Unit Overview:
This unit covers the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th, especially focusing on American Foreign Policy. Important themes covered in the unit:
Progressive Era
American and Global Imperialism
US Intervention in Latin America
Teddy Roosevelt
WWI
Versailles and aftermath of WWI
Unit Essay: American Imperialism
In order to receive credit for this project you must write an essay on the following topic:
American Imperialism: In 1884, the diplomats from nearly every nation in Europe sat down at a conference in Berlin and divided up the continent of Africa between themselves without anyone noticing that no Africans had been invited to the meeting. Occurrences like this were common during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, an era that historians often name, "The Age of Imperialism". During this time, the mostly European industrial nations colonized and subdued nearly every corner of the globe looking for new markets, much to the resentment of their newly acquired colonies. One would think that the US, a former colony itself, would be above this type of action, but American actions during the late part of the 19th and early 20th centuries tell a different story. Using the knowledge that you have gained from your lessons in this unit, examine three events from this era and write an essay of 600 words or more describing American Imperialism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Some events that you may consider when writing this essay: (these are live links to wikipedia articles)
Spanish-American War/Philippine-American War
Roosevelt Corollary/Dollar Diplomacy/Banana Wars
Hay Bunau Varilla Treaty/ Panama Canal
Open Door Policy/ Harris Treaty
Note that these events are grouped into three groupings and three body paras would make for a nice 600 or more word essay...just thinking out loud here.
Documentaries: Unit 2 Key Terms:
American Experience: Panama Canal (1:22:11)
The Century Episode 2: Shell Shock (44:24)
Short Videos:
The Spanish-American War (7:54)
The Indomitable Teddy Roosevelt (5:56)
American Presidents: Taft (3:09)
The Causes of WWI (11:20)
Lectures/Classes:
For this project you must define the terms listed below and explain each term's significance to the unit/era being studied. Your definition should be 2-3 sentences long and may be copied and pasted from a source like Wikipedia, but the significance of the term must be in your own words and based on your own understanding. To fill out a term's significance, ask yourself, "Why is this item included in my study of this unit? Why is this term in a history book?" The answer to this question is your term's significance.
Unit 2 Key Terms:
Progressive Era
Berlin Conference (1884)
Dollar Diplomacy
Triple Entente/Triple Alliance
Ida M. Tarbell
yellow journalism
Roosevelt Corollary
USS Lusitania
The Jungle
Sanford B. Dole
Panama Canal
Zimmerman Telegram
Social Gospel
Spanish-American War
militarism
14 Points
Women's Christian- Temperance Union (WCTU)
Open Door Policy
self-determination
Versailles Treaty of 1919
Below is an example of a key term done with the proper format:
William the Conqueror: William I (c. 1028[2] – 9 September 1087), also known as William the Conqueror (Guillaume le Conquérant), was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II. Before his conquest of England, he was known as William the Bastard because of the illegitimacy of his birth.To press his claim to the English crown, William invaded England in 1066, leading an army of Normans, Bretons, Flemings, and Frenchmen (from Paris andÎle-de-France) to victory over the English forces of King Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings, and suppressed subsequent English revolts in what has become known as the Norman Conquest.[3] (I copied and pasted this definition from Wikipedia)
Significance: William the Conqueror is significant because his conquest of England created the first nation state in Europe. His rearrangement of English feudal territories to give himself dramatically more power than the the barons and nobles around him caused him to be the most powerful monarch in Europe and eventually led to the rise of other nation states over the next few centuries. (These are my words based on my knowledge of English and European history.)