A. World War II:

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What were the causes of World War II? Explain how and why the United States got

involved in the war. Discuss the U.S. home front. How did women and minorities respond to the war?

Explain the war in North Africa and Europe. Discuss the Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6,

1944. What was Adolf Hitler’s “final solution,” and what were the consequences of the Holocaust? How

did the Allies end the war in Europe? Discuss the war in the Pacific. What proved to be an effective U.S.

strategy in the Pacific? Analyze Harry Truman’s controversial decision to drop the atomic bombs on

Japan. What were the consequences of World War II?

B. Early Cold War: Analyze the early Cold War years and explain the emergence of the two major

superpowers, the United States and Soviet Union. What was the Truman Doctrine? Analyze the Cold War

in Europe. How was Germany and the rest of Europe divided? What was the Berlin Airlift? Analyze the

proxy wars between Communist and anti-Communist forces in Latin America. What was the Cuban

Missiles Crisis, and how was it resolved? Explain the Cold War in Asia. How did U.S policymakers

respond to the Communist victory in China? How did the United States become involve in the Korean

War, and what were the consequences?

C. Civil Rights Movement: Analyze the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. What progress did the movement make in the U.S. Supreme Court? How did southern segregationists react to the Court’s decisions? Who was Emmett Till, and what happened to him? Explain the Montgomery Bus Boycott and its impact. What style of protest did Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) and the civil rights activists practice? How did college students become engage in the movement? Who were the Freedom Riders? How did Civil Rights activists advocate for voting rights and address social and economic inequities in the United States? What is the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement?

D. Vietnam War: Explain the rise of Ho Chi Minh and the Vietnamese Communists. Why did the U.S. support French colonialism in Southeast Asia? How were the French defeated? Discuss the 1954 Geneva Accords. Why did U.S. policymakers support Ngo Dinh Diem and South Vietnam? What was the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution? Analyze Lyndon B. Johnson’s Policy of Escalation. What was the historical significance behind the Tet Offensive? What was Richard Nixon’s Vietnamization Policy? How did the United States expand the war? What was “peace with honor?” What were the consequences of the Vietnam War?