Monday, April 27, 2009

Tonight's HW 4-28-09

Defining the Cold War: Read the two primary source documents below. Then, based on the documents, and your knowledge of Social Studies, answer the questions that follow.

In 1946, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill made a speech at a college in Missouri. He described relations with the Soviet Union in this way:

A shadow has fallen upon the scenes so lately lighted by the Allied victory. Nobody knows what Soviet Russia and its Communist international organization intends to do in the immediate future, or what are the limits, if any, to their expansive and proselytizing tendencies....

We understand the Russian need to be secure on her western frontiers from all renewal of German aggression. We welcome her to her rightful place among the leading nations of the world. Above all, we welcome constant, frequent, and growing contacts between the Russian people and our own people on both sides of the Atlantic. It is my duty, however, to place before you certain facts about the present position in Europe.

From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of central and eastern Europe....

On the other hand, I repulse the idea that a new war is inevitable, still more that it is imminent. It is because I am so sure that our fortunes are in our own hands and that we hold the power to save the future, that I feel the duty to speak out now that I have an occasion to do so. I do not believe that Soviet Russia desires war. What they desire is the fruits of war and the indefinite expansion of their power and doctrines....

From what I have seen of our Russian friends and allies during the war, I am convinced that there is nothing they admire so much as strength, and there is nothing for which they have less respect than for military weakness.

From William Appleman Williams, ed., _The Shaping of American Diplomacy_ (Chicago: Rand McNally and Company, 1956), p. 993.

In 1947, U.S. State Department official George F. Kennan wrote an important article for Foreign Affairs magazine which urged the United States to deal with the Soviet Union in a new way:

...it is clear that the main element of any United States policy toward the Soviet Union must be that of a long-term, patient but firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies.... In the light of the above, it will be clearly seen that the Soviet pressure against the free institutions of the Western world is something that can be contained by the adroit and vigilant application of counter-force at a series of constantly shifting geographical and political points, corresponding to the shifts and maneuvers of Soviet policy, but which cannot be charmed or talked out of existence.... It would be an exaggeration to say that American behavior unassisted and alone could exercise a power of life and death over the Communist movement and bring about the early fall of Soviet power in Russia. But the United States has it in its power to increase enormously the strains under which Soviet policy must operate, to force upon the Kremlin a far greater degree of moderation and circumspection than it has had to observe in recent years, and in this way to promote tendencies which must eventually find their outlet in either the break-up or the gradual mellowing of Soviet power...

From William Appleman Williams, ed., _The Shaping of American Diplomacy_, p. 996.

Answer the following questions based on the above two readings by Churchill and Kennan:

1. What did Churchill and Kennan believe were the goals of the Soviet Union?

2. What did the authors believe should be the response of the United States to Soviet actions?

3. Historians generally agree that the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union began between 1946 and 1947. How do you think Churchill and Kennan would define "cold war?"

Tonight's HW - 4/27/09

Hello, Everyone:

Tonight's HW

Please have it ready to be collected as soon as you walk in tomorrow

READ pp. 808-821 in the RED textbook.

COMPLETE

1. Terms and Names p. 814 and 821
2. COPY Visual Summary p. 836

Thanks!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Tonight's HW Periods 2 and 4

Please CLICK HERE for the assignment.

The QUESTION:

Given these materials and what you have learned about the Korematsu case, do you think that the Supreme Court erred in its 1944 decision? In what way, if any, do the events of September 11, 2001, affect your decision? Explain.

Please post your responses here. Thanks!

WWII Study Guide

World War II Study Guide:

Exam Date: Monday 4/28/09

Multiple Choice and Thematic Essay

Multiple Choice: approximately 10 vocab questions, 25-30 m/c (A, B, C, D) questions (the questions will be based off the information in the “multiple choice” table below. The multiple choice questions will all come from the regentsprep.org website.

Here\'s a Link to the Multiple Choice Questions!

Thematic Essay Topic: Supreme Court Cases Concerning Constitutional Civil Liberties

Task: Using the case of Korematsu vs. United States,
• Discuss the facts of the case (what do you know about it?)
• Identify a specific constitutional civil liberty issue addressed by the Supreme Court (what rights were in question)
• Discuss how the decision of the Supreme Court either expanded or limited a specific constitutional civil liberty in the United States (how did the decision affect how people were able to use that right?)

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE AN ACCEPTABLE INTRODUCTION AND CONCLUSION. DO NOT START THE ESSAY “I AM GOING TO TALK ABOUT.”

Vocab
Appeasement
Washington Naval Conference
Kellogg-Briand Pact
Neutrality Act
Lend-Lease Act
Executive Order 9066
Rationing
Manhattan Project
Internment
Nuremburg Trials
Destroyer-for-Bases Deal

Multiple Choice:
How did Women and Minorities benefit from WWII?
The US policy at the start of WWII.
Can the government limit your civil rights during wartime?
Why were Japanese people interned during the war?
The purpose, or the importance of the Lend-Lease Act and Destroyers-for-Bases Deal
What was a violation of Civil Rights that occurred during WWII
Why did President Truman decide to use Atomic Weapons vs. Japan?
Reasons for the policy of Isolationism
WHY did the US get into WWII (not just Pearl Harbor)?
What was the “Munich Mistake?”
Effect of the Korematsu v. US Decision?
How people on the “home front” helped the war effort

Thematic:
Korematsu v. US (1944)
Supreme Court Case
Information can be found on pages 802-803 of your textbook.

You may bring a cheat-sheet no bigger than ONE (1) Post-It Note (2”x 2”) to use during the test.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Tonight's HW Period 4 ONLY!

Read the following passage, and answer the questions below.

After Pearl Harbor was bombed in December 1941, the American military became concerned about an attack from the Japanese on the mainland of the United States. There were many people of Japanese descent living on the West Coast at the time and the American government was worried that they might aid the enemy. However, at the time there was no proven case of espionage or sabotage on the part of Japanese or Japanese Americans in the United States.

Nonetheless, in February 1942, General DeWitt, the commanding officer of the Western Defense Command, recommended that “Japanese and other subversive persons” be removed from the West Coast. President Franklin D. Roosevelt soon signed Executive order 9066, which allowed military authorities to enact curfews, forbid people from certain areas, and to move them to new areas. Congress then passed a law imposing penalties for people who ignored these orders. Many Japanese and Japanese Americans on the West Coast were moved to camps farther inland. This was called internment. Japanese Americans were forced to sell their homes and personal belongings and to move to the camps. They were required to live in barracks which did not having running water or cooking facilities.

Fred Korematsu was born in America of Japanese parents. He tried to serve in the United States military, but was rejected for poor health. When Japanese internment began in California, Korematsu moved to another town. He also had some facial surgery and claimed to be Mexican-American. He was later arrested and convicted of violating an order that banned people of Japanese descent from the area of San Leandro, California.

Korematsu challenged his conviction in the courts. He said that Congress, the President, and the military authorities didn’t have the power to issue the relocation orders. He also said that because the order only applied to people of Japanese descent, the government was discriminating against him on the basis of race.

The government argued that the evacuation of all Japanese Americans was necessary to protect the country because there was evidence that some were working for the Japanese government. The government said that because there was no way to tell the loyal from the disloyal, all Japanese Americans had to be treated as though they were disloyal.

The federal appeals court agreed with the government. Korematsu appealed this decision and the case came before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Questions to Consider:
1. In your own words, explain why Korematsu was arrested.
2. The United States was also at war with Germany and Italy. Yet people of German and Italian descent were not gathered up for internment as a group like the Japanese. Why do you suppose the Japanese were treated this way?
3. In times of war, governments often must balance the needs of national security with the civil rights of its citizens.
4. In your opinion, did the internment order find the right balance between these competing values?

Tonight's HW 4/21/09 PERIOD ONE ONLY

THIS ASSIGNMENT IS FOR PERIOD 1 STUDENTS ONLY!
There is an ancient saying in the law that "In time of war the laws are silent."

  • What do you think this means?

  • Do you agree with it?

  • Why?
CLICK HERE for more info

Post your responses no later than 11:59 pm

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

WWII NOTES

Tonight's HW and Break Assignment

CLICK HERE.  Print the following pages, and bring them with you to class tomorrow.  

This assignment is based on chapter 25 of the RED textbook.   Ignore the page numbers on the website.  

We will be working on this during class tomorrow.  Please be advised that if you and your team-mates finish the entire assignment in class tomorrow, then you will not have an assignment over the break.  If you do not finish the assignment, you will have to finish the entire assignment by yourself over the break.  

I will be publishing notes and other important information shortly.  Please stay tuned.  

Monday, April 06, 2009

Tonight's HW - WWII DBQ Essay

Hello, Everyone: 

For tonight's HW, everyone MUST complete their DBQ Essay.   Here are the things that must be turned in.  If you'd like, print the list, and use it as a checklist. 

1.  The DBQ Packet.  If you don't have the DBQ packet, please print it out.  
2.  The completed short answers, either on looseleaf, or your printed packet. 
3.  The outline of your essay
4.  Rough Draft
5.  Final Draft
6.  Grading Rubric.  

Friday, April 03, 2009

Tonight's HW

1.  COMPLETE any of the Documents from the DBQ which you did not finish.  If you need the DBQ, please refer to the links on April 2's post.  
2.  COMPLETE an OUTLINE of the essay.  
3.  COMPLETE a ROUGH DRAFT of your essay.   

Please note that your rough draft is DUE on MONDAY!!! 

NO EXCEPTIONS!!!

Thursday, April 02, 2009

Tonight's HW 4/2/09

ALL CLASSES (Period 2 and 4) 

CLICK HERE AND PRINT THE DBQ.  This DBQ is from the June 2005 Regents Exam. Remember, you only have to print the DBQ section, and not the whole exam.  

Answer the short answer questions.   When you have finished please create an outline of your essay.  

For Period 4 ONLY:  We will spend the first HALF of the period going over the Short Answers.   After we review the short answers, then we will discuss the outline.  REMEMBER, your essay is due Monday!