The Great Depression and World War II

Unit Review Sheet

Facts and Definitions

Lesson 1: The 1920s

• The Harlem Renaissance refers to the thriving cultural expression in Harlem from World War I into the Great Depression. During this period, writers, artists, actors, musicians, dancers, intellectuals, and activists in and around Harlem collaborated with, inspired, and supported one another to express their shared experiences, frustrations, hopes, and dreams.

Lesson 2: The Great Depression

• On October 29, 1929, the stock market crashed and people panicked, rushing to withdraw money from banks. The crash and resulting panic led to the Great Depression.
• Erosion caused by poor soil management strategies combined with drought created massive dust storms in the 1930s that ruined many farms. Huge sections of the Great Plains became known as the "Dust Bowl."
• Under Franklin Roosevelt, the federal government created several programs to help the country recover from the Great Depression. These programs, taken together, are called the New Deal.

Lesson 3: The Start of World War II

• On December 7, 1941, the Japanese naval air fleet attacked Pearl Harbor, killing thousands of Americans and sinking over 100 U.S. naval vessels. This action brought the United States into World War II.

Lesson 4: 1942

• At the outset of World War II, an Allied victory was by no means a foregone conclusion.
• By 1942, Hitler controlled a big part of Europe and bombed England by air, while Japan had attacked the United States in the Pacific, making the war spread all around the world.

Lesson 5: The Homefront

• Rationing rules set limits on the number of rationed items an individual could buy so that people did not hoard things like meat, gasoline, rubber, or fats that were useful in the war effort or in short supply.
• During World War II, Japanese people living in America and Japanese Americans were forced to live in guarded camps because of prejudice and mistrust after the bombing of Peal Harbor.
• Young people could contribute to the war effort in a variety of ways, including raising money for war bonds, collecting scrap metal, growing victory gardens, and sending care packages to soldiers.

Lesson 6: 1943

• In June of 1942, the Japanese suffered a major defeat at Midway.
• In February of 1943, the Germans were forced to surrender at Stalingrad.
• In September of 1943, Italy surrendered to the Allies.

Lesson 7: Victory in Europe

• Japanese planes bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
• The Battle of the Bulge was Hitler's final effort to regain a piece of Belgium and was a costly battle on both sides.
• In June of 1944, Allied troops invaded France on what came to be known as D-Day.

Lesson 8: The Holocaust

• Anti-Semitism is a prejudice against or hatred of Jewish people.
• When laws enacted by Hitler's government took away the citizenship of German Jews and limited their rights, many Jewish families tried to flee the country. Countries facing economic crisis within their own borders, however, were disinclined to accept large numbers of Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria.
• Over 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust.

Lesson 9: Victory in the Pacific

• American military leaders were concerned about the length of time, amount of money, and number of human lives that an invasion of Japan to force a surrender might require.
• The Manhattan Project was the research project run by Robert Oppenheimer to develop a nuclear bomb.
• On August 14, 1945, Japan surrendered to end World War II.

Final Project: Before and After World War II

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