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TennesseeUS History

United States History and Geography: Post-Reconstruction to the Present (US.01 to US.10)

6 dot points across 6 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How did federal policy and western settlement affect American Indians after the Civil War?

Analyze federal policy toward American Indians in the late 1800s, including the destruction of the buffalo, the reservation system, conflicts such as Wounded Knee, the Dawes Act, and the assault on tribal sovereignty and culture (Tennessee Academic Standards for Social Studies, United States History and Geography, US.02).
A standard-level answer on federal American Indian policy for the Tennessee US History EOC: the Plains Wars and the destruction of the buffalo, the reservation system, Wounded Knee, the Dawes Act of 1887 and forced assimilation, and the loss of tribal land and sovereignty.
13 min answer →

How did the new immigration and the growth of cities transform American society?

Explain the causes and effects of the new immigration from southern and eastern Europe and Asia, the growth of cities, the rise of nativism, and the reform response, including geographic patterns of settlement (Tennessee Academic Standards for Social Studies, United States History and Geography, US.07).
A standard-level answer on immigration and cities for the Tennessee US History EOC: the new immigration from southern and eastern Europe and Asia, Ellis Island and Angel Island, the growth of industrial cities and tenements, nativism and the Chinese Exclusion Act, and the settlement-house response.
13 min answer →

What caused rapid industrialization, and how did big business reshape the economy?

Explain the causes of rapid industrialization after the Civil War, the rise of big business and the captains of industry, monopolies and trusts, and the early government response such as the Sherman Antitrust Act (Tennessee Academic Standards for Social Studies, United States History and Geography, US.04 and US.05).
A standard-level answer on industrialization for the Tennessee US History EOC: the resources, technology, railroads, and labor that drove industrial growth, big business figures like Carnegie and Rockefeller, monopolies and trusts, vertical and horizontal integration, and the Sherman Antitrust Act.
14 min answer →

What was the Gilded Age, and how did workers respond to industrial conditions?

Analyze the politics and society of the Gilded Age, including political machines and corruption, the gap between rich and poor, and the rise of labor unions and major strikes (Tennessee Academic Standards for Social Studies, United States History and Geography, US.06).
A standard-level answer on the Gilded Age for the Tennessee US History EOC: the meaning of the term, political machines and corruption, civil service reform, working conditions, the rise of labor unions like the Knights of Labor and the AFL, and major strikes such as Homestead and Pullman.
14 min answer →

How did the end of Reconstruction reshape the South, and what was the New South?

Explain the political and economic consequences of the Compromise of 1877, the rise of the New South, and the system of segregation and disfranchisement that replaced Reconstruction (Tennessee Academic Standards for Social Studies, United States History and Geography, US.01).
A standard-level answer on the end of Reconstruction for the Tennessee US History EOC: the Compromise of 1877, the New South vision of industry and diversified agriculture, sharecropping and the crop-lien system, and the Jim Crow laws, disfranchisement, and Plessy v. Ferguson that followed.
14 min answer →

How did government policy and new technology drive the settlement of the American West?

Explain how the Homestead Act, the transcontinental railroad, mining, and the cattle and farming economy drove the settlement and development of the West, and the geographic factors involved (Tennessee Academic Standards for Social Studies, United States History and Geography, US.02 and US.03).
A standard-level answer on western settlement for the Tennessee US History EOC: the Homestead Act, the transcontinental railroad, the mining and cattle booms, the farming frontier and the Great Plains, and the closing of the frontier in 1890.
13 min answer →