We Continue To Spend $$$$: The Marshall Plan

Perhaps one of the greatest contributions America made to the WW2 era was actually after the fighting concluded.

In 1948, three years after the war concluded, President Truman authorized a massive spending bill we've come to know as the Marshall Plan.

For this week's blog, visit these sources to learn more about the Marshall Plan:
Source One

Source Two

Source Three

For the comments section...

1) Write 100 words explaining the key details of the Marshall Plan

2) Write 100 words responding to this prompt..."Did America have a moral obligation to economically 'save' Europe the way they did with the Marshall Plan"?

Korea: America's Forgotten War

Many people skip directly over Korea and move into Vietnam when they think of global conflicts after World War II. In fact, the Korean Conflict (so-called because America never officially declared war on North Korea) is often called the "Forgotten War".

For this week's blog, you are going to watch this video which gives the basic details of the Korean Conflict.

For the comment section, create a Top-10 List of the ten most important facts you learned about this global event.

Then, write a 100 word summary answering this question: If the Korean Conflict is so important to the history of the U.S., why is it a "forgotten" war? 

World War Two: Through Their Own Eyes

Visit this website to find the article you signed up for in class.

For the comments, write 200 words on what you learned from your eyewitness account.

Fighting The War: With Cartoons???

The art of war began to dramatically change in the 20th century. An interesting element to WW2, which people are often unaware, is the role of cartoon propaganda. Characters like Bugs, Daffy and other favorites were placed into "global situations" to get Americans on board with the war effort.

For this week's blog, watch a famously controversial cartoon called "Tokio Jokio".

Also, read this article that describes the role of cartoons as propaganda.


For the comment section...

1) Write 100 words on your observations from the cartoon. Did anything surprise/shock you? Why might Tokio Jokio be considered controversial?

2) Why do you think Warner Brothers and other entertainment companies would spend time, in the early 1940s, creating war propaganda? (100 words)

The 20th Century's Greatest Villain?: The Rise of Hitler

For this week's blog, do some research on the life of Hitler. Notice his early struggles and his rise to controlling Germany by the 1930s.

In the comments...

1) Create a 10 point timeline of Hitler's life that you think covers the most significant events in his life that lead him from being a WW1 soldier to leader of Germany. Each point should have a date and a brief explanation of what happened in his life at that time. This section must be at least 100 words.

2) Write a 100 word paragraph answering this question: "What was it about Hitler's personality and/or ideas that allowed him to gain as much power as he did over the German people?".

The Great Depression: In Their Own Words

What makes history so interesting, and relevant, to us today is something we often forget....these events happened TO REAL PEOPLE!

People with families, struggles, senses of humor, mortgage payments, in love etc. all went through these events and experienced them differently.

So, for this week's blog, please listen to journalist Studs Terkel interviewing people from the Depression era to get a glimpse into their stories.

For the comments, write 200 words on what you took away from this listening assignment.

Start at 5:30 and end at 37:45.

New Deal: Political Cartoons

As we've noted in the past, political cartoons are an entertaining way to get a glimpse into how people thought about major issues in our history as they were happening.

For this week's blog, please conduct a Google search on "New Deal Political Cartoons". Find one that seems interesting and do some research on it.

Look for items like-where was it published? when? what is happening in the cartoon? what symbolism do you see in the cartoon? was the artist critiquing or supporting FDR's New Deal?

For the comments, post a link to the cartoon and write 200 words detailing the information you found.

Remember-you cannot do the same cartoon as someone else!