9th Grade U.S. History
Course Essential Questions
Unit 1: Industrialization and Reform
1. Who benefits and who suffers during the times of profound economic change?
2. How does immigration affect the immigrants and the society that they enter?
3. How can people change society?
4. Did this period of industrialization and reform move America closer or further away from its founding
ideals?
Unit 2: America As A World Power
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1. What considerations should guide the development of American foreign policy?
2. When should the United States go to war?
3. What responsibilities do people with power have to those people who have less power?
4. Did America’s emergence as a world power move it closer or further away from its founding ideals?
Unit 3: 1920’s, Great Depression and the New Deal
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1. What happens when traditional and modern cultures interact?
2. What influences do economic excesses have on American society?
3. What is the proper role of the government in people’s lives?
4. Did America move closer to or further away from its founding ideals during the interwar period?
Unit 4: World War II and the Early Cold War
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1. When should the United States go to war?
2. What is required to achieve victory in war?
3. What impact do challenges abroad have on Americans at home?
4. Did America’s development as a super power move it closer or further away from its founding ideals?
Unit 5: Decades of Change
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1. How does social and cultural change impact the individual?
2. How can people change society?
3. How far should the government go to promote equality and opportunity?
4. What happens when the government loses the support of the public?
5. Did America move closer or further away from its founding ideals in the three decades after WWII?
UNIT 6: End of Cold War and Contemporary America
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3.
4.
What effect does a changing economy have on American society?
What is the proper role of the government in people’s lives?
How did the end of the Cold War alter the United States’ security and position in the world?
To what extent has America lived up to its founding ideals?