honors united states history ii -...

Union City High School Honors Course Summer Assignment

History

UCHS Honors Summer Assignment

2011

Course Title: Honors United States History II

Goals and Objectives

Students are encouraged to complete a total of five essays that cover various aspects of what they will be learning in their US History II Honors course beginning in the fall. Each essay gives the student an opportunity to research a snapshot of the events we will be learning in the 2010‐2011 school year. All assignments reflect the core curriculum content standards, promote effective writing skills and connect past issues with contemporary ones in a relevant and reflective manner.

Essential Questions

• "Do different Nations define what Progressive means in different ways?"

• Can an” isolationist” nation build an empire? • Does publicizing society’s problems guarantee they will

be solved? • How does the environment affect culture? • What did the US government have in mind when

“Manifesting its’ own Destiny”? • How do we assess a nations progress with the ongoing

presence of poverty? • ”What are the characteristics of a nation with a “Free

Market”? • How has regional geography and culture influenced the

course of US history? • What roles have race, ethnicity, class and gender played

in responding to or shaping the path of American history?

• 10. Does a nations’ philosophy determine its allies and enemies?

Assignment Description

Each essay will follow a two‐step process where the student will brainstorm his/her ideas on the provided web first. After coming up with a formal plan for their essay students will then construct their writing. They must make sure to proofread each essay thoroughly before submitting. During the course of the year students will be familiar with many of the major themes we will be covering and any further essays on


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the subject matter will in turn be more advanced, enriched and challenging. Special Instructions: All essays are to be submitted within a manila envelope or folder with the student’s name. Each essay should be double‐spaced in a 12 sized, Times New Roman font. The essay should be on top with the web stapled underneath. Sample Heading:

Joe Smith

Honors US History II

Native American Relocation Essay

July 24, 2010

Timetables & Deadlines;

Pacing Guide

If students manage their time wisely over the duration of the summer (roughly an essay a week) they will have successfully immersed themselves in most of the essential overarching themes in the United States History curriculum.

Assessments In the beginning of September I will correct any further mechanical, grammatical or content‐based errors before handing back for the completion of the final copy. All essays will be submitted into the student portfolios and will be graded using the New Jersey Holistic Scoring Rubric.

Instructional Materials

Essay prompts are attached. Informational reading selections are attached.

Grading Weight for MP1

Your rough draft essays will be scored utilizing the NJ Holistic Scoring Rubric. Once you have reworked the draft, you will be awarded anywhere between three and five extra points for your revisions and a new score will be achieved. Together the rough draft and the new draft scores are averaged for a final essay grade. This becomes part of your portfolio assignment grade that accounts for 50% of your first marking period grade.


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Assignment 1: Native American Tribes and The US Government (Dialogue) You are going to step into the shoes of a Native American today. You are going to write a dialogue in which you are a Native American tribal leader or representative. The dialogue will be in a letter format. You may choose a historical tribal leader or make up your own historically fictional character. Give some background information on yourself. You can be an actual chief, a fictional, created character (male or female) or anything you believe is fitting for the assignment. The basis of the assignment is to talk about any grievances or concerns that you may have as part of a Native American tribal nation. What it is that you think is flawed or unjust about the situation you are in? Make a list on your brainstorming web and try to be as specific as possible (example: change in daily diet now that you are on a reservation). Try to come up with examples of how you believe the situation can be rectified in a fair and balanced manner. Remember: You are trying to assimilate your culture and the culture of white settlers so that you can coexist peacefully together!

A Letter of Grievance to the US Government

Tips: 1. Search for specific examples of the relationship between Native American

tribes and the US government. Some buzzwords would be Native American Relocation, Native American Wars and Native American Massacres.

2. Use the web, look for images that strike you as interesting or bring about emotion in your, remember you are writing this letter for the sake of your people!

Parameters: Times New Roman 12 Font Double Spaced 3 1/2– 4 Pages Web, Rough Copy


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Assignment 2: Words of Advice You will be researching a particular immigrant group for this assignment. The task is to form a letter of advice from the perspective of an old immigrant (1910‐1920) to someone who has just arrived in this country. What you want to do is to compare and contrast the experiences of two different people who have left where they lived at different times in history to come to America. Your job is to think of an immigrant group from the early part of the 20th century and to become a particular person from that era. Your choices are: Irish Immigrant, Italian Immigrant, Russian Immigrant, Polish Immigrant, Jewish Immigrant (From any number of European countries), German Immigrant Greek Orthodox Immigrant I would like you to take the role of that old immigrant and in your letter to the new immigrant (From whatever country you choose) tell a story about your journey to America and give any advice that you think would be needed. Some things to ask yourself:

1. What happened right after you arrived? 2. How many immigrants did you come with? 3. Describe what happened at Ellis Island. 4. Can you tell me why you left? 5. Who did you speak to about coming to America? 6. If you were denied entry what do you think could have happened next? 7. What differences are there between your experience and a new immigrant

experience? 8. Could your experience have happened in 2009? 9. Do you another time when someone immigrated to America in between 1910 and

2009? 10. What things would change if you did things differently after immigrating? (Jobs etc.) 11. What questions would you ask of a new immigrant if you worked at Ellis Island? 12. If ….. Had happened how would your situation be different? 13. Can you distinguish between your experience and the experience of other

immigrant groups? 14. What are some possible solutions to the problems you encountered as a new

immigrant? 15. How would you devise your own way to succeed in America? 16. How would you have done things differently?


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Parameters: Times New Roman 12 Font Double Spaced 3 1/2– 4 Pages Web, Rough Copy Assignment 3: Is The World In Need of a Progressive Era? You will be researching and learning about the Progressive Era in America (Roughly 1900‐1920). What occurred during the Progressive Era that made our nation what it is today? Do different societies define what Progressive means in different ways? You must decide if certain nations in our world are in need of their own Progressive Era and how they can achieve their goals of internal improvement. Synopsis of the Progressive Era The Progressive Era was a time period in our nation when the United States looked inward and tried to improve itself. These were some of the goals of the Progressive Era: 1. Clean up corruption in government. 2. Create more competition by breaking‐up monopolies and trusts. 3.Improve efficiency in business and government. 4. Put more power in the hands of the people (more democracy) 5. Improve working conditions. 6. Improve living conditions 7. Grant the right to vote to women 8. End child labor 9. Ban alcohol 10. Replace high tariffs with a graduated income tax 11. Conserve natural resources 12. Expand free public education 13. Create National Park System. Directions: Knowing that our nation underwent a Progressive Era in order to become one of the most well rounded nations in the world do you think that other nations in the world need to undergo their own Progressive Era? Does our nation need to undergo any internal improvements today? Think about the following points:

1. Most immigrants in 1900 were taken advantage of. They worked for low wages and under dangerous conditions. They were however, all documented. Does our nation still have this problem with undocumented workers?

2. Women did not have the right to vote until 1920. Do women around the world enjoy the same status as women in our nation?


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3. How does education play a role in all of this? Do you think people who work in sweatshops around the world have the ability to read and write? Is there a connection to education levels and one’s quality of life?

Parameters: Times New Roman 12 Font Double Spaced 3 1/2– 4 Pages Web, Rough Copy Assignment 4: Is Imperialism still effective and alive in the world today? You will be researching and learning about Imperialism around the turn of the century (roughly 1900 – 1918). What occurred during this time period in history foreshadowed in many aspects the way our world currently appears (spatially, geographically and politically). It was during this time, immediately in the aftermath of the Spanish American War that the United States was emerging as a World power. Today the United States is still regarded as a world power but the landscape of the world is vastly different. The United States is currently occupying two nations (Iraq and Afghanistan) in an effort to help spread democracy to a region of the world that is in dire need of it. The situation is reminiscent of a time when the USA occupied the Philippines in the aftermath of the Spanish American War. This resulted in a little known war referred to as the Philippine‐American War. Imperialism has shaped the way the world is in a number of ways: Portuguese is spoken in Brazil, Spanish is spoken in most of the Caribbean and in Africa a number of languages are spoken, including German, Dutch, French, English depending on the country. As usual you will be connecting the past and the present thematically (Higher Order Thinking Skills, Imperialism). You will also use the higher order thinking skill of predicting events and why you think they would occur. Your options/questions are as follows:

1. Discuss the legacy of Imperialism in the World. How did it shape the World throughout history particularly in the early 1900’s? What role in the World does it play today? How will it affect the future? Is it irrelevant today? Is it alive and shaping the modern world as we speak?

2. Compare/Contrast the Philippine Annexation and Occupation to Iraq/Afghanistan. 3. Is it worthwhile to go to war to spread democracy to other nations? 4. Does a Nations’ Philosophy determine its’ allies and enemies? 5. Is it better for a nation to be loved or feared? 6. What should be the role of the United States going forward in the future? 7. What will the World you live in look like when you are forty? (Roughly 25 Years) Why will it

look that way? What events in the World today do you think foreshadow what your future will look like and help to paint a picture for your prediction?

8. Find examples of Imperialism succeeding or failing other than the United States. What were some common factors that were either successful or unsuccessful?


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9. How would you handle the Annexation of the Philippines? How would you handle American Foreign Policy if you were the President? (Diplomacy, Force, a Mixture of Both)? Explain.

Parameters: Times New Roman 12 Font Double Spaced 3 1/2– 4 Pages Web, Rough Copy Assignment 5: World War One Essay Assignment Henry Allingham was the world’s oldest surviving World War One veteran. He was born in 1896 and he finally died in 2009. In this essay you will write a letter from Henry to one of his children giving a brief history of his life. What types of advancements did Henry see in his lifetime? How may have World War One shaped the way he lived the remainder of his life? Give some details about Henry’s life, which can be found in the article that was given to you about him. Henry would have lived through many scientific, engineering and life changing innovations in his life. (Examples: Cars, Planes, Television, Internet, Wireless technology, etc….) Pretend you are Henry Allingham or someone who lived through the time period of WWI into our contemporary era. (Your character may be male or female) Write a three to four page essay in the format of a letter looking back on your lifetime. This letter will be for your grandchildren to read so they can know many of the major changes you lived through in your many years on earth. Sources: Henry Allingham CNN Article (Attached) Possible Web Searches: Article – Henry Allingham CNN.com Google – “Henry Allingham, oldest surviving member of World War One” Parameters:


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Times New Roman 12 Font Double Spaced 3 1/2– 4 Pages Web, Rough Copy Reading Passage: Past war offers Afghanistan lessons. And it's not Vietnam

The war ignited protests at home. American soldiers battled elusive fighters in remote jungles. The enemy used hit-and-run tactics to drain America’s will.

As President Obama begins to send more of the 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan in the new year, some critics are invoking those snapshots from history to argue that the United States can’t afford to get bogged down in another Vietnam.

But those snapshots actually come from another war: The Philippine-American War, which lasted from 1899 to 1902. The war is largely forgotten today, but it was a bloody preview of the type of warfare that the U.S. military faced in Asia and now in Afghanistan, historians say.

“It was the 19th century version of Vietnam,” said Edward Sheehy, a professor of military history at La Salle University in Pennsylvania.

There was, however, one big difference: The U.S. won. How did a far weaker U.S. military prevail in the Philippines and what lessons can Obama apply from that victory to Afghanistan today?

Historian: ‘It was a very savage war’ Obama faces the same challenge that American leaders faced at the start of the war in the Philippines: How to mobilize public support. A recent poll shows that Obama is already losing support for the war in Afghanistan.

A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released December 23, 2009, found that the majority of


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the U.S. public opposes the war, with 55 percent of respondents opposed and 43 percent in support of the U.S. mission in Afghanistan.

The war in the Philippines provoked skepticism among some Americans as well. For one, victory seemed implausible, said Paul Kramer, author of “The Blood of Government: Race, Empire, the United States and the Philippines.”

Kramer said the U.S. military was small at the time. Filipino forces knew the terrain and had local support. The U.S. military had also never fought a guerilla war outside the mainland. (The 19th century wars against American Indians are considered guerilla war by some military historians.)

When they first started fighting, American soldiers struggled to adjust, Kramer said. Filipino guerillas attacked them and then blended in with the civilian population.

“American soldiers really found it disturbing and traumatizing. They didn’t know who was an enemy and who was an ally,” Kramer said.

Origins of the Philippine-American War The Philippine-American War grew out another war, the 1898 Spanish-American War. The U.S. defeated Spain, which then ceded the Philippines to America. But Filipino forces that had been fighting for self-rule against Spain didn’t want to live under another occupier.

Filipino nationalists declared their independence, ratified a constitution, and elected a president. But the United States claimed the land, seized the Philippines in February of 1899 and war erupted.

All war is brutal, but several historians and military experts say the war in the Philippines was barbaric, even by military standards.

Yet the United States won, in part, because it was willing to be brutal, some military historians say. According to an official State Department account of the war, at least 4,200 American soldiers, 20,000 Filipino combatants and as many as 200,000 Filipino civilians died from violence and famine during the war.

Filipino fighters deliberately sought to drag the war on with hit-and-run tactics that would turn the American public against the war, historians say. It was the classic guerilla strategy: Win by avoiding big, pitched battles and melt into the civilian population.

But the U.S. military responded to the guerilla strategy with a simple strategy of their own, some historians say: Kill them all.

Civilian casualties were not accidental, but intentional, say Lt. Col. Michael E. Silverman, an Iraq war veteran and a counterinsurgency training consultant for the U.S. Army.


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“Victory there was achieved by a brutal strategy of near genocide. … Many of the officers and sergeants who fought the war were veterans of the Indian Wars and brought with them the idea from Gen. Philip Sheridan: ‘The only good Indians I’ve seen were dead.’’’

The U.S. military forced Filipino villagers outside of their villages into population centers where they could be separated from guerillas. They killed villagers’ livestock and torched crops, says John Hinshaw, a history professor at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pennsylvania.

“They were the same tactics that worked against the Plains Indians in the 1870s and 1880s,” he says

“We killed hundreds of thousands of people in the process. A lot of it was due to disease and starvation. It was a very savage war.”

How the U.S. overcame its internal divisions: The war ignited debate in America. Critics said America was behaving as a colonial power and denying Filipinos the right to self-government.

An Anti-Imperialist League was founded to lead protests against the war. Public figures such as Mark Twain, steel magnate Andrew Carnegie and three-time Democratic Party presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan spoke out against the war.

“People like Mark Twain were pointing out the Philippines was a country that had set up a republic modeled on the American Constitution, and we were basically saying you’re not ready for it,” says Hinshaw.

After three years, part of the American public began to grow disenchanted with the war. “The Forbidden Book,” a book that explored the racial and commercial justifications for the war, cited a 1901 New York Times editorial that declared: “The American people are plainly tired of the Philippine War. … Is it the lack of troops, supplies, transportation, ammunition and artillery? Is it the lack of a competent commander? How long is this Philippine War going to last?”

Despite the protests, political leaders in the United States were able to maintain support from most of the American public by employing several strategies, historians say. They told Americans they were in the Philippines to civilize and Christianize its inhabitants, historians say.

“They ignored the fact that most of them [Filipinos] were already Roman Catholic,” says Sheehy, professor from La Salle University.

Supporters of the war also squelched the voices of opponents by dismissing them as unpatriotic and effeminate “aunties,” historians say.


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America’s political leaders also correctly read the mood of the country, historians say. Ordinary Americans wanted to flex their newfound military muscle and business leaders wanted to make money in Asia. Many Americans were aware that several European countries were also trying to gain control of the Philippines, according to Sheehy.

“There was this sense that we had to take our place in the world. If we don’t, someone else might.”

The United States also won because it didn’t just rely on military might. They found strong, local allies, historians say. They did so through a tactic called the “policy of attraction,” according to a State Department account of the war. Under the policy, the United States introduced social reforms, economic development and permitted some forms of self-government. The policy won over key elites and other Filipinos, the State Department says.

The United States also found local allies on the battlefield. It created an auxiliary Filipino military force called the Philippine Scouts to take on Filipino guerilla fighters, historians say.

The Scouts allowed the United States to reduce troop levels after the war was declared over in 1902. Armed resistance by the Filipinos continued after the war was declared over but the United States simply described that résistance as “crime,” says author Kramer.

“It [the Scouts] allowed the American forces to declare war over long before the resistance was over,” Kramer says. “It frees American troops to come home. It got the war out of the American papers.”

The crucial question Americans face: History can teach but it also can mislead. Scholars and military experts concede that there are crucial differences between the Philippines and Afghanistan.

The Philippines had already been colonized by Spain before its war with the United States, while Afghanistan has resisted conquest by various nations for centuries.

The Philippines was, and still is, a majority Roman Catholic country, while Afghanistan is predominately Muslim. And the U.S. military was able to isolate the Filipino guerillas on several islands, while it’s more difficult to isolate the Taliban since Afghanistan shares a porous border with Pakistan, experts say.

Yet the U.S. still can learn several lessons from its war in the Philippines, scholars and military historians say.

One is what not to do. The U.S. military can’t employ the brutal tactics it once did against Filipinos in a world where there is a 24-hour news cycle, historians say.

“I don’t think we’re willing to do what it took back then and that’s a good thing,” says historian Hinshaw.


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“Modern counterinsurgency is focused on winning the support of the population,” says Silverman, the Iraq war veteran and counterinsurgency expert. “The Philippine counterinsurgency strategy was to ‘kill them all.’ ’’

Perhaps the primary lesson from the war in the Philippines is that the United States must be willing to settle in for the long haul, said Dan Roberts, a Vietnam veteran and host of the public radio history program, “A Moment in Time.”

Though the war was declared over in 1902, American soldiers continued to die in the Philippines for 46 years - up to the onset of Word War II, Roberts says. The United States granted independence to the Philippines in 1946.

“I don’t think the U.S. wants to stay in Afghanistan for 46 years,” Roberts says. ”But that’s the way you do these things. You have to be willing to stay there and shed blood decade after decade.” Reading Passage: LONDON, England (CNN)

Henry Allingham, the world's oldest man and the oldest surviving British veteran from World War I, has died at the age of 113, his care home said Saturday.

Allingham died in his sleep at St. Dunstan's care home in Ovingdean, England, the home said in a statement.

Born on June 6, 1896, Allingham was active until his final days, having celebrated his 113th birthday last month on the HMS President with his family, the care home said.

The Guinness Book of World Records Certified Allingham as the world's oldest man last month, St. Dunstan's said.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth and Prime Minister Gordon Brown both paid their respects to Allingham on Saturday.

"The queen was saddened to hear of the death of Henry Allingham. He was one of the unique generation who sacrificed so much for us all. Our thoughts are with his family at this time," Buckingham Palace said in a statement.

"I had the privilege of meeting Henry many times," said Brown. "He was a tremendous character, one of the last representatives of a generation of tremendous characters. My thoughts are with his family as they mourn his passing but celebrate his life."


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Born in the East End of London during the reign of Queen Victoria, Allingham was brought up by his mother and grandparents. His father died when he was a baby.

He joined the Royal Naval Air Service as an aircraft mechanic in 1915 after his mother died.

Allingham was the last known survivor of the Battle of Jutland, considered the greatest battle of World War I. He was serving aboard the armed trawler HMT Kingfisher, which was sent to meet up with the British fleet as it fought the Germans off what is now mainland Denmark.

The battle still holds the record for the most gun-armed battleships and battle cruisers engaged in a fight, according to Britain's Ministry of Defense.

In 1917 Allingham was sent to France to support the Royal Flying Corps. His job as a mechanic was to service the aircraft and recover parts from downed planes, but pilots would often ask their mechanics to fly with them, so Allingham would sit behind the pilot and drop bombs or operate the machine gun.

Allingham served in Flanders until that November, when he moved to the aircraft depot at Dunkirk, France. He stayed there until the end of the war.

Allingham was a founding member of today's Royal Air Force, which was formed in 1918 when the Royal Naval Air Service merged with the Royal Flying Corps.

He married his wife, Dorothy, in late 1918 and left the RAF a few months later, in April 1919.

But Allingham remained a reservist, and during World War II he was called on to find a solution to the German magnetic mines that were bottling up the English harbor of Harwich, on the Essex coast.

Allingham and his team devised an effective system to neutralize the mines, after which every ship was fitted with a neutralizing device using the system.

His dedication to the military and the memory of fallen troops never wavered. In his later years especially, Allingham was often seen at memorial events, even though he could no longer walk and had to be transported in a wheelchair.

"Henry was always determined to ensure that today's generation does not forget the sacrifice of those who died on the Western Front," St. Dunstan's said in a statement after his death. "Until recently, he regularly visited schools and attended war-based events as an ambassador for his generation."

Asked once at a memorial ceremony how he would like to be remembered, Allingham brushed off any thought of it, saying people should instead remember those who died in the


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wars.

"Remember them, not me," he said.

He was made a chevalier in France's Legion of Honor in 2003 and was promoted to officer earlier this year. In awarding him the honor this year, the French ambassador to Britain thanked Allingham on behalf of French President Nicolas Sarkozy for his part in protecting France during both World Wars.

The Royal Navy celebrated Allingham's birthday last month by throwing him a party aboard the HMS President. A birthday cake and card signed by the First Sea Lord was delivered by fast raiding craft of the Royal Marines, and he was given a decanter of Pussers Rum, his "favorite tipple," on behalf of the Fleet Air Arm.

Allingham's wife, Dorothy, died in 1970. Their two daughters both died in their 80s.

He is survived by six grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren, 21 great-great-grandchildren, and one great-great-great grandchild, all of whom live in the United States, the care home said.

Since 2006, Allingham had lived at St. Dunstan's, a care home for blind ex-servicemen and -women on the southern English coast. He had lost his sight as a result of age-related macular degeneration.

"Everybody at St. Dunstan's is saddened by Henry's loss and our sympathy goes out to his family," said Robert Leader, chief executive at the care home. "As well as possessing a great spirit of fun, he represented the last of a generation who gave a very great deal for us. Henry made many friends among the residents and staff at St Dunstan's. He was a great character and will be missed."


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