Download AP US History Chapter 35: America in World War II

AP U.S. History
Chapter 35: America in World War II, 1941-1945
Focus Question
The United States’ decision to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima was a diplomatic measure
calculated to intimidate the Soviet Union in the post-Second-World-War era rather than a strictly
military measure designed to force Japan’s unconditional surrender. Evaluate this statement.
Learning Objectives
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How was America transformed from a peacetime to a wartime economy? What were the
steps that America took to mobilize for their war with the Axis powers?
What was the impact of the war on domestic America?
What was America’s strategy for winning the war against the Axis powers?
What turned the tide of the war in the Pacific for American troops?
How did World War II end and what were the terms of settlement?
Questions
1. What was the fundamental strategic decision of World War II made by President Roosevelt
and the British at the very beginning of the war, and why did they make it?
The Allies Trade Space for Time (875)
2. Once at war, what was America's first great challenge?
The Shock of War (876)
3. How was American public opinion during World War II in sharp contrast to World War I?
4. How did World War II serve to further assimilate most ethnic groups into American society?
5. To whom did the term "enemy aliens" refer after the United States entered World War II?
What minority group was most adversely affected by Washington's wartime policies?
6. Why were Japanese-Americans placed in concentration camps during World War II?
7. What was the impact of World War II on many of the New Deal programs launched during
the Great Depression?
Makers of America (878)
8. What factors characterized the effect of Executive Order No. 9066 on Japanese living in the
U.S.?
9. How clearly did the American public understand what the war was about when the United
States entered World War II in December 1941?
Building the War Machine (877)
10. Why did the United States government commission the production of synthetic rubber during
World War II?
11. How was inflation kept in check during the war?
12. Why did some unions, particularly the United Mine Workers violate the no-strike pledges
they had given and disrupt wartime production?
Manpower and Womanpower (880)
13. Why did the government establish day-care centers during World War II? Why did about
two-thirds of women war workers leave the labor force at the end of World War II?
14. How did women war-industry workers foreshadow the eventual revolution in women's roles
in America?
Wartime Migrations (882)
15. What were the functions of the following wartime agencies: War Production Board; Office of
Price Administration; National War Labor Board; and Fair Employment Practices
Commission?
16. What factors characterized the experiences of black Americans during World War II?
17. Why did the northward migration of African Americans accelerate after World War II?
18. Why, during World War II, did the heart of the American black community shift from the
South to northern and western cities?
19. What were the major consequences of World War II for American race relations?
20. What was a major home-front effect of World War II on American Indians?
21. What was the uniquely valuable contribution of Native Americans to the war effort?
Holding the Home Front (885)
22. What was the economic experience of most Americans during World War II?
23. How much did the national debt increase during World War II? How did this compare to
increases during World War I and the New Deal?
24. How did America raise most of the money it needed to finance World War II?
The Rising Sun in the Pacific (886)
Japan's High Tide at Midway (887)
25. What was the first naval battle in history in which the opposing ships never sighted or fired
on each other, and all the fighting was done by carrier-based aircraft?
26. What battle turned the tide of Japanese conquest in the Pacific?
American Leapfrogging Toward Tokyo (887)
27. Why did the United States rely mainly on a strategy of island hopping across the South
Pacific while bypassing Japanese strongholds?
28. Why was the American conquest of Guam in 1944 especially critical?
The Allied Halting of Hitler (889)
29. What was probably Hitler's best chance to defeat Britain and win the war until the spring of
1943?
30. Where did Hitler's advance against the Soviet Union reach its crest in late 1942 before his
fortunes declined?
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A Second Front from North Africa to Rome (889)
31. Why was President Roosevelt unable to keep his promise to the Soviets to open a second
front in Western Europe by the end of 1942? Why did the Allies postpone opening a second
front in northwestern Europe until 1944?
32. What was the significance of the Casablanca Conference of January 1943? What were the
effects of Roosevelt's and Churchill's insistence on the absolute and "unconditional
surrender" of Germany?
33. What was the major consequence of the Allied campaign in Sicily in August 1943?
34. Why were the Allies unable to occupy Italy after the Italian surrender in August 1943?
35. What may have been the real impact of the Italian campaign on the further course of World
War II in Europe?
D-Day: June 6, 1944 (891)
36. What were the agreements reached at the Teheran Conference of November-December
1943?
37. Why was General Dwight Eisenhower an excellent choice to command the cross-channel
invasion of Normandy to open a second front in Europe?
FDR: The Fourth-Termite of 1944 (893)
38. Why was Franklin Roosevelt in a sense the "forgotten man" at the Democratic Convention in
1944? What was the most significant development there?
Roosevelt Defeats Dewey (894)
39. What was the major reason that Franklin Roosevelt won election to a fourth term in 1944?
The Last Days of Hitler (894)
40. What was the significance of the Battle of the Bulge?
Examining the Evidence (895)
41. How do the documents of the Tehran Conference shed light on the Western Allies' decision
to postpone opening a second front in northwestern Europe until 1944?
Japan Dies Hard (897)
42. What was the impact of the American victory in the greatest naval battle in history, the Battle
of Leyte Gulf?
The Atomic Bombs (898)
43. What was the significance of the Potsdam Conference of July 1945?
44. What belief spurred the spending of enormous sums on the atomic bomb project?
45. How and why was the unconditional surrender policy toward Japan was modified?
The Allies Triumphant (901)
46. How effective were American strategy, American military leadership, and American industry
in World War II?
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Thinking Globally (902)
47. How did American military casualties in World War II compare to those of other Allied
nations?
Varying Viewpoints (905)
48. What are the main ex post facto arguments for and against the use of atomic bombs against
Japan?
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