America in World War II: A Historical Overview

1. Unit 8: Mastering the U.S. History and Government Regents Day 5 “Only thing we have to fear is fear itself (not the Regents Exam!).” - Franklin D. Roosevelt, First Inaugural Address (1933) and Greg I got this!

2. The United States and World War II

3. As America was trying to recover from the Great Depression and FDR was busy doing his whole “New Deal thing,” FACISM was rising in Europe and Germany was seeking to dominate the European continent. Josef Stalin Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini

4. At first, in 1935, Congress passed the Neutrality Acts – forbidding the U.S. from selling arms, making loans, or giving any assistance to any nation involved in the war.

5. Then, things in Europe started to get crazy, so the U.S. found a loophole and agreed not to sell weapons would “lend”or “lease”them to our allies (Lend-Lease Act).

6. THEN…Bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7,1941 by Japan brought the U.S. directly into World War II.

7. The U.S. Home-Front During World War II

8. The U.S. ECONOMY and World War II • The U.S. government ordered rationing during WWII to conserve raw materials for the war effort. • To help pay for WWII, the U.S. government relied heavily on the sale of war bonds. • WWII impacted the U.S. economically by accelerating (speeding up) its recovery from the Great Depression.

9. THE END OF THE WAR!!! • Before WWII is over, • FDR dies and his Vice • President Harry Truman becomes President. • Japan will not surrender, so Truman decides to drop atomic bombs on Japan (Hiroshima & Nagasaki) because the bombs’ destructive power might end the war quickly. • Manhattan Project = U.S. project to develop an atomic bomb.

10. THE END OF THE WAR/POST WWII Era • GI Bill (1944) – Extended educational and housing opportunities to war veterans. Provided federal funds to veterans to attend college. • United Nations – Replaced the League of Nations in order to prevent international disputes from escalating into major wars. • Baby Boom – population burst caused by the delay in marriages during WWII. • Interstate Highway Act (1956) – Increased suburban growth.

11. Top of page 34 CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT Major Goals of the Movement = Gain equal rights for blacks, including ending segregation. • Important Leaders • Martin Luther King – Believed that civil disobedience is sometimes necessary to bring about change. • Malcolm X - civil rights leader during the 1950s and 1960s that advocated black separatism • Thurgood Marshall = chief lawyer for NAACP during Brown v. Board of Education (1954) – first African American member of Supreme Court. • Chief Justice Earl Warren – followed a policy of judicial activism and expanded individual rights in criminal cases.

12. CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

13. Affirmative Action Programs - main goal is to promote economic gains for minorities/women • Fair Housing Act & Americans with Disabilities Act – Government efforts to end discrimination against various groups.

14. Top of page 36 THE COLD WAR • An era of political tension and military rivalry between the U.S. & the Soviet Union. • After WWII, the U.S. and the Soviet Union were no longer allies because each nation believed that the other was a threat to its national security.

15. As a result of Soviet domination of Eastern Europe, Truman issued the Truman Doctrine –originally designed to contain communism by giving aid to Greece and Turkey. • Containment – U.S. policy dedicated to stop Communist influence from spreading. • Marshall Plan – U.S. plan to provide economic aid to European nations threatened by communism. • North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) – Formed in 1949 in order to protect Western Europe from Soviet Union and provide collective security against communist aggression. I hope this works… Marshall Plan

16. Bottom of page 36 • Second Red Scare • First Red Scare • (after WWI) • Second Red Scare (after WWII) • Senator Joseph McCarthy – led the anti-Communist crusade in America. • McCarthyism - fear of communist influence in the U.S. = led to false/reckless accusations

17. Global Concerns in the Cold War page 37

18. Top of page 38 • Great Society – attempted to end poverty and discrimination in the U.S. Similar to the Square Deal and the New Deal because it increased government commitment to the well-being of the people. • Gulf of Tonkin Resolution – increased U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War and provided justification for Johnson’s involvement in the Vietnam.

19. Richard Nixon – becomes President after LBJ decides not to run for reelection in 1968. • Détente – policy to ease tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union • SALT (Strategic Arms Limitations Talks) – attempted to reduce tensions • Nixon visits the Peoples Republic of China in 1972 in order to reduce tensions between the U.S. and Communist China. Attempted to counteract growing Soviet power and influence in Asia.

20. Watergate Scandal – A break-in at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee led to the investigations that resulted in the resignation of Nixon. • The Watergate Scandal investigation demonstrated that separation of powers works effectively. • Nixon resigned his presidency before being impeached.

21. Bottom of page 38 The fall of the Berlin Wall is most closely associated with the end of the Cold War.

22. The Last 6 Presidents: JIMMY CARTER • Camp David Accord – Carter succeeded in providing a foundation for a peace-treaty between Egypt and Israel (1st peace treaty between Israel and an Arab nation).

23. The Last 6 Presidents: RONALD REAGAN • Reagan’s supporters called his economic policies, “supply-side economics”Why? Because tax cuts for businesses meant they could produce more products and supply more goods and sell for cheaper (deflation). • Reagan’s critics called his economic policies, “trickle-down economics”because they believed that the idea that cutting taxes for business people would slowly will trickle down to help poor was absurd/ the wrong way to fix the economy.

24. The Last 6 Presidents: GEORGE BUSH • Committed U.S. troops to the Persian Gulf to assure the flow of Middle East oil to the U.S. and its allies. A direct result of the Persian Gulf War was that the U.S. liberated Kuwait from Iraqi control.

25. Top of page 40 The Last 6 Presidents: BILL CLINTON • Similar to President Carter because both leaders attempted to bring peace to the Middle East. • Similar to Andrew Johnson because he was impeached but not convict. • Supported North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) – increased commerce and eliminated tariffs. • Sent U.S. troops to Haiti and Bosnia during the 1990s to stop conflicts within those nations. • Participated in the bombing of Kosovo in 1999 because of human rights violations.

26. The Last 6 Presidents: GEORGE W. BUSH • Disputed election vs. Al Gore • The 2000 election results were extremely close. Gore won the popular vote, but lost the electoral vote. • Electoral college – President is elected by winning electoral votes from each state, not a popular vote. The number of electoral votes a state receives is based on the size of the its population. • The winner of the popular vote can lose the election (1876 and 2000).

27. The Last 6 Presidents: GEORGE W. BUSH • Domestic Policy • No Child Left Behind Act – reform in • education – called on schools to hold • yearly test to measure student performance • Foreign Policy • September 11, 2001 • Balancing individual rights and freedom • with the need for national security. • USA Patriot Act – sought to prevent further terrorist attacks by allowing greater government access to electronic communications and other information; criticized by some as violating civil liberties • War in Iraq -Bush claimed that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction – might supply terrorists – 2003 the U.S. and other countries invaded Iraq.

28. The Last 6 Presidents: BARACK OBAMA • Economic Issues: • Globalization - the increasing interaction between people, companies, and government of different nations. • Bailout - financial rescue of some companies – part of Obama’s plan to get the country out of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression (1930s).

29. TO STUDY FOR THE REGENTS