Download UNITED STATES HISTORY AND THE CONSTITUTION

April 14

Where/what is America focusing its
energy on during the Depression? Why?

What might be 2 positives and 2 negatives
for the focus?

Standard USHC-7: The student will demonstrate
an understanding of the impact of World War II
on the United States and the nation’s
subsequent role in the world.

USHC-7.1 Analyze the decision of the United
States to enter World War II, including the
nation’s movement from a policy of isolationism
to international involvement and the Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbor.
Isolationist, Again

Initially the U.S., dealing with the Great
Depression, was unwilling and
unprepared to become involved in wars
overseas.

Congress passed a series of Neutrality
Acts designed to prevent war based on
America’s experiences prior to their
entrance into World War I and on
Americans’ hatred with the Great War.

Acts prohibited the sale of arms or
lending of money to countries involved
in any military action.

Severely restricted FDR’s to response
to the aggression of Germany and
Japan.
Japanese Aggression

The Japanese invasion of Manchuria in
1931 initiated the aggressive Japanese
policy against China that was designed to
create a Japanese sphere of influence.

The response of the US was limited to
trade restrictions, such as embargos on
gas and iron, which the Japanese viewed
as a threat.
German Aggression

The German invasion of Poland in
1939 led to war in Europe.

French and British forces fell back
against the onslaught of the Nazi
blitzkrieg and the British came under
devastating air attack.
US Gets Involved
 In
an effort to
provide aid to
the Allies, FDR
amended the
Neutrality
Acts

Led to “Cash and Carry,” the
destroyers-for-bases deal, and LendLease Act.

To supply the Allies and prepare for the
possibility of war, the process of
changing from a peacetime to a
wartime economy was begun even
before the US was officially at war
FDR’s commitment to oppose Germany
and Japan by the signing of the Atlantic
Charter.
 Prior to the official entry of the US into
WWII, the American Navy was involved
in protecting shipments of Lend-Lease
goods to the Allies and therefore lost
ships in the Atlantic to German attacks,
similar to WWI

Pearl Harbor


By 1941, the United States was in a state of
undeclared naval war with Germany.
The Japanese surprise attack on Pearl
Harbor on December 7, 1941 forced the
United States to officially abandon its policy
of isolationism.
Start of WWII for the US
The subsequent American declaration of
war against Japan led Germany to
declare war on the United States.
 The United States was officially at war
with Germany and its allies, Japan and
Italy.

November 10th

Describe how or why the US could have
gotten into WWII without the Pearl
Harbor incident?

What were some mistakes the US made
that contributed to the catastrophe at
Pearl Harbor?

Standard USHC-7: The student will demonstrate
an understanding of the impact of World War II
on the United States and the nation’s
subsequent role in the world.

USHC-7.2 Evaluate the impact of war
mobilization on the home front, including
consumer sacrifices, the role of women and
minorities in the workforce, and limits on
individual rights that resulted in the internment
of Japanese Americans.
Government Controls Economy

The fighting of WWII
required the total
mobilization of the
American economy, the US
government, and American
society on the home front.

At the urging of the FDR,
private industries
converted to war
production even before
Pearl Harbor to supply the
Allies through Lend Lease.

The national
government
managed the
economy by
controlling the
allocation of scarce
resources to
businesses, and
controlled wages,
and prices.
War Bonds

In order to finance the war, war bond drives
used all of the techniques of modern
advertising to persuade citizens to lend
money to the U.S. by purchasing war bonds.
Ration Coupon

Although citizens were urged to plant
victory gardens and conserve
resources as during World War I,
persuasion was not enough.
 During World War
II, rationing of
scarce resources was made
mandatory through the allocation of
ration coupon booklets.
Women in WWII

Because young male workers were needed
on the battlefield, women and minorities
were urged to work in wartime industries.
Women often took traditionally male jobs
and “Rosie the Riveter” became an icon.
 Women
were
allowed to
serve in some
support
positions in
the military.
Blacks During WWII

A leader of an African American labor
union, A. Philip Randolph, threatened
to organize a march on Washington
demanding equal access to war-time
jobs.

In response, FDR issued an executive
order establishing a commission to
ensure that war jobs were open to
African American workers.

Despite the unifying experience of the
war effort and wartime propaganda,
racial and ethnic tensions impacted
American society and threatened
individual liberties.

African American soldiers served in
segregated units and faced
discrimination as they trained on
military bases in the South.
Zoot Suit Riot

Young Mexican
Americans were
attacked in Los
Angeles because
their clothing was
considered unAmerican.
Japanese American citizens

After Pearl
Harbor, the
western states,
fearing a surprise
attack and
expressing their
ethnic prejudices,
urged FDR to take
action against
Japanese residents
and Japanese
American citizens.
Without any evidence of wrong doing,
Japanese residents and Americans of
Japanese descent were ordered to sell
their property and belongings and to
report for deportation to camps in
inland deserts.
 The Supreme Court upheld the
establishment of these internment
camps by the government.

Propaganda Cartoons
April 20th

Why did the government control aspects
of the US economy during WWII?

What are two similarities between WWI
and WWII in terms of how certain
‘groups’ of people were treated?

Standard USHC-7: The student will demonstrate
an understanding of the impact of World War II
on the United States and the nation’s
subsequent role in the world.

USHC-7.3 Explain how controversies among
the Big Three Allied leaders over war strategies
led to post-war conflict between the United
States and the USSR.
WWII Politics

During World War II, the United States
and the Soviet Union were allies only
because both were enemies of Germany.

Tensions between the United States and
the Soviet Union (USSR) were based on
the fundamental differences in their
economic and political systemsdemocracy vs communism.
 American
distrust of the USSR grew
when Stalin signed a non-aggression
pact with Hitler.
 However, when Hitler violated that
pact and invaded the Soviet Union,
the Soviets became recipients of
Lend Lease and an American ally in
the war against Germany.

The Big Three allied leaders, Winston
Churchill of Great Britain, FDR of the
United States, and Joseph Stalin of the
Soviet Union, met throughout the war to
plan strategy and later to make postwar plans.
WWII Battles

The USSR, taking the brunt of German
aggression in 1941-1944 on the eastern
front, desperately wanted the other Allies
to open a second ground front that would
directly attack Germany and provide the
USSR with some relief.
The British asked for United States
bombers to help the Royal Air Force
(RAF) take out the German Air Force that
was devastating Britain [Battle of
Britain].
 The delay in opening a second front that
would take pressure off the ground forces
in the USSR was because Allies
produced bombers rather than the
landing craft needed to launch a full scale
invasion of Europe.

Operation Torch/Stalingrad


The invasion of North Africa was launched to
free the Mediterranean Sea from Germany and
protect the oil fields of the Middle East.
This military operation took some pressure
off the USSR but it was their fierce resistance
to the Germans at Stalingrad that turned the
tide on the eastern front.
War in Italy


Allied landings in Italy opened another front
in Europe but again delayed a direct attack
on Germany.
Italy surrendered but Germany continued
the bitter fight on the Italian peninsula and
tied down Allied forces.
Operation Overlord, June 6, 1944
The invasion of Normandy on D-Day
finally provided the long-awaited western
front.
 Germany was now engaged on three
fronts in Europe [Italy, France, and the
Soviet Union] and had to divert military
resources to the western front.

Battle of the Bulge

The Battle of the Bulge was the last
German offensive and the beginning
of the end for the Nazis.
End of Germany

Allied forces marched towards Berlin
from the west as the Soviets moved
towards Berlin from the east, laying the
foundation for the post-war division of
Berlin and Germany and Cold War
tensions over the Soviet dominance of
Eastern Europe.
WWII in Japan
In the Pacific, the US pursued a strategy
of island-hopping.
 The goal was to get close enough to
launch air attacks in preparation for an
invasion of the Japanese home islands.


The naval victory at Midway stopped
the Japanese advance.

Battles at Iwo Jima and Okinawa
demonstrated the tenacity of Japanese
soldiers and the cost in American lives
that any invasion of Japan would entail.
Yalta Conference
 The
United States was determined
to have the participation of the USSR
in any invasion of Japan and gained that
agreement at a Big Three conference.
 As
promised, soon after the war in
Europe ended, the Soviet Union
marched into Korea.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 1945

President Truman’s decision to drop the
atomic bombs on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki was designed to prevent the
landing and fighting in Japan and
consequently prevent large numbers of
American casualties.
Japanese Quits

The Japanese surrendered
unconditionally before any Allied
troops landed and the end of the war put
the US in Japan providing economic aid
and military supervision to rebuild and
democratize Japan.
Atomic Bomb = Arms Race
The use of the atomic bomb also had
the effect of increasing the distrust
between the US and the Soviet Union
since the technology was not shared
between the Allies.
 The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
started an arms race with the Soviet
Union.

April 21st

What led to the distrust between USSR
and the US post-WWII?

Which had a great impact on WWII- the
dropping of the atomic bomb or Pearl
Harbor? Explain.

Standard USHC-7: The student will
demonstrate an understanding of the impact
of World War II on the United States and
the nation’s subsequent role in the world.

USHC-7.4 Summarize the economic,
humanitarian, and diplomatic effects of
World War II, including the end of the Great
Depression, the Holocaust, the war crimes
trials, and the creation of Israel.
Downfall of the Jews
World War II had a
devastating impact
on the European
Jewish community.
 German action against
the Jews was part of the
Nazi propaganda
machine and was based
on both Social
Darwinism and
longstanding prejudice.


Anti-Semitism
became the official
policy of the
German government
in the early 1930s
with the Nuremberg
Laws, which
restricted the rights
of Jews and
culminated with the
Holocaust.
The deliberate and
systematic
destruction of an
ethnic, racial, religious,
or national group
 The program of
genocide was carried
out by the German
government resulted in
the extermination of
eleven million Jews
and other groups


Before the start of WWII the response
of the Allies to German anti-Semitic
policies was severely limited.

Although passage of the Nuremberg laws
and the organized attacks on Jews
such as Kristallnacht were widely
reported, little action was taken by
the world community stop Hitler.

U.S. immigration laws were not reduced
to grant refuge to the Jews.

Once the war began, no military action
was taken to interrupt the shipment of
people to the death camps.

As the war ended, the death camps of the
Final Solution horrified both the soldiers
who liberated these camps and the public.
War Crimes

The Allies
responded to the war
crimes committed
during World War II
by the Hitler and the
other Nazi’s by
identifying war
criminals and
putting them on
public trial.
 Although
Hitler committed
suicide and so escaped prosecution,
some Nazi officers and civilians
were charged with crimes against
humanity.
Many said that they were “just
following orders,” the conviction and
death sentence of twelve Nazis
demonstrated that individuals are
responsible for their own actions.
 The Nuremberg trials established the
precedent for future war crime trials.

State of Israel

The establishment of the state of Israel after the
war, the recognition by the United States of
Israel, and the United States’ support for Israel in
the Middle East are a result of the impact of
German war crimes on the conscience of the
world and the United States.

War crimes analysis
November 6

What was the long-term, world-wide
impact of the WWII war crime trials?

Why was Israel created?

Standard USHC-7: The student will
demonstrate an understanding of the
impact of World War II on the United
States and the nation’s subsequent role in
the world.

USHC-7.5 Analyze the impact of the
Cold War on national security and
individual freedom.
Enemy of My Enemy…

World War II was
fought to stop Nazi
aggression and
preserve democracy
in Europe, the war
also made allies of the
capitalist US and the
communist USSR

The US formed the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO) which
established a military alliance aimed at
the Soviet Union.

The test explosion of an atomic bomb
by the USSR led the US to accelerate
the development of the hydrogen bomb
and began a nuclear arms race.

The Soviet Union organized the Warsaw Pact, a
military alliance of Eastern European
nations and the Soviet Union for defense against
NATO [1955].

The arms race
raised fears that
were reflected in
the building of
bomb shelters as
well as in the
popular culture.
Containment Policy

When the British were unable to support
democracy in Greece; the US took up the
effort, keeping it from Communism.

The US became involved around the world in
containing communism.
Communism in Europe

The Truman Doctrine
pledged to contain
communism in
Europe and was first
applied when the US
supplied aid to Greece
and Turkey to resist
communists.

USSR wanted to create a buffer zone
on its eastern border so that Germany
could not invade again.

US wanted the states of Eastern Europe
to be able to hold free and fair
elections.

The US supported their wartime allies
in other regions.

Berlin, divided at the
end of World War II,
became the first Soviet
test of US policy when
the Soviets
blockaded Berlin.

The US won this first
Cold War
confrontation with the
Berlin Airlift by flying
in supplies.

USSR built the Berlin Wall to separate East
and West Berlin and keep people of the
eastern block from escaping to the west
through Berlin.
Communism in Asia

After a long civil
war, democratic
China fell to the
communist forces
led by Mao
Zedong.
In 1950, communist North Korea
invaded South Korea.
 Believing that the invasion was created by
the USSR, the Truman administration
urged the UN to take action.


The UN voted to demand a cease fire
and supported a ‘police action’ to
defend South Korea.
American casualties
turned public opinion
against the war.
 Formal peace
negotiations ended
with North Korean
forces contained above
the 38th parallel, a
victory for containment.

Space Race

The space race took off when the USSR
launched Sputnik [1957].

US passed the National Defense
Education Act to promote science and
math skills and to counteract the fear
that consumerism had made Americans
less competitive.

Eventually the US took the lead in the space
race when the first man landed on the moon
[1969].
Cold War At Home
The anxiety caused by the fall of China,
the atomic bomb, the Korean War,
made Americans look for an enemy
within.
 Propaganda and anti-Soviet media
permeated the culture in the US and
contributed to the climate of fear.
 Partisan politics caused Republicans to
accuse the Democrats of being “soft
on communism.”

Republican
McCarthy put his
name to the
anticommunist
crusade
 Untrue accusations
of affiliation with
communism
smeared countless
diplomats, artists, and
statesmen.

Cuban Missile Crisis
Fidel Castro overthrew the Americanbacked dictator of Cuba.
 Castro developed a close relationship with the
Soviet Union.

The CIA invaded Cuba hoping to
initiate a popular uprising against Castro
[Bay of Pigs].
 The plan failed and JFK became more
determined in other areas such as Berlin
and Vietnam.
 In the fall of 1963, American spy planes
photographed nuclear missile sites
being built in Cuba.

Kennedy placed a naval blockade
around Cuba.
 After thirteen days of escalating fear of
nuclear war, an agreement was reached.


The Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest
that the US and USSR came to armed
conflict during the Cold War

In its aftermath, efforts were made to avoid
nuclear war through the signing of a nuclear
test ban treaty.
Middle East Crisis


The USSR increased
its influence on Arab
nations that opposed
the creation of the
state of Israel.
Eisenhower
intervened in the Suez
Crisis [1956] and
extended
containment to the
Middle East in the
Eisenhower Doctrine.
The importance of Middle East oil to
the US economy led the US to engage in
diplomacy to stop the oil embargo
by the Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC) in the
1970s.
 The United States attempted to
facilitate peace in the Middle East,
resulting in the Camp David Accords.

In the 1950s, the CIA helped the Shah of
Iran overthrow a rival who had
attempted to nationalize foreign oil
interests.
 Anger against the US led to the taking of
the American embassy and the holding
of over 150 hostages for more than a
year in the 1970s.
 Relations with the regime in Iran
continue to be strained today.

Afghanistan

When the USSR invaded Afghanistan,
the US supported the Afghan resistance
movement.
 These
rebel groups evolved
into the Taliban, which later
harbored al Qaeda terrorism.
End of the Cold War
 The
Cold War ended as a result of changes
within the USSR, the strain of the arms
race, Soviet economy, and a movement for
liberation in Eastern Europe.

The 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall, the most
important symbol of the Cold War,
marked the end of the Cold War.
April 25th

How did the US and USSR ‘fight’ without
being in direct conflict with each other?
Provide 4 examples!
Quality Education

Government investment in educational
programs expanded the middle class and
narrowed the gap between the rich
and the poor in the postwar period.

Veterans took advantage of the GI Bill to
attend colleges and trade schools thus
providing a skilled work force that
would promote economic growth.

The Cold War, intensified by the launch
of Sputnik in 1957, resulted in an
increased science and math in schools.

Prosperity allowed young people to stay
in school longer, at least through high
school, and more young men and
women attended college.
Baby Boomers

The end of the Great Depression and
World War II contributed to an
explosion in the birthrate in the 1950s.

This baby boom led to an increase in the
number of children and placed a strain
on social institutions.
Highways and Suburbs

The wide availability of the car and the
expansion of highways by the national
government during the Eisenhower
administration accelerated
suburbanization.

Shopping malls, motels, and fast food
restaurants followed.

As a result of the concentration of war
industries in cities of the Northeast and
the west coast, many African
Americans moved from the South
during the war and continued to move in
the 1950s and 1960s to escape poverty
and racism.

These population shifts contributed to
white flight.

As middle and
upper class
people moved to
the suburbs, so
did jobs leaving
the cities with
high
unemployment,
limited services,
and a shrinking
tax base.
New Economy

Increased demand led to an increase in
production, more jobs, and consequently
an economic boom during the 1950s.

The Cold War contributed to economic
growth as the government spent more
money on weapons systems and
growing defense industries.

The expanding
consumer
economy offered
more jobs in ‘whitecollar’ rather than
traditional ‘bluecollar’
manufacturing jobs.

As middle class Americans had more
money to spend, businesses offered more
products to buy and advertised through
expanding print and television.

Television promoted a ‘buy now, pay later’
mentality based on a heavy use of credit cards
which resulted in rising consumer debt.
Scientific Advances
Penicillin was used
extensively during the war
and stimulated the search for
more antibiotics and other
miracle drugs.
 In the postwar period,
scientists developed various
vaccines to prevent
diseases such as polio

New Technologies
 Surgeons
who had treated wounded
soldiers came home to develop
new surgical techniques.
 Life-saving
techniques impacted
demographic patterns as the
infant mortality rate fell and
Americans lived longer.
The demand for foods during the war
and prosperity of the postwar period
led to advances in agricultural
technology.
 The widespread use of pesticides and
fertilizers provided a greater array of
foods and improved nutrition while
fostering the consolidation of small
farms into large commercial farms.

Women
 When
the war ended women were
displaced from their wartime jobs
by returning veterans.
 In
the late 1940s and 1950s, many
women returned to the
traditional roles
 The
consumer
culture pushed
women’s role as the
chief consumer of
the family was
emphasized through
advertising.
 Media glorified the
role of homemaker.
Although forty
percent of women
held jobs their
career
opportunities were
limited.
 Few women were
promoted to
managerial positions
and women’s pay
was a lower.


As more young women graduated
from college, they were frustrated by
their inability to find and advance in
jobs that matched their skills.

The publication of The Feminine Mystique
in the early 1960s helped launched the
modern women’s rights movement
Questions to Answer
What were the causes and consequences of
social and cultural changes in postwar
America?
 How did educational programs, consumer
culture advances in medical and agricultural
technology and expanding suburbanization
help led to changes of standard of living?
 In American society, how was the roles of
women in the home and at work in changed?
