1st Semester Blog Post

[1Devin]

1. What are the main historic events that took place in 8th Grade US History that helped shape the United States up to 1877?(10 points)-Chapters 1-4

 

• European colonization of the Americas

  • Christopher Columbus

• Revolutionary War

  • The US gains independence

• Reconstruction

  • Rebuilding the southern states after the civil war

• Louisiana purchase
  • Large chunk of the US purchased from France
• Abolition of slavery
  • All African Americans are free people

2. How did the US change during the late 1800's and early 1900's?(10 points)-Chapters 5-8

• Westward expansion

  • Gold rush

  • Cattle farming

  • Pushing out Native Americans

• Industrial revolution

• Immigration

  • Millions of new immigrants

• Segregation

 

3. What impact did the Progressives have on the United States?(10 points)-Ch. 9

 

• Prohibition

• Meat inspections act

• Food and Drug act

• Antitrust laws

• Labor laws

 

4. Describe US Foreign Policy in the late 1800's and early 1900's and be able to give examples.(10 points)-Ch. 10

 

• Old diplomacy v. New diplomacy

  • Old diplomacy was just isolationism

  • Switched to New diplomacy after WWI

  • New diplomacy had the US getting involved right away

• Big stick diplomacy

  • Have large military so countries will back down faster

• War w/ Spain

  • Gained new land (Philippines, Puerto Rico, etc.)

  • Liberated Cuba and they became independent

• Roosevelt Corollary

  • Used to keep Europe out of Latin America

  • Created to protect the US’s interests in those countries

• Dollar diplomacy

  • Invest in a country instead of invading them

• Missionary diplomacy

  • Refusal to recognize any country that was hostile to the US and its interests

 

5. What impact did World War I have on the United States?(10 points)-Ch. 11

 

• Casualties/ cost

  • Very expensive

  • Paid for most of the war

  • Lost a lot of soldiers in a short time

• Returned to isolationism

  • Reterned to Old diplomacy for a short time after the war

  • Ended after the Pearl Harbor attacks

• The US became a world power

  • The US came out of the war as one of the leading countries in the world

  • The US military was very strong

  • The world’s economy was doing well up until the Great Depression

 

6. What impact did the United States have on World War I?(20)

 

• Breath of fresh air

  • The US entered to war and basically ended it

  • Turned the tide in the Allies favor

• Spending

  • The US was heavily tied to the war before joining and while participating

  • War bonds were created to help fund the war

• Soldiers

  • The US mobilized about 4 million troops

  • Drastically changed the direction of the war

  • Had high casualties in the beginning due to lack of experience

• Wilson’s 14 points

  • Meant to unite the world

  • Most were never signed

  • England and France wanted land

  • France wanted more severe punishment for Germany

 

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

 

Negatives:

 

• Organized crime

  • Came about as a result of Prohibition

  • Every major city had a gang

  • Al Capone’s bootlegging business in Chicago made over $60 million a year

  • St. Valentine’s Day massacre

 

• Prohibition

  • Pushed for by conservatives, women, etc.

  • Banned manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol

  • Alcohol was allowed for medicine and religious purposes

  • Prescriptions and sacramental wine orders skyrocket

  • At first saloons closed and drunkenness went down

  • Prohibition failed for three reasons

1. 1. People despised it. Saw it as government meddling in people's lives

   2. The prohibition Bureau was underfunded. Had 1,500 people to supervise the country

   3. Organized crime became commonplace

2. Speakeasies- secret underground bars

 

• Political scandals

 

• The Red Scare-

• Communism was getting bigger/ more popular

• The US was scared Communists would come and overtake us

• We took countermeasures to keep the communists out

• The Palmer raids

• Sacco and Vanzetti

 

• The Ku Klux Klan

 

• The Immigration Act of 1924

 

• Teapot Dome Scandal

  • Albert Fall selling government land to big businesses

• Buying stock on credit

 

Positives:

 

• Republican Philosophy-1920’s

• Trickle-down theory- tax breaks to the rich will eventually strengthen the lower classes.

• Laissez-faire- government stays out of business

• Rugged individualism- it’s up to the individual

 

• Kellogg-Briand Pact-1928

  • 62 countries pledged not to use war to settle disputes

 

• Henry Ford came out with the Model T

• Buying on credit lead to more spending

• African Americans gained a lot of rights