US History

Course Description: Students will study the major turning points in American history in the twentieth century. Following a review of the nation’s beginnings and the impact of the Enlightenment on U.S. democratic ideals, students build upon the tenth grade study of global industrialization to understand the emergence and impact of new technology and a corporate economy, including the social and cultural effects. They trace the change in the ethnic composition of American society; the movement toward equal rights for racial minorities and women; and the role of the United States as a major world power. An emphasis is placed on the expanding role of the federal government and federal courts as well as the continuing tension between the individual and the state.
During the course students will:
• Analyze the significant events in the founding of the nation and its attempts to realize the philosophy of government described in the Declaration of Independence.
• Analyze the relationship among the rise of industrialization, large-scale rural-to-urban migration, and massive immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe.
• Analyze the role religion played in the founding of America, its lasting moral, social, and political impacts, and issues regarding religious liberty.
• Trace the rise of the United States to its role as a world power in the twentieth century.
• Analyze the major political, social, economic, technological, and cultural developments of the 1920s.
• Analyze the different explanations for the Great Depression and how the New Deal fundamentally changed the role of the federal government.
• Analyze America's participation in World War II.
• Analyze the economic boom and social transformation of post-World War II America.
• Analyze U.S. foreign policy since World War II and the development of federal civil rights and voting rights.
• Analyze the major social problems and domestic policy issues in contemporary American society.