Topic #21 Overview Sheet
 
  Assignment #1
 

Sources:
 

Questions:
  1. Explain the structure of the European alliance system on the eve of World War I.  Who were the member nations of the Central Powers and of the Allied Powers?
  2. What were the major long-term causes of World War I?
  3. Trace the evolution of President Wilson's position on how America should deal with the conflagration in Europe?
  4. What forced Wilson out of his professed stance of true neutrality?
  5. What were the basic principles of "Wilsonianism?"
  6. What were the points made by anti-war advocates in the peace movement?
  7. Why did Germany rely on U-Boats?  Why did it back off from the unrestricted use of them early in the war?
  8. How did the German U-Boat campaign affect US public opinion and actions?
  9. Why were more Americans sympathetic to the Allied side in the war?
  10. What events finally prompted President Wilson to ask for a declaration of war in the spring of 1917?
  11. What were the reasons for the US going to war that President Wilson enumerated in his speech to Congress on April 2, 1917?
  12. How did the United States raise the troops necessary for the massive war effort?
  13. What roles did women and African Americans play in the military?  How were African-American troops treated?
  14. What impact did the American Expeditionary Force [AEF] have on the ground war in Europe?
  15. Identify the new technologies that the two sides employed in World War I.  What were the consequences of this new killing power?
 

Terms:
 
  Assignment #2
 

Sources:
 

Questions:
  1. On what two methods did the Wilson administration depend to finance the war effort?  How did the war cost compare with the typical peacetime budgets of that era?
  2. How did the Wilson administration organize the wartime economy?  List the government boards responsible for the economy during World War I?
  3. Why were there labor shortages at this time?  How was this problem resolved?
  4. How were things German perceived by Americans during World War I?
  5. What was the impact of World War I on the lives of women and African-Americans?
  6. What role did the Committee on Public Information play during World War I?  What tactics did they employ to propagandize the American people into unquestionable support of the war effort?
  7. In what ways did the government use the Espionage Act and the Sedition Act to suppress criticism of the war?  What were the penalties for violating these Acts?
  8. Who were the major targets of the Alien and Espionage Acts?
  9. What other means of suppression were used by state and local governments as well as private groups?
  10. Create a Supreme Court Case Analysis Sheet on these rulings:  Schenck v US and Abrams v US.
 

Terms:
 
  Assignment #3
 

Sources:
 

Questions:
  1. Into what three parts could the Fourteen Points be characterized?
  2. Why did the Allies ultimately win World War I?
  3. How did the great global influenza pandemic of 1918 contribute to the end of the war?
  4. How did President Wilson confront radicalism abroad immediately following World War I?
  5. What was the diplomatic philosophy that President Wilson brought to the Paris Peace Conference?
  6. Who were the major players at the Paris Peace Conference?  What were the political agendas that each man pushed forward?
  7. What obstacles did Wilson face in getting the European leaders to accept his approach to peace?  What domestic development weakened his position?
  8. Identify the main provisions of the Versailles Treaty.  What were its main weaknesses?
  9. What were the political divisions within Congress regarding the ratification of the Versailles Treaty?  What issues led to the failure to ratify it?
  10. How much of the blame for the Treaty's defeat must be laid on Wilson himself?
  11. Why didn't World War I "make the world safe for democracy?"
  12. Why was the Versailles Treaty a great disappointment?  How did it create as many problems as it solved?
  13. How were labor unions treated during World War I? 
  14. What was the economic and social impact that the war's end had on women, African-Americans, labor unions, and radicals?
  15. How did African-American military and industrial contributions during the war raise black aspirations?  How did whites react to this?
  16. What inspired the Red Scare of 1919-1920?  Was the threat real or imagined?
  17. What did the results of the election of 1920 indicate about the mood of the American people?
 

Terms:
 
                
Quizzes:
  1. Textbook Quizzes -->  chapter 23
  2. My Quizzes -->  A   B   C   D
     
Outlines / Lecture Notes / Review Sheets:
  1. Giant AHAP Review Sheet by a student from the class of '04, Horace Greeley HS
  2. Lecture outline --> "Creating a New Order" (Prof. David McGee, Central Virginia Community College)
  3. Note Cards -->  1051-1100
  4. Presidential Election Data --> 1912     1916     1920
  5. Cram Sheet --> William McKinley through Woodrow Wilson
    6.

 


   
 

Ten Commandments of Good Historical Writing

College Board A. P. U. S. History Main Page (.pdf file)