The terms and questions listed here come from the lectures, and the assigned readings:

KNOW THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE FOLLOWING:

Cold War: what was it, how began
Soviet actions immediately after WWII
Communism: U.S.’s feelings about it and why
"containment"
Truman Doctrine: what it is, and how different from U.S. foreign policy in early and  mid-20th century
Korean War: when, how U.S. got involved, brief highlights (see textbook)
Baby boom: what is it and when
McCarthyism
Economic situation of America in the 1950s
Situation of African-Americans in the 1950s in the South, and also in the North
Plessy vs. Ferguson
NAACP – role in early Civil rights fight
psychological test done for the court case against the "separate but equal" law
Brown vs. Board of Education: what was it, when was it, reactions to it
Little Rock Central High School in 1957: what happened
3-step pattern for Civil Rights movement in 1950s and 1960s
Martin Luther King
Rosa Parks
Montgomery Bus Boycott, what happened and how it laid foundation for Civil rights movement
The Nashville sit-in movement: what was it, what happened
SNCC
Freedom Rides-what were they and what happened to the riders
Birmingham protests of 1963: what happened
3 weapons of the Civil Rights movement:
 economic boycott-how and why worked
 "soul force" - non-violent resistance: idea behind it, description
 political weapon - how worked
Use of TV in Civil Rights movement
Black Power movement: how different from Civil Rights movement
When and why SNCC changed focus
Malcolm X
Stokely Carmichael
Economic and psychological effects of the Black Power movement
Riots of mid- and late 1960s: why, how extensive
Cuban Missile Crisis: when, what happened (check text)
Situation of Vietnam under French rule, then Japanese rule
Ho Chi Minh; Viet Minh
Why Ho Chi Minh thought U.S. would support him and his goals after WWII
Why U.S. backed French goals in Vietnam after WWII
How "containment" ideas shaped our approach to Vietnam.
Geneva Accords; when, what agreed on
Diem - why U.S. like him; why many South Vietnamese peasants didn’t like him
Viet Cong: who were they, goals for Vietnam
Why national elections in Vietnam not held in 1950s
Why Diem overthrown
Tonkin Gulf "Incidents": what happened according to U.S. officials then;
        interpretation now
Tonkin Gulf Resolution and its results:
"Americanization" of war
Johnson’s "Great Society": what was it    (see textbook)
Comparison of bombing amounts in Vietnam to bombing amounts in WWII
Various ways the war was fought.
Body counts- how distorted
Why was fighting  in Vietnam so difficult and complicated for U.S. soldiers
What happened to many South Vietnamese peasants during war
strategic hamlets
defoliation - how and why done
Agent Orange, napalm
Tet Offensive - when, reaction in America
Anti-war movement - what kinds of actions taken by those involved
1968 - what happened at the Chicago Democratic convention, how influenced
       election
"Vietnamizing" the war: when, what
invasion of Cambodia - reaction in America
Kent State - what happened
When American involvement in the Vietnam war ends
Student movement of 1960s: goals and philosophy and actions
What the "counter-culture referred to
How were students involved in Civil Rights
SDS  -  goals and ideas
why did students target universities in protests
sit-ins at campuses – how worked
3 famous campus demonstrations
accomplishments of student activists
counter-culture: ideas on fashion, sex, drugs, and music
Woodstock
Situation of women in the 1950s
Betty Friedan and The Feminine Mystique: what did it argue
NOW
Radical feminism: where and why emerged? Beliefs and type of protests
Accomplishments of feminism
Nixon’s abuse of power as President
Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon papers
the "plumbers": illegal activities
Watergate break-in
White House cover-up of break-in
How cover-up unravels
Nixon’s response to order to turn over tapes of conversations
Why House Judiciary Committee recommends impeaching Nixon
Effects of Watergate
Qualities of Jimmy Carter that got him elected
Key themes from Hollitz, chapters 10-12
Iran –Contra Affair (see textbook)
Operation Desert Storm (Persian Gulf War) (see textbook)
Why Clinton won in 1992 (see textbook)

Know from earlier study guides:
Situation of South after Civil War
What Reconstruction entailed for Southern states
Freedman’s Bureau
Significance of 14th amendment
15th Amendment
KKK; and methods used by many white southerners to keep black southerners from voting
"Redemption" of the south: what was it, and why Northerners let it happen.
Homestead Act: what, when, what happened after passage
Did most Homesteaders succeed or fail?
Why Indian population down dramatically from pre-1492 numbers
Government policy toward Indians in last half of 19th century
Reasons America emerged as an industrial power
Important inventions in late 19th century America
laissez faire economic policy of government in late 19th century: pros and cons
Difficulties for ordinary workers during Industrialization
Haymarket Square Riot: how occurred, effect on labor movement
"New" immigration from 1880s onward: where from?
Immigration to America in the context of worldwide immigration
American tradition of distrusting "new" immigrants
Chinese Exclusion Act, why passed
Nativism (see textbook)
tenements
Problems of growing cities in late 19th century
City political machines – how helped immigrants
Jacob Riis: his contribution towards reforming cities
Reasons for U.S. expansion in 1890s and after
The Incident of the Maine
The yellow press
War with Spain over Cuba  (Spanish-American War): why joined in; duration; outcome
Debate over annexation of Philippines
Philippine-American War:  type of war, differences from Spanish-American War
Progressivism: define it
Muckrakers
Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle: what about, reform laws it inspired
Women’s suffrage, debate over, when and how achieved
Progressive political reforms and why significant

World War I, how starts, dates
Central Powers
Allied Powers
The Western Front
Types of weapons and type of warfare in WWI
America’s position concerning war from 1914-1917 and why
Why America enters war
Anti-German sentiment in America during WWI
Wilson’s 14 points (know key themes, and significance of 14th)
Treaty of Versailles, why it took the shape it did at peace conference
Fight over treaty in U.S.: why, what happened
Rise of KKK in the 1920s
Nativism
Immigration restriction in the 1920s
Prohibition, why passed, effects
Bootleg, its dangers
Critique of America from the great American novelists of the ‘20s
The Harlem Renaissance, and the main figures
Reasons Great Depression happened
Problems in agriculture in 1920s and 1930s
Why did Americans start demanding government help in early 1930s
President Hoover’s response (and why) to that demand
The Bonus Army, and what happened to them
Banking crisis and bank runs of early 1933
How President Roosevelt (FDR) helps stop banking crisis
The "First 100 Days"
Effects of the New Deal on Americans-both immediate and lasting
Farm programs of New Deal
Programs for direct relief in New Deal
New Deal programs to create jobs
WPA-what it did
Social Security
FDR and New Deal after 1936
Why Hitler become so popular among many Germans
How Hitler changed Germany in 1930s
Appeasement in Europe, and why
Why U.S. was isolationist
Beginning of World War II, Surrender of France, Battle of Britain and outcome
U.S. "neutrality" and aid to Great Britain
Campaign for "preparedness" in U.S., and why needed
Tensions between Japan and U.S.
Attack on Pearl Harbor and U.S. declaration of war (know when)
"Grand Alliance"
Axis countries
Economic effect of WW II in America
"Rosie the Riveter"
Treatment of Japanese Americans
Course of war (briefly) in 1942-1943
Why Stalin unhappy with Allies during 1942-43
Dresden, why significant
D-Day and the Second Front in Europe, when, where, results
German surrender, when, why
War in Pacific
Midway
Japanese style of fighting
Manhattan Project
Hiroshima and Nagasaki