University City High School

War and Diplomacy: World War I transformed America's relationship with the world. The outbreak of war in Europe in the summer of 1914 initially seemed to have little to do with the United States. However, economic ties to Great Britain and France, the sympathies of various ethnic groups, and President Wilson's desire to protect American neutral rights all made it difficult for the United States to remain truly neutral. By early 1917, Wilson sought to use the influence of the United States to fashion a new world order based on the principles of free trade, self-determination, and collective security. His efforts to fashion a just and lasting peace met opposition from America's allies and from congressional leaders who feared the potential for the United States to be dragged into foreign conflicts.

Globalization: The United States had been gradually moving away from its policy of political isolation from world affairs since the 1890s (and arguably before). American economic interests abroad grew significantly during the war through sales of munitions and other goods to the Allies, and by the end of the war the United States was the world's leading creditor nation. The nation debated greater political involvement through the League of Nations at the conclusion of the war. Although this course was rejected, American commercial interests continued to grow during the postwar period, leading to a growing imbalance between the nation's significant economic influence abroad and its limited political role.

Economic Transformation: Wartime mobilization facilitated significant economic growth for the United States and also transformed the relationship between business and government, cementing a close alliance between the two that continued into the postwar period. While workers, farmers, and minority groups (particularly African Americans) benefited from the wartime boom, significant inflation and a deep postwar economic downturn erased the gains that they had made and left many worse off than they had been before. These groups by and large continued to struggle throughout the largely prosperous 1920s and into the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Politics and Citizenship: The search for social unity following American entry into the war in the spring of 1917 had important and far-reaching consequences for American society. The Wilson administration's propaganda efforts expanded beyond their original intent and in many cases became a mechanism for suppressing dissent and persecuting suspected radicals, members of minority groups, and others who did not fit the ideal of "100 percent Americanism." This ugly atmosphere continued into the postwar period and to some extent throughout the 1920s, as civil liberties frequently came under attack and those who questioned American institutions and ideals were labeled as unpatriotic (and worse).

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Q1 Week 4

2/13-2/16

C21 America and the Great War 1914-1919

1. MyAP MC Unit 6 2/16

2. SAQ Thursday in-class (The Progressive Era)

3. Read Article World War I

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Q1 Week 3

2/6-2/12

1. American Empire DBQ 2/8 in-class

Compare and contrast overseas expansion in the late 19th century and early 20th centuries. Evaluate how understandings of National Identity, at that time, shaped these views.

APUSH Syllabus

Theme 1 American and National Identity (NAT):

Theme focuses on how and why definitions of American and national identity and values have developed among diverse and changing population of North America. Theme also focuses on related topics such as citizenship, constitutionalism, foreign policy, assimilation, and American exceptionalism.

2. Read and Take Notes

Chapter 20 The Progressives

Introduction to the Progressive Era

The rise of industrial capitalism and the corresponding growth of urban centers in the late nineteenth century forced Americans to come to terms with a host of new social, political, and economic issues. The existing structure of government was unsuited to deal with the challenges posed by modernization, leading to new efforts to impose a sense of order on the chaos of American society. These efforts came to be grouped under the banner of "progressivism," a wide-ranging term that can nonetheless be used to characterize those who shared a number of central assumptions, most notably the idea that the power of government could be used to transform society and that unregulated economic development produced harmful social, political, and economic results. Although progressive reformers experienced some successes on the state and local levels, many of their efforts foundered in the face of the size and scope of industrial combinations. Turning their efforts to the national level, it soon became clear that only a strong presidency could exercise the power necessary to create meaningful reforms. Progressives looked to the presidency to find ways to curb the power of big business, protect consumers, safeguard the natural environment, and promote an agenda of social justice.

Progressive reformers first targeted the existing party system on the local and state level, which they saw as corrupt and unable to meet the challenges of the new industrial order. Many progressives felt that the complex issues of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries should be in the hands of nonpartisan experts and managers, who could avoid the problems faced by members of the traditional parties. They particularly sought to reduce the power of urban political machines, which they saw as mechanisms for taking advantage of new immigrants and enriching a small handful of professional politicians. National politics during the first two decades of the twentieth century witnessed a fundamental debate over the proper role of the federal government in an industrial republic. The central question was how the government could best use its power to protect the general welfare. Some argued that the government should seek to break up large business and other combinations to restore competition and allow individuals greater scope for their activity, while others argued that the federal government should act as a mediator between big business and other groups, helping to elevate them to a level that could counterbalance the power of industry. By the end of the period, it was increasingly clear that large-scale consolidation was to become a permanent feature of American life and that the United States was becoming increasingly dominated by large interest groups.

3. Read Articles

The Politics of Reform

Roosevelt and the Square Deal

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Q1 Week 2

1/30-2/5

Chapter 19 discusses the politics of the Gilded Age. The 1880s and 1890s were years of turbulence. Disputes erupted over labor relations, currency, tariffs, patronage, and railroads The most momentous political conflict of the late 19th century was the farmers' revolt. Drought, plagues of grasshoppers, boll weevils, rising costs, falling prices, and high interest rates made it increasingly difficult to make a living as a farmer. Many farmers blamed railroad owners, grain elevator operators, land monopolists, commodity futures dealers, mortgage companies, merchants, bankers, and manufacturers of farm equipment for their plight. Farmers responded by organizing Granges, Farmers' Alliances, and the Populist party. In the election of 1896, the Populists and the Democrats nominated William Jennings Bryan for president. Bryan 's decisive defeat inaugurated a period of Republican ascendancy, in which Republicans controlled the presidency for 24 of the next 32 years. It also examines the evolution of the American Empire and reasons why the United States adopted a more aggressive foreign policy at the end of the 19th century; the causes, military history, and consequences of the Spanish American War; and early 20th century U.S. involvement in China, the Caribbean, and Latin America.

1. Read and Take Notes

Chapter 19 From Crisis to Empire (p. 520-548)

The Wonderful Wizard Lives On : ‘Oz’ Maintains Its Appeal in Our Political Consciousness

2. Read Articles

The Gilded Age

Populism and Agrarian Dissent

Mary Elizabeth Lease

American Imperialism-U.S. Foreign Policy 1880-1914

The United States and the Caribbean 1877-1920

The War Against Spain in the Philippines 1898

The Open Door Policy: the U.S. and China

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Q1 Week 1

1/23-1/29

Chapter 18 traces the changing nature of the American city in the late 19th century, the expansion of cities horizontally and vertically, the problems caused by urban growth, the depiction of cities in art and literature, and the emergence of new forms of urban entertainment. Chapter 19 discusses the politics of the Gilded Age. The 1880s and 1890s were years of turbulence. Disputes erupted over labor relations, currency, tariffs, patronage, and railroads The most momentous political conflict of the late 19th century was the farmers' revolt. Drought, plagues of grasshoppers, boll weevils, rising costs, falling prices, and high interest rates made it increasingly difficult to make a living as a farmer. Many farmers blamed railroad owners, grain elevator operators, land monopolists, commodity futures dealers, mortgage companies, merchants, bankers, and manufacturers of farm equipment for their plight. Farmers responded by organizing Granges, Farmers' Alliances, and the Populist party. In the election of 1896, the Populists and the Democrats nominated William Jennings Bryan for president. Bryan 's decisive defeat inaugurated a period of Republican ascendancy, in which Republicans controlled the presidency for 24 of the next 32 years. It also examines the evolution of the American Empire and reasons why the United States adopted a more aggressive foreign policy at the end of the 19th century; the causes, military history, and consequences of the Spanish American War; and early 20th century U.S. involvement in China, the Caribbean, and Latin America.