Unit 7 Study Guide Period 7.2: 1920 1945 In a Nutshell An increasingly pluralistic United States faced profound domestic and global challenges, debated the proper degree of government activism, and sought to define its international role. Key Concepts Part 1: Growth expanded opportunity, while economic instability led to new efforts to reform U.S. society and its economic system. A. The United States continued its transition from a rural, agricultural economy to an urban, industrial economy led by large companies. B. During the 1930s, policymakers responded to the mass unemployment and social upheavals of the Great Depression by transforming the U.S. into a limited welfare state, redefining the goals and ideas of modern American liberalism. Part 2: Innovations in communications and technology contributed to the growth of mass culture, while significant changes occurred in internal and international migration patterns. C. Economic pressures, global events, and political developments caused sharp variations in the numbers, sources, and experiences of both international and internal migrants. Part 3: Participation in a series of global conflicts propelled the United States into a position of international power while renewing domestic debates over the nation s proper role in the world. D. World War I and its aftermath intensified ongoing debates about the nation s role in the world and how best to achieve national security and pursue American interests. E. U.S. participation in WWII transformed American society, while the victory of the United States and its allies over the Axis powers vaulted the U.S. into a position of global, political, and military leadership. 1
Significant Topics from Unit 7 1. The Great Depression and the New Deal, 1929-1945 a. Episodes of credit and market instability in the early 20 th century, in particular the Great Depression, led to calls for a stronger financial regulatory system. i. Great Depression, 1929-1941 ii. Stock Market Crash, 1929 1. Causes and Impacts iii. Hoover s Response: 1. Smoot-Hawley Tariff, 1930 2. Reconstruction Finance Corporation, 1932 3. Bonus March, 1932 4. How is his response different than FDR s? b. Franklin Roosevelt s New Deal attempted to end the Great Depression by using government power to provide relief to the poor, stimulate recovery, and reform the American economy. i. Roosevelt s New Deal, 1933-1945 (Relief, Recovery, and Reform) ii. New Deal Programs to Stimulate Economic Activity **SEE NEW DEAL PROGRAMS CHART** iii. Dust Bowl 1. What caused it? 2
2. How did the federal government address this issue? c. Radical, union, and populist movements pushed Roosevelt toward more extensive efforts to change the American economic system, while conservatives in Congress and the Supreme Court sought to limit the New Deal s scope. i. How did the New Deal increase federal and executive power in the United States? 1. Court-Packing Plan, 1937 ii. Criticism of the New Deal: 1. What reasons would people criticize the New Deal? a. Huey Long b. Charles Coughlin c. Dr. Townshend d. Although the New Deal did not end the Depression, it left a legacy of reforms and regulatory agencies and fostered a long-term political realignment in which many ethnic groups, African Americans, and working-class communities identified with the Democratic Party. i. Women ii. African Americans iii. Native Americans 1. Indian New Deal iv. To what extent was the New Deal successful in solving the problems of the Great Depression? (consider political, social, and economic reasons) 3
2. U.S. Foreign Policy during the 1920s and 1930s a. In the years following World War I, the United States pursued a unilateral foreign policy that used international investment, peace treaties, and select military intervention to promote a vision of international order, even while maintaining U.S. isolationism. i. Failure of the Treaty of Versailles ii. Washington Naval Conference, 1921-1922 iii. Fiver Power Agreement iv. Four-Power Treaty v. Nine-Power Treaty vi. Kellog-Briand Pact vii. Good Neighbor Policy viii. Neutrality Acts (1937,1939) ix. Destroyer for Bases Deal b. In the 1930s, while many Americans were concerned about the rise of fascism and totalitarianism, most opposed taking military action against the aggression of Nazi Germany and Japan until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor drew the United States into World War II. i. Totalitarianism vs. Fascism vs. Socialism vs. Communism ii. European Appeasement 1. Munich Conference, 1938 4
iii. How United States involvement shifts from embargo to cash-and-carry to Lend Lease policies 1. Lend-Lease Act, 1940 iv. Atlantic Chart, 1941 v. Pearl Harbor, 1941 vi. How were the reason and justifications the United States decided to involve itself into the Second World War different than the First World War? How is the public perception different? 3. World War II, 1929-1945 a. Americans viewed World War II as a fight for the survival of freedom and democracy against fascist and militarist ideologies. This perspective later reinforced by revelations about Japanese wartime atrocities, Nazi concentration camps, and the Holocaust. i. The United States Home front 1. Propaganda ii. The Holocaust 1. Kristallnacht b. The mass mobilization of American society helped end the Great Depression, and the country s strong industrial base played a pivotal role in winning the war. i. United States Home front 1. Factory output increases 2. Rationing 3. Victory Gardens 5
4. Liberty Bonds c. The United States and its allies achieved military victory through Allied cooperation, technological and scientific advances, the contributions of servicemen and women, and campaigns such as Pacific island hopping and the D-Day invasion. The use of atomic bombs hastened the end of the war and sparked debates about the morality of using atomic weapons. i. Allied Powers vs. Axis Powers ii. Manhattan Project, 1942 iii. Germany First Strategy iv. Battle of Britain v. Fall of France vi. Invasion of Normandy (D-Day), 1944 vii. Pacific Theater and island hopping viii. Yalta Conference, 1945 ix. Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 1945 x. V.E. Day xi. V.J. Day 4. Women and Minorities during World War II a. Mobilization and military service provided opportunities for women and minorities to improve their socioeconomic positions for the war s duration, while also leading to debates over racial segregation. Wartime experiences also generated challenges to civil liberties, such as the internment of Japanese Americans. i. Women in the workforce 6
1. Rosie the Riveter ii. A. Philip Randolph and the March on Washington, 1941 iii. Congress of Racial Equality, 1942 iv. Japanese-American Internment, 1942 v. Zoot Suit Riots, 1943 5. World War II and American Power a. The war-ravaged condition of Asian and Europe, and the dominant U.S. role in the Allied victory and postwar peace settlements, allowed the United States to emerge from the war as the most powerful nation on earth. 7
Possible LEQ Questions **One of the following questions will appear on the Unit 7 Exam.** Consider looking over these to be prepared for the test. Remember, look at the LEQ rubric and make sure you have a strong thesis, good organization, strong analysis of evidence, and synthesis that supports your point. 1. Analyze the extent to which the involvement of the United States in World War II transformed the nation economically, politically, and socially. Confine your answer to the time from 1939 to 1950. 2. Analyze the home-front experiences of TWO of the following groups during the Second World War. African Americans Japanese Americans Jewish Americans Mexican Americans 3. How and for what reasons did United States foreign policy change between 1920 and 1941? 8