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«Ukraine»
Open International University of Human Development
Institute of Law and Social Relations
of «Ukraine» University
The Chair of International Information
Khyzhnyak Igor A.
HISTORICAL, POLITICAL, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL
BACKGROUND OF THE NORTH AMERICAN COUNTRIES
Educational and Methodical Complex of Expanded Course Syllabus, Seminars and
Independent Students` Research Formats
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Kyiv-2013
Recommended at the Chair of International Information meeting, protocol № 7 May 31,
2013
Authorized for publication by the Methodical Council of «Ukraine» University
(Protocol № 5 June 27, 2013)
Elaborated by Khyzhnyak Igor A., doctor of historical science, professor; doctor of
political science, professor of political science; academician of the Ukrainian Academy of
Political Science.
Reviewer: Potekhin O.V., doctor of historical science.
Khyzhnyak Igor A. Historical, Political, Social and Cultural Background of the North
American Countries. Expanded Course Syllabus, Seminars and Independent Students`
Research Formats. – K.:
3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Course Rational and Overview…………………………………………………….
Thematic Plan of the Course……………………………………………………….
Expanded Course Syllabus. Content of the Course……………………………….
Seminars Format of the Course……………………………………………………..
Independent Students` Research Format…………………………………………..
Questions for Objective –Answer and Final Exam ……………………………….
Glossary………………………………………………………………………………
Recommended Literature……………………………………………………………
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I. Course Rational and Overview.
This course is designed to give the non-history major sence of the general overview
for historical, political, social and cultural background of the North American Countries.
The course will impart a sense of the major events in the foregoing fields and peoples
activity in the 20th and the early of the 21st centuries. It will challenge the student to look
at the historical, political, social, cultural and foreign relations problems which face the
countries of the North America today. Finally, it will introduce students to several basic
skills = critical reading and analytical thinking, and essay writing – which will be helpful
no matter what the goal of future professional of life.
II. Statement of Specific Course Objectives.
A. Concepts, principles, and understandings
As a result of this course students:
1. Recognize the major people and events shaping historical, political, social and
cultural background of the North American countries in the 20th early the 21st centuries;
2. Begin to recognize how the events of the past still affect the present day societies in
the USA and Canada;
3. Gain an understanding of the political and human beliefs on which these nations
were founded and to some extent still function.
B. Attitudes, interests, and appreciations
The students also:
1. Appreciate the diversity of political systems and cultures of the peoples who made
up these nations from their conception;
2. Learn that exploration of the course is not simply a collection of events and facts,
but rather an interwoven story of individual and collective human endeavour;
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3. Compare the ideals and beliefs of people who formed heritage of both nations with
our world today.
C. Habits, conduct, and skills
Further more, the students will:
1. Become better prepared citizens of Ukraine for them to have some understanding
of all included matters of the course in these locales;
2. Learn to analyze the whole number of above mentioned problems, take a position,
and make a logical argument in a written essay form;
3. Encourage practical analytical thinking by dealing with real problems of the USA
and Canada as well as in Western Civilization.
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Thematic Plan of the Course
«Historical, Political, Social and Cultural Background
of the North American Countries»
№
1
I
Names of themes and
units
2
3
Lectures Seminars
4
5
Independent
Students` Research
Format
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Content Module 1. The Progressive Era. A
World Power. Total War: 1941–1945. Cold-War Years
Theme 1. America Looks
Outward.
Unit 1. Intervention and
World War I.
Unit 2. The United States
Turns Inward:The 1920s
and 1930s.
Unit 3. A World Power.
Total War 1941–1945.
Domestic Developments
during the Truman and the
Eisenhower Years.
II
Total
26
4
2
20
Content Module 2.The United States Since 1960: New Challenges to
THEAMERICAN System. The USA in the 21st Century
Theme 2. The Exuberant
Kennedy Years
Unit 4.The New Frontier.
Assassination and Cultural
Changes.
Unit 5.Kennedy-Johnson
Legislative
Accomplishments.
Unit 6.Race Relations
during the 1960s.
32
8
4
20
7
III Theme 3. Johnson`s and
Nixon`s Tragedies.
32
8
4
20
Unit 7. At War in
Vietnam.
Unit 8. Foreign Policy
under Nixon.
Unit 9. Wategate.
Unit 10. Cultural
Challenges.
IV Theme 4. The Third
Century Begins.
30
6
4
20
28
6
2
20
14
2
1
11
34
17
111
V
Unit 11.The Reagan Era.
Unit 12. The Bush
Administration.
Unit 13. The Clinton
Administration.
Theme 5. Entering the
Second Millenium.
Unit 14. The G. Bush Jr.
Years of Presidency.
Unit 15. The Obama
Challenges.
VI Theme 6. The Glimpses
of Canada.
Unit 16. The Canadian
Upsurge.
Total
162
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Expanded Course Syllabus
Content of the Course
«Historical, Political, Social and Cultural Background
of the North American Countries»
Content Module 1.
The Progressive Era. A
World Power. Total War:
1941–1945. Cold War Years
Theme 1. America Looks Outward.
Unit 1. Intervention and World War I. President Wilson went a step further,
seeking not simply to maintain order, but to advance democracy and self-rule. After the
outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Wilson sought vainly to bring peace. America`s
entry into the war (April 1917) was the climax of the Progressive Era: Wilson`s aim was
the extension of democracy and the creation of a just world order. In January 1918 he
issued his FOURTEEN POINTS as a proposed basis for peace: freedom of the seas and
removal of all barriers of trade; an end to secret diplomacy; general disarmament; selfgovernment for the submerged nationalities in the German and Austro-Hungarian
Empires; and a league of nations. The addition of more than a million American troops to
the Allied armies turned the balance against the Germans in 1918, and an armistice on
November 11 ended the war. At the PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE, however, Wilson
failed in much of his program, for the other Allies were not interested in a «peace without
victory ». Many at home, however, preferred to return to America`s traditional isolation
from world affairs. When Wilson tried imperiously to force Senate to accept the entire
treaty, he failed. The United States never became a member of the League of Nations.
[19; 22; 32; 34]
Unit 2. The United States Turns Inward: The 1920s And 1930s. After its
participation in the conflagration then known as the Great War, the American nation was
ready to turn inward and concentrate on domestic affairs (a «return to normalcy», as 1920
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presidential candidate Warren Harding called it). Private concerns preoccupied most
Americans during the 1920s until the Great Depression of the next decade, when
increasing numbers turned, in their collective misfortune, to government for solutions to
economic problems that challenged the very basis of U.S. capitalistic society. The 1930s:
Decade of Depression. The stock market crash of October 1929 initiated a long economic
decline that accelerated into a world catastrophe, the DEPRESSION OF THE 1930S. A
new era commenced in American history, one in which a social democratic order similar
to that of Western European countries appeared. The federal government under Roosevelt
(and the presidency itself) experienced a vast expansion in its authority, especially over the
economy. Recovery was Roosevelt`s first task. In the First New Deal (1933–35) he
attempted to master a spirit of emergency and rally all interests behind a common effort in
which something was provided for everyone. Excessive competition and production were
blamed for the collapse. The Second New Deal (1935–38) was more antibusiness and
postconsumer. Roosevelt turned to vastly increased relief spending (under the WORKS
PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION) to pump up consumer buying power. The impact of
the New Deal was perhaps strongest and most lasting in its basic reform measures, which
profoundly altered the American system. For the majority of the population, New Deal
legislation defined minimum standards of living. In addition, the New Deal helped make it
possible for organized unions to gain higher wages. The New Deal also provided a sense
of confidence that in a time of disaster the federal government would take positive action.
Meanwhile, totalitarian movements abroad were inducting world crisis. Congress,
mirroring public opinion, had grown disenchanted with the U.S. entry into World War I.
This spirit of isolationism led to the passage (1935–37) of a series of neutrality acts.
[4; 19; 32; 34]
Unit 3. A World Power. Total War: 1941–1945. The spirit of isolationism eroded
steadily as Americans watched the aggressive moves of Adolf Hitler and his allies.
President Roosevelt and the American people finally concluded that the United States
could not survive as a nation, nor could Western civilization endure, if Hitler and fascism
gained dominance over Europe. During the world war that followed, the Americans and
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their nation rose to the status of a major world power, a position that was not abandoned
but confirmed in the cold-war years of the late 1940s and the 1950s. Total War: 1941–
1945. On Dec. 7, 1941, the Japanese reacted to stiffening American diplomacy against its
expansion into Southeast Asia by attacking the U.S. fleet at PEARL HARBOR in the
Hawaiian Islands. Japan, however, in one stroke had succeeded in scuttling American
isolationist sentiment, forcing the United States into World War II. The next was to form
an alliance with Great Britain so close that even military commands were jointly staffed.
The year 1942 was devoted to halting, after many defeats, the outward spread of Japanese
power and to keeping Hitler`s forces from overwhelming America`s British and Soviet
allies. Large shipments of munitions went to both allies. On the long Russian front,
German armies were being defeated and pushed back toward their borders. In June 1944 a
huge Allied force landed on the French coast, an invasion preceded by 2 years of intense
day-and-night bombing of Germany by British and American aircraft. By August 1944,
Paris was recaptured. Hitler`s empire was crumbing; clouds of bombers were raining
destruction on German cities; and on Apr. 30, 1945, with the Soviet troops just a few miles
from Berlin, Hitler committed suicide. Peace in Europe followed shortly. TRUMAN had
succeeded to the presidency on Roosevelt`s death. Advised that the alternative would be
an invasion in which multitudes would perish, he authorized use of the recently tested
atomic bomb. On August 6, the city of Hiroshima was obliterated; on Aug. 9, the same
fate came to Nagasaki. Within a week, a cease-fire (which later research suggests was
reachable without atomic attack) was achieved. The political shape of the postwar world
was set at the YALTA CONFERENCE (February 1945) between Roosevelt, Joseph
Stalin, and Winston Churchill. Soviet occupation of Eastern European countries overrun
by the Red Army was accepted, in return for a pledge to allow democratic governments to
rise within them. Soviet and Allied occupation zones in Germany were established, with
Berlin, deep in the Soviet zone, to be jointly administered. Certain possessions in the Far
East and rights in Manchuria, lost to the Japanese long before, would be restored to the
USSR. The Americans was not going to be allowed in the East European countries under
Soviet control. Nor, as the Soviets pointed out, was the United States ready to admit the
Soviets to any role in the occupation and government of Japan. Cold-War Years. Charges
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and countercharges were directed back and forth, the Soviets and Americans interpreting
each other`s actions in the worth possible light. In February 1946, Stalin declared in
Moscow that there could never be a lasting peace with capitalism. Shortly thereafter,
Churchill warned of the «iron curtain» that had descended across the middle of Europe.
The COLD WAR had begun. Then the MARSHALL PLAN (named for George C.
MARSHALL, U.S. chief of staff during the war and at this time secretary of state),
approved by Congress in April 1948, sent $ 12 billion to the devastated countries of
Europe to help them rebuild and fend off the despair on which communism was believed
to feed. Toward the USSR, the basic American policy was that known as containment:
building «situations of strength» around its vast perimeter to prevent the outward spread of
communism. A series of East-West crises, most dramatically the Berlin Blockade of 1948–
1949, led to the creation (April 1949) of the NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY
ORGANIZATION. The NATO alliance sought to link the United States militarily to
Western Europe (including Greece and Turkey) by making an attack against one member
an attack against all. In June 1950 the North Korean army invaded South Korea. The
United Nations Security Council (which the Soviets were then boycotting) called on UN
members jointly to repel this attack. As the UN army swept northward to the Manchurian
border, Chinese forces flooded southward to resist them, and a long, bloody seesaw war
ensued. An armistice was not signed until July 1953, following 150,000 American
casualties and millions of death among the Koreans and Chinese.
Domestic Developments during the Truman Years. Fears of Russian communism
that was taking over the entire world were pervasive during the Truman years. The
explosion (1949) of a Soviet atomic bomb and the victory (1949) of the Communists in
China, prompted a widespread conviction that subversive conspiracies within the
American government were leading toward Soviet triumph. In February 1950, Republican
Sen. Joseph R. MCCARTNY of Wisconsin triggered a 4-year national crisis, during which
he insisted repeatedly that he had direct evidence of such conspiracies in the federal
government, even in the army. The entire country seemed swept up in a hysteria in which
anyone left of center was attacked as a subversive. In 1952, Dwight D. Eisenhower,
nationally was elected president (1953–61) on the Republican ticket, but soon McCartny
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was attacking him as well for running a «week, immoral, and cowardly» foreign policy. In
1945 a long and dramatic series of congressional hearings, the first to be nationally
televised, destroyed McCartny`s credibility. He was censured by Senate, and a measure of
national stability returned. Eisenhower declared himself uninterested in repealing the New
Deal, but he was socially and economically conservative and his presidency saw the
enactment of few reforms. In 1957 the Soviet government launched its first orbiting
satellite, and a national controversy erupted. Many critics insisted on weakness in public
education, especially in science and technology, were the root cause. In 1958, Congress
enacted the first general education law since the Morrill Act of 1862-the NATIONAL
EDUCATION ACT. It authorized $ 1 billion for education from primary level through
university graduate training, Eisenhower`s foreign policy, under Secretary of State John
Foster Dulles, was more nationalist and unilateral than Truman`s. An aggressive Nikita
Khrushchev, Soviet premier, trumpeted that communism would bury capitalism and
boasted of Moscow`s powerful intercontinental missiles while encouraging so-called wars
of liberation in Southeast Asia and elsewhere.
[8; 14; 19; 22; 27; 33; 34]
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Content Module 2.
The United States
Since 1960: New Challenges to
THEAMERICAN System.
The USA in the 21st Century
Theme 2. The Exuberant Kennedy Years.
Unit 4. The New Frontiers. Assassination and Cultural Changes. The Democratic
senator John F. KENNEDY, asserting that he wanted to «get the country moving again»,
won the presidency in narrow victory over Vice-President M. NIXON in 1960. The
charismatic Kennedy stimulated a startling burst of national enthusiasm and aroused high
hopes among the young and the disadvantaged. In June 1961, Kennedy pulled together the
disparate, disorganized space effort by giving it a common goal: placing an American on
the moon. Responding enthusiastically, Congress poured out billions of dollars to finance
the project. (After the APPOLO PROGRAM succeded, on July 20, 1969, in landing
astronauts on the moon, the space effort remained in motion, if at a reduced pace ). He
kept in motion a plan sponsored by the CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (CIA)
and begun by the Eisenhower administration to land an invasion force in Cuba, which
under Fidel Castro had become a Communist state a Soviet state. The BAY OF PIGS
INVASION failed, utterly and completely. The force was quickly smashed when it
struggled onto the beaches of the Bay of Pigs in April 1961. In October 1962, however, he
discovered that the Soviets were rapidly building missile emplacements in Cuba and he
induced the Soviets to desist, and the sites were eventually dismantled. The relieved world
discovered that, when pushed to crises point, the two major powers could stop short of
nuclear war. This CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS effectively ended the cold war. A test-ban
treaty, the Moscow Agreement, signed in October 1963 symbolized the opening of the
new relationship. Three of the world`s nuclear powers (Great Britain, the United States,
and the USSR- the fourth, France, did not sign) agreed to end the detonation of atomic
explosions in the atmosphere. In this new environment of security, American culture, long
restrained by the sense of team spirit and conformity that the crises of depression, war, and
cold war had included, broke loose into multiplaying swift changes. Romantism shaped
14
the new mood, with its emphasis on instant and impulse rather than reason, ecstatic release
rather than restraint, individualism and self-gratification rather than group discipline. U.S.
Federal Government participation in the support of the arts and humanities. Outburst of
American Rock music and the stages of its development. Kennedy`s assasination in
November 1963 shocked and dismayed Americans of all ages, and the psychological links
he had fashioned between «the system» and young people begun to dissolve. His
successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, later shouldering the onus of an unpopular war, was unable
to build a reservoir of trust among the young. As the large demographic group that had
constituted the «baby boom» of the post-World War II years reached college age, it
became the «wild generation» of student radicals and «hippies» who rebelled against
political and cultural authority.
[7; 8;10; 14; 19; 22; 27; 28; 29; 33]
Unit 5. Kennedy-Johnson Legislative Accomplishments. In his first 3 months of
office, Kennedy sent 39 messages and letters to Congress asking for reform legislationmessages dealing with health care, education, housing and community development, civil
rights, transportation, and many other areas. His narrow margin of victory in 1960,
however, had not seemed a mandate for change, and an entrenched coalition of
Republicans and conservative sothern Democrats in Congress had prevented the
achievement of many of Kennedy`s legislative goals by the time of his death. Johnson,
who in 1964 won an enormous victory over the Republican presidential candidate, Barry
GOLD WATER, and carried on his coattails a large Democratic congressional majority.
Johnson launched his WAR ON POWERTY, and Congress created a domestic Peace
Corps (VISTA), MEDICARE was enacted in 1965, following Kennedy`s Clean Air Act of
1963, the Water Quality Act of 1965 broadened the effort to combat pollution, new
national parks and a Wilderness Act were established, the Economic Development
Administration moved into depressed areas, billions were appropriated for urban
redevelopment and public housing.
[7; 8; 10; 14; 19; 22; 27–29; 33]
15
Unit 6. Race Relations during 1960s and 1970s. Race relations was one area with
great potential for violence, although many black leaders` stressed nonviolence. Since the
mid-1950s, King and others had been disciplined mass protests of black Americans in the
South against segregation, emphasizing appeals to the conscience of the white majority.
Kennedy then asked Congress to enact a law to guarantee equal access to all public
accomodations, forbid discrimination in any state program receiving federal aid, and
outlaw discrimination in employment and voting. The civil rights phase of the black
revolution had reached its legislative and judicial summit. Mexican, American and Puerto
Ricans were also becoming more prominent in American life.
[7; 8; 10; 14; 19; 27–29; 32; 33]
Theme 3. Johnson`s and Nixon`s Tragedies.
Unit 7. At War in Vietnam. The VIETNAM WAR, however, destroyed the Johnson
presidency. The United States had been the protector of South Vietnam since 1954, when
the Geneva Conference had divided Vietnam into communist North and a pro-Wester
South. President Kennedy, deciding that South Vietnam was salvageable and that he could
not allow another communist victory, sent in 15,000 military advisors and large supplies
of munitions. Johnson decided to escalate American involvement. After his electorial
victory that year, he began aerial bombardment of North Vietnam, which persisted almost
continuously for 3 years to no apparent result other than the destruction of large parts of
the North and heavy loss of life. Meanwhile, the world at large (and many Americans)
condemned the U.S. military actions. From being an immensely popular president, he had
descended to a position as one of the most hated and reviled occupants of that office.
[7; 10; 13; 14; 15; 19; 27–29; 33]
Unit 8. Foreign Policy under Nixon. When Richard M. Nixon became president in
1969, he profoundly changed U.S. foreign policy. The new theme was withdrawal from
commitments around the globe. Nixon revived the kind of nationalist, unilateral foreign
policy that, since Theodore Roosevelt, presidents of his political tradition had preferred.
With Henry KISSINGER as an advisor and later as secretary of state, he began a kind of
16
balance-of-power diplomacy. Nixon soon announced his «Vietnamization» policy, which
mean a slow withdrawal of American forces and a heavy building up of the South Vietnam
army. Nonetheless, in the 3 years 1969–71, 15, 000 more Americans died fighting in
Vietnam. In April 1970, Nixon launched a huge invasion of Cambodia in a vain attempt to
clear out communist «sanctuaries». In May 1972, Nixon became the first American
president to consult with Soviet leaders in Moscow, leaving with major agreements
relating to trade, cooperation in space programs and other areas. He became more popular
as prosperity waxed and as negotiations with the North Vietnamese in Paris seemed to be
bringing the Vietnam War in a halt. In January 1973, Nixon announced a successful end to
the Vietnamese negotiations: a cease fire was established and an exchange of prisoners
provided for.
[7; 10; 14; 15; 19; 29; 32; 34]
Unit 9. Watergate. Few presidents could ever have been more confident of a
successful second term than Richard Nixon at this point. But before the year 1973 was out,
his administration had fallen into the gravest scandal in American history. By March 1974
the stunning events of the WATERGATE crisis and associated villainies had led to the
resignation of more than a dozen high officials-including vice-president (for the
acceptance of graft) – and the indictment or conviction of many others. In November
1973, Congress passed, over the president`s veto, the War Powers Act, sharply limiting the
executive`s freedom of action in initiating foreign wars. When Vice-President Spiro T.
AGNEW resigned his office on Oct. 10, 1973, Nixon with Senate ratification, appointed
Gerald R. Ford to replace him. On July 24, 1974, the Supreme Court ordered Nixon to
deliver his Oval Office tapes to Congress. Informed by Republican congressional leaders
of his certain conviction in forth coming impeachment proceedings, Richard Nixon
resigned the presidency on Aug. 9, 1974.
[7; 10; 14; 15; 19; 29; 32; 34]
Unit 10. Cultural Challenges. There are different levels of involvement in cultural
policy-making. But the priority belongs to business and the Federal Government. The
17
irreversible tendency of governmental participation in cultural policy-making had its
origin in the 1960s, whereas business institutions and philanthropic foundations entered
policy-making a bit earlier, in the second half of the 1950s. However, it was the American
Congress that emerged as a pioneer in making attempts at elaborating the first models of
cultural policy-making. This was in 1954, and attempts failed. Contemporary culturology
defines the following typology of culture in the U.S.: high culture, elite culture, popular
culture, mass culture, underground youth culture, folk culture. But there may be added two
more: democratic culture and official state culture.
[7; 10; 14; 15; 19; 29; 32; 34]
Theme 4. The Third Century Begins.
Unit 11. The Reagan Era. The «Reagan Revolution», combined with the tight
money policies of the Federal Reserve System, initially dismayed those who hoped for a
reversal of the economic stagnation of the 1970s. The United States experienced its worst
recession since the 1930s. Beginning in 1983, however, the economy rebounded sharply.
By the end of 1986, 11 million new jobs had been created, the consumer price index had
dropped from 13.1 percent in 1979 to just 4.1 percent, and the Dow-Jones average had
climbed to an all-time high. The Reagan recovery did little for rural America or for the
declining industrial regions of the Midwest. But the bulk of middle-class America, buoyed
by low inflation and its own prosperity, gave the president high marks for his economic
program. Reagan balanced his ardent anti-Communist rhetoric with generally restrained
foreign-policy actions. He denounced the USSR as an «evil empire» but ended the
embargo on grain sales to the Soviets imposed by President Carter after the invasion of
Afganistan. To quash a Communist revolt in El Salvador, Reagan committed military
advisors and furnished financial aid to the Salvadoran government. In 1983 he used
military force to topple a pro-Cuban regime on the Caribbean island of Grenada.
Ironically, developments in foreign affairs during Ronald Reagan`s second term this most
anti-Communist of presidents into a new, harmonious relationship with the Soviet Union
and to sign the first superpower treaty that actually reduced nuclear armaments. Soviet
leader Mikhail GORBACHEV, determined to relax tensions with the West, met with
18
Reagan in 1985 and 1986; in 1987 they signed the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty,
and in 1988 a triumphant Reagan traveled to Moscow for a fourth summit and further
arms-reduction talks.
[8; 11; 13; 15; 18; 22; 32; 33]
Unit 12. The Bush Administration. The remarkable reduction in cold-war tensions,
combined prosperity with no increase in taxis, carried Republicans George BUSH and Dan
QUAYLE to victory over Democratic candidates Michael DUKAKIS and Lloyed Bentsen
in 1988. Lacking his predecessor`s strong personal following and facing a Democraticcontrolled Congress, Bush sought to govern in a more moderate, middle-of-the-road way
than Reagan. The rapid demise of communism in Eastern Europe in 1989–90 and upheaval
of the USSR in 1991 provided him with an opportunity to lessen international tensions and
to reclaim the primacy of the United States in world affairs. Bush intervened militarily in
Panama in 1989 to overthrow its president, Manuel NORIEGA. In mid-1990, responding
to Iraq`s invasion and annexation of Kuwait, he ordered more than 400, 000 American
troops to the Persian Gulf region to defend Saudi Arabia. When Iraqi troops refused to
withdraw from Kuwait in January 1991, demanded by Bush in an ultimatum, he
authorized a massive bombing, and then ground assault, on Iraq and its forces in Kuwait,
and won a swift victory. Decisive in acting abroad, Bush failed to evolve a domestic
program that adequately addressed to a deficit-reduction package that raised federal taxes,
thereby breaking his «no new taxes» 1988 election campaign pledge. He also failed on his
promise to be both «the environment president» and «the education president», and
angered many women by nominating Clarence THOMAS to the Supreme Court and
continuing to support him despite allegations of sexual harassment. Focusing on the
nation`s economic woes and promising change, William Jefferson «Bill» CLINTON,
governor of Arkansas, beat several rivals in the Democratic primaries and chose as his
running mate Tennessee senator Albert GORE- like Clinton, baby-boomer, a white
Southern Baptist, and a moderate. Capitalizing on the slumping economy and increasing
19
unemployment, the Clinton-Gore ticket won 43 percent the highest vote turnout
(55 percent) since 1976 and 370 electoral votes.
[8; 11; 13; 15; 18; 22; 32–34]
Unit 13. The Clinton Administration. Despite the movement into Washington of
new people with fresh ideas, the Clinton administration got off to a slow, unsteady start.
Crises in Bosnia, Haiti, Somalia and Russia forced the president to focus on the volatile,
multipolar world of the post-cold war era. At the same time, Clinton backed down from
his promise to prohibit discrimination against gays in the military and reneged on his
pledge, for lack of revenue, to cut middle-class taxes. Defeated by Congress on his
proposals to stimulate the economy, Clinton then won by the narrowest of margins a
highly compromised federal budget plan to reduce the deficit. Clinton`s future
effectiveness and reputation tested largely on the fate of his plans to reform the health-care
system and to provide effective solutions to the problems of economic insecurity and
social disorder haunting middle-class Americans.
[8; 11; 13; 15; 18; 22; 32–34]
Theme 5. Entering the Second Millennium.
Unit 14. The G. Bush Jr. Years of Presidency. On December 9, in a controversial
ruling the Bush v. Gore case the Court reversed a Florida Supreme Court decision ordering
a third count, and stopped an ordered statewide hand based on the argument that the use of
different standards among Florida`s countries violated the Equal Protection Clause of the
Fourteenth Amendment. The machine recount showed that Bush had won the Florida vote
by a margin of 537 votes out of six million cast. Although he received 543, 895 fewer
individual votes than Gore nationwide, Bush won the election, receiving 271 electoral
votes to Gore`s 266. Though Bush originally outlined an ambitious` domestic agenda, his
priorities were significantly altered following the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001.
These attacks were a major turning point in Bush`s presidency. That evening, he addressed
the nation from the Oval Office, promising a strong response to the attacks. During his
Presidential campaign, Bush`s foreign policy platform included support for stronger
20
economic and political relationship with Latin Americas, especially Mexico. In his 2002
state of the Union Address, Bush referred to an axis of evil including Iraq, Iran and North
Korea. In 2003 Bush then launched the invasion of Iraq, searching for Weapons of Mass
Destruction. Bush begun his second term with an emphasis on improving strained relations
with European nations. He appointed long-time adviser Karen Hughes to oversee a global
public relations campaign. Bush lauded the pro-democracy struggle in Georgia and
Ukraine. The relationship between India and United States was one that dramatically
improved during Bush`s tenure. After September 11, Bush announced a global War on
Terror. In his January 29, 2002 State of Union Address, he asserted that an «axis of evil»
consisting of North Korea, Iran and Iraq was «aiming to threated the peace of the world»
and «posed a grave and growing danger» to the U.S. According to assessment by
historians in 2006, 744 professional historians surveyed by Siena College regarded Bush`s
presidency as follows: Great: 2%; Near Great: 5%; Average: 11%; Below Average: 24%;
Failure: 58. «In this case, current public opinion polls actually seem to cut the President
more slack than experts do». Similar outcomes were retrieved by two informal surveys
done by the History News Network in 2004 and 2008. In 2007, the Pew Global Attitudes
Project reported that during the Bush presidency, attitudes towards the United States and
the American people became less favourable around the world.
[8; 17; 21 22; 32; 34; 35]
Unit 15. The Obama Challenges. Obama became the first African American to be
elected president. On November 6, 2012 Obama won 332 electoral votes, exceeding the
270 required for him to be re-elected as president. With 51% of the popular vote, Obama
become the first Democratic president since Franklin D. Roosevelt to twice win the
majority of the popular vote. Concerning Osama Bin Laden the operation took place on
May 1, 2011, resulting in the death of Bin Laden and the seizure of papers, computers
drivers and discs from the compound. Bin Laden`s body was identified through DNA
testing, and buried at sea several hours later. Reaction to the announcement went positive
across party lines, including from former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, and
from many countries around the world. In a February 2009 poll conducted in Western
21
Europe and the U.S. by Harris Interactive for France 24 and the International Herald
Tribune, Obama was rated as the most respected world leader, as well as the most
powerful. In a similar poll conducted by Harris in May 2009, Obama was rated as the most
popular world leader, as well as one figure most people would pin their hopes on for
pulling the world out of the economic downturn. In 2008, Time magazine named Obama
as its Person of the Year for his historic candidacy and election, which it described as «the
steady march of seemingly impossible accomplishments». He was again name Person of
the Year in 2012, On October 9, 2009, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced that
Obama had won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize «for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen
international diplomacy and cooperation between people». Obama accepted this award in
Oslo, Norway on December 10, 2009, with «deep gratitude and great huminity». The
award drew a mixture of praise and criticism from leaders and media figures. Obama is the
fourth U.S. president to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and the third to become a Nobel
laureate while in office.
[1; 2; 3; 8; 16; 24; 35]
Theme 6. The Glimpses of Canada.
Unit 16. The Canadian Upsurge. Canada is a federal state governed as a
parliamentary and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state.
The country is officially bilingual and multicultural at the federal level, with a population
of approximately 35 million as of 2013. Canada`s advanced economy is one of the largest
in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundunt natural resources and well-developed trade
networks, especially with the United States, with which it has had a long and complex
relationship. Canada is one of the world`s developed nations, with the ninth highest per
capita income globally, and the sixth highest ranking in human development.
Subsequently, Canada performs above average in international measuments of education,
government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, and economic freedom. Canada is
a recognized middle power and a member of many international institutions, including G7,
G8, G20, NATO, NAFTA, OECD, WTO, Commonwealth of Nations, Francophonie,
OAS, APEC, and the United States. The Dominion of Newfoundland (now Newfoundland
22
and Labrador) was unified with Canada in 1949. Canada`s post-war economic growth,
combined with the policies of successive Liberal governments, led to the emergence of a
new Canadian identity, marked by the adoption of the current Maple Leaf Flag in 1965 the
implementation of official bilingualism (English and French) in 1969, and the institution
of official multiculturalism in 1971. Socially democratic programs were also instituted,
such as Medicare, the Canada Pension Plan, and Canada Student Loans, though provincial
governments, particularly Quabec` and Alberta, opposed many of these as incursions into
their jurisdictions. Finally, another series of constitutional conferences resulted in the 1982
patriation of Canada`s constitution from the United Kingdom, concurrent with the creation
of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In 1999, Nunavut became Canada`s third
territory after a series of negotiations with the federal government. Canada is the secondlargest country in the world, after Russia. By land area alone, Canada ranks fourth. The
country lies between latitudes 41o and 84o N, and longitudes 51o and 141o W. Canada has a
parliamentary system within the context of a constitutional monarchy, the monarchy of
Canada being the foundation of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The
sovereign is Queen Elizabeth, who also serves as head of state of 15 other Commonwealth
countries and each of Canada`s ten provinces. As such, the Queen`s representative, the
Governor General of Canada (at present David Lloyed Johnson), carries out most of the
federal royal duties in Canada. The direct participation of the royal and vice-royal figures
of governance is limited. In practice, their use of the executive powers is directed by the
Cabinet, a committee of ministers of the Grown responsible to the elected House of
Commons and chosen and headed by the Prime Minister of Canada (at present Stephen
Harper), the head of government. The governor general or monarch may, though, in
certain crisis situations exercise their power without ministerial advice. Canada`s federal
structure divides government responsibilities between the federal government and the ten
provinces. Provincial legislatures are unicameral and operate in parliamentary fashion
similar to the House of Commons. Canada`s three territories also have legislatures, but
these are not sovereign and have fewer constitutional responsibilities than the provinces.
The territorial legislatures also differ structurally from their provincial counterparts.
Canada and the United States share the world`s longest undefended border, cooperate on
23
military campaigns and exercises, and are each other`s largest trading partner. Canada
nevertheless has an independent foreign policy, most notably maintaining full relations
with Cuba and declining to officially participate in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Canada also
maintains historic ties to the United Kingdom and France and to other former British and
French colonies through Canada`s membership in the Commonwealth of Nations and the
Francophonie. Canada is noted for having a positive relationship with the Netherlands,
owing, in part, to its contribution to the Dutch liberation during World War II. The
2011 Canadian census counted a total population of 33, 476, 688, an increase of around
5.9 percent over the 2006 figure. Canada`s two official languages are Canadian English
and Canadian French.
[5; 6; 9; 12; 20; 23; 25; 26; 30; 31]
24
Seminars Format of the Course
Content Module 1.
The Progressive Era. A
World Power. Total War:
1941–45. Cold War Years
Seminar Class №1 (2 hours)
Theme 1. America Looks Outward
Units 1, 2, 3.
1. United States enters World War II. The League of Nations.
2. The booming 1920s and the Great Depression.
3. Roosevelt and the New Deal.
4. United States in World War II.
5. The Truman and the Eisenhower years.
[4; 8; 14; 19; 22; 27; 32–34]
Content Module 2.
The United States Since
1960: New Challenges to
THEAMERICAN System.
The USA in the 21st Century
Seminar Class №2 (4 hours)
Themes 2 and 3.The Exuberant Kennedy Years and
Johnson and Nixon`s Tragedies
Units 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.
1. The Kennedy administration: confrontation over Cuba and space program.
2. «The Great Society» and cultural changes.
3. Nixon`s accomplishments and defeats.
4. Post-Vietnam foreign policy and detente.
5. The civil rights movement 1960–1980.
[7; 8; 10; 14; 19; 22; 27–29; 32–34]
25
Seminar Class №3 (4 hours)
Theme 4. The Third Century Begins
Units 11, 12, 13.
1. A society in transition.
2. Conservatism and the «Reagan`s Revolution».
3. Foreign affairs and the end of the cold war.
4. The presidencies of George Bush and Bill Clinton.
[8; 11; 13; 15; 18; 22; 32–34]
Seminar Class №4 (2 hours)
Theme 5. Entering the Second Millenium.
Units 14,15.
1. President George H. Bush and public evaluation of his «bushisms».
2. The Obama presidency`s accomplishments and drawbacks.
[1; 2; 3; 8; 16; 17; 21; 22; 24; 34; 35]
Seminar Class №5 (1 hour)
Theme 6. Glimpses of Canada
Unit 16.
1. Canada`s all-around national symbols.
[5; 6; 9; 12; 20; 23; 25–26; 30; 31]
26
Independent Sudents` Research Format
Content Module 1.
The Progressive Era.
A World Power. Total War:
1941–45. Cold War Years
Theme 1. America Looks Outward
Units 1, 2, 3.
Key notions, terms and set expressions



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
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
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
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





the Open policy
the Western Allies
the Fourteen Points by Wilson
the Versailles Peace Treaty
the «Red Scare»
the Great Depression
the Darwinian science of
biological evolution
a «bootlegging»
the «Lost Generation»
the New Deal
the Civil Works Administration
the Agricultural Adjustment Act
(AAA)
the National Industrial Recovery
Act (NIRA)
the Rhineland
Neutrality legislation
the Rome-Berlin Axis
the U.S. Pacific fleet at Pearl
Harbor
the Nazi invasion
an act of intolerance
a Western front
Allied Forces in Europe
the Atlantic Charter
the Curzon line of 1919
the Tehran Conference
the Yalta Conference
the Potsdam Conference







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
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













to be shot down by an assassin
to assume the presidency
Roosevelt`s accession
The excesses of 19-th century
«muckrakers»
Chicago meat-packing houses
the burden of government on those
best able to pay
a «trust-busting»
an ordinary individual
to apply fresh determination to the
cause of reform
to be indicted for smth
to hold office for more than two
terms
to back into control of Congress
to lower the cost of living
to be vested in the government
for disabilities incurred at work
to hold the support of his people
to rally the people to the banner of
smth
to be truly novel about smth
a sharp revival of interest in
government
to be a common sight in smth
to combat soil erosion
cutbacks in production
to be well underway
a severe drought hit smth
27










the Manhattan Project
the Enola Gay
the criminal trials of Nazi leaders
the «American Century»
the Soviet threat
containment of the Soviet Union
the Truman Doctrine
McCarthyism
the Marshall Plan
The National Security Council
(NSC)
 a policy of «massive retaliation»
 the «beat» generation»
 the New Frontier
 to set codes of fair competitive
practice
 recovery began to take hold
 to draw wide audiences of smth
 a corner stone
 to go unheeded
 to be overshadowed by smth
 an average Americans
 to open a Western front
 a strong stance against the Soviet
Union
 to question dominant assumption
about smth
 to grow out of smth
 to respond quickly to new
challenges
28
Questions for self-control
1. Who was the developer of the Fourteen Points?
2. A «bootlegging» is known for what circumstances?
3. By 1933 millions of Americans were out of work for what reasons?
4. The New Deal represented what events?
5. Why American apprehension fuelled isolationist sentiment?
6. What circumstances Roosevelt could only wait until public opinion was altered?
7. Why U.S. Congress approved the Lend-Lease Program?
8. What events mounted in Asia while most Americans anxiously watched the course of
the European war?
9. What did Japanese carrier-based planes on the morning of December 7, 1941?
10. What issue the Western Allies decided as their essential military effort in the spring
and summer of 1942?
11. What nation suffered immense losses on the Eastern Front?
12. What meant immense preparations on June 6, 1944?
13. At Tehran on November 28, 1943 Roosevelt, Churchill and Soviet leader Stalin agreed
to establish what institution?
14. What did a U.S. plane on August 6, 1945?
15. What purpose representatives of 50 nations met in San Francisco on April 25, 1945?
16. What was unfolded after 1945?
17. Why the Soviet Union demanded «defensible» borders and regimes sympathetic to its
aims?
18. What was the cause of the postwar suspicion and distrust between the United States
and the Soviet Union?
19. What was Eisenhower`s basic commitment in foreign policy?
20. What was the main aim of a policy of massive retaliation?
29
Multiple Choice Test (tick the variant you prefer)
1. In 1933 the new president, Franklin Roosevelt rallied the people to the banner of
his program known as:
a)
the program of the CPSU;
b)
the NRA program;
c)
the program of abandonment of «laissez-fair» program;
d)
the New Deal;
e)
the program of eliminating stream pollution.
2. The AAA had at its core a plan to:
a)
displace a severe drought;
b)
compensate for voluntary cutbacks in production;
c)
dissatisfy with the pace of recovery;
d)
the right of collective bargaining;
e)
set codes of fair competitive practice.
3. The Second New Deal`s corner stone according to Roosevelt was:
a)
planting of soil-depleting crops;
b)
ending up competing for seasonal job;
d)
introducing the Social Security Act of 1935;
e)
displacing tenants and sharecroppers.
4. By September of 1940 the Japanese had joint:
a)
the New Deal`s programs;
b)
a Multual Board of Defense;
c)
the Lend-Lease Program;
d)
the Rome-Berlin Axis;
e)
neutrality legislation.
5. Late in 1943 the Allies, after much debate over strategy, decided to:
30
a)
meet abroad cruisers near Canada;
b)
surrender in the Philippines;
c)
advance into Germany from the west;
d)
open a Western front;
e)
land on the beaches of Normandy in northern France.
6. What did on August 6, 1945, a U.S. plane, the Enola Gay?
a)
agreed to the trial of Nazi leader;
b)
accused of plotting and waging war;
c)
dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima;
d)
erected the framework of the United Nations;
e)
payed a major role in international affairs.
7. Who, where and when said the following phase: «…an iron curtain has descended
across the Continent»?
a)
Stalin;
b)
Truman;
c)
Roosevelt;
d)
Churchill;
e)
Wilson.
8. Who defined the new approach to the Soviet Union in a long telegram sent to the
State Department in 1946?
a)
Harry Truman;
b)
Jackie Robinson;
c)
Dwight Eisenhower;
d)
George Kennan;
e)
Jack Kerouac.
31
9. Who of the U.S. state officials argued that containment of the Soviet Union should
go far enough to stop Soviet expansion?
a)
Eisenhower`s secretary of state John Foster Dulles;
b)
the chief of China communists Mao Zedong;
c)
Republican Senator Joseph R. McCartny;
d)
Secretary of State George Marshall;
e)
Henry Luce, a publisher of Time magazine.
10. What cultural norms were not conformed by all Americans?
a)
literary work of Jack Kerouac;
b)
Tennessee singer Elvis Presley,
c)
members of the so-called «beat-generation»;
d)
a poem «Howl» by poet Allen Ginsberg;
e)
painters like Jackson Pollock.
11. What countries the Truman Doctrine was directed to?
a)
Poland and Hungary;
b)
Bulgaria and Rumania;
c)
Italy and Spain;
d)
Greece and Turkey;
e)
the USA and Canada.
12. What countries of Central and Eastern Europe the United States had declared the
restoration of independence and self-government?
a)
Bulgaria and Rumania;
b)
Russia and Ukraine;
c)
Poland and Czechoslovakia;
d)
Greece and Turkey;
e)
Great Britain and Wales.
32
Themes for essays
1.
United States enters World War II?
2.
The establishment of the League of Nations.
3.
Roosevelt and The New Deal.
4.
Japan, Pearl Harbor and war.
5.
Truman`s presidency and the cold war.
Problems for discussion
1.
Neutrality legislation and isolationist sentiment increase late the 1930s.
2.
Was a cease fire with Japan reachable without atomic attack on August 6 and 9,
1945?
3.
True responsibility for the Cold War unleashing.
33
Content Module 2.
The United States
Since 1960: New Challenges
to THEAMERICAN System.
The USA in the 21st Century
Themes 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Units 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16.
Key notions, terms and set expressions
 the Civil Rights Bill
 the Office of Economic
Opportunity
 the Great Society
 the Central Intelligence Agency
 Limited Test Ban Treaty
 Sputnic – an artifial satellite
 first satellite, Explorer, 1958
 the Project Mercury
 the Apollo project
 Viet Cong
 the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
 «law and order»
 the Strategic Arms Limitation
Talks (SALT)
 the Dow-jones
 the Organization of Petroleum Oil
Producing Exporting Countries
(OPEC)
 the Watergate affair
 the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI)
 the Helsinki Conference
 a Final Act
 «Machine of the Year»
 the postwar «baby boom»
 AIDS (Acquired Immune
Deficiency Syndrome)
 the «Great Communicator»
 intermediate-range nuclear

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

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
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
















to ease the trauma of smth
to extend federal benefits for smth
to cap spending
to restore a larger measure of
individual initative
to more aggressively into smth
to sustain ones popularity
a razor-thin margin of victory
to be meager
to gain a modest increase in smth
to ride in an open car
a defining moment
to be at stake
to back down
to defuse tensions
to sign a landmark Limited- Test
Ban Treaty
to be chastened
to scale down the space program
to aggregate some amounts of data
smokestack industries
ferocious competition
to encompass smb
to develop huge followings
to curb the runaway inflation
to lay idle
a sweeping policy
multiple-warhead missiles
the Soviet Union dissolved
a set of core values
34




missiles
the Strategic Defence Initiative
(SDI)
strategic offensive nuclear arms
the space shuttle Columbia
«Black Monday»
Questions for self-control
1. What American president spoke aggressively for the New Frontier?
2. Who in the White House advocated a reform program the Great Society?
3. Whose programs did not live up to expectations?
4. What attack failed miserably at the Bay of Pigs?
5. What countries signed a landmark Limited Test Ban Treaty?
6. Why were Americans chastened for the Russians?
7. What happened in July, 1969?
8. Who won from Congress on August 7, 1964 a passage of the Gulf of Tonkin
Resolution?
9. What results the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) culminated in?
10. What was the name of American president the Congress instituted impeachment
proceedings against?
11. Who was portraiting himself during the presidential campaign in 1976 as an outsider to
Washington politics?
12. Who helped pave the way for a multi-nation conference in Helsinki, in 1975?
13. What conference a historic 30,000 – word Final Act was produced at?
14. Who assembled the first widely marketed computer for home use?
15. Why ferocious competition in auto industry meant the permanent loss of thousands of
jobs?
16. What meant the discovery of AIDS?
17. Why Reagan was considered to be a figure of reassurance and stability?
18. Why Reagan was determined to stand firm in dealing with the country he termed the
«evil empire»?
35
19. What meant for Soviet and American leaders the destruction of a whole category of
nuclear weapons?
20. The Soviet Union had renounced its wartime rights and accepted a unified Germany in
accordance with of which Treaty in 1990?
Multiple Choice Test (tick the variant you prefer)
1. In January 1918 submission of what document became either the basis for a just
peace or the real cause for outbreak World War II:
a)
the Boxer Rebellion appeal to the Chinese;
b)
Theodore Roosevelt`s respond to American labors;
c)
Wilson`s famous Fourteen Points;
d)
declaration of war by Japan;
e)
the «Open Door» doctrine for all nations in China.
2. What event triggered the greatest national outcry and concern outside the United
States as well as became obvious basis for successive Cold War unleashing in the late
years of World War I:
a)
general intelligence within the Justice Department;
b)
the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 in Russia;
c)
President Herbert Hoover`s veto to bring tariff barriers to new heights;
d)
Calvin Coolidger`s declaration that the chief business of the American people is
business;
e)
Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon`s belief to reduce income taxes.
3. A certain country became a battleground in the Kennedy years:
a)
Peru;
b)
Philippine Islands;
c)
Nicaragua;
d)
Cuba;
e)
Pakistan.
36
4. What field became another arena for competition after the Soviet Union launched
Sputnik:
a)
Trade;
b)
Foreign relations;
c)
Space;
d)
Sport;
e)
Cinema.
5. Successful pursuing a policy of détente culminated in:
a)
the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964;
b)
the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks in 1972;
c)
anti-war sentiment in 1968;
d)
a cease fire in Vietnam in 1973;
e)
the attack at the Bay of Pigs in 1961.
6. The largest summit meeting in European history was held in:
a)
Moscow in 1973;
b)
Geneva in 1970;
c)
Helsinki in 1975;
d)
Great Britain in 1979;
e)
Germany in 1969.
7. A SALT II agreement further limiting nuclear stockpiles was:
a)
hailed by opinion poll vote;
b)
supported by Chinese government;
c)
signed but not ratified by the U.S. Senate;
d)
presented as the preeminent spokesman for civil rights;
e)
sat down at a segregated Woolworth`s lunch counter in North Carolina.
37
8. By 1980s the U.S. automobile industry reeled under competition from such:
a)
underdeveloped African manufactorers;
b)
fairly-skilled British producers;
c)
highly efficient Japanese car makers as Toyota;
d)
share of the domestic car market;
e)
permanent loss of thousands of jobs.
9. A certain Reagan`s accomplishment persisted American people throughout his two
terms in office:
a)
former movie actor`s professional skills;
b)
his ability to celebrate the achievements and aspirations;
c)
his victory during reelection in 1984;
d)
his will to eliminate regulations affecting the consumer;
e)
his efficiency in expensive and impeded economic growth.
10. U.S. policy toward Nicaragua in 1980s was:
a)
more of less efficient;
b)
slightly figured with pacifist sentiments;
c)
lavishly sprinkled with immense generosity;
d)
much more controversial;
e)
contributed to historic peace settlement.
11. A particular political figure who benefited greatly from Reagan`s popularity was:
a)
Violetta Chamorro;
b)
Walter Mondale;
c)
George Bush;
d)
Ayatollah Khomeini;
e)
Martin Luther King.
12. Without the new entente between the USA and the USSR the United Nations:
38
a)
condemns the Iraqi invasion and impose wide-ranging economic sanctions on
b)
seeks the most explicit and sweeping war-making power;
c)
succeed in liberating Kuwait ;
d)
would never have authorized military action against Iraq;
e)
supports massive invasion of Kuwait and Iraq by armored and airborne infantry
Iraq;
forces.
Themes for essays
1.
Characteristic features of Kennedy`s the New Frontier.
2.
Impact of eight years of Democratic rule since 1960.
3.
The struggle of black Americans for racial equality.
4.
Shifts in the structure of American society by the time the 1980s arriver.
5.
U.S. – Soviet relations during the Gorbachev`s years.
Problems for discussion
1.
Comparative analisis of the USA and Canadian foreign policies.
2.
Causes of Canadian upsurge.
3.
Canada`s advantages as one of the world`s most developed nation.
39
Questions for Objective-Answer and Final Exam
1.
War and neutral rights.
2.
United States entering World War I.
3.
Wilson`s proposal to establish the League of Nations.
4.
Postwar unrest.
5.
The booming of 1920s.
6.
Tensions over immigration to the U.S.
7.
America`s cultural melting pot.
8.
Causes and the years of the Great Depression.
9.
President Roosevelt and the New Deal.
10. Unemployment late the 1920s early the 1930s.
11. The AAA and cutbacks in agricultural production.
12. Industry and labor movement in the 1930s.
13. The particular features of the first and the second New Deal.
14. The prolonged political Democratic and Republican alliance.
15. The U.S. on the eve of World War II.
16. Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and war.
17. The war in North African and Europe.
18. The war in the Pacific.
19. The politics of World War II.
20. End of war, victory and the atomic bomb.
21. The rise of industrial unions.
22. Consensus and changes in postwar America.
23. Cold War and its aims.
24. The U.S. under Harry Truman`s leadership.
25. Origins of the Cold War.
26. Policy of containment toward the Soviet Union.
27. The Cold War in Asia and the Middle East.
28. President Eisenhower in the years of the Cold War.
29. The Cold War at the U.S. home front.
40
30. The postwar U.S. economy: 1945-1960.
31. President Harry Truman`s the Fair Deal.
32. The U.S. culture of the 1950s.
33. The U.S. Federal Government participation in the support of the arts and humanities.
34. Contemporary culturology`s definition of culture in the U.S.
35. Non-commercial art, commercial art and cultural democracy in the U.S.
36. The U.S. Business and the arts.
37. Origins of the civil rights movement.
38. The problems of racial desegregation.
39. President Kennedy and the New Frontier.
40. President Lyndon Johnson and the Great Society.
41. Superpower`s confrontation over Cuba.
42. The U.S. space program.
43. The war in Vietnam.
44. The Nixon administration pragmatic deal with the major communist powers. Détente.
45. President Nixon`s accomplishments and defeats.
46. The Ford inderlude.
47. The President Carter`s years.
48. Post-Vietnam foreign policy.
49. The Helsinki Conference, the largest summit meeting in European history.
50. The civil rights movement 1960s–1980s.
51. The women`s movements.
52. The U.S. society in transition in the 1980s.
53. Conservatism and the rise of Ronald Reagan.
54. Foreign affairs under Reagan administration.
55. The Presidency of George Bush and the Gulf War.
56. The Soviet Union dissolvation and Clinton`s presidency.
57. The Bush-junior Years of Presidency.
58. The President Obama`s challenges.
59. Parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy in Canada.
41
60. Historical and cultural influences in Canada.
61. The causes of Canadian upsurge.
42
Glossary
Checks and balances In the American system, the constitutional grant of authority to the
executive, legislative, and judicial branches such that each can limit actions of the others.
Civil rights For a long time synonymous with the claims of black Americans for nondiscrimination and equal treatment under the laws, civil rights is now seen to encompass
all groups in the population that have encountered categoric discrimination, such as other
ethnic minorities and women.
Consensus General agreement; like views held on certain issues; solidarity of belief.
Conservative As used in the contemporary United States, a political philosophy that seeks
to limit the role of government in domestic affairs and/or to encourage traditional social
values and relationships. In foreign affairs, the term connotes an inclination to favour high
levels of defence spending and a «hard-line» foreign policy toward the Soviet Union.
Depression A severe economic slump including high unemployment, a reduced
production of goods and services, and a falling national income. The worst of these
economic crises in the U.S., known as the Great Depression, began with the stock market
crash in 1929 and persisted throughout the 1930s.
Impeachment The bringing of formal charges of misconduct in office against a public
official; the president of the United States and other federal officers may be impeached for
«high crimes and misdemeanors» by House of Representatives, following which a trial on
the impeachment charges is held in the Senate.
Isolationism A description often given, somewhat erroneously, to American foreign
policy prior to World War II, suggesting that the U.S. somehow sought to isolate itself
from the rest of the world. In fact, American foreign policy was typically based on the
43
premise that the country should intervene in world affairs as its interest dictate, but that its
intervention should not be through an established system of alliances.
Liberal In contemporary American usage, a position which favours a more expansive use
of government in economic management and the promotion of public welfare.
Historically, the term refers to classical liberalism – a doctrine developed in Europe in the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and brought to the U.S. by early settlers, emphasizing
individual rights, private property, and limited government.
The melting pot The idea of America as a land where people of diverse background come
together to form one nation; achievement of strong American national unity out of diverse
backgrounds.
Segregation The separation of whites and blacks in public facilities; established by law
throughout the states of the American South after the Civil War and survived largely intact
up until the 1950s and 1960s.
44
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