Great Depression and Unit Test

This week we will be finishing up the unit on the Great Depression and having an exam this Friday. All materials for the exam are on the right hand side of this blog under the category called assignments. These materials need to be reviewed extensively for the Friday Exam

The Great Depression... The Beginnings

This week we've started the Great Depression period 1929-1939. What started this period was a combination of several events that built up in the late 1920's Overproduction of Goods, Banking Failures and the Stock Market Crash of 1929 are most notable.

For the rest of this week we will be discussing how the President at the time, Herbert Hoover, tried desperately to fix all of these problems....

"The Roaring 20's" ...contined

This week we will be finishing up the Roaring 20's decade by looking at the leadership in our government, changes in immigration, and the underlying problems in the economy leading up to the Stock Market Crash of 1929.

There will be a Quiz this Thursday on Material from Chapter 22 in the Textbook
Student should complete homework assignments, review notes and stay turned for more details regardign the quiz.

Why Did the U.S. Join WW1?

In today's class we are going to examine the 3 major reasons for the United States joining the side of the Allies in World War 1.
Aggressive German submarine warfare, including the sinking of the cruise ship

Lusitania, had a big impact on America towards fighting against Germany. The Germans had unleashed what they called "unrestricted Submarine Warfare" and were sink any ships bound to England that were not on the side of the Central Powers.

The intercepted Zimmerman Telegram was a direct threat on the US from Germany. The telegram was a plea to Mexico to attack America and help Germany win the war. Though the attack never came many believe this telegram to be genuine and led America to side with the Allies.

Lastly, the withdrawal of Russia gave the Germans a huge military advantage in that they no longer had to fight on 2 fronts. We realized the Allies may very well lose the war without our help. Also, being able to fight on a side without Russia and their oppressive Tsar made it much more appealing to Americans who believed in democracy.

The Assassination of an Archduke

The Beginnings of World War 1

Today in class we are starting World War 1. It's imporatnt for us to know "WHY" this war happened before we discuss then events during the war. In class Monday we are bre+aking down the main causes of the war (there are 4) as well as the spark that lit Europe and the rest of the world into war.

The Panama Canal

Today we started examining and discussing the reasons the US decided to build the Panama Canal. Looking at the military need for a "2 Ocean Navy" was a huge reason we went ahead on this enormous project. It was also mentioned that we we're not the first nation to try to build a canal through Panama.

Tonight's homework is to read Ch 20 Sect 3 and complete Worksheet 20 Sect 3 that goes with the reading. Tomorrow we will do an in-depth class on the contruction and operations of the Panama Canal.