Challenging Times

Emerging as a world power

Great Depression, Dust Bowl, & World Conflict

MAPS & IMAGES

World War I

Click on the image of the sinking of the U. S. S. Lusitania (above) to learn what role it played in the United States joining World War I.

Click on the image of the Zimmerman Telegraph (above) to learn what role it played in the U. S. joining World War I.

The Great Depression

Unemployed men line up for free coffee and "doughnuts" (donuts) as they look for any work that could feed their family and pay their bills.

Migrant Mother photographed by Dorthea Lange. Click the photo (above) for the story.

Hungry children line up for soup during the Great Depression of 1933-1943. This difficult time began when banks loaned too much money to people in the 1920s (after World War I ended) and the Stock Market crashed as a result.

The 1930s Video - Hoovervilles - HISTORY.comLearn more about the 1930s, a particularly tumultuous decade in world history that got its start with a bang - or, more accurately, a crash.

Works Progress Administration (WPA) - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.comFind out more about the history of Works Progress Administration (WPA), including videos, interesting articles, pictures, historical features and more. Get all the facts on HISTORY.com

Hoovervilles - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.comFind out more about the history of Hoovervilles, including videos, interesting articles, pictures, historical features and more. Get all the facts on HISTORY.com

The Dust Bowl

Dust Bowl Exclusive Videos & Features - HISTORY.comCheck out exclusive Dust Bowl videos and features. Browse the latest Dust Bowl videos and more on HISTORY.com.

6 years for blowing dust killed livestock, made people sick, and destroyed farmland, so many moved and abandoned their homes and farms.

World War II

Tuskegee Airmen

The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African American military aviators in the U.S. Army Air Corps (AAC), a precursor of the U.S. Air Force. Their impressive performance during WWII earned them more than 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses, and helped encourage the eventual integration of all races in the U.S. armed forces

442nd Regimental Combat Team

During WWII, "Go For Broke" was the motto of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, an Army unit comprised of Japanese Americans from Hawaii and the mainland United States. The motto was derived from a gambler's slang used in Hawaii to "go for broke," which meant that the player was putting everything on the line or risking it all in one effort to win big. This group was the most decorated group for its size.

Women worked in factories to replace the many men serving in the armed forces during World War II.

WASP - Women's Airforce Service Pilots

A few more than 1,100 young women, all civilian volunteers, flew almost every type of military aircraft — including the B-26 and B-29 bombers — as part of the WASP program to fill the shortage of pilots during World War II.

VOCABULARY

ALLIANCE - an association created to further the common interests of the members

ECONOMIC DEPRESSION - a period of economic decline characterized by high unemployment, low levels of production, and business failures

ENVIRONMENTAL MODIFICATION -

DROUGHT - sustained period with no precipitation and restricted water access

NON-NATIVE SPECIES - any species that occurs outside its native range as a result of deliberate or accidental introduction by humans which competes with native species for habitat and food and often takes over specialized ecosystems that rare plants or animals need to survive

INSTITUTION - an established organization

SUPREMACY - the quality or state of having more power, authority, or status than anyone else

NATIONALISM - having extreme patriotic feelings and feeling better than other countries

AMENDMENT - a formal or official change made to a law, contract, constitution, or other legal document

DICTATOR - a ruler with total power over a country, typically one who has obtained power by force

ABOVE: Adolf Hitler (right), dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and Benito Mussolini(left), dictator of Italy from 1922 to 1945. Click names in BOLD to learn more about each dictator.

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TOTAL WAR - a war that is unrestricted in terms of the weapons used, the territory or combatants involved, especially one in which the laws of war are disregarded

LANDMARK - building or place that is easily recognized and is of outstanding historical, aesthetic, or cultural importance, often declared as such and given a special status; may have occurred naturally or built by humans

WHITE HOUSE - official home of the United States President and family; recognized as a symbol of the United States, the President, and the President's administration; also houses offices of the executive branch and is the location of official State receptions and dinners

CONSUMERISM - the theory that a country that consumes goods and services in large amounts will be better off economically; sometimes referred to as a policy that promotes greed

URBAN SPRAWL - the uncontrolled expansion of urban areas

SUPPLY - the amount of a good or service available in the market

DEMAND - the amount of a good or service buyers are willing to purchase based on the price of the good or service

DEPLETION - the consumption of a resource faster than it can be replenished (replaced)

UNEMPLOYMENT - when a person who is actively searching for employment is unable to find work

UNCLE SAM - (initials U.S.) is the most popular personification symbolizing the United States. The figure of Uncle Sam dates back to the War of 1812.

CIVILIAN - a person who is not a member of the military or of a police or firefighting force

DRAFT - a system in which young adults are required to join the armed forces for a period of service to help provide defense for their country

VETERAN - a person who has served in the military

INTERNMENT CAMP - putting a person in prison or other kind of detention or confining people to a certain guarded area, generally during wartime

STATUE OF LIBERTY - officially titled “Liberty Enlightening the World,” the sculpture that stands on Liberty Island in New York Harbor was a gift from the people of France on the 100th anniversary of the American Revolution; designed by sculptor Frédéric Bartholdi; dedicated on October 28, 1886; a symbol of freedom; the subject of the poem by Emma Lazarus which is carved onto its base, includes the famous lines, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."

MOUNT RUSHMORE - carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore near Keystone, South Dakota; 60-foot sculptures of the heads of United States presidents (in order from left to right) George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln; a reminder of the leadership and contributions to the nation made by these men

People to know

(click each image to link to the biography)

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Tuskegee Airmen

442nd Infantry Regiment

rEAD aLL aBOUT IT

(linked articles)

World War I

~ Battles and Events:

~ Leaders:

~ Other:

Dust Bowl & Great Depression

~ Overview

~ Events

~ Culture

~ People

World War II

~ Overview:

~ Battles:

~ Events:

~ Leaders:

~ Other:

Fun Zone

Click on the Quizlet Robot to practice vocabulary from this unit.

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