US HISTORY THEMES 11TH GRADE

YEAR

EXAMPLES

THEME

Benchmark Alignment: I.3HS3, I.2HS3, I.1HS3, II.4HS2, II.4HS3, II.5HS2, III.1HS2, III.5HS1, III.5HS2, IV.3HS4

Definition: The completion of railroads connected the country by 1883 and encouraged the westward movements of people, promoted commerce, and communication.

Explanation: The railroads helped to link distant parts of the United States of America. This linking helped foster the movement and exchange of goods, ideas and services. This achievement stimulated cooperation, industrialization and the diffusion of culture and values.

Benchmark Alignment: I.3HS3, I.2HS3, I.1HS3, II.4HS2, II.4HS3, II.5HS2, III.1HS2, III.5HS1, III.5HS2, IV.3HS4

Definition: The Depression of 1893 was caused by over extension of the domestic economy, high tariffs, a plunge in markets, and droughts that destroyed the delicate balance of nature needed by farmers.

Explanation: A series of bank failures and financial collapses in 1893 brought to a head the bleak conditions of industry, farmers and the working class nationwide. The Silver Purchase Act of 1890, depletion of the treasury's gold reserves, liquidation of American securities abroad, and protectionist philosophy led to the Pullman Strike, and the fiery candidacy of William Jennings Bryant. After the distraction of the Spanish American War, America experienced an eventual return to prosperity.

Benchmark Alignment: I.1HS3, I.2HS1, I.2HS3, I.3HS3, I.4HS1, II.4HS4, III.1HS2, III.2HS2, III.4.HS1, IV.3HS4, IV.4HS1, IV.4HS4, VI.1HS1

Definition: The Populist Reform Party was founded by a coalition of western rural people to forward solutions to solve their economic problems.

Explanation: This is an example of a large-scale cooperative effort by a group within the modern industrial era to use the political process to advance its interests. The Populist Party wanted to reduce the amount of control that large industrialists and bankers had in government and over many aspects of the rural citizen's life. Many of their proposals became policies after being adopted by the Democrats.

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Benchmark Alignment: I.1HS3, I.2HS1, I.2HS3, I.3HS3, I.4HS1, II.4HS4, III.1HS2, III.2HS2, III.4.HS1, IV.3HS4, IV.4HS1, IV.4HS4, VI.1HS1

Definition: Sympathy for the anti-Spanish rebellion of 1895 in Cuba drew American popular opinion towards supporting a war against Spain. In May 1898, the U.S. Navy defeated the Spanish fleet guarding the Philippine City of Manila and went on to capture the city.

This battle marked the beginning of the Spanish-American War. During the next series of battles, the U.S. Defeated the Spanish in Cuba, after several bloody and expensive engagements.

Explanation: Popular U.S. sentiment supporting the revolutionaries was fueled by the "yellow journalism" of two New York City newspapers. A further outraged public demanded action when the U .S. battleship Maine exploded in a Havana harbor killing 266 American seamen. President McKinley reluctantly sent a war message to Congress.

Benchmark Alignment: I.2HS2, I.3HS1, I.3HS2, I.4HS4, II.1HS2, III.2HS2, III.4HS1, III.3HS2, IV.4HS3

Definition: In the late 1880’s a new wave of immigrants swept over the United States. About 70% of these new immigrants were from southern or eastern Europe, and most were Catholic, Jewish, or Greek Orthodox.

Explanation: Nervous Americans, already convinced that immigrants wielded too much political power or were responsible for violence and industrial strife, found new cause for alarm, fearing that the new immigrants could not easily be assimilated into American society. Those fears gave added stimulus to agitation for legislation to limit the number of immigrants eligible for admission to the United States and led, in the early 20th century, to quota laws favoring immigrants from northern and western Europe.

Benchmark Alignment: I.3HS3, I.2HS3, I.1HS3, II.4HS2, II.4HS3, II.5HS2, III.1HS2, III.5HS1, III.5HS2, IV.3HS4

Definition: Intense nationalism engulfed Europe in the early 1900s. Many nations, acting with imperialistic ambition, acquired colonies and took over smaller European countries. In June 1914, a Serbian nationalist assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Shortly, 30 nations took sides in the "Great War."

Explanation: The U.S. was dragged into the war on the side of Great Britain, France, and Russia. This involvement was caused by continued attacks on U.S. ships, the Zimmermann Telegram, and American financial interests in an Allied victory. Nationalist interests and imperialistic policies which maintained colonial relationships remained dominant in world politics throughout the twentieth century spanning World War I, World War II, the Korean Conflict, and the Vietnam War.

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Benchmark Alignment: I.1HS3, I.2HS1, I.2HS3, I.3HS3, I.4HS1, II.4HS4, III.1HS2, III.2HS2, III.4.HS1, IV.3HS4, IV.4HS1, IV.4HS4, VI.1HS1

Definition: States passed laws to further deprive African Americans of their rights. These laws were designed to enforce segregation, and the first of which required separate railway cars for blacks and whites.

Explanation: In the New South, Democrats, who were in control of southern state legislatures increased their attempts to strip African Americans of their rights. Some of these measures included poll taxes and literacy tests to discourage voting. These early attempts were extended to included segregated transportation, schools, parks, cemeteries, and other public places. This was the prevalent attitude of white Southerners which influenced the politics of the day.

Benchmark Alignment: I.2HS2, I.3HS1, I.3HS2, I.4HS4, II.1HS2, III.2HS2, III.4HS1, III.3HS2, IV.4HS3

Definition: The widening gap between the rich and the poor, unsafe working conditions in factories and crowded cities led to a spirit of reform known as Progressivism.

Explanation: The Muckrakers used the media to inform and incite the nation about sub-standard conditions in the very factories and food processing plants upon which Americans depended. Muckrakers were important in the Progressive Party's efforts to change the face of the American workplace. Publication of "The Jungle", by Upton Sinclair, exposed unsanitary conditions of the meat packing industry in Chicago. Subsequent demands from the public established federal legislation prohibiting unhealthful conditions in the food processing industries, as well as passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act.

Benchmark Alignment: I.1HS3, I.2HS1, I.2HS3, I.3HS3, I.4HS1, II.4HS4, III.1HS2, III.2HS2, III.4.HS1, IV.3HS4, IV.4HS1, IV.4HS4, VI.1HS1

Definition: Another part of the progressive movement focused on Women’s Suffrage. It faced strong oppositions from the liquor interests and businesses who feared that the vote would enable women to demand better wages and working conditions.

Explanation: One of the early forces in the suffrage movement was the National American Woman Suffrage Association. They tried to get state legislatures to grant women the right to vote. Another organization, the National Women’s Party focused on passing an amendment to the constitution guaranteeing women the right to vote. In 1919 Congress passed the Nineteenth Amendment granting women full voting rights. It was ratified in 1920. Both these organizations are examples of how the needs and beliefs of citizen’s can have an impact on governmental policies.

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Benchmark Alignment: I.2HS2, I.3HS1, I.3HS2, I.4HS4, II.1HS2, III.2HS2, III.4HS1, III.3HS2, IV.4HS3

Definition: This amendment banned the manufacturing, sale, or importation of alcoholic beverages. The Volstead Act of 1919 was enacted to enforce this amendment. corruption increased and the willingness to break the law led to a wider decline in moral standards.

Explanation: The 18th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution is a good example of society attempting to solve a societal problem using legal action. Prohibitionists connected alcohol consumption to many of the nation's problems. While the amendment intended to improve the lives of working class Americans, it proved that simple political solutions to complex social problems rarely work.

Benchmark Alignment: I.2HS2, I.3HS1, I.3HS2, I.4HS4, II.1HS2, III.2HS2, III.4HS1, III.3HS2, IV.4HS3

Definition: African-American artists in New York City's Harlem in the 1920Õs expressed a growing pride.

Explanation: Although racism persisted in American society, black musicians, writers, and artists enjoyed celebrity during a flowering of African-American arts in the 1920’s. Through art, the writers of the Harlem Renaissance protested against the injustices blacks faced. They also provided a positive view of black culture in America and Africa, which contributed to increasing patterns of social interaction.

Benchmark Alignment: I.1HS2, I.3HS1, I.2HS3, II.1HS1, II.3HS2, II.4HS4, III.2HS1, IV.5HS1

Definition: Beginning in the 1920s, an increasing number of Americans acquired home radio sets. As people across America listened to the same radio broadcasts they shared common cultural experiences.

Explanation: The radio was an affordable technological innovation, similar to the television in later years. The radio effectively shaped a common American experience through the broadcasting of news and entertainment. In 1933 President Franklin Roosevelt used the radio to address the American people to shape public opinion. American industry used radio commercials to promote goods and services to nationwide and international audiences.

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Benchmark Alignment: I.1HS3, I.2HS1, I.2HS3, I.3HS3, I.4HS1, II.4HS4, III.1HS2, III.2HS2, III.4.HS1, IV.3HS4, IV.4HS1, IV.4HS4, VI.1HS1

Definition: The Depression was a deep economic downturn that gripped the United States. The Depression reflected a transition in the way Americans thought about themselves and their government. President Franklin Roosevelt's fifteen relief and recovery measures were designed to curtail the Great Depression.

Explanation: Widespread unemployment and hardship led Americans to turn to the Federal government for solutions to problems previously solved by non-governmental sources. The American public instead supported candidates who promised large scale governmental action.

Benchmark Alignment: I.1HS3, I.2HS1, I.2HS3, I.3HS3, I.4HS1, II.4HS4, III.1HS2, III.2HS2, III.4.HS1, IV.3HS4, IV.4HS1, IV.4HS4, VI.1HS1

Definition: The New Deal merely introduced types of social and economic reform familiar to many Europeans. The New Deal represented the culmination of a long-range trend toward abandonment of "laissez-faire" capitalism, going back to the regulation of the railroads in the 1880s, and the flood of state and national reform legislation introduced in the Progressive era of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson.

Explanation: Roosevelt's pledge of "a new deal for the American people" is characterized by those large-scale federal programs designed to solve the problems of the depression. New Deal programs changed the relationship of the government to the people it serves.

Benchmark Alignment: I.1HS3, I.2HS1, I.2HS3, I.3HS3, I.4HS1, II.4HS4, III.1HS2, III.2HS2, III.4.HS1, IV.3HS4, IV.4HS1, IV.4HS4, VI.1HS1

Definition: A group of United Automobile Workers took control of three General Motors plants in Flint and brought about the first agreement between GM and a union that guaranteed collective bargaining on a national basis by a union for its union members.

Explanation: As ideas regarding unions changed in the United States during the Depression, the issue of workers rights to organize and bargain collectively became law. The policies of the pro-union Roosevelt administration and the economic devastation of the Depression brought about a rise of union membership for unskilled laborers. This support enabled union members to take possession of essential General Motors plants in Flint and idle a million workers nationwide in an effort to force GM to comply with the Wagner Act.

The 48 day sit-down strike provided the leverage that the UAW needed to successfully negotiates terms with GM that gave the UAW recognition on a national basis.

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Benchmark Alignment: II.1HS2, II.4HS4, III.3HS1, VI.1HS1, VI.2HS1

Definition: Fascism/Militarism is the belief that a military-dominated government should control all aspects of society.

Explanation: The spread of fascism/militarism in Europe and Asia caused a shake up in international diplomatic relationships. The most surprising of these realignments was the shift in U.S.-Soviet relations. Fearing the Japanese, the Soviets improved their diplomatic relations with the U.S. and in 1933 the United States formally recognized the Soviet Union. This reevaluation of U. S. foreign policy was seen as necessary to counter the growing power of Italy, Germany, and Japan.

Benchmark Alignment: I.3HS3, I.2HS3, I.1HS3, II.4HS2, II.4HS3, II.5HS2, III.1HS2, III.5HS1, III.5HS2, IV.3HS4

Definition: Although World War II was fought on the battlefields of Europe, North Africa, and Asia, American farms and factories also helped win the war.

Explanation: As the United States mobilized its resources for combat, the entertainment industry helped sustain morale. For Japanese Americans the war resulted in confinement in remote camps. For African Americans, Mexicans, and women, the war brought both new opportunities and reminders that discrimination and inequality still existed in American society.

Benchmark Alignment: I.3HS3, I.2HS3, I.1HS3, II.4HS2, II.4HS3, II.5HS2, III.1HS2, III.5HS1, III.5HS2, IV.3HS4

Definition: Between 1939 and 1945, NAZI Germany conducted a systematic elimination of European Jews, dissidents, and selected ethnic groups.

Explanation: After World War II ended, the United States became a strong supporter of Israel. This support has been attributed to the fact that the American people were sympathetic to the perceived needs of the Jewish people after emerging from such a catastrophic event.

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Benchmark Alignment: I.2HS2, I.3HS1, I.3HS2, I.4HS4, II.1HS2, III.2HS2, III.4HS1, III.3HS2, IV.4HS3

Definition: Founded in 1909 by W.E.B Du Bois and Jane Addams, the NAACP worked through its magazine, “the Crisis” to publicize cases of racial injustice and through the courts to end restrictions on voting and other civil rights. Founded in 1942, CORE challenged segregation and Jim Crow laws with the strategy of non-violent resistance.

Explanation: The NAACP and CORE were both responses of ordinary citizens to injustice. They represented the many individuals actions undertaken to solve contemporary problems of racial injustice and segregation. CORE used such tactics as sit-ins at restaurants that refused service to blacks to inspire other Americans to challenge injustices.

Benchmark Alignment: I.1HS3, I.2HS1, I.2HS3, I.3HS3, I.4HS1, II.4HS4, III.1HS2, III.2HS2, III.4.HS1, IV.3HS4, IV.4HS1, IV.4HS4, VI.1HS1

Definition: Through out our history, expanding the electorate to include diverse groups of people has been a major movement in society. In the 20th century, this movement focused on achieving equal rights and protections for all and on ending the injustices associated with racism, segregation and discrimination.

Explanation: The fight for individual rights and an end to segregation and discrimination were some of the main goals of the civil rights movement. Organizations like the NAACP, CORE, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee represented thousands of ordinary Americans who used nonviolent resistance, sit-ins, and “freedom rides” to call attention to the injustices suffered by African Americans.

The efforts of the civil rights movement of the 1960’s inspired other ordinary Americans to form other organizations, like the United Farm Workers, the Chicano Movement and the American Indian Movement to fight against racial and ethnic injustices.

Benchmark Alignment: I.1HS3, I.2HS1, I.2HS3, I.3HS3, I.4HS1, II.4HS4, III.1HS2, III.2HS2, III.4.HS1, IV.3HS4, IV.4HS1, IV.4HS4, VI.1HS1

Definition: President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society legislation sought to improve civil rights, health care, education, and urban conditions.

Explanation: In 1962, Michael Harrington published The Other America, a best seller documenting poverty in the United States. This author argued that racism kept many minority groups impoverished. Though John F. Kennedy had difficulty pushing legislation through Congress during his presidency, Johnson fulfilled all of his predecessor's major goals, many of them providing social welfare programs. Some claim that Kennedy's assassination helped to provide the momentum Johnson needed to push his reforms through Congress.

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Benchmark Alignment: I.2HS2, I.3HS1, I.3HS2, I.4HS4, II.1HS2, III.2HS2, III.4HS1, III.3HS2, IV.4HS3

Definition: Suburbs grew following World War II as expressways made housing outside of the city more accessible.

Explanation: Prosperous urban people moved to new communities called suburbs. In many locations the urban areas were left to the poorer members of society. The growth of the suburbs challenged the predominance of cities as the centers of the economic and cultural life. Suburbs helped increase de-facto segregation.

Benchmark Alignment: I.1HS3, I.2HS1, I.2HS3, I.3HS3, I.4HS1, II.4HS4, III.1HS2, III.2HS2, III.4.HS1, IV.3HS4, IV.4HS1, IV.4HS4, VI.1HS1

Definition: President Ronald Reagan's administration led to a rise of conservative attitudes and policies. A strong military, smaller government, lower taxes and interest rates, de-regulation of government controlled industries, were all ideas promoted by his administration.

Explanation: Amid dissatisfaction with the nation's economic condition and Keynesian economic policies, a growing concern over social problems, and a perceived lack of presidential leadership enabled the conservative movement to gain momentum. Some voters were looking for conservative governmental policies that more closely mirrored their own values and beliefs. This led to the election of Ronald Reagan.

Benchmark Alignment: I.2HS2, I.3HS1, I.3HS2, I.4HS4, II.1HS2, III.2HS2, III.4HS1, III.3HS2, IV.4HS3

Definition: A changed definition of the family and the aging of the American population have affected many lives. More people live in non-traditional families while older citizens face costly health care and decisions about the end of life.

Explanation: The historical make-up of families in America has undergone major change. Some serious societal problems are attributed to diminishing dominance of the nuclear family. Changes in family make-up have not always been accompanied by concurrent changes in the institutions, formal and informal, that supported families in the past. Questions like, 'who will make decisions about quality of life and longevity as medical technology prolongs life during illness and old age?' or, 'how do members of society change to meet the challenges of the changing family institution?' persist.

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Benchmark Alignment: I.3HS3, I.2HS3, I.1HS3, II.4HS2, II.4HS3, II.5HS2, III.1HS2, III.5HS1, III.5HS2, IV.3HS4

Definition: The partition of Germany by the Allies at the close of World War II included the partition of Germany's capital, Berlin, which was wholly surrounded by the Soviet-controlled area of East Germany. For ten months, the Soviets prevented re-supply of the Allied forces located in West Berlin. United States and British planes carried more than two million tons of food and supplies to the people of West Berlin.

Explanation: The Berlin airlift was a direct response to international tensions caused by the Soviet blockade. This was one of the first confrontations between the western Allies and the Soviets. West and East Berlin came to symbolize the Cold War, and the maintenance of a "free" Berlin symbolized an American commitment to containment. Through a major commitment by NATO, West Berlin maintained its freedom until the fall of the USSR.

Benchmark Alignment: I.3HS3, I.2HS3, I.1HS3, II.4HS2, II.4HS3, II.5HS2, III.1HS2, III.5HS1, III.5HS2, IV.3HS4

Definition: The Korean conflict was a response by the United Nations to assist South Korea to stop an attempt by Communist North Korea to invade South Korea. (June 25, 1950)

Explanation: America's fear of the spread of communism in Asia and globally was first physically confronted in the Korean Conflict. The US began to take on the larger role of spokesperson for the free world. Many attitudes and policies that persisted throughout the Cold War era were established during the Korean Conflict.

Benchmark Alignment: I.3HS3, I.2HS3, I.1HS3, II.4HS2, II.4HS3, II.5HS2, III.1HS2, III.5HS1, III.5HS2, IV.3HS4

Definition: In the 1960’s the Soviets continued to test America’s commitment to the Cold War policy of containment.

Explanation: Cuban leader Fidel Castro asked the Soviet Union for defensive weapons to ward off a possible attack from the U.S. The Soviets complied, also offering offensive weapons including nuclear missiles that could reach major cities in the eastern United States.

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Benchmark Alignment: II.1HS2, II.4HS4, III.3HS1, VI.1HS1, VI.2HS1

Definition: The flapper phenomenon began around 1920, as women abandoned conventional dress, values, and behavior.

Explanation: The flapper became an icon for an era of increased freedom and choice. In the 1920's women who stopped wearing heavy corsets and started wearing shorter skirts and transparent silk stockings were called "Flappers". Women became more independent as they broke with traditional roles. As the popularity of motion pictures grew, female actresses provided cultural role models for young women. Many women also developed a deep respect for the independence of working women.

Benchmark Alignment: II.1HS2, II.4HS4, III.3HS1, VI.1HS1, VI.2HS1

Definition: In August 1969, some 400,000 young people gathered in New York for the Woodstock festival.

Explanation: Woodstock became a symbol for what some believed to be an era of love and peace. The rejections by the Woodstock generation of previous generation's values were flagrant and dramatic. Woodstock emphasized the differences between the old morality and the new thinking of the youth culture. While acceptance of hair, clothing and musical tastes were adopted by many youths, the accompanying radical political thought most often was not.

Benchmark Alignment: I.1HS2, I.3HS1, I.2HS3, II.1HS1, II.3HS2, II.4HS4, III.2HS1, IV.5HS1

Definition: Music Television, the TV network that broadcasts music videos, was launched in 1981.

Explanation: The MTV generation is the latest addition of the continuing stream of cultural changes associated with the youth culture. Connecting major historical events to the changes in culture is an important theme in the study of history. Comparisons with the cultural trends of youth in the past can help inform us of the possible directions for the future.

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Benchmark Alignment: I.3HS3, I.2HS3, I.1HS3, II.4HS2, II.4HS3, II.5HS2, III.1HS2, III.5HS1, III.5HS2, IV.3HS4

Definition: On January 30, 1968, the start of Tet, the Vietnamese New Year, the National Liberation Front and North Vietnamese troops attacked South Vietnam.

Explanation: Until the Tet Offensive, most Americans believed that the United States army was winning the war in Vietnam. News of massive American casualties shattered the confidence of the American public in the government’s military policy. Americans realized that no part of South Vietnam was secure from the North Vietnamese and the American army was unable to protect it. Decades after the war the U.S. Government was still investigating possible cases of soldiers who were missing in action (MIA). The United States military and individual servicemen suffered embarrassment and ridicule as public opinion shifted toward non-support in the last years of U. S. involvement.

Benchmark Alignment: I.3HS3, I.2HS3, I.1HS3, II.4HS2, II.4HS3, II.5HS2, III.1HS2, III.5HS1, III.5HS2, IV.3HS4

Assassinations
Definition: John F. Kennedy-1963; Martin Luther King, Jr.-1968; Robert Kennedy-1968.

Explanation: The 1960s marked a time of change in the United States. Ironically, the three men who championed the cause of cooperation and coexistence in America in the early 1960s all met a violent ends. Though the two Kennedy brothers and Martin Luther King Jr. were assassinated, their deaths contributed to move toward liberalism. After John F. Kennedy's death, the United States Congress approved President Lyndon Johnson's social welfare agenda (The Great Society), an agenda (The New Frontier) that Kennedy supported during his lifetime. Martin Luther King Jr.'s life and death proclaimed the important need to achieve equality for all people within our nation. His non-violent integration movement required more patience than many civil rights advocates could muster. While serving as Attorney General, Robert Kennedy was thrust into the thick of the civil rights movement. These assassinations made many Americans seriously examine their commitments to the causes championed by these three men.

Urban Riots
Definition: Los Angeles- Watts 1965, Detroit 1967

Explanation: In the mid 1960's, racial tensions flared into riots in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts and in Detroit, Michigan. The Civil Rights movement became more confrontational. The assassinations of President Kennedy, NAACP leader Medgar Evars and Malcolm X, the bombing of a Birmingham, Alabama church, and the murder of three civil rights workers in Mississippi undermined the non-violent commitment of the early Civil Rights Movement. A new presidential commission investigated the causes of the unrest, as Americans questioned both the institutions that sparked the violence and the violence itself.

Benchmark Alignment: I.1HS3, I.2HS1, I.2HS3, I.3HS3, I.4HS1, II.4HS4, III.1HS2, III.2HS2, III.4.HS1, IV.3HS4, IV.4HS1, IV.4HS4, VI.1HS1

Definition: Watergate was break-in at the Democratic National located in the Watergate building in Washington D.C. by individuals during the re-election campaign of President Nixon. Apparent attempts to cover up evidence led to President Richard Nixon's resignation on August 9, 1974.

Explanation: The American public was disillusioned with a double standard: while American citizens were arrested for breaking laws, some government officials seemed to operate with disregard for the law. As a result, many Americans dropped out of the political process.

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Benchmark Alignment: I.3HS3, I.2HS3, I.1HS3, II.4HS2, II.4HS3, II.5HS2, III.1HS2, III.5HS1, III.5HS2, IV.3HS4

Definition: The oil rich nations located at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea.

Explanation: Beyond the political and religious tensions of the Middle East is the issue of American dependence on foreign oil reserves. In order to remain a world power the U.S. needs a vast supply of oil. With foreign supplies in the hands of unfriendly nations the U.S. must begin to look toward alternative resources to supply its' growing demands. Another policy might be to increase our efforts at conservation by developing a more forward-thinking national policy regarding the development and use of our domestic reserves of oil.

Benchmark Alignment: II.1HS2, II.4HS4, III.3HS1, VI.1HS1, VI.2HS1

Definition: Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, published in 1962, awakened many people to the dangers that DDT and other pesticides posed to the environment and built an awareness of the concept of ecosystems.

Explanation: As a result of the publication of "Silent Spring", DDT use was banned in the U.S. Silent Spring focused attention on the dangers that technological advancements posed to the environment. People began to question the use of chemicals and their consequences.

Benchmark Alignment: I.4HS1, I.3HS3, I.4HS4, II.1HS1, II.2HS1, II.2HS2, II.4HS3, III.3HS1, IV.2HS2

Definition: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, AIDS is the final, fatal stage of an illness caused by the human immune-deficiency virus (HIV). By the year 2000, more than 200,000 Americans died of AIDS, and countless numbers of people had been infected with HIV worldwide. The infection is now endemic in the world.

Explanation: In the 1980's, many Americans ostracized HIV-infected individuals, including children. Activists and HIV-awareness education have lessened prejudice against those with the infection, which is not communicable in ordinary social situations. Issues of public health and the health care system have been highlighted because of the HIV and AIDS problem.

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Benchmark Alignment: I.1HS2, I.3HS1, I.2HS3, II.1HS1, II.3HS2, II.4HS4, III.2HS1, IV.5HS1

Definition: Apollo 11 was the culmination of America's determination to be the first country to put a person on the moon.

Explanation: When the Soviets successfully launched Sputnik, President John Kennedy challenged American scientists to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade. This launched the United States into a space race and focused attention on the American public school system. The need for more courses in mathematics and science in K-12 schools was widely believed necessary for the United States to successfully compete with the Soviets and win the Cold War. Research and development in the race to the moon resulted in technological innovations now used worldwide.

Benchmark Alignment: I.1HS2, I.3HS1, I.2HS3, II.1HS1, II.3HS2, II.4HS4, III.2HS1, IV.5HS1

Definition: Corporations that span multiple national boundaries. These corporations have operations in a number of countries and so impact the governments and economies of these nations on a global scale.

Explanation: The role played by multi-national corporations in the future will have both positive and negative affects. Economic globalization is the engine driving the creation of global agreements and institutions such as the WTO. The areas of concern include the environment, agriculture, intellectual property rights, culture and investment. The world's corporate and political leadership is undertaking a restructuring of global politics and economics that may prove as historically significant as any event since the Industrial Revolution. Many people fear that this restructuring is happening at tremendous speed, with little public disclosure of the consequences affecting democracy, human welfare, local economies, and the natural world.

Benchmark Alignment: I.1HS2, I.3HS1, I.2HS3, II.1HS1, II.3HS2, II.4HS4, III.2HS1, IV.5HS1

Definition: The personal computer is a device that enables individuals to access an increasingly broader and more complex volume of information, and communication delivered via the Internet.

Explanation: The introduction of affordable personal computers and Internet use quickly influenced American and international life and business. The massive number of computers in homes, businesses, schools, and governments in the US and internationally extended American ideas, ideals and influence. Americans with PCs are also influenced by International business, cultures and ideas they encounter on the web.

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