Select any two (2) of the following choices and write a factually accurate, well-written and thoughtful 500 word essay for each in which you demonstrate your command of the reading assignments on this site, the linked sites and the text. The essays will be evaluated for their substance (accuracy and detail), insight (level of analysis and thoughtfulness) and writing (adherence to format requirements, mechanics [spelling, punctuation, grammar], clarity and ease of expression). Do not be intimidated by the questions. Must be written in your own words and not plagirized. You can find the website containing all the information needed to answer the questions here: http://iws.collin.edu/kwilkison/Online1302home/Part2/Content.html
1. Describe both the long term and the immediate causes of World War I in Europe. Generally characterize the outcome of the first two-and-a-half years of the war. What was U.S. policy toward Europe during this period? Why did the U.S. change its policy? With which major powers did the U.S. eventually ally itself? Would you describe President Woodrow Wilson’s war goals as mainly successes or failures? Did the U. S. benefit from its intervention?
2. Explain why the U.S. economy was at such a low point when Franklin D. Roosevelt became President in 1933. Describe the Roosevelt Administration’s response to the Depression. Some analysts have claimed there were two New Deals. What differences do they point out? What sparked the “Second New Deal?” Give your brief assessment of the New Deal’s long-range impact on American society.
3. Describe and summarize U. S. foreign policy from the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt to the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt. What three major periods does your instructor identify during this era? What is the basis for that classification?
4. Examine the impact of World War II on these U.S. civilian populations: African Americans, Japanese Americans, Mexican Americans and American women. What does your textbook say about the U.S. policymakers’ response to the Holocaust?
This is a textbook question and may be successfully answered from your assigned textbook reading.
5. Describe and explain the “containment” policy of the United States and analyze the application of that policy by the United States from the development of the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan through the cease-fire in Korea. After Korea, list other places the U.S. tried to practice “containment.”
6. Describe and explain the development of the Red Scare which took place in the late 1940s and 1950s. What role did Senator Joseph McCarthy play? Did the American people learn from this episode?
7. How and why was significant Civil Rights and other social legislation enacted between 1964 and 1966?
