APUSH @ TA: February 2016

Monday, February 29, 2016

Agenda for 2/29 and 3/1

1. Supervising Women Workers during WWII

2. Group Presentations

3. Questions about test?

4. The Decision to drop the atomic bomb...and questions about the DBQ

Secondary Source 1

David Kennedy. Freedom from Fear. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. pp. 840-841.

Excerpt

The “decision” to use the bomb might better be described as a series of decisions not to disturb the momentum of a process that was more than three years old by the spring of 1945 and was rapidly moving toward its all but inevitable climax. In a profound sense, the determination to use the bomb at the earliest possible date had been implicit in the original decision to build it at the fastest possible speed. “Let there be no mistake about it,” Truman later wrote. “I regarded the bomb as a military weapon and never had any doubt that it should be used.” Winston Churchill put it this way: “the decision whether or not to use the atomic bomb to compel the surrender of Japan was never even an issue. There was unanimous, automatic, unquestioned agreement around our table; nor did I ever hear the slightest suggestion that we should do otherwise.”

Secondary Source 2

Gar Alperovitz, Review of David McCullough's Truman, The Nation, May 10, 1993

Excerpt

Historians continue to debate why Truman dropped the bomb. But archival documents leave no doubt that Truman knew that the war would end “a year sooner now” and without an invasion. One of the main reasons was his awareness that the shock of an early Soviet declaration of war was expected to jolt Japan into surrender long before an invasion could begin. [Other historians] have effectively refuted Truman's oft repeated argument about the number of American lives saved by the bomb. [Stanford University's Barton] Bernstein could not find a worst case prediction of lives lost higher than 46,000—even if an invasion had been mounted. “The myth of the 500,000 American lives saved” Bernstein concludes, “thus seems to have no basis in fact.” ...At least one of the factors in the minds of those making the decision to use the atomic bomb involved geo-political and diplomatic concerns about the Soviet Union.

Discussion questions

1. According to each historian, why did the US use the atomic bomb?

2. What evidence does each historian use to support his claim?

5. Dropping the atomic bomb

6. Reasons for dropping the bomb

7. NY Times article on the atomic bomb debate

8. And another NYT article on the issue

9. And another article on the debate

10. And a short radio piece about the decision to drop the bomb.

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Agenda for 2/26

I. Review the WWII component of the Concept Outline

From the Concept Outline:

Key Concept 7.3:

Participation in a series of global conflicts propelled the United States into a position of international power while renewing domestic debates over the nation’s proper role in the world.

III. U.S. participation in World War II transformed American society, while the victory of the United States and its allies over the Axis powers vaulted the U.S. into a position of global, political, and military leadership.

A. Americans viewed the war as a fight for the survival of freedom and democracy against fascist and militarist ideologies. This perspective was later reinforced by revelations about Japanese wartime atrocities, Nazi concentration camps, and the Holocaust.

Examples: Atlantic Charter (1941), FDR’s “Four Freedoms” speech

B. The mass mobilization of American society helped end the Great Depression, and the country’s strong industrial base played a pivotal role in winning the war by equipping and provisioning allies and millions of U.S. troops.

Examples: Rosie the Riveter (1941), Fair Employment Practices Commission (1941), War Production Board (1942), end of the Great Depression, Office of War Information (1942), GI Bill of Rights (1944), War Refugee Board (1944), victory gardens, Navajo code-talkers

C. Mobilization and military service provided opportunities for women and minorities to improve their socioeconomic positions for the war’s duration, while also leading to debates over racial segregation. Wartime experiences also generated challenges to civil liberties.

Examples: Executive Order 9906 (1942), internment of Japanese Americans in relocation camps, Congress of Racial Equality (1942), Zoot suit riots (1943), “Double V” campaign, segregated armed forces, code-talkers, Asa Philip Randolph and the March on Washington movement, Executive Order 8802 (1941), Fair Employment Practices Commission (1941), Detroit race riot (1943), Korematsu v. US (1944)

D. The United States and its allies achieved military victory through Allied cooperation, technological and scientific advances, the contributions of servicemen and women, and campaigns such as Pacific “island-hopping” and the D-Day invasion. The use of atomic bombs hastened the end of the war and sparked debates about the morality of using atomic weapons.

Examples: Manhattan Project (1942), Tehran Conference (1943), development of sonar, island-hopping, D-Day (1944), Bretton Woods Conference (1944), Yalta Conference (1945), United Nations (1945), Nuremburg trials (1945), Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1945)

E. The war-ravaged condition of Asia and Europe, and the dominant U.S. role in the Allied victory and postwar peace settlements, allowed the United

States to emerge from the war as the most powerful nation on earth.

Examples: United Nations (1945), Nuremburg trials (1945), Potsdam Conference (1945), Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1945), International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), International Monetary Fund (1945)

III. In the groups below complete the following assignment

Group B - Nina, Hannah, Kaya, Abdullah
Group C - Iaryna, Ben, Spencer, Katie P.
Group D - Edina, Ethan, Emily, Annabel
Group E - Katie G., Eva, Megan, Charlie

1. Each group will create a 6-8 minute class presentation on one of the following components of the concept outline. Think of your assigned concept as the thesis statement that you need to prove/support through your presentation.

Group B. The mass mobilization of American society helped end the Great Depression, and the country’s strong industrial base played a pivotal role in winning the war by equipping and provisioning allies and millions of U.S. troops.

Group C. Mobilization and military service provided opportunities for women and minorities to improve their socioeconomic positions for the war’s duration, while also leading to debates over racial segregation. Wartime experiences also generated challenges to civil liberties.

Group D. The United States and its allies achieved military victory through Allied cooperation, technological and scientific advances, the contributions of servicemen and women, and campaigns such as Pacific “island-hopping” and the D-Day invasion. The use of atomic bombs hastened the end of the war and sparked debates about the morality of using atomic weapons.

Group E. The war-ravaged condition of Asia and Europe, and the dominant U.S. role in the Allied victory and postwar peace settlements, allowed the United States to emerge from the war as the most powerful nation on earth.

2. The presentations can be created using any appropriate app. Some suggestions: Adobe Voice, Adobe Slate, Keynote, Explain Everything, iMovie, Google Slides.

3. The presentation must include a definition/explanation of any significant terms/events that are identified in the concept. It must also include an explanation of at least 3 of the specific examples related to your groups concept (see above). The explanation should describe and analyze the connection between the example and the concept.

4. The presentation should include both written words and images (video/audio is also permitted).

5. The presentation should follow this approximate outline:

Intro/Context
Definition/Explanation of important terms/event identified within the concept
Ex. #1
Ex. #2
Ex. #3
Conclusion/Synthesis

6. Additional Resources:

Link to APUSH Explained Slideshow - WWII #1

Link to APISH Explained Slideshow - WWII #2

Crash Course - World War II - Pt. 1

Crash Course - World War II Pt. 2

The Homefront During WWII - Outline/Notes

7. Due next class (2/29)

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Academic Expo 2/25/16

Click here to answer the APUSH Academic Expo Trivia Question!

Why take APUSH?

Take APUSH to become a better reader, writer, thinker, and historian.

Think you might take a history course in college?

APUSH will prepare you for success in history at the college level!

Looking for a challenge?

Only approximately 2% of high school students take on the APUSH challenge. Don't you want to be part of that club?

More info...

1. What do TA students have to say about APUSH?

2. Click here for this years APUSH syllabus.

3. What "historical thinking skills" will students learn in APUSH?

4. What are the APUSH themes of US history?

5. Want to brush up on your US History knowledge? Check out these awesome US History Crash Course videos!

6. Any questions? Feel free to email Mr. Parise at brandon.parise@thorntonacademy.org.

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Agenda for 2/24

I. Review the WWII component of the Concept Outline

From the Concept Outline:

Key Concept 7.3:

Participation in a series of global conflicts propelled the United States into a position of international power while renewing domestic debates over the nation’s proper role in the world.

Examples: Atlantic Charter (1941), FDR’s “Four Freedoms” speech

E. The war-ravaged condition of Asia and Europe, and the dominant U.S. role in the Allied victory and postwar peace settlements, allowed the United

States to emerge from the war as the most powerful nation on earth.

III. In the groups below complete the following assignment

Group B - Glen, Grace, Katie, Colin
Group C - Noah, Meahgan, Shania,
Group D - Katelynn, Richard, Ben,
Group E - Parker, Dan, Danielle

1. Each group will create a 6-8 minute class presentation on one of the following components of the concept outline. Think of your assigned concept as the thesis statement that you need to prove/support through your presentation.

Intro/Context
Definition/Explanation of important terms/event identified within the concept
Ex. #1
Ex. #2
Ex. #3
Conclusion/Synthesis

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Agenda for 2/22

1. Roosevelt's Critics and Evaluating the success of New Deal

2. . With your table:

share thesis statements
share doc analysis
decide on your three questions (and two back-up questions)

3. Write Essays

HW: Ch. 24 Questions

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Agenda for 2/11

The Great Depression and the New Deal

1. "The Century - America's Time" pt. 1 "Stormy Weather" (beginning to 4:20)

2. Modern American Financial History - Timeline

3. From the Concept Outline:

Key Concept 7.1

Growth expanded opportunity, while economic instability led to new efforts to reform U.S. society and its economic system.

III. During the 1930s, policymakers responded to the mass unemployment and social upheavals of the Great Depression by transforming the U.S. into a limited welfare state, redefining the goals and ideas of modern American liberalism.

A. Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal attempted to end the Great Depression by using government power to provide relief to the poor, stimulate recovery, and reform the American economy.

Examples: “Three Rs”, FDR’s “First Hundred Days” (1933), “bank holiday” (1933), Agricultural Adjustment Administration (1933), National Industrial Recovery Act (1933), Tennessee Valley Authority (1933), Civilian Conservation Corps (1933), Works Progress Administration (1935), Federal Writers’ Project of the WPA, Wagner Act and the National Labor Relations Board (1935), Social Security Act (1935), Resettlement Administration (1935), Keynesian deficit spending to “prime the pump” (1937-1939), Fair Labor Standards Act (1938)

B. Radical, union, and populist movements pushed Roosevelt toward more extensive efforts to change the American economic system, while conservatives in Congress and the Supreme Court sought to limit the New Deal’s scope.

Examples: Huey Long’s “Share Our Wealth” program (1934), Father Coughlin (“Radio Priest”) and the National Union for Social Justice (1934), Schechter Poultry v. US (1935) overturned NIRA, US v. Butler (1936) overturned AAA, FDR’s failed Supreme Court-packing plan (1937)

C. Although the New Deal did not end the Depression, it left a legacy of reforms and regulatory agencies and fostered a long-term political realignment in which many ethnic groups, African Americans, and working- class communities identified with the Democratic Party.

Examples: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) of 1933, Securities Exchange Commission (1934), Federal Housing Administration (1934), Social Security Act (1935), “Roosevelt coalition” in the Election of 1936

4. 1920s Politics and Causes of the Depression - slideshow

5. FDR's First Inaugural Address. Video of the speech.

In what way did FDR address the psychological causes/effects of the Great Depression?
What analogy did FDR make for how he wanted to tackle the economic crisis? How did he justify the expansion of federal power that would be necessary to fight the depression?

6. "Give a man a job!"

Based on the video what was the goal of many of FDR's "first 100 days" New Deal programs?

7. The Fed. Government's Response - The New Deal - slideshow

8. The New Deal on Trial (Criticisms of the New Deal)

9. Was the New Deal an Effective Answer to the Great Depression?

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