HISTORY MID-TERM                                                                 Al Smith - Fall 2004

History 154 – African American History

DIRECTIONS:

These are the questions that will be on your Mid-term examination. You will complete a one paragraph typed a formal outline of each question.  You will hand in the outlines of all the questions on the day of the examination. 

YOU will select two of these questions.  Pick any two essay questions. DO ONLY TWO QUESTIONS.  You will complete a one to two page typed logical, focused essay on each question.  Use complete sentences in your answers. Each answer must be completely developed, and have factual support.  Use informal citation of sources.  This means show me where in your books you draw your examples and facts.  An example is: “ In Zinn, on page 39, the discussion of Bacons rebellion is a good example of the wealthy manipulating the political economy of the colonies against poorer and non-white colonists.”  If you are a student in a classroom – as opposed to an online student - Use Scantron #886E.  Remember to stick to the question. Remember to title your work with the words: Midterm Exam; your class section#; your name; and, the numbers of the questions you selected to answer.

NOTE: Failure to follow the directions may result in a lowered grade. 

1)                  Using specific examples, describe the 15-16th century West African culture complex compared to the European and the Amerindian.  Examine four elements and/or aspects of West African culture as it has fused with European culture in the West Indies.

2)                  Analyze the impacts of the presence of Africans in the Americas.  Pick one region – The colonial West Indies, New Spain, or colonial North America – and show in that area at least one political, economical, and cultural contribution that could be considered “indispensable” to development in that region. Support your argument.

3)                  Provide a factually supported description of how Africans could be so successfully enslaved.  Add a detailed analysis of the political economy of slavery in the American colonies beginning with Bacon’s Rebellion.  Discuss gender, race, and class.

4)                  What were limitations and opportunities for blacks to end the institution of slavery?  Provide four specific examples – two that involve free Blacks, and two that involve enslaved African Americans. What role did ethnic nationalism play?

5)                  Argue for the rise of a distinct African American culture.  Analyze the rise of African American identity and define that culture using four specific examples.

6)                  Beginning with the American Constitution and ending with the Nat Turner rebellion, detail the politics of national expansion and the economics of Southern slavery.  Analyze their relationship to Northern labor issues, the Women’s Rights movement, and the Abolitionist movement.