A unit based on Foxfire Principles
America at War in the Twentieth Century
Content Standards
Givens

Foxfire Core Practices

Standards

Assessment Questions

Links

Rubric

 

from California Social Studies Content Standards

11.4 Students trace the rise of the U.S. to its role as a world power in the 20th century, in terms of:
1. the purpose and the effects of the Open Door policy 
the Spanish-American War and U.S. expansion in the South Pacific 
2. the U.S. role in the Panama Revolution and the building of the Panama Canal 
3. Roosevelt's Big Stick diplomacy, Taft's Dollar Diplomacy, and Wilson's Moral Diplomacy, drawing on relevant speeches 
4. the political, economic and social ramifications of World War I on the homefront 
5. the declining role of Great Britain and the expanding role of the 6. U.S. in world affairs after World War II 
11.7 Students analyze the American participation in World War II, in terms of:
1. the origins of American involvement in the war, with an emphasis on the events that precipitated the attack on Pearl Harbor 
2. United States and Allied wartime strategy, including the major battles of Midway, Normandy, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and the Battle of the Bulge 
3. the role and sacrifices of individual American soldiers, as well as the unique contributions of the special fighting forces (e.g., the Tuskegee Airmen, the 442 Regimental Combat team, and the Navajo Codetalkers) 
4. Roosevelt's foreign policies during World War II (e.g., Four Freedoms speech) 
5. the constitutional issues and impact of events on the U.S. home front, including the internment of Japanese Americans (e.g., Fred Korematsu v. United State of America) and the restrictions on German and Italian resident aliens; the response of the administration to Hitlerâs atrocities against Jews and other groups; the role of women in military production; the role and growing political demands ofAfrican Americans 
6. major developments in aviation, weaponry, communication, and medicine and the Warâs impact on the location of American industry and use of resources 
7. the decision to drop atomic bombs and the consequences (Hiroshima and Nagasaki ) 
8. the effect of massive aid given to western Europe under the Marshall Plan to rebuild itself after the war, and its importance to the U.S. economy 
11.9 Students analyze United States foreign policy since World War II, in terms of:
1. the establishment of the United Nations and International Declaration of Human Rights, IMF, the World Bank, and GATT, and their importance in shaping modern Europe and maintaining peace and international order 
2. the role of military alliances including NATO and SEATO in deterring communist aggression and maintaining security during the Cold War 
3. the origins and geopolitical consequences (foreign and domestic) of the Cold War and containment policy, including 
  • the era of McCarthyism, instances of domestic communism (e.g., Alger Hiss) and blacklisting 
  • the Truman Doctrine 
  • the Berlin Blockade 
  • the Korean War 
  • the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis 
  • atomic testing in the American west, "mutual assured destruction" doctrine, disarmament policies 
  • the Vietnam War 
  • Latin American policy and the economic relationships today 
  • 4. the effects of foreign policy on domestic policies and vice versa (e.g., protests during the war in Vietnam and the "nuclear freeze" movement)