American History II
Curriculum Map 2015-2016
Unit 4: Prosperity and Depression (10 Days)
Key Concepts: Turning Points, Conflict, Compromise, International Affairs, Foreign Policy, Progress, Crisis
Students will Understand
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Students will Know (Critical Content)
As a nation prospers and grows, economic opportunities may increase
for some individuals and groups, while decreasing for others.
Relationships between individuals, groups, and nations may change as
economic circumstances change.
Individuals and groups are sometimes motivated to relocate and take
risks in order to improve their quality of life.
The power to govern in a democratic system is divided among different
groups, which at times are at odds with each other over how to best
govern.
Leaders can modify the institutions of government in response to the
challenges of their time.
Cultural diversity derived from religious, ethnic, geographic, and class
difference may create conflict.
Art, literature, and music often reflect a region or nation’s interests,
values and conflicts.
An economy's cyclical nature may challenge individuals, groups, and a
nation.
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Roaring 20s: Economy, Prohibition, Women’s rights Mass media, Lost
Generation, Harlem Renaissance
How did the economy grow during the 1920s?
How was life changed by the prosperity of the 1920s?
What significant social, intellectual, and technological changes occurred
during the 1920s?
How did the Harlem Renaissance challenge the perception of race in
America?
How did the U.S. change during the Roaring 20s?
What were the main causes of the Great Depression?
How did President Hoover try to deal with the Depression?
What was the purpose of the New Deal?
What effect did the New Deal have on the American people?
How was the 2nd New Deal different from the 1st?
How did the Great Depression impact society?
What was the lasting legacy of the New Deal?
Essential Questions
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How did the economic, social, and political events of the early 1900s lead to the economic cycles of the twenties and thirties?
What should the role of the federal government be in the economic and social lives of its citizens?
What long-term effects did the New Deal have on the United States?
How was America changed during this era?
How did the role of the federal government change during the 1920s and 30s?
Why did citizens allow the federal government to increase its power during the Great Depression, and how did it impact the future of the nation?
Priority Standards
Learning Outcomes (DO)
AH2.H.1 Apply the four interconnected 
dimensions of historical thinking to the
American History Essential Standards
in order to understand the creation and
development of the United States over 
time.
I will analyze the reasons
for, and the effects of the
social changes that took
place during the 1920's.
I will explain how the arts
expressed the social
changes taking place in the
Critical Content &
Vocabulary by Strand
Materials/Resources
1920s
 Role-play with a partner by
coming up with interview
questions about life in the 20’s.
 Create a 1920’s magazine that
outlines major inventions and
events of the time period.
History
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“Return to Normalcy”
Teapot Dome scandal
“Black Tuesday”
Hoovervilles
Soup kitchens/ Breadlines
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American History II
AH2.H.2 Analyze key political,
economic, and social turning points in
American History using historical
thinking.
AH2.H.3 Understand the factors that
led to exploration, settlement,
movement, and expansion and their
impact on United States development
over time.
Curriculum Map 2015-2016
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AH2.H.4 Analyze how conflict and
compromise have shaped politics,
economics, and culture in the U.S.
AH2.H.5 Understand how tensions
between freedom, equality, and power,
have shaped the political, economic,
and social development of the U.S.
AH2.H.8 Analyze the relationship
between progress, crisis and the
"American Dream" within the U.S.
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country.
I will explain why most
Americans wanted a return
to political and economic
"normalcy" during the 1920's
I will be able to describe the
causes and effects of the
Great Depression
I will analyze the political
changes that took place as a
result of the New Deal and
determine their impact on
reshaping both politics and
society
I will categorize the various
New Deal agencies and
judge their effectiveness.
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Creation of an essay in which
students choose if the decade
was conservative or modern
and choose three different ways
in which it was.
 Creation of a radio interview
using podcasting software in
which they are given a major
figure of the 1920s and they
must generate at least 10
questions to ask that person
and then conduct the interview.
Great Depression
 A simulation in which the
student is the President and
comes up with a plan on how
they would have handled the
Great Depression. They should
compare their solution to how
FDR handled the New Deal.
 Play a matching game that
allows students to match the
New Deal program with its
acronym, & definition.
 Creation of a research paper
looking at the long term impact
of a particular New Deal Agency
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FDR’s “Fireside Chats”
KKK
Sacco and Vanzetti
Rise of organized crime
Civics and Government
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Bonus Army
18th Amendment
19th Amendment
Capitalism
Socialism
The New Deal (AAA, SSA, FDIC,
SEC, NIRA, PWA, TVA, WPA,
Wagner Act, Fair Labor Standards
Act)
Direct relief v. Rugged
Individualism
Court packing plan
New Deal coalition
Economics
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Industrialization
Laissez-faire
Speculation
Buying on margin
Easy credit
Installment plan
Consumerism
Deficit spending
Economic impact of automobile
Geography
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Great Plains/Dust Bowl
Urbanization
Culture
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Technology
Jazz
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American History II
Curriculum Map 2015-2016
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Harlem Renaissance
Langston Hughes
Zora Neale Hurston
Silent films and “talkies”
Charles Lindbergh
Automobiles
Marketing/advertising
Radio
Scopes Trial
Fundamentalism
Flappers
Prohibition
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