Semester Test Blog

1. What positive and negative impact did the 1920's have on the United States?(20 points)-Ch. 12-13

Prohibition

  • 18th amendment- the manufacture, sale and transportation of alcoholic beverages was illegal

  • supporters believed alcohol brought about corruptions, crime wife and child abuse and accidents

  • Alcohol was allowed for medicinal and religious purposes

  • saloons closed and drunkenness went down

  • prohibition failed for three reasons

    • people despised it, saw it as government meddling in lives

    • the Prohibition bureau was underfunded- had 1500 people to supervise the country

    • organized crime became commonplace

  • Bootlegging-illegally making or distributing alcohol

  • Moonshine- alcohol made secretly in homemade stills

  • Several hundred people a year died from drinking moonshine during the 1920’s

  • Speakeasies- to obtain alcohol illegally, people went underground to secret bars, could be anywhere, moved frequently, to be admitted a card or passard had to be given

  • Every major city had it’s gang

  • Due to gang violence only 19 of the Americans supported prohibition by 1925

  • Prohibition was repealed in 1933 by the 21st amendment

Buying on Credit

  • GDP was high

  • When people have money, they put it back into the economy

  • “Buy now, pay later”- stock market was booming

    • Buying on margin- buying stocks on credit

  • The Era of Permanent Prosperity

    • “As long as everyone has faith, everything will be fine.”

    • Oct. 29, 1929

Crash

  • Causes of the Crash

    • Stock prices were grossly inflated, did not have real value- watered stock prices (overpriced, the company is actually losing money)

    • Over-speculation during the 1920’s led to watered stock

    • Buying on margin- people were in debt

    • Overproduction of goods/ under-consumption by consumers

    • Uneven distribution of wealth- people weren’t buying, they were saving

    • Too much borrowing from banks

      • Not secure will their loans

      • People couldn’t pay it off

    • Federal reserve increased interest rates-

      • Banks borrowed money from the Fed. reserve

      • Had to raise interest rates to make the money “real”

      • Should have had higher interest rate throughout the 20’s to prevent debt

    • Lack of government regulation

      • Banks used to take your money and invested it into the stockmarket

      • Pooling- rich people buying stock in the company then the rest of the population will invest too

Women’s rights

  • Women got the right to vote- 19th Amendment

  • It’s important for women to vote because they can have a say in government that benefits them

  • Women were starting to work outside the home and go to college

  • Women took the men’s jobs during WWI

  • Margaret Sanger- in 1921, She founded the American Birth Control League.

    • Now known as Planned Parenthood.

  • Women were then able to control their own bodies

  • This movement educated women about existing birth control methods

  • Women were earning 39 percent of the college degrees given in the US

  • In 1900 it was 19%

  • 1928 Olympics were the first that women were allowed to compete

Automobile

  • Model T made for the average American

  • Horses were problems in the cities

  • Impact

    • Transportation

    • Could commute

    • Kids would leave and wouldn’t come back

    • Vacations

    • Created jobs

    • Accidents/ drunk driving

    • Pollution

  • Only Black

Airplane

  • Entertainment shows, mail, military

  • C. Lindbergh- first person to fly nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean (most famous person in the US) Racist, Anti-Jew

  • A. Earhart first woman to fly nonstop across Atlantic- Could have run out of gas, crashed and died on an island in the Pacific

2. Understand the causes of the stock market crash and Great Depression.

Stock Market Crash-causes

  • Stock- buying a part of a company

  • Buying stock on margin allowed middle class citizens to purchase stock

  • Broker borrows money from the bank, the people borrow money from the broker

  • Dow Jones- 30 of the largest companies in the US

  • Causes of the Crash

    • Stock prices were grossly inflated, did not have real value- watered stock prices (overpriced, the company is actually losing money)

    • Over-speculation during the 1920’s led to watered stock

    • Buying on margin- people were in debt

    • Overproduction of goods/ under-consumption by consumers

    • Uneven distribution of wealth- people weren’t buying, they were saving

    • Too much borrowing from banks

      • Not secure will their loans

      • People couldn’t pay it off

    • Federal reserve increased interest rates-

      • Banks borrowed money from the Fed. reserve

      • Had to raise interest rates to make the money “real”

      • Should have had higher interest rate throughout the 20’s to prevent debt

    • Lack of government regulation

      • Banks used to take your money and invested it into the stockmarket

      • Pooling- rich people buying stock in the company then the rest of the population will invest too

1.-Causes of the Great Depression

  • Overproduction of goods- companies were producing but no one was buying, they had to close down and people lost their jobs

  • Underconsumption of goods by consumers- no one had money to purchase goods

  • Agricultural slump in 1920’s due to overproduction- after WWI they kept producing the same amount- more than they needed

  • High protective tariff policies of the 1920’s- forces people to buy American products but people weren’t buying here and other countries weren’t importing our goods either

  • Taxes benefiting the rich- the rich got richer and the poor got poorer

  • Stock Market Crash- people lose money, banks lose money, businesses failed

  • Banks closing- People’s money was gone

3. Understand the impact the stock market crash and Great Depression had on the country and world as well as on the lives of people in the United States.

-Impact the Great Depression had on people and our country

  • Hoovervilles- people lost their homes so they lived in shacks

    • Made of plywood, tin

  • Max of 5 years for home loans and paid interest at the end

  • Added the term Hoover to things bc they blamed him

  • Breadline- usually just the men waited in the lines

  • Soup kitchens

  • Welfare- destroys incentive

  • Minorities- 50% unemployment rate

  • Hoboes hopping freight trains

    • Didn’t want to be a burden to their parents

  • Dust Bowl- during WWI farmers were told to plow up their grass lands, but they stayed like that so there was overproduction

  • Okies- left the dust bowl states and moved west because they lost everything

4. Understand what the United States government did to help alleviate the problems the Great Depression brought to our country

  • How did the New Deal Help?

    • Unemployed people

      • Civilian Conservation Corps

        • Limited to young men age 18 to 25 whose fathers were on relief

        • Members worked 40 hours a week and were paid $30 per month, with the requirement that $25 of that be sent home to family

        • Members lived in camps, wore uniforms, and lived under military discipline

        • US Army operated

        • Workers planted trees, fought forest fires, stopped soil erosion

        • Constructed military bases during WWII

        • Funding stopped in 1942

    • Young people

      • National Youth Administration

        • Pushed by Eleanor Roosevelt

        • Served 327,000 high school and college youth who were paid 6 to 40 dollars a month for ‘work study’ projects at their schools

        • Allowed thousands of young people to stay in school

        • 155,000 boys and girls from relief families were paid 10 to 25 dollars a month for part time work or job training

        • Lived at home and worked on construction or repair sites

    • Banks

      • Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

        • Insured people’s money in banks up to 1000, (today 250000)

        • Passed in response to the bank failures after the stock market crash

        • Insures money in savings and checking accounts money market accounts and CD’s

    • Stock Market

      • Federal Securities Act

        • Made the market a safer place for people to invest their money

        • Two goals

          • Required investors be given information about the company and the stock

          • Got rid of deceit, misrepresentations and other fraud

    • Factory Workers

      • National Industrial Recovery Act

        • Establishing codes of fair competition in the workplace

        • Tried to make it voluntary agreements with business’ dealing with hours of work, rates of pay, and fixing of prices

        • Businesses which complied could display the Blue Eagle

        • NIRA helped create jobs for workers building schools

        • Declared unconstitutional by Supreme Court

    • Farmers

      • Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act

        • Allowed gov. to pay farmers to reduce production to conserve soil and prevent erosion

        • Educated farmers on how to use their lands without damaging them

        • Erosion dropped 65 percent

    • Homeowners

      • Home Owner’s Loan Corporation

        • When buying a house bank required a 50% down payment

        • Had to have it payed off in 5-7 years

        • HOLC reduced the downpayment and allowed people to pay it off over a longer period of time

    • Elderly

      • Social Security Administration

        • Provides retirement, disability, and survivors’ benefits

        • Workers pay social security taxes on their earnings

    • Consumers

      • Food Drug and Cosmetic Act

        • Power to regulate industries

        • Mandated a review of the safety of all new drugs before going to market

        • Banned false therapeutic claims

    • Native Americans

      • Indian Reorganization Act

        • Allowed NA to govern themselves on tribal basis

        • Keep their own land

        • Included provisions to help create job opportunities on Indian Reservations

        • Still around today

5. Understand the causes, effects and major events of WWI.

  • Pearl Harbor- Dec 7, 1941

    • Japan wanted to destroy as much as possible

    • Was in complete radio silence for weeks while the Japanese crossed the Pacific Ocean

  • USS Arizona Memorial

    • The names of the Arizona's dead are engraved on a white marble wall at the memorial

  • December 8, 1941- declared war

  • FDR’s War Message

    • Pearl Harbor was not the only area Japan attacked on Dec 7

    • Malaya, Hong Kong, Guam, Philippine Islands, Wake Island, Midway Island

  • Why did Japan attacked Pearl Harbor?

    • Japan invaded French Indochina, US stopped trading with Japan

    • Japan signed the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact, guaranteeing that japan and USSR would not go to war

    • Japan realized they needed US trade to be successful

    • Only way to force US’ hand was to hit them ard in a surprise attack forcing them out of the war

    • Japan knew that this plan was a huge risk, but thought it was the only way to defeat US

    • Plan backfired. Instead, Japan ‘awoke a sleeping giant’
  • DDay Operation Overlord

    • Free France of German control

    • Omaha Beach was the most heavily defended area

    • Threw false information out for Hitler to receive

    • US had balloon tanks

    • 1500 deaths, 7000 casualties

    • Largest amphibious attack in history

    • By June 11 with the beachheads firmly secure

    • More than 326000 troops had crossed with more than 100000 tons of military equipment
  • Manhattan Project

    • German scientists were in the lead for developing the bombs

    • Many german scientists came to the US

    • Instead of hundreds of bombs this was one that could do the same damage

    • Hitler didn’t understand how one bomb can be that affective

    • Trinity test

      • Test of atomic bomb

      • Had to wait several days to check it out because of radiation

      • Sand turned to glass

    • Enola Gay

      • Had to develop this specific plane to drop atomic bombs because the bombs were so heavy

    • Uranium bomb was not as powerful as plutonium

  • Hiroshima

    • Didn’t destroy the whole city

    • Hotter than the sun

    • Weather plane

    • Photo plane got lost

    • Went exactly as expected

    • Radiation sickness- cancer

    • Ultimately saved lives because we would have lost more people by invading verses one atomic bomb

  • Nagasaki

    • Third target

    • Running out of fuel

    • Dropped the bomb but missed target

    • Twice as powerful as Hiroshima bomb but didn’t create as much damage

6. Understand how/why the Allies won WWII.

  • Women in WWII

    • Women’s Army Corp

      • Photography

      • Cartography

    • Women’s Navy- WAVES

    • WASP Women’s army service pilots

      • Test and transport planes

  • Native American Code Talkers

    • Couldn’t learn the language

    • Couldn’t break our code

  • Allied Intelligence

    • Churchill and Roosevelt knew the importance of intelligence in safeguarding Allied commerce to defeat the Axis powers

    • Radar provided means of detecting vessels and aircrafts

    • HF/DF was used to locate the sources of enemy radio transmissions

    • Ultra was the codename for the intercepting and deciphering German military code

    • Magic was the intercepting and deciphering Japanese military code  

  • Rationing OPA- (Office of price administration)

    • Had to make sure there was enough for our allies and troops

    • Controlling prices

    • Every week, you got a book of stickers with a certain amount

    • Black Market developed in stolen or counterfeit stickers

    • Lines

    • Rules with ration book

      • Can’t give stamps to someone else

      • Couldn’t buy anything when stamps are gone

      • Saturday-Saturday

  • War Production Board

    • Encouraging people to work

    • Don’t waste time

  • War Finance Committee and War Bonds

    • War bonds were the biggest way that we payed for the war

    • Investment for US citizens

    • Soldiers from Iwo Jima sent out to encourage buying war bonds

7. Understand the causes, effects, goals, and major events of the Cold War.

Causes of the Cold War

*Different political systems

  • US is based on democracy, capitalism, and freedom

  • USSR is based on dictatorship, communism, and control

*The Red Scare - 1919

  • Did many things to stop the spread of communism

  • Stopped immigration, Palmer raids

  • Fear of communism started before WWI

*Both thought their system was better and distrusted the others intentions

  • Lack of communication

*Stalin despised capitalism

  • Drove him to defeat it

  • Thought war was inevitable

  • Thought the top 1% rich caused all the problems in the world

*Distrust during WWII

  • We worked together reluctantly

  • Stalin was very frustrated with us because he was losing millions of people

  • Stalin was allies with Germany at one point - concerned us how he could make a deal with the devil

*Stalin breaking his promise to allow free elections at the Yalta Conference

  • Stalin did not allow this and forced Eastern Europe to become communist

*Fear of attacks

  • Stalin always said war was inevitable, assumed it would happen at some point

  • USSR and US were both scared of attacks from other side

  • USSR's fear of the atomic bomb - we could always hang it over his head

*USSR's actions in their German zone

*Soviet Union wanted to spread communism around the world

  • Our goal was to stop the spread of communism

Key Terms

  • Winston Churchill Speech

    • Missouri, US

    • Talked about how Europe is split after WWII into communists and non communists

  • Domino Effect - Eisenhower 1954

    • One country becomes communist, many follow

  • Policy of Containment - 1946

    • We knew we had to stop the spread of communism

  • Truman Doctrine

    • In 1947, the British were helping the Greek government fight against communist guerillas

    • They appealed to AMerica for aid and we responded with the Truman Doctrine

    • Greece received large amounts of arms and supplies, and by 1949 had defeated the communists

  • Marshall Plan

    • US secretary of State Marshall announced the Marshall Plan

    • This was a massive economic aid plan for Europe to help it recover from WWII

    • There were 2 motives

      • Helping Europe to recover economically would provide markets for American goods, benefitting american industry

      • A prosperous Europe would be better able to resist the spread of communism

  • Brinkmanship

    • Going to the edge of war, without declaring war

    • Threatened nuclear war, soviets backed down

  • Massive Retaliation/ Mutual Deterrence/ Mutual Assured Destruction

    • Each side will attack back

    • Because of that no one will use the nuclear warfare

    • Everyone would die

  • NATO

    • US alliance with Western Europe

    • First peacetime alliance in history

  • CIA vs KGB

    • Central Intelligence agency- spies

Nikita Khrushchev

  • Took over after Stalin

  • De-Stalinization

Peaceful Co-existence

Detente

  • Easing of tensions

  • Looking better- 1970’s

  • Peace deals

  • Not liked by Regan because it creates two worlds, free and communist

Mikhail Gorbachev

  • 1985, brought about change in Russia

Perestroika and Glasnost

  • Restructuring of the Soviet economy and political system

  • More democracy and free elections

  • More openness of the Soviet government and for it’s people

  • Free speech and press

USSR’s First Atomic Test

  • Got it 4 or 5 years before we predicted

  • Bomb shelters were built

  • Assumed world war III

Nuclear Powers of the World (original)

  • US

  • Russia

  • UK

  • France

  • China

(non-original)

  • India

  • Pakistan

  • North Korea

  • Israel?

  • Iran?

Nuclear Power Treaties

  • Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

    • Started underground nuclear testing

  • Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

    • Prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology

    • Promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy

    • Further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament

  • Anti-Ballistic Missile- US/USSR

    • Limited weapons that would seek out and destroy nuclear weapons once launched

    • In the 1980’s Reagan announces the Strategic Defense Initiative

    • US withdraws in 2002 under Bush

      • Withdrew due to missile defense system

  • The Ballistic Missile Defense System

    • Program is designed to counter any nuclear missile attacks on the US or allies

  • SALT I

    • Froze the number of strategic ballistic middile launchers at existing levels

    • Limited new submarines-launched ballistic Missile

  • SALT II

    • Was signed but never ratified by Congress

    • Due to Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan in 1979

  • Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty- 1996

    • Signed by Clinton

    • Not ratified by the Senate

    • Senate reasoning: “A ban on testing would damage the safety and reliability of Americas’s existing nuclear arsenal”

  • International Atomic Energy Agency- 1957

    • Makes sure countries follow rules

  • INF Treaty- 1987

    • Eliminated nuclear missiles with intermediate ranges

    • USSR and US

  • The START Treaties

    • Resulted in the removal of 80 percent of all strategic nuclear weapons in existence

  • SORT

    • Strategic Offensive REductions Treaty

    • Russia and US

    • Stockpile of both deployed and reserve nuclear weapons

  • New START

    • Signed by Obama and Russian President Medvedev

    • The number of strategic missile launchers will be reduced by half

    • A new inspection and verification system will be established

    • Lasts until 2021

United Nations

  • World wide peace-keeping organization

  • Has a military force

  • US is a member

END OF KEY TERMS

8. Understand the causes, effects, and major events of the Korean Conflict.

Origin

  • Japan had Korea before WWII started

  • After WWII, Korea was split into two, the north and south

  • An election was going to held to eventually unify Korea

  • United Nations held an election in 1948

  • The Soviet Union refused to allow participation in the election in their occupied zone

  • Instead they handed over power to the North Korean Communist Party

Before War

  • US left SK, too far away and we don’t need to worry about it

  • NK wanted invaded SK

  • Mao and Stalin were concerned that it would encourage American Intervention in Asia after just leaving

  • Kim was able to manipulate them both and get permission

War

  • North invaded the South and does well

  • United Nations sends troops to help the South

  • 2 pronged attack

  • North is not prepared

  • China assumes the troops would invade them

  • China invades North Korea

United Nations Police Action

  • United Nations Security Council voted to send troops to help South Korea

  • US, Great Britain, France, China and the Soviet Union were permanent members that could veto the “police action”

  • China was not communist China

  • USSR was not at the meeting

MacArthur

  • We were to not make it look like we were going to invade China

  • MacArthur threatened nuclear warfare

  • MacArthur was fired by Truman

End of the War

  • Cease-fire declared in 1953

  • A peace treaty was never signed

  • 2 million people died

  • This extended the Cold War to Asia

  • Proved that we can fight a limited war

9. Understand the causes, effects, and major events of the Vietnam Conflict.

  • Goal of U.S. - stop communism

  • Goal of Vietnam - communism

*History

  • Vietnam was always controlled by the French

  • Japan invaded and took over in WWII

  • Vietnam thought they would get freedom after wwII

  • French took them back over

  • 1954 - French fought to maintain control of Vietnam

  • The French lost

  • Vietnam guessed independence

*Geneva Conference

  • Country was split in half

  • Each side by different leaders

  • Was going to be an election held, but it never happened

  • Ho Chi Minh was upset

  • U.S. started stepping in

*War

  • U.S. & South Vietnamese Army vs. South Vietnamese guerilla fighters, North vietnamese Army

*Escalation

  • Going up slowly

  • Started with the deployment of military advisors to the South Vietnamese Army

  • Then started using special forces (green berets) for commando-style operations

  • Then regular troops were sent for defensive only

  • Finally, in 1964, regular troops were used for offensive combat

  • Once U.S. troops were in active combat, escalation shifted to the adding of more and more US troops

*Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

  • Several US ships were supposedly attacked by North Vietnamese

  • Congress gave president Johnson the power to wage war in Vietn

*The Tet Offensive (1968)

  • Turning point in Vietnam

  • From 1965 General Westmoreland kept saying that with more troops we will win the war

  • Most Americans tended to believe this at first

  • The American’s public faith was shattered Jan. 30, 1968 when the enemy attacked every city in the south with a massive offensive push

  • Although we crushed the enemy militarily, the surprisingly huge offensive attack from an enemy that was supposedly almost defeated convinced Americans that victory was impossible

*Anti-War

  • Why were so many people against the war?

    • Tet Offensive

    • Pentagon papers

      • A leak that someone in the military/gvt. Sent to the New York Times

      • Said the government has been lying to us about Vietnam

    • Injuring/killing innocent people (My Lai Massacre)

      • US soldiers killed 504 Vietnamese civilians

      • The dead consisted of a lot of young kids and older people

      • Women were raped and bodies mutilated

    • Supporting a bad government in the south

    • The press

Kent St. University

  • Kids were protesting, burning buildings

  • Kids were throwing rocks and taunting at National Guards

  • Led to 5 or 6 people being shot by National Guards

*Who fought?

  • Poor people

  • Right out of college

  • Right out of high school

  • Who got out of it:

    • Went to a different country

    • Went to college

    • Got married

    • Unfit

    • Lied

    • Rich

*Nixon and the war

  • Nixon called for the “vietnamization” of the war

  • Nixon promised to get us out of the war in the 1968 election

  • Let the vietnamese fight it

*end of the war

  • Paris Peace Accords - officially ended US involvement in the Vietnam conflict

    • Fighting stopped

    • Us would pull out of Vietnam

    • North and South vietnam would recognize each other's independence

  • Peace?

    • Once we left the peace left

    • North invades 2 years later and quickly takes over the South

    • Vietnam is still communist today

    • Became one country in 1976

10. Understand the causes and effects of the Persian Gulf Wars, 9-11 and the War on Terror.

1950’s

1952 election- Stevenson v Eisenhower

1956 election- Stevenson v Eisenhower

Brown v Board of Education- Segregation is unconstitutional, ended segregation in schools

Montgomery Bus Boycott- protest against racial segregation on transportation systems in Montgomery, Alabama.. Successful

McCarthyism- claimed to know there were communists but lied, affected jobs and reputations

Nixon Checkers Speech- Money given to him was used to the public’s benefit but believed to be used for illegal reasons

1960’s

  • Elections

    • Election of 1960- JFK v Nixon

    • Election of 1964- Lyndon B. Johnson v Barry Goldwater

    • Election of 1968- Nixon, Humphrey, Wallace

  • Scandals

    • JFK affair with Marilyn Monroe/ Overdose conspiracy

    • Chappaquiddick Scandal-Edward Kennedy drove into pond, didn't tell anyone for ten hours, not charged but couldn’t run for President

    • JFK affairs

  • JFK assassination

    • Driving with Texas Governor and Jacqueline Kennedy

    • Shot by Lee Harvey Oswald

    • Warren Report- Done just by Oswald, secret service had done a poor job

  • Malcom X assassination

    • Killed by isreal organization

  • Martin Luther Assassination

    • Balcony of hotel room

    • James Earl Ray

  • Bobby Kennedy Assassination

    • Shot in kitchen corridor

    • Sirhan Sirhan

    • Running for president

  • Peace Corps

    • Help people around the world

  • Equal Pay Act

    • Established equal pay for genders

  • Civil Rights act

    • Outlawed discrimination in parks, restaurants, and hotels

    • Prohibits employment discrimination based on race, ethnicity, gender, religion

  • War on Poverty

    • Reduce unemployment

    • Increase education and job training

  • Medicare and Medicaid

    • National health insurance program for elderly

    • Health care for people on welfare

  • Voting Rights act

    • Abolished literacy test

    • Allowed African Americans to vote

  • Fair Housing act

    • Outlawed discrimination in the sale or rental of the most privately owned homes and apartments based on gender, race, religion

  • Man on the Moon

    • Neil Armstrong

  • Higher Education act

    • Created the first federally funded college scholarships

  • Low income housing bill

    • Financed the construction and renovation of 1.7 million units

  • Freedom Riders

    • Attempted to integrate bus travel

    • Challenged racial laws

  • Women’s Liberation Movement

    • Would should have a say in the government

    • Should be allowed to leave the home and earn income

  • Stonewall Riots

    • LGBT rights

  • Food Stamps

    • Food purchasing assistance for low income families

  • Head Start

    • Child development program for low income families

  • Gun Control Act

    • Regulates the firearms industry and owners

    • Prohibits interstate firearms transfers

2000's

  • Gay marriage legalized in some states
  • Hurricane Katrina
  • President Obama
  • War on Terror
  • 9/11 
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