Honors American History
Unit 6:  World War II in America

Reading Schedule
In preparation
for class on…	Read…	Identify…	
Terms in bold print should be identified using the “CaDRES” format (if appropriate).	
Friday
February 10	Chap 19 – Sec 3 (638-9)
Foreign Policy after WWI	•	reparations
•	Washington Naval Conference
•	Kellogg-Briand Pact	

	Chap 23 – Secs 1 & 2
World War II in Europe	Optional (but highly recommended) reading	
Monday
February 13	Chap 23 – Sec 3
U.S. Enters World War II	•	pacifists
•	Neutrality Act(s)
•	cash and carry
•	Lend-Lease Act
•	Atlantic Charter
•	Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor	
Wednesday
February 15	Chap 23 – Sec 4
Mobilizing for War	RC – What roles did women play in the armed forces?
•	“Rosie the Riveter”
•	Manhattan Project, atomic bomb
•	Bracero program
•	zoot-suit riots	
Thursday
February 16	Chap 24 – Sec 4
The Home Front	•	“victory gardens”
•	rationing
•	Office of War Information (OWI)
•	Japanese internment, Exec. Order 9066, Korematsu v. U.S.
RC – Summarize several ways the government’s role in American lives increased during WWII.	
	Chap 24 – Sec 1
The War in Europe & North Africa	Optional (but highly recommended) reading	
Monday
February 20		NO SCHOOL – Washington’s Birthday (observed)	
Tuesday
February 21	Chap 24 – Sec 2
The Holocaust	•	anti-Semitism, Kristallnacht
•	concentration camps, ghettos
RC -- How did the U.S. respond to the Holocaust?
•	Nuremberg Trials	

	Chap 24 – Sec 3
The War in the Pacific	Optional (but highly recommended) reading	
Wednesday
February 22		George Washington’s Birthday Celebration	
Friday
February 24	Chap 24 – Sec 5
The War Ends	•	Yalta Conference
•	Hitler’s suicide, V-E Day
•	atomic bombings of Hiroshima & Nagasaki, V-J Day
•	United Nations	
Tuesday & Wednesday, February 28 & March 1 – Unit 6 Test (World War II)	

Essay Questions
You will be expected to answer several of these questions in essay form on the unit test, in class, and/or at home.

1)	Analyze the extent to which the United States adopted an isolationist foreign policy between 1919 and 1940.

2)	Analyze how World War II affected life for the following groups of Americans:  women, African Americans,
	Hispanic Americans, Japanese Americans, and Native Americans.

3)	How and for what reasons did United States foreign policy change between 1920 and 1941?

4)	Analyze the reasons why the United States dropped the atomic bombs on Japan.

5)	“Harry Truman was justified in his decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.”  Assess the
	validity of this statement.

Ohio’s Learning Standards
The following content statements from Ohio’s Learning Standards (2012) will be studied in this unit.

After WWI, the United States pursued efforts to maintain peace in the world. However, as a result of the national debate over the Versailles Treaty ratification and the League of Nations, the United States moved away from the role of world peacekeeper and limited its involvement in international affairs.  (CS #16)

During the 1930s, the U.S. government attempted to distance the country from earlier interventionist policies in the Western Hemisphere as well as retain an isolationist approach to events in Europe and Asia until the beginning of WWII.  (CS #21)

The United States mobilization of its economic and military resources during World War II brought significant changes to American society.  (CS #22)

Use of atomic weapons changed the nature of war, altered the balance of power and began the nuclear age.  (CS #23)

The United States followed a policy of containment during the Cold War in response to the spread of communism.  (CS #24)

The Second Red Scare and McCarthyism reflected Cold War fears in American society.  (CS #25)

The Cold War and conflicts in Korea…influenced domestic and international politics.  (CS #26)