United States History - GED Social Studies

In the first half of the twentieth century there were competing ideologies about how best to govern a nation—democracy, fascism, and socialism. Fascism— particularly as seen in Spain under Franco and Italy under Mussolini—is defined by an extreme form of nationalism in which the media is under complete control of the state and individual rights are limited. It also generally features a totalitarian leader whose authority cannot be questioned.

All of these countries were ruled by Fascism at some point in the twentieth century except Russia, which transitioned first from monarchy to socialism, and then towards the end of the twentieth century (with the fall of the Soviet Union) to limited democracy.

A government or military policy of deliberately killing a group of people based on social, religious, ethnic, or national reasons is called genocide. Genocides have occurred throughout human history but were particularly prominent in the twentieth century. The Holocaust was a genocide of Europe's Jews and Romani perpetrated by Nazi Germany. Hersey is speaking out against organized religious doctrine; to be ostracized means to be banished or sent away from a community; excommunication is a form of banishment carried out by the Catholic Church where individuals, or whole communities, can be shut off from the salvation provided by and through the Church.

During the early years of the Cold War, the United States and China had almost no diplomatic contact and certainly no trade agreements. China was firmly sided with the Soviet Union against the United States; however, in 1972 President Richard Nixon made a formal visit to China in an attempt to reopen trade between the two nations and normalize relations. The visit is considered the greatest foreign policy success of the Nixon administration.

The Fair Deal was a series of domestic reforms encouraged by President Harry Truman. It represents a sort of extension of the New Deal program of his predecessor Franklin D. Roosevelt. The Fair Deal was concerned with establishing a higher minimum wage and ending unemployment.

The answer which occurred the most recently is the Vietnam War. The Civil War was fought from 1861 until 1865; the Spanish-American War was fought in 1898; World War Two was fought from 1939 until 1945; The Korean War was fought from 1950 until 1953; the Vietnam War was fought from 1965 until 1976. The Vietnam War began during the Presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson and did not end until after Nixon had been forced out of office by the Watergate scandal.

The Domino Theory was an important part of American foreign policy throughout much of the Cold War. It states that, if one country falls under the influence of communism, the neighboring countries are likely to follow suit. The theory was first suggested by President Eisenhower to try and encourage support for the French forces in Vietnam.

The Truman Doctrine was issued at the beginning of the Cold War by President Harry Truman. It stated that the United States would provide economic and military aid to any nation that was threatened by the internal or external spread of communism. The country that benefited most from the aid offered by the Truman Doctrine was Greece.

The Marshall Plan was a system established by American Secretary of State George Marshall to rebuild the economies and infrastructure of Western Europe following the damage of World War Two. The goal was to rebuild the European economy and reestablish Western Europe as a major trade partner of America, not to mention one that would have similar goals regarding the promotion of capitalism and the elimination of communism.

During the Cold War, the primary foreign policy of the United States was to try and prevent the spread of communism to other nations. This policy was called containment. It led to directly to the United States’ involvement in Korea and Vietnam, as well as other smaller conflicts.

The Domino Theory relates to the Truman Doctrine and the policy of containment that was the most important part of American foreign policy during the majority of the Cold War. The Domino Theory states that if one country falls to communism it will very likely spread to any neighboring countries. As such, America must prevent any country from falling to communism by any means that it can—or so the theory goes.

The battles of Lexington and Concord occurred in 1775, at the beginning of the Revolutionary War. They were the first two battles of the war.

A government or military policy of deliberately killing a group of people based on social, religious, ethnic, or national reasons is called genocide. Genocides have occurred throughout human history but were particularly prominent in the twentieth century. The Holocaust was a genocide of Europe's Jews and Romani perpetrated by Nazi Germany. Hersey is speaking out against organized religious doctrine; to be ostracized means to be banished or sent away from a community; excommunication is a form of banishment carried out by the Catholic Church where individuals, or whole communities, can be shut off from the salvation provided by and through the Church.

The opening text of the Declaration of Independence reads:

We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness—-That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new Government...

The Declaration of Independence was inspired by the burgeoning liberal tradition which held that it was nobody's natural right to rule over a people regardless of their wishes. Political legitimacy, instead of being based upon divine right or noble birth, is a matter of self-determination among those who consent to being governed.

The Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson. He famously adapted John Locke’s views that all men have the right to "life, liberty, and property" to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

The name given to the US-led coalition invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 was "Operation Enduring Freedom."

The correct answer is "Japanese Internment." Executive Order 9066 (partially reproduced above) authorized the military to forcefully relocate and corral, well, anyone-it was completely discretionary. Of course, it was used almost solely to relocate those of Japanese descent and place them into "internment" camps; essentially, it was the forced relocation and detainment of those of Japanese descent, in large part a response to the bombing of Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941).

A government or military policy of deliberately killing a group of people based on social, religious, ethnic, or national reasons is called genocide. Genocides have occurred throughout human history but were particularly prominent in the twentieth century. The Holocaust was a genocide of Europe's Jews and Romani perpetrated by Nazi Germany. Hersey is speaking out against organized religious doctrine; to be ostracized means to be banished or sent away from a community; excommunication is a form of banishment carried out by the Catholic Church where individuals, or whole communities, can be shut off from the salvation provided by and through the Church.

In the first half of the twentieth century there were competing ideologies about how best to govern a nation—democracy, fascism, and socialism. Fascism— particularly as seen in Spain under Franco and Italy under Mussolini—is defined by an extreme form of nationalism in which the media is under complete control of the state and individual rights are limited. It also generally features a totalitarian leader whose authority cannot be questioned.

All of these countries were ruled by Fascism at some point in the twentieth century except Russia, which transitioned first from monarchy to socialism, and then towards the end of the twentieth century (with the fall of the Soviet Union) to limited democracy.