APUSH Chapter 30 Essay Questions

 

1.             Write a thumbnail sketch of Theodore Roosevelt. Consider both the key characteristics of his personality and his style of leadership.

 

2.             Write your definition of peace maker. Then use this definition to argue that Theodore Roosevelt did or did not deserve to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

 

3.             Define the fundamental assumption of the Roosevelt corollary. Do you accept it? Why or why not?

 

4.             The Spanish-American War lasted three months. The Philippine insurrection lasted three years. Why does virtually every American history textbook devote several times more space to the war than to the insurrection? Do you think the space allotted should be more balanced, or even reversed? Why or why not?

 

5.             Explain in what ways (a) the Boxer Rebellion, (b) the Open Door notes, and (c) the Portsmouth and Algeciras conferences signaled a new departure for American foreign policy.

 

6.             Do you think the Roosevelt corollary to the Monroe Doctrine fundamentally altered the nature of the doctrine and the intentions of its original authors (Monroe and John Quincy Adams)? If so, explain how. If not, explain how the doctrine and corollary are compatible.

 

7.             Does the text authors’ conclusion that “China owed its preservation far more to the strength of the competing powers” than to Hay’s Open Door policy render the Open Door notes inconse­quential? Why or why not?

               

8.             Had you lived at the time, do you think you would have liked and supported Theodore Roosevelt as president? Why or why not? Do you think he was a “great” president? Why or why not?

 

9.             Assess Theodore Roosevelt’s conduct of American foreign policy, especially in Latin America and Asia. Did it result in more harm than good to all concerned, or vice versa? Justiiy your conclusion.

 

10.           It has been argued that “The error in Roosevelt’s Panama policy lay not in the goals he sought but in the means he chose to achieve them.” Do you agree? Why or why not?

 

11.           Interpret the text’s authors statement that “The Filipinos... preferred less sanitation and more liberty.” Assess the United States’ performance in its policy of “benevolent assimilation” in the Philippines.