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TAKS Tutorial Presentation
Important Dates
July 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence
1781 Articles of Confederation
1787 Constitution drafted
1861 – 1865 Civil War
1865 – 1877 Reconstruction
1898 Spanish American War
1877 – 1900 Gilded Age - Corruption
1900 – 1914 Progressive Era – Fix its
1914 – 1918 WWI
1918 – 1938 Between the wars
• The Roaring 20s.
• The Great Depression (1929 Crash)
• Roosevelt‘s New Deal.
1938 – 1945 WWII
1945 – 1989 Cold War
1950s Korean War
1970s Vietnam War
1991 Persian Gulf War
Americanism
1. Which of the following is an unalienable right
mentioned in the Declaration of
Independence: Liberty
2. Primary purpose of the Articles of
Confederation: To unite the states under the
Continental Congress.
3. The U.S. Constitution has a system of checks
and balances. This system is an example of:
separation of powers.
4. Thomas Jefferson is known as the principal
author of: Declaration of Independence
• Signing of the Declaration of Independence
**Amendments you need to know are in Italics **
Bill of Rights: 1st ten amendments
Amendment 1: Freedom of religion
Freedom of speech
Freedom of Press
Right to assemble
Right to Petition the
government
Amendment 2: Right to bear arms.
Amendment 3: No quartering of troops.
Amendment 4: Protects people against
unlawful searches and
seizures.
Amendment 5: Due process.
Amendment 6: Right to a speedy trial
Amendment 7: Right to a trial by jury.
Amendment 8: Protects individuals from
excessive bail, fines, cruel &
unusual punishment.
Amendment 9: Govt. cannot take away
rights of people.
Amendment 10: Powers reserved by the
states.
Amendment 11 – 27
#11 - Limitations on judicial powers.
#12 - Process of election president and
VP.
#13 - Abolished slavery.
#14 - Protects rights of citizens and
Slave Rights
provided due process. Citizen-
ship for freed slaves.
#15 - Blacks got right to vote.
#16 - Income tax.
#17 - Direct election of senators.
#18 - Prohibition
repealing of prohibition 1920 - 1933
13 years between enactment and
#19 - Women’s right to vote.
#20 - Terms for president.
Inauguration of president.
Terms of senators and reps.
#21 - Repeal of prohibition.
#22 - Limits presidents to 2 terms.
#23 - People in Washington D.C. can
vote.
#24 - Prohibits poll taxes.
#25 - Presidential disability and
succession.
#26 - Right to vote – 18
#27 - Pay for senators and reps.
Constitution of U.S.
Article 1: Legislative Branch – Two houses,
Senate – two per state (100)
House of Representatives – number for each state de-
termined by population (currently 435)
Makes the Laws
Article 2: Executive Branch – President & his cabinet
Enforces the Laws
Article 3: Judicial Branch – Supreme & Lower Courts
Interprets the Laws
Article 4: Relations among states.
Article 5: Amendment process.
Article 6: National supremacy
Article 7: Ratification
• Legislative Branch
• Executive
Branch
• Judicial
Branch
Constitution Preamble
Introductory paragraph to the Constitution
• ―We the people of the U.S., in order to:
– 1. have a more perfect union
– 2. establish justice
– 3. insure domestic tranquility
– 4. provide for the common defense
– 5. promote the general welfare
– 6. and secure the blessings of liberty
Do ordain and establish this constitution.
Constitution facts:
1. Adopted 1787.
2. Master builder – James Madison
3. Delaware 1st state to ratify – Dec. 7,
1787
4. Congress first met March 4, 1789.
Sample TAKS Questions
• ___ 1. Some American colonists believed they were justified in declaring independence from Great Britain because the
British government:
• A. required free trade with France.
• B. allowed the colonies to elect their own governors
• C. encouraged diplomatic relations with Native Americans
• D. taxed the colonies without direct representation in Parliament
• ___ 2. This excerpt reflects the principle of –
• Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging
the freedom of speech, or of the press… - first amendment to the U.S. Constitution
• A. individual rights
• B. executive power
• C. popular sovereignty
• D. checks and balances
• ___ 3. Which of the following is an example of the constitutional principle of governmental checks and balances?
• A. Direct election of senators
B. Presidential veto power
C. Congressional term limits
D. Appeal of court decisions
• ___4. Many members of the First Continental Congress opposed declaring independence because they –
• A. Saw no reason to declare what was already obvious to the colonists
• B. believed reconciliation with Great Britain was still possible
• C. were waiting for the outcome of battles between British and French troops
• D. needed time to recruit and train soldiers
• ___ 5. The 15th Amendment to the US Constitution gave citizens the right to vote regardless of race, color, or former status
as a slave. Later methods of depriving citizens of their 15th Amendment rights included –
• A. poll taxes and literacy tests
• B. requiring landownership
C. church membership requirements
• D. requiring a high school education
•
Sample TAKS Questions
___ 6. The year 1776 is an important date in US History because it marked the –
• A. beginning of the American Revolutionary War
• B. signing of the Declaration of Independence
• C. writing of the US Constitution
• D. founding of the first American colony
• ___ 7. The Bill of Rights guarantees all citizens of the United States certain rights, including protection
• A. against oppression by foreign governments
• B. from economic hardships
• C. from being deprived of property, liberty, or life without due process of law
• D. against the military draft by the federal government
• ___ 8. It can best be supported from the excerpt below that if a person‘s unalienable rights are not protected
by the government, then people have –
• That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men… whenever any form of government
becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it…
• A. the right to change the government
• B. the opportunity to adjust government spending
• C. the obligation to obey unfair laws
D. the responsibility to finance political campaigns
• ___ 9. According to the text below, the Magna Carta most influenced the colonial development of –
• Principles of the Magna Carta
• a rule of law should limit the power of the king
• certain basic rights should be protected
• government should be based on an agreement between the ruler and the ruled
• A. judicial review
• B. federalism
• C. representative government
• D. feudalism
Sample TAKS Questions
• ___ 10. Which of the following documents lists the reasons for the Revolutionary War?
• A. US Constitution
• B. Declaration of Independence
• C. Articles of Confederation
• D. Bill of Rights
• ___ 11. Which document was written in 1787 and replaced the Articles of Confederation as federal law?
• A. Declaration of Independence
• B. Treaty of Paris
• C. US Constitution
• D. Monroe Doctrine
• ___12. Which of the following principles of U.S. government best characterizes the First Amendment to
the US Constitution?
• A. Republicanism
• B. Individual rights
• C. Federalism
• D. Popular Sovereignty
• ___13. The idea of representative government flourished in colonial America because the colonists
wanted –
• A. the people to be the source of power
• B. to be responsible for their own defense
• C. government power to be held by only a few leaders
• D. a president to control the government
• ___14. Which of the founding father of the United States had the most significant role in writing the
Declaration of Independence?
• A. Thomas Jefferson
• B. George Washington
• C. John Adams
• D. Benjamin Franklin
Sample TAKS Questions
• Commander of the Continental army
• President of the Constitution Convention
• First president of the United States
• ___15. The person described in the list above is
• A. Thomas Jefferson
• B. Benjamin Franklin
• C. George Washington
• D. John Adams
• Reflected the idea of limited government
• Reflected the idea that the governed have rights
• Expressed the idea of government based on the rule of law
• Resulted from a struggle between the king and his nobles
• ___16. Which of the following is best described by the characteristics listed
above?
• A. Magna Carta
• B. The Federalist Papers
• C. Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
• D. Mayflower Compact
Westward Expansion – Indian Conflicts
1776-1890
1. Indians were moved west and promised lands.
2. Indians would not stay nor did White man keep promises.
3. Miners claimed Indian lands.
4. Road built thru Sioux grounds.
Results of Conflict:
1. Reservations – Black Hills, SD, and OK
2. Reservations didn‘t work: Indians wouldn‘t go and it was very
poor land
3. Indians finally surrendered – after white man killed off the
buffalo
4. Indian Bureau set up to relocate the Indian and meet needs –
didn‘t really work.
Westward Exp. - Reform Measures
1. Susette La Flesche and Helen Jackson Hunt.
(‗A Century of Honor‘)
2. Dawes Act (1887)
• Objective was to force white man‘s ways on the
Indians.
• Divided reservation lands among Indian families.
• Establish schools to teach the Am. Way.
• Asked the Indians to give up their traditional
religion.
Civil War 1861-1865
• South Carolina first state to secede – 1861
• Confederate states elected Jefferson Davis as their
president
• Abraham Lincoln - US President
• Causes of Civil War:
- Slavery
- Way of life, South was established as agricultural
with large plantations, north had several large
cities with many people working in factories
- Free labor vs. slave labor – north was based on
free laborers, south based on slave laborers
- State‘s rights – North thought that no state had a
right to leave the Union, South argued that a state
could leave if they voted to do so.
Civil War 1861-1865 (cont‘d)
• Ulysses S. Grant – General of Union (North)
forces.
• Robert E. Lee – General of the Confederate
(South) forces.
• Battle of Gettysburg – Union victory and turning
point of the war.
• April 14, 1865 – Abraham Lincoln assassinated
• May 4, 1865 – Confederate Army surrenders
• United States
President
Abraham Lincoln
• Union (North)
General
Ulysses S.
Grant
• Confederate
(South)
General
Robert E.
Lee
Reconstruction 1865 - 1877
• Reconstruction period – rebuilding the South and
reuniting the states.
• Andrew Johnson succeeds Lincoln as Pres.
• Radical Republicans – strong group in US Congress
that wanted to make sure that freed slaves were safe
and that they could make a living and become full
citizens.
• Black Codes – southern states passed laws that kept
former slaves from : voting, testifying against whites in
court, serving on juries, and joining the militia.
• 13th Amendment – freed the slaves
• 14th Amendment – gave former slaves citizenship
• 15th Amendment – gave former slaves right to vote
Reconstruction 1865 – 1877
• Carpetbaggers – northerners who went south to take
advantage of the disorder in the south, they ran for office and
entered businesses.
• Scalawag – Southern whites who supported the Radical
Republicans
• US divided south into 5 Military Districts, an army general
and federal troops were sent to each district.
• Hiram Revels – first African American Senator
• Ku Klux Klan – a secret society that believed in the
supremacy of the white race and tried to terrorize African
Americans and carpetbaggers, and scalawags who
supported them.
• Jim Crow Laws – passed in the southern states to legalize
segregation. Created separate areas for blacks and whites in
public waiting rooms, restaurants, schools, and hospitals
• Reconstruction period ended when Northern soldiers went
home, signifying a renewed trust in the South
Gilded Age 1877 - 1900
• More jobs and opportunities were created
• Inventions, like the railroad and the electric
light bulb, made life more comfortable.
• Only a few people got wealthy – often at the
expense of workers
• Living and working conditions in the industrial
cities were often poor and unhealthy
• From 1820 – 1930 more than 37 million
people came to the US. They came through
Ellis Island on the East Coast and Angel
Island on the West Coast
Gilded Age 1877 – 1900 (cont‘d)
• 1867 – US buys Alaska from Russia $7.2 M
• 1869 – Transcontinental Railroad joins east and
west coasts at Promontory, UT
• 1870 – John D. Rockefeller founds Standard Oil Co
• 1876 – Alexander Graham Bell invents telephone
• 1879 – Thomas Edison invents electric light bulb
• 1886 – American Federation of Labor (AFL)
• 1890 – Sherman Anti-trust Act limits monopolies
• 1898 – Spanish American War begins.
Sample TAKS Questions
• ___ 1. Which of these periods in U.S. history occurred first?
• A. Great Depression
• B. Progressive Era
• C. Cold War
• D. Gilded Age
• ___ 2. In 1898 more than 200 Americans died when the battleship U.S.S. Maine exploded in Havana
Harbor. This event prompt the beginning of the
• A. Mexican-American War
• B. Civil War
• C. Spanish-American War
• D. Russo-Japanese War
• ___ 3. The conditions listed below best explain the growth of –
• -unhealthy working conditions
• -unequal distribution of wealth
• -long working hours for little pay
• -growing incidence of wage cuts
• A. farmer alliances
• B. urban areas
• C. national railroads
• D. labor unions
• ___ 4. The invention of the electric elevator contributed to the growth of cities in the US by –
• A. reducing the need for large industrial complexes
• B. making construction of taller buildings practical
• C. leading federal regulation of all urban construction
• D. eliminating the need to build tenement housing
Sample TAKS Questions
• ___ 7. The expansion of America‘s railroad network in the late 1800s
changed the standard of living by –
• A. creating employment opportunities for women and children
• B. establishing an example for ethical business practices
• C. increasing the availability and variety of consumer goods
• D. discouraging economic competition with foreign countries
• ___ 8. What was one result of the rapid growth of U.S. cities in the early
20th century?
• A. Fewer educational opportunities were available.
• B. Prices for consumer goods became unstable.
• C. Farm production declined significantly.
• D. The population in slums increased.
• 9. The invention of the light bulb contributed to industrial growth in the U.S.
by making it possible for-
• A. production to continue at night
• B. workers to light their homes
• C. electric companies to raise their prices
• D. cities to reduce crime by lighting city streets
Spanish-American War 1898
• US battleship Maine in Cuba‘s Havana
harbor was sunk mysteriously on Feb 15,
1898.
• Many Americans thought the US should help
the Cuban rebels gain independence from
Spain.
• Other Americans wanted Spain out of Cuba
so that the US could control the island and
protect US business interests there.
• American newspapers stirred people up by
printing sensational stories – Yellow
Journalism
Spanish-American War 1898
• Results of war:
• Cuba got limited independence from Spain
• US gained an empire of Spain‘s old possessions –
Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines.
• US paid Spain $20 million for Philippines
• Theodore Roosevelt became a national hero and
President McKinley chose him to be his running
mate for the next election
• US victory demonstrated the growing importance of
the US as a leader in international affairs.
• USS Maine
Progressive Era 1900 - 1914
Three Progressive presidents: T,T,W (Teddy, Taft & Wilson)
• Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt
• William Taft
• Woodrow Wilson
• Roosevelt‘s reform programs became known as the Square
Deal. He believed the US needed to adopt progressive
reforms in order to maintain an efficient society that could
compete successfully against other nations.
• The struggle for the right of women to vote was only one of
a series of reform efforts that transformed American society
in the early 1900s. Historians refer to this era as the
Progressive Era.
• Science and technology had benefited people; thus
progressives believed using scientific principles could also
produce solutions for society
• President
Theodore
(Teddy)
Roosevelt
―Trustbuster‖
• President
William Taft
• President
Woodrow
Wilson
• Muckrakers – a group of crusading journalists who
investigated social conditions and political
corruption.
To force state legislators to respond to voters, three
new reforms were introduced in many states:
• Initiative – allowed a group of citizens to introduce
legislation and required the legislature to vote on it.
• Referendum – allowed proposed legislation to be
submitted to the voters for approval.
• Recall – allowed voters to demand a special
election to remove an elected official from office
before his or her term had expired.
• 16th Amendment – Income tax
• 17th Amendment – People elect senators
• 18th Amendment – Prohibition (of alcohol)
• 19th Amendment – Women‘s right to vote
• 1913 – Congress approved the Federal
Reserve Act, one of the most significant
pieces of legislation in American history
- Banks would have to keep a portion of their
deposits in a regional reserve bank which
would provide a financial cushion against
unanticipated losses.
• Building codes set minimum standards for
light, air, room size, and sanitation, and
required buildings to have fire escapes.
Health codes required restaurants and other
facilities to maintain clean environments for
their patrons.
Sample TAKS Questions
• Federal Income Tax
• Direct election of senators
• Child labor law
• Initiative, referendum, and recall
• ___ 1. All of the reforms in the box were enacted during
• A. Reconstruction
• B. The Progressive Era
• C. the Great Depression
• D. World War II
• We will not submit to the prosperity that is obtained by lowering the wages of working men and charging an excessive price to consumers, nor to that
other kind of prosperity obtained by swindling investors or getting unfair advantages over business rivals. President Theodore Roosevelt
August 6, 1912
• ___ 2. President Theodore Roosevelt made this statement during which historical period?
• A. The Progressive Era
• B. The Gilded Age
• C. Reconstruction
• D. The Great Depression
• ___ 3. The events below are all associated with which period in U. S. history?
• NAACP founded
• Pure Food and Drug Act passed
• 19th Amendment ratified
• Clayton Antitrust Act passed
• A. The Progressive Era
• B. The Gilded Age
• C. The Great Depression
• D. Reconstruction
• ___ 4. When U.S engineers began the construction of the Panama Canal, one of the greatest obstacles they faced was
• A. the threat of attack from the Panamanian army
• B. opposition from the U.S. government
• C. the prevalence of mosquito-borne disease
• D. a lack of technological expertise
Sample TAKS Questions
• ___ 7. The 17th amendment to the US Constitution provided for the US senators to be elected directly by the
people. This amendment is significant because it –
• A. allowed for the election of more experienced senators
• B. gave citizens more control of the government
• C. discouraged people from voting in state and local elections
• D. lessened the importance of political parties
• ___ 8. Ratification of the 17th amendment gave the people a greater voice in government by providing for –
• A. direct election of senators
• B. federal funding of local and state governments
• C. equal voting rights for African Americans
• D. equal representation in the Senate and the House
• ___ 9. By setting aside millions of acres of land under public domain during the early 1900s, Theodore
Roosevelt prompted which of the following concepts?
• A. Political reform
• B. Conservationism
• C. Collective bargaining
• D. Agribusiness
• ___ 10. The migration of thousands of African Americans to the North in the early 20th century can best be
explained by –
• A. the availability of cheap farmland in the North
• B. the closing of factories in southern states
• C. decreased availability of government and land for sharecropping in the South
• D. greater job opportunities in northern cities
WWI 1914 – 1918
• War started in 1914 but US did not enter the war
until 1917.
Causes of War:
• Leaders of industrial European countries wanted to
increase the size of their empires – Imperialism
• France, Russia and Great Britain had an alliance
called the Triple Entente. Germany, Austria-
Hungary, and Italy signed the Triple Alliance.
• War was triggered by the assassination of the
Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Serbia. In
response, Austria-Hungary attacked Serbia
• Unrestricted Submarine Warfare - The continued
sinking of American ships by Germany‘s
submarines called U-boats, eventually led the US
to declare war on Germany
WWI 1914 – 1918
Results of War:
• Germany was forced to give up territory and
colonies to France, Belgium, Denmark, and Poland
• The size of Germany‘s army was reduced and they
were forbidden to have submarines and aircraft
• Germany accepted responsibility for starting the war
and was penalized $33 million in damages to other
nations
• President Woodrow Wilson‘s Fourteen Points
• League of Nations
Between the Wars 1918 – 1938
• The Roaring Twenties: An era of rapid change
and clashing values
• Economy was strong
• People were buying things on installment plan
• Radios and movies were keeping people
entertained, young people were challenging
authority and values
• Art, music, and literature thrived.
• Jazz – the new music of African Americans
became popular to whites and Afr. Americans
• The Jazz Age of the 1920s
• Flapper - girl
of the 1920s
Prohibition of
Alcohol in the
1920s
1920 - 1933
• Henry Ford Assembly Line
Sample TAKS Questions
• 1. Which of the following is the correct cause-and-effect pairing of events that
occurred during the 1920‘s?
• A. Victory in the World War I and outbreak of urban riots
• B. Labor strife and the downfall of unions
• C. Prohibition and the rise of organized crime
• D. Fear of foreigners and the closing of U.S. borders
• 2. During the 1920s the nationwide prohibition of the manufacture, sale, or
transportation of alcohol in the US contributed to the –
• A. ratification of the women‘s suffrage amendment
• B. growth of organized crime
• C. end of Progressive reform
• D. demand for stricter immigration policies
• 3. The automobile industry helped stimulate the economy in the 1920s because it-
• A. increased demand for products such as steel, rubber, and gasoline
• B. started the Industrial Revolution in the United States
• C. ended the U.S. dependence on the foreign-made cars
• D. increased employment opportunities for female engineers
•
Sample TAKS Questions
• ___ 2. What court case of the 1920s is associated with William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow?
• A. Plessy v. Ferguson
• B. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
• C. Scopes v. State of Tennessee
• D. Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
• ___ 3. The Red Scare, a period of anticommunist hysteria in the U.S. during 1919 and 1920, was largely a response to the
• A. signing of the Treaty of Versailles
• B. creation of the first U.S. labor unions
• C. Bolshevik Revolution in Russia
• D. implementation of Prohibition
• ___ 4. Prohibition is led to which of the following?
• A. An increase in liquor consumption
• B. A rise in the crime rate
• C. The ―packing‖ of Congress with anti-Prohibitionists
• D. An increase in the number of women in the workplace
• ___ 5.
• Every piece of work in the shops moves: it may move on the hooks on overhead chains… it may travel on a moving platform or
it may go by gravity, but the point is that there is no lifting or trucking of anything other than materials.
• -Henry Ford, 1924
• What revolutionary manufacturing method is Henry Ford describing in this excerpt?
• A. Assembly line
• B. Micromanagement
• C. Quality assurance
• D. Cottage industry
Sample TAKS Questions
• ___ 1. Which of the following best describes events in the United States during the Great Depression?
• A. Japanese Americans were detained in interment camps.
• B. The economy collapsed, and millions of people became unemployed.
• C. Fears about communism led to the imprisonment of many people.
• D. The government passed laws that eliminated poverty and discrimination.
• ___ 2. Many U.S. farmers from the Great Plains left their farms and migrated to California in the 1930s
because of
• A. the excessively high cost of new farm machinery
• B. federal and state assistance programs available to farmers in California
• C. drought and dust storms that destroyed their crops
• D. the availability of factory jobs in California
• ___ 3. One reason people overextended their use of credit in the stock market during the late 1920s was that
they believed
• A. debts would not have to be repaired for many years
• B. the federal government would assume their debts
• C. they would make quick profits and be able to repay their debts
• D. overspending would bolster the week economy
• ___ 4. Which of the following was a contributing factor to the Great Depression?
• A. More goods were produced than Americans could afford to buy.
• B. A deficit of agriculture goods led to an increase in farm prices.
• C. Low trade tariffs caused other countries to stop trading with the U.S.
• D. Oil prices soared to the highest level in history.
Between the Wars 1918 – 1938
• The Great Depression – over 9,000 banks failed
and more than 25% of the workforce was
unemployed.
Causes of Great Depression:
• Overproduction
• Low income, especially for farmers. Workers wages
failed to keep pace with increased productivity
• Bankers made unsound loans
• Stock speculation
• International trade declined because of WWI
• Stock Market Crash of Oct. 29, 1929
• Stock Market Crash – Oct. 29, 1929
• Dust Bowl of 1930s
• Many people lived in shacks during the Great
Depression and called the towns ―Hoovervilles‖
after President Hoover.
Between the Wars 1918 – 1938
Roosevelt‘s New Deal:
• Deficit Budgeting and Public Works – used
government funds to provide direct relief for the
unemployed and create jobs.
• Banking Reforms – restored public confidence in
banks by insuring depositors‘ money.
• Production controls – encouraged farmers to reduce
their output and temporarily suspended the anti-
trust laws so that businessmen could establish
industry-wide production controls.
• Encouragement of Consumption – minimum wage
laws, encouraged labor unions
• Optimism – Roosevelt instilled confidence in
American people. Fireside Chats – radio talks
made by Roosevelt to let the American people know
that Roosevelt working for them
• Roosevelt‘s New Deal – work program
• President Franklin D Roosevelt (FDR) delivering a
Fireside Chat.
Sample TAKS Questions
• 5. Which of the following brought an end to the Great
Depression in the United States?
• A. The Korean War
• B. The New Deal
• C. World War II
• D. Reconstruction
• 6. President Franklin D. Roosevelt‘s New Deal was a
program designed to –
• A. prevent the onset of the Great Depression
• B. Control big business
• C. combat the effects of the Great Depression
• D. restore the gold standard
WWII 1938 - 1945
Causes:
• Totalitarianism – Axis nations were totalitarian dictatorships.
Scorned democratic ideals: dignity of individual, civil
liberties, world peace.
• Militarism – Axis nations built huge military organizations,
devised new weapons and proclaimed war a glorious
adventure.
• Nationalism – Japanese Shinto teachings, Italian dreams of
restoring the Roman Empire, and German ―master race‖
doctrines all fostered a narrow and bigoted nationalism
• Imperialism – Japan expanded into Manchuria in search of
land and resources, Italy enlarged her African Empire and
Germany annexed Austria, Czechoslovakia in order to
dominate Europe and eventually the world!
• Hitler –
Germany,
Mussolini -
Italy
WWII 1938 – 1945
• Many Americans were isolationists and wanted to
stay out of the War. They believed it was a
European matter.
• Neutrality Act of 1939 – limited involvement in war
• Destroyer-Naval Base deal with Britain – traded 50
old US destroyers for land to build US Naval bases
• Lend-Lease Act – substantial aid to Britain, allowed
Britain to not have to pay cash up front for supplies
• June 22, 1941 – Despite the Russo-German Non-
Aggression Pact, Hitler ordered a blitzkrieg against
Russia.
• Dec. 7, 1941 – Japan attacks Pearl Harbor and the
US declares war on Japan.
WWII 1938 – 1945
• Holocaust – Nazis ordered the murder of millions of
Jews (Final Solution) and other people including:
Gypsies, the disabled, homosexuals, and political
opponents of the Nazis.
• Hitler dreamed of a world ruled by blonde, blue
eyed people he called Aryans or the ―master race‖
• Hitler built many walled prisons called concentration
camps where prisoners were starved and worked to
death
• Over 6 million Jews were killed and 5 million from
other groups as well.
• Jewish prisoners at German (Nazi)
concentration camp
WWII 1938 – 1945
The Allies The Axis
• Great Britain • Germany
• China • Italy
• France • Japan
• Soviet Union (from
1941)
• United States (from
1941)
WWII 1938 – 1945
• April 1945 – Allied forces crossed into Germany and
met up with the Russian forces Hitler committed
suicide and Germany surrenders.
• 1941 – 1945 American forces on an ―island-
hopping‖ offensive and eventually captured island
bases close enough to launch destructive raids on
Japan. Japan still would not surrender.
• President Truman approved the use of the Atom
bomb against Japan. August 6, 1945 dropped on
Hiroshima. Between 80,000 – 120,000 people died
instantly. Truman declares that he dropped the
bombs to fulfill his job of saving American lives, he
knew if there was a ground war on Japan many
more American soldiers would die.
WWII 1938 – 1945
• August 9, 1945 Soviet Union declared war on
Japan
• August 9, 1945 US dropped second Atomic
bomb on Japan in the city of Nagasaki, killing
between 35,000 – 74,000 people.
• August 15, 1945 Japan surrendered.
• Mushroom cloud
from one of two
atomic bombs
dropped on
Japan during
last days of
WWII – Aug.
1945
WWII 1938 – 1945
• Atlantic Charter – (1941) Roosevelt and Churchill
issued a statement of principles concerning the
future of the world after the war.
• Yalta Conference – (Feb. 1945) The Big Three:
President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill, and
Premier Stalin decided upon procedures for voting
in the UN Security Council and called upon the
United Nations to send delegates to San Francisco
to prepare the final Charter.
• San Francisco Conference – Despite the
unexpected death of President Roosevelt,
delegates representing 50 states met as planned.
WWII 1938 – 1945
Goals of the United Nations:
• To maintain international peace and security
• By collective action, remove threats to the
peace and suppress acts of aggression
• Develop friendly relations among nations
• Promote respect for human rights without
distinction as to race, sex, language, or
religion.
• Encourage international cooperation in
solving economic, social, cultural, and
humanitarian problems.
Cold War 1945 - 1989
• A struggle between the democratic nations of the
West (US, GB, France) and the nations allied with
the Soviet Union
• Both the Soviet Union and the United States wanted
to protect their interests and gain allies around the
world. The US and its allies in the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO) resisted the
communists. The Soviets responded by forming the
Warsaw Pact with their Allies.
• As each side tried to win over other countries,
conflicts flared up all over the world. Both the US
and the Soviet Union built many nuclear weapons,
which they pointed at each other. The Cold War
lasted from the end of WWII until 1989, when the
Berlin Wall was torn down and Soviet Union
Communism ended.
Sample TAKS Questions
• ___ 1. One reason for the large increase in defense spending between 1950 and 1960 was –
• A. an unprecedented inflationary economy
• B. funding for military involvement in South America
• C. The cold war and the arms race with the Soviet Union
• D. a large investment in supersonic military transports
• ___ 2. In the excerpt below, President Eisenhower was responding to Senator Joseph McCarthy‘s public attempts to
• ―Don‘t be afraid… read every book, as long as any document does not offend our own ideas of decency. That should be the
only censorship. How will we defeat communism unless we know what it is, what it teaches, and why does it have such an
appeal for men, why are so many people swearing allegiance to it? ― President Dwight D. Eisenhower,
• Speech at Dartmouth College, 1953
• A. promote religious tolerance
• B. limit free speech
• C. increase U.S. literacy rates
• D. restrict conservative political influence
• ___ 3. What threat was President Truman referring to in the excerpts below?
• I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation
by armed minorities or by outside pressures…. If we falter in our leadership, we may endanger the peace of the world- and we
shall surely endanger the welfare of our own nation. President Harry Truman, 1947
• A. Regional war in South America
• B. The spread of communism
• C. Civil disobedience in U.S. cities
• D. The formations of the United Nations
• ___ 4. Which of the following statements best characterizes the purpose of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO),
which was created in 1949?
• A. Each member nation is committed to the defense of all other member nations.
• B. All member nations will cooperate in rebuilding war-torn nations.
• C. Trade barriers between all member nations will be removed.
• D. All member nations will enforce trade embargoes against communist countries.
Sample TAKS Questions
• ___ 5. The actions of Joseph McCarthy in the early 1950‘s led many
Americans to
• A. suspect that some government officials had communist sympathies
• B. demand more rights for organized labor
• C. support U.S. involvement in the United Nations
• D. organize to protect the rights of African American
• ___ 6. Entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) might change China‘s
economic relationship with the rest of the world because China will have to
• A. allow more foreign competition in its markets
• B. allow Europeans to manage the economy
• C. produce completely different goods
• D. become a democratic country with a market economy
• ___ 7. Compared to a market-oriented economy, a subsistence-based
economy has a higher percentage of agricultural output that is
• A. sold for profit
• B. produce for personal use
• C. collected for payment of taxes
• D. distributed to the poor by the government
Korea 1950s
• 1945 Korea was divided at the 38th parallel
• In North Korea Russians established a
Communist government led by the Korean
Workers Communist party head Kim Il-Sung,
they equipped a powerful army.
• In South Korea, the UN-supervised elections
established an independent anti-Communist
government headed by President Syngman
Rhee.
Korea 1950s
• June 1950 North Korean Communist invaded South
Korea. The UN Security council recommended that
UN members furnish military assistance to South
Korea.
• The UN Army consisted chiefly of American and
South Korean units, with contingents from 15 other
anti-communist nations. Headed by General
Douglas MacArthur
• 1953 – UN and Communist negotiators took two
years to agree upon truce terms. The UN claimed
that many of its prisoners did not want to return to
Communist rule; the Communists insisted upon
compulsory repatriation. Finally the conference
agreed that all prisoners be given freedom of
choice. 2 of every 5 prisoners refused to return to
Communist rule.
• 38th Parallel where North and South Korea
were divided.
Between Korea and Vietnam
• 1956 – Martin Luther King rises as leader of the
nonviolent civil rights movement in the US
• John F. Kennedy elected president - ―Ask not what
your country can do for you - ask what you can do
for your country.‖
• 1961 Berlin Wall constructed to prevent East
German citizens from fleeing to the West.
• 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion by the US fails to free the
Caribbean island of Cuba from dictator Fidel Castro
• 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis – occurs when the US
discovers that the Soviet Union has put nuclear
missiles in Cuba. Soviets agreed to remove
weapons
• Martin Luther King Jr. delivering his ―I
have a dream,‖ speech in Washington DC
• President John
F. Kennedy,
youngest
American
president,
embraced the
―New Frontier‖
in the areas of
technology,
science, and
social relations.
Assassinated
Nov. 1963 in
Dallas, TX
Between Korea & Vietnam (cont‘d)
• 1963 President John F. Kennedy assassinated.
Lyndon B. Johnson becomes President.
• 1963 Martin Luther King delivers his ―I have a
dream …. That my four little children will one day
live in a nation where they will not be judged by the
color of their skin but by the content of their
character.‖
• 1964 Pres. Johnson re-elected and passes
resolution to send thousands of US troops to
Vietnam.
• 1968 Martin Luther King and Senator Robert
Kennedy both assassinated
• 1968 Richard Nixon elected President.
• President
Richard Nixon
• Resigned from
office on
August 9, 1974
after Watergate
scandal
Civil Rights
• Brown vs. Board of Education (1954) –
Segregation in public schools
unconstitutional.
• Civil Rights Act of 1964 – barred
discrimination of many kinds.
• Voting Rights Act of 1965 – ensured African
Americans‘ right to vote.
Sample TAKS Questions
• 1. W.E.B. Du Bois was one of the founders of the NAACP, an organization dedicated to--
• A. preserving racial segregation in the US
• B. achieving racial equality for African Americans
• C. Promoting landownership as the key to economic equality
• D. using force to gain equal rights
• 2. According to the excerpt below, which of the following is necessary to preserve liberty
within the US?
• I doubt that a country can live in freedom where its people can be made to suffer physically or
financially for criticizing their government, its actions, or its officials… - Hugo Black, NY Times
v. Sullivan, 1964
• A. the right to vote
• B. freedom of association
• C. freedom of expression
• D. the right to privacy
• 3. Which event is an example of geography playing an important role in the defeat of an
invading army?
• A. The North Korean invasion of South Korea in 1950
• B. The Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931
• C. German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941
• D. The US invasion of Cuba in 1898
Sample TAKS Questions
• 4. According to the excerpt below, what did Berlin symbolize to the West?
• All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take
pride in the words ―Ich bin ein Berliner [I am a Berliner].‖ – President John F. Kennedy, June
26,1963
• A. an ideal location for peace conferences
• B. a strategic international outpost for the US military
• C. A place of freedom surrounded by a totalitarian state
• D. A prime location from which to sell US products to Europe
• 5. According to the excerpt below, Parks was tired of giving in to—
• People always say that I didn‘t give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn‘t true. I was not
tired physically... I was not old… the only tired I was, was tired of giving in. – Rosa Parks, My
Story, 1991
• A. violent crime
• B. segregation
• C. consumer fraud
• D. communism
• 6. In the 1960‘s Cesar Chavez organized the United Farm Workers to –
•
• A. assist farm workers in securing loans to buy homes
• B. demand disaster relief for farmers in the Midwest
• C. guarantee government subsidies for US fruit growers
• D. improve working conditions for immigrant workers
Vietnam War
• Two things convinced Truman to assist France
in Vietnam: the fall of China to Communism
and the outbreak of war in Korea.
• President Eisenhower agreed to stay involved
because he feared that if Vietnam fell to
communism, so too would the other nations of
Southeast Asia….. ―the domino theory.‖
• President Johnson said he did not want war
but was determined to prevent South Vietnam
from becoming Communist.
• 1965 Pres. Johnson expands US involvement
• US Antiwar movement emerges.
Vietnam War
• 1968 Richard Nixon becomes President
• 1971 US pulls out of Vietnam
• 1973 warring sides sign peace agreement,
ending the war and restoring peace in
Vietnam.
• 1975 North Vietnam united North and South
Vietnam under Communist rule. President
Ford asked for funds for South Vietnam but
Congress refused.
• Vietnam war
Persian Gulf War
• 1990 Iraq‘s dictator, Saddam Hussein, sent
his army to invade oil-rich Kuwait. American
officials feared the invasion was only the first
step and that Iraq‘s ultimate goal was to
capture Saudi Arabia and its vast oil reserves.
• UN Nations first imposed economic sanctions
and set a deadline for Iraqi withdrawal.
• Iraq refused to comply and Jan. 16, 1991 the
coalition forces launched Operation Desert
Storm.
• Feb. 1991 Cease-fire declared just 100 hours
after the ground war began.
• Persian Gulf War
• The new
modern war,
1991
