Final Exam Review

1. Final Exam Review U.S. History, Semester 2

2. The Great Depression • The major causes of the Great Depression • International debt from WWI • An unbalanced business system • Poor distribution of purchasing power • A banking crisis • All combined to make for a weak economy

3. How did the Great Depression impact people’s lives? • Ways to save money • Women sewed their own clothes, families grew their own food & preserved what they could, families started home businesses such as doing laundry & baking goods • Art & writing • Dorothea Lange’s photography became famous for portraying the hardships the depression brought upon everyday Americans. • Images from http://www.redriverhistorian.com/desperation.html

4. Image from http://www.mrthomaspeters.com/ND3Rs.gif

5. The New Deal • The purpose of the New Deal • The New Deal was President Roosevelt’s plan to get America out of the economic depression & get Americans back to work • How did the New Deal work? • Spend money to stimulate the economy • Alphabet Soup Programs • Think back to your New Deal Chart…CCC, WPA, NRA, TVA, etc. • Ways in which the Great Depression impacted minority groups such as women and African Americans • Many minorities lost their jobs to white males, “last hired, first fired” • Many women sought jobs outside of the home to try and make ends meet.

6. WWII • Events that took place at Pearl Harbor • December 7, 1941 the Japanese attacked U.S. aircraft carriers at Pearl Harbor, hoping to paralyze a U.S. forces in the Pacific • “Airfields, port facilities, and warships were attacked and severely damaged. Of the nine Pacific Fleet battleships at Pearl that day, Utah and Arizona were completely destroyed and the Oklahoma was salvaged but considered obsolete and designated for scrap.” http://www.ccdemo.info/PearlHarbor/PearlHarborDayRemembered.html • America’s response to the attacks at Pearl Harbor, both on the home front and overseas • The surprise attack on Pearl Harbor expedited our entry into WWII on the side of the Allies • Congress declared war on the Empire of Japan and the President signed a declaration of war on December 8. • The following year (1942) over 100,000 Japanese-Americans were relocated to internment camps

8. Arguments for and against the dropping of the atomic bombs Pro Atomic Bomb Con Atomic Bomb • Would end the war faster • Less American and Japanese lives would be lost • U.S. had invested a lot of money into the Manhattan Project, the project that constructed the bombs. Too much money was invested not to use them • Would illustrate our power to the world • Loss of civilian lives • The two cities chosen had many civilians so this was a crime against humanity • War could be won without such a show of force

9. Life Post-WWII • The impacts of the Marshall Plan, both in Europe and at home • The Marshall Plan aided European recovery after WWII. • From 1948-1952 the United States loaned or gave $13 billion to Europe. • By 1952 Western Europe’s economy had strengthened • …and the United States had secured a large market for our goods overseas. • Changes on the home front after WWII • Employment of women & minorities • women & minorities had gained employment during the war, performing many of the jobs men had left when they went to fight overseas. When the men returned, the jobs returned to the men, leaving women and minorities without work again. • Changing birth rates-Babyboom!

10. The Cold War • During the Cold War, the U.S. experienced mounting tensions with the Soviet Union and Cuba, both communist. • It was a period of scientific competition • the superpowers never encountered each other directly militarily • Tensions were high and fear of the spread of communism were even higher. • The United States fought the spread of communism through its policies, such as containment. • There was a general fear of communism and communist people that gripped America; Senator Joseph McCarthy played on this fear. • Consequences of McCarthyism on the American public, included Hollywood blacklists and also impacts on our education system. • The government imposed aggressive investigations into possible communists in our country. • Books were censored, actors were persecuted, a general hysteria built • Major events of the Cold War included • Bay of Pigs Invasion • Cuban Missile Crisis • The Korean War • The Berlin Airlift

11. Vietnam War • Prior to U.S. involvement in Vietnam, France was there, as they had colonies in French Indochina and a political and military presence • Reasons for the US involvement in Vietnam • The French were not successful in their military presence and the U.S. came to their aid as part of the containment policy • The containment policy was the U.S. policy towards communism—to stop its spread and contain it, thus preventing a domino effect. • Domino theory-the U.S. believed that is we let one nation fall into communist hands, its neighbors would as well, then its neighbors and so on…this is known as the Domino Theory and was used a reason to justify U.S. involvement in Vietnam (what many felt should have been a civil war) • What was the significance of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution? • An authorization for the president to do what was necessary to protect U.S. forces in Vietnam, without a declaration of war • Was authorized by Congress after an alleged attack on U.S. naval fleets

12. Vietnam War: Public Sentiment • What were the sentiments and actions of Americans who were against the war? • In general the public was dissatisfied with U.S. involvement in Vietnam, particularly as war dragged on. • Draft was instituted, many Americans felt young men were being sacrificed for another nation, • “Doves” believed this was a civil war that we should have no part of. • Lack of support for soldiers when they returned home was unprecedented in U.S. history

13. Vietnam War • More than Vietnam • The U.S. attacked parts of Laos and Cambodia during the Vietnam War because we believed the Vietnamese communist supply lines went through those countries. • The war tactics and weaponry • The Vietnam War was a different type of fighting than our troops were used to • Fighting by the Viet Cong was characterized by guerilla warfare. The U.S. fought back in the jungle and also employed napalm and bombings to counter the guerilla tactics • What was Vietnamization (its purpose, the architect and impacts)? • Vietnamization was Nixon’s policy aimed at removing American soldiers from Vietnam after training and equipping South Vietnamese soldiers to take over in combat and strategy.

14. Civil Rights Movement • Major court cases of the civil rights movement • example: Brown vs. Board of Education, Topeka • In this historic Supreme Court Case, the Supreme Court ruled that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal, thus constitutionally calling for an end to segregation in education. • Students should recount the key events and protests in the civil rights movement (for example, freedom rides, sit-ins, the marches, speeches and injustices)

16. Compare and contrast the leadership styles of the various civil rights organizationsExample: SNCC vs. SCLC SCLC SNCC • Leaders included Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. & Dr Ralph Abernathy • Both of whom had helped organize the Montgomery bus boycott in support of Rosa Park’s actions • Focused on non-violent protest, including marches and demonstrations • The Selma to Montgomery marches were some of the most well known, famous for the violent attacks marchers suffered at the hands of local law enforcement. • Included all races & ethnicities in its membership • Remained committed to non-violence throughout the civil rights movement. • SNCC grew out of a sit-in, where black college students peaceably sat themselves at a lunch counter where they had been refused service. The students peacefully refused to leave the counter. • From 1960-1966 the SNCC participated in numerous demonstrations • lead by Ella Baker, John Lewis, then Stokely Carmichael. • Sit-ins, Freedom Rides and Freedom Summer were several ways in which SNCC members protested for Civil Rights • Freedom rides brought white civil rights workers together with black civil rights workers in a journey to bus terminals in the deep south • Overtime transitioned from a commitment to non-violence to a more aggressive approach, including the ‘black power’ movement.

17. 1970s to present Do you know the Watergate scandal? • How was the Constitution tested? • Whom did the scandal involve? • What was the outcome of the investigations and the events that transpired?

18. Reaganomics • President Ronald Reagan was a supporter of supply-side economics • His economic goals were: • Reduce taxes (income & capital gains) • Reduce new government spending • Reduce government regulation of business • Reduce inflation by controlling the money supply • Increase defense spending