NA Senior High School

Unit VIII: Dealing with Domestic and Global Crisis (1929-1945)

I.          What Caused the Depression?

Text 812-816

How widespread was the prosperity of the 1920’s?  How did government policies in the 1920’s demonstrate that “the business of America is business”?

II.        Hoover and the “Crisis of American Individualism”

Text 816 (bottom sentence), 818-819 (first column); Spirit II 316-317 (Hoover), 317-318 (Roosevelt)

Do you agree that the ruin of Hoover’s public career was due to the “collapse of the world that produced and shaped his philosophy”?

III.       The Hallelujah Attitude – 1932 Style

            Text 823-832 (top paragraph)

In what ways were Hoover and FDR the “perfect men for the job” in the elections that made them President (1928 and 1932 respectively)?  What is FDR’s philosophy in dealing with the Depression?

IV.       Demagoguery

Text 832-833 (2^nd column, 1^st paragraph); Spirit II 333-335 (Long), 335-338 (Coughlin), 338-339 (Thomas), 339-340 (Townsend)

MODERATION

What circumstances forced Roosevelt into more extreme positions on social, economic, and political questions?  Do you agree that the “central art of the New Deal was not economic planning but adroit political maneuvering?”  Explain.

V.        Farm Policy Controversy and the Horror of the Dust Bowl

            Text 837 (2^nd column) -839 (first paragraph); Spirit II 344-346 (Low)

How can the federal government justify paying farmers to destroy crops and slaughter livestock when people are starving?

VI.       “Nine Old Men” and the attempted Purge of 1938

Text 843 (last sentence)-846 (3^rd paragraph); Spirit II 351-352 (Ickes), 353-354 (Thompson)

Does the federal government in an emergency have the right and responsibility to overstep its constitutional authority in the interest and welfare of the people?  Are FDR’s actions in this section an example of this?

VII.     New Deal or Raw Deal?  FDR’s Scorecard

            Text 846-849 (all), 851

Is FDR to be lauded or vilified for the New Deal?  Which of the 3 “R’s” was most successfully implemented?  Which was least successfully implemented? 

VIII.    The Development of the Good Neighbor Policy

Text 821, 853-856 (top paragraph)

MODERATION

What factors influenced America’s increasing lack of desire to intervene in the domestic affairs of Latin American countries?

IX.       The US in a Disintegrating World

Text 856-861

Was the American moral stand against Japanese expansion wise?  What was the effect of the Neutrality Acts on affairs in Europe?

X.        Isolationism vs. Intervention

Text 861-862, 864-871 (3^rd paragraph)

How much of the American drift toward intervention in Europe was due to American popular demand?  How much was due to the decisions of leaders?  How much was due to events which were out of American control? 

XI.       “Black Sunday” and its aftermath

Text 871 (4^th paragraph) - 872 (all), 875-876 (3^rd paragraph)

Could the Japanese attack have been forestalled by a softer American policy in the Far East?  Would such a policy have been wise?  How much effect did European developments have in precipitating the war in the Pacific?  Did America maneuver the Japanese into attacking Pearl Harbor?

XII.     America in World War II – The European Theater

Text 889-894, 896-897 (first sentence)

Why were the Americans so late in establishing a “true” Second Front in the European Theater?  What ramifications will this have on future foreign relations among those powers involved?

XIII.    America in World War II – The Pacific Theater

Text 886-889 (2^nd paragraph), 897-898

Is there evidence of racism in the Pacific fighting in WWII that isn’t present in the European campaign?  What impact do you think this has on events that transpire there?

XIV.    The Atomic Bomb and Triumph of the Allies

            Text 898-901, 904, 905-906

What is your opinion on the controversy of the atomic bomb?  Was Truman justified in making the decision to use it?