
11. Why was there such strong opposition to American entry into the Second World War until the attack on Pearl Harbor?
12. What were the cultural consequences of the threat of atomic war in the 1950s?
13. Account for the survival of the Democratic New Deal coalition between 1940 and 1960.
14. Why was anticommunism such a powerful force in American society between 1945 and 1960?
15. Did the Cold War prevent a further extension of the New Deal in the Truman years?

Second Essay
1. Why did the social conformity of the immediate post-war era face social and cultural challenges in the 1960s?
2. "Martin didn't make the movement. The movement made Martin" (Ella Baker). Discuss.
3. To what extent did the social reform programs of the Johnson administration transform the role of government in American society?
4. Does JFK deserve his posthumous reputation?
5. Why did the anti-war movement fail to stop the Vietneam war?
6. Why did the United States become involved in the war in Vietnam?
7. Why did Nixon win the 1968 election?
8. What was the cultural, social and political impact of the 1973 oil crisis?
9. What were the political consequences of 1960s "counter-culture"?
10. Was Watergate as significant an event as it appeared at the time?
11. Why has evangelical religion become such a potent force in American society since the 1970s?
12. In what respects can Richard Nixon be credited with Republican electoral success since 1974? .
13. Why has abortion been such a salient issue in American politics since 1973?
15. Was there a "Reagan Revolution"?
16. "A tragic wasted opportunity". Is this a fair description of the presidency of Bill Clinton?
17. “The study of the American past is profoundly shaped by the American present.” To what extent does recent research in the field of American history support this view?