Semester Blog
US History
1. What were the causes of the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression?
Overproduction, Buying on Margin, bank failures, under-consumption, american economic policy with Europe, tariffs, less world trade, drought (dust bowl) ,
2. What impact did the stock market crash and Great Depression have on the lives of people in the United States?
Investors and business owners lose thousands of dollars, lost 14 billion dollars in one day, 30 in one week, lots of panic, steel at all time low, construction was sluggish, nothing needed to be built, high debts and easy credit, unemployment, vicious cycle was people losing money so they ended up losing everything because they had to sell it
3. What did the United States government do to help alleviate the problems the Great Depression brought to our country?
Roosevelt-New Deal(Goals/1st and 2nd)- helped with the devastation of the great depression, helped millions, help get jobs, reduce spending, regulate stock market faith in banks, 1933-1935 improve use of national resources, security towards old age, unemployment and illness, 1935-1940 3 R's relief, recovery, and reform
President Hoover-he ignored tradition and tried to help, repatriation
unemployment- competition for low paying jobs, discrimination, 1933 was the greatest unemployment rate, people became homeless, Hoovervilles (shacks made of cardboard, sheet metal, and plywood)
young people- boxcar children, teenagers left their home and road on trains
farmers- prices fell, more production, went bankrupt, lost farms
starvation- people were starving and Hoover did nothing, breadlines
unemployed-in just 4 years it had 6 million more jobs for people, farm tenancy act- aid to poor farmers, homestead projects loaned money to farmers, camps, CCC- provide jobs for single men, ages 18-25, paid 30 dollars a month, FERA- provide jobs for adults, construction, writing, music, CWA- mostly unskilled men, roads, bridges, school, artists, PWA- dams, bridges, hospitals, schools, roads, railroads, WPA- largest of any agency, government jobs, NYA- for younger people, 15-20, pay for studies in school
young- no jobs, leaving homes, CCC- put young men back to work, NYA- provided aids, home, jobs, counseling
energy- REA- nearly 90% of urban homes had electricity by the 30s, TVA- provided navigation, flood control, electricity generation
labor union- organization of workers formed to protect their rights and interests, 1993 about 3 million people compared to 5 million, Fair Labor Standards Act- under 16 couldnt work during school hours, minimum wage is 7.25, National Industrial Recovery Act- attempt to raise prices after deflation, created new labor standards, higher wages and shorter hours
farmers- started earlier than the Stock Market crash, overproduction, big loans from banks, after war prices dropped
elderly- social security, social welfare, EAP
poor- charity, social security, health care, long share wealth program
homeowners- banks shut down, money was disappearing, lost homes, live on streets
artists-paintings weren't selling, have people come in and help them
musicians-not earning enough money, music was falling apart
4. What were the causes of WWII?
Treaty of Versailles took away large amounts of land from Germany and forced them to have smaller armies, no air force, only 9 naval ships and no subs, Germany had to pay the allies for the destruction, Couldn't unite with Austria to make a superstate, Many of the peace attempts failed
5. What impact did the United States have on WWII?
They had to choose a side when it came to trading, They passed many neutrality acts, Stopped trading with Japan they bombed us trying to get us to trade with them again, that dragged us into war in the pacific and in Europe
6. What were the goals for the US during the Cold War?
Stop the spread of Communism, Wanted to promote american good to prevent another great depression, Promote Democracy throughout the world especially in Asia and Africa
7. What were some of the major events that took place during the Cold War?
-Berlin Blockade/airlift Stalin tried to starve west berlin into submission, the west airlifted supplies in to keep their people alive, Russia realized defeat and lifted the blockade
-Cuban Missile Crisis Known as the October Crisis or The Missile Scare in Cuba and the Caribbean Crisis in the former USSR—was a 13-day confrontation in October 1962 between the Soviet Union and Cuba on one side and the United States on the other side. The crisis is generally regarded as the moment in which the Cold War came closest to turning into a nuclear conflict and is also the first documented instance of mutual assured destruction being discussed as a determining factor in a major international arms agreement.
-Red Scare/McCarthyism US senator said to have a list of 205 communists in the State Department, Red Scare/McCarthyism- Early 1950’s, Fear that we were going to be overrun my communist, 2nd red scare, Brought in people from other countries and trained them about how to stop it in their country, McCarthy hearing- Senator from Wisconsin Lost of famous people being on this communist list, 1950 gave a speech and claimed to have a list of 205 Communists in the State Department, Most powerful person in our country, Went around asking people if they were, If they no then they were lying, if they said yes then they really were. Main goal was for people to name names of other people who were, McCarthy’s downfall McCarthyism is a term still used today for accusing people without much proof or consent, started accusing people in the US military and US Senate drew the line and told him to shut up and stripped him of his power, died from alcohol abuse
-Bay of Pigs Playa Girón and Playa Larga were the landing sites for seaborne forces of armed Cuban exiles in the Bay of Pigs Invasion, an American CIA-sponsored attempt to overthrow the new government of Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro in April 1961.
-Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The barrier included guard towers placed along large concrete walls, which circumscribed a wide area that contained anti-vehicle trenches, fakir beds and other defenses. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the will of the people in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked East Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.
-End of the Cold War Fall of the Berlin Wall. January 15, 1973 Nixon announced the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam, The PAris Peace Accords were later signed on January 27, 1973 which officially ended US involvement in the conflict, Fighting stopped, US would pull out of Vietnam, North and South would recognize each other’s independence, We said we would go back and help if South got invaded but we didn’t, Peace agreement didn’t last, North invades the South and South wasn’t strong enough, Now known as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Saigon was re-named Ho Chi Minh City in honor of the former president of North Vietnam, Still Communist today
How did the Cold War come to an end?
heated in 1980
over in 1990
wasn’t a fighting was- strategic war
We had great allies
China started siding with us
Soviet fell apart strong anti-communist presidency of Reagan, economy, huge deficit, high inflation, corruption, social problems, shortage of basic needs
Gorbachev’s willingness for change and reform, glasnost and perestroika- willingness to change government and economy, admitted Soviet mistake, took blame for the Cold War, communist system had failed, allowed Eastern Europe to do what they wanted, Arms Reduction Talks, Reagan Gorbachev meetings, Soviet mistakes invasion of Afghanistan
8. Why did the US go to war in Korea and Vietnam and what were outcome of those wars?
We went to war with them to try and prevent the spread of communism. You can more argue we lost than won these since we pulled our troops out. You can argue we didn’t really lose, but not so much as it being a victory for the U.S.
Korea- A war between the Republic of Korea (South Korea), supported by the United Nations, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), at one time supported by China and the Soviet Union. It was primarily the result of the political division of Korea by an agreement of the victorious Allies at the conclusion of the Pacific War at the end of World War II. The Korean Peninsula was ruled by the Empire of Japan from 1910 until the end of World War II. Following the surrender of the Empire of Japan in September 1945, American administrators divided the peninsula along the 38th parallel, with U.S. military forces occupying the southern half and Soviet military forces occupying the northern half.
Vietnam- also known as the Second Indochina War, and known by the Vietnamese as the American War, was a Cold War-era proxy war that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from December 1956 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam—supported by the Soviet Union, China and other communist allies—and the government of South Vietnam—supported by the United States and other anti-communist allies. The Viet Cong (also known as the National Liberation Front, or NLF), a lightly armed South Vietnamese communist common front aided by the North, fought a guerrilla war against anti-communist forces in the region. The People's Army of Vietnam (a.k.a. the North Vietnamese Army) engaged in a more conventional war, at times committing large units into battle. As the war wore on, the part of the Viet Cong in the fighting decreased as the role of the NVA grew. U.S. and South Vietnamese forces relied on air superiority and overwhelming firepower to conduct search and destroy operations, involving ground forces, artillery, and airstrikes. In the course of the war, the U.S. conducted a large-scale strategic bombing campaign against North Vietnam, and over time the North Vietnamese airspace became the most heavily defended airspace of any in the world.
9. Know these major major post-Cold War Events:
-JFK Assassination- John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas. Kennedy was fatally shot by a sniper while traveling with his wife Jacqueline, Texas Governor John Connally, and Connally's wife Nellie, in a presidential motorcade. A ten-month investigation from November 1963 to September 1964 by the Warren Commission concluded that Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone, and that Jack Ruby also acted alone when he killed Oswald before he could stand trial.
-Civil Rights- Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.
Brown vs the Board of Education of Topeka case and desegregation- Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896, which allowed state-sponsored segregation, insofar as it applied to public education. Handed down on May 17, 1954, the Warren Court's unanimous (9–0) decision stated that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." As a result, de jure racial segregation was ruled a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. This ruling paved the way for integration and was a major victory of the civil rights movement.
Civil Rights Act of 1964- a landmark piece of civil rights legislation in the United States[4] that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.[5] It ended unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, at the workplace and by facilities that served the general public
Voting Rights Act of 1965- a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the American Civil Rights Movement on August 6, 1965, and Congress later amended the Act five times to expand its protections. Designed to enforce the voting rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, the Act allowed for a mass enfranchisement of racial minorities throughout the country, especially in the South. According to the Department of Justice, the Act is considered to be the most effective piece of civil rights legislation ever enacted in the country.
24th Amendment- prohibits both Congress and the states from conditioning the right to vote in federal elections on payment of a poll tax or other types of tax. The amendment was proposed by Congress to the states on August 27, 1962, and was ratified by the states on January 23, 1964.
-Watergate- A major political scandal that occurred in the United States in the 1970s as a result of the June 17, 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement. When the conspiracy was discovered and investigated by the US Congress, the Nixon Administration's resistance to its probes led to a constitutional crisis. The term Watergate has come to encompass an array of clandestine and often illegal activities undertaken by members of the Nixon administration. Those activities included "dirty tricks" such as bugging the offices of political opponents and people of whom Nixon or his officials were suspicious. Nixon and his close aides ordered harassment of activist groups and political figures, using the FBI, CIA, and the Internal Revenue Service. The scandal led to the discovery of multiple abuses of power by the Nixon administration, articles of impeachment, and the resignation of Republican Richard Nixon, the President of the United States, on August 9, 1974—the only resignation of a U.S. president to date. The scandal also resulted in the indictment, trial, conviction, and incarceration of 43 people, dozens of whom were Nixon's top administration officials.
-Persian Gulf War(1991)- The Gulf War (2 August 1990 – 28 February 1991), codenamed Operation Desert Storm (17 January 1991 – 28 February 1991) was a war waged by coalition forces from 34 nations led by the United States against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.
-9-11- The September 11 attacks were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks launched by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda upon the United States in New York City and the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. The attacks killed almost 3000 people and caused at least $10 billion in property and infrastructure damage.
-War in Afghanistan- The War in Afghanistan (2001–present) refers to the intervention by NATO and allied forces in the ongoing Afghan civil war. The war followed the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, in an effort to dismantle al-Qaeda and eliminate its safe haven by removing the Taliban from power.
-War in Iraq- The Iraq War was an armed conflict in Iraq that consisted of two phases. The first was an invasion of Iraq starting on 20 March 2003 by an invasion force led by the United States. It was followed by a longer phase of fighting, in which an insurgency emerged to oppose the occupying forces and the newly formed Iraqi government. The US completed its withdrawal of military personnel in December 2011. However, the insurgency is ongoing and continues to cause thousands of fatalities.
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