Unit 7

Unit Plan

America on the World Stage and the Crisis of Modernity (1890–1945)

Activities

Teaching with E.L.O.N.  (Enriched Learning Opportunity Nexus) that seamlessly integrates AI 
Unit 7 Objectives
  • Historical Thinking Skills: Develop skills in causation, continuity and change over time, and comparison using primary and secondary sources.
  • Key Concepts:
    • Expansion and U.S. foreign policy from 1890–1945.
    • Progressive reform movements and responses to industrial capitalism.
    • Domestic and international impact of World War I and World War II.
    • Economic transformation: Roaring Twenties, Great Depression, and New Deal.
  • Themes: American and national identity (NAT); Politics and power (POL); Work, exchange, and technology (WXT); America in the world (WOR); Social structures (SOC); Culture (CUL).

Week 1: Rise of American Power and Progressivism
Essential Questions
  • How did America’s role in the world change at the turn of the 20th century?
  • How did Progressive reformers address the problems created by industrial capitalism?
Content
  • Spanish-American War (1898), Philippine-American War, Open Door Policy.
  • Progressive reform: antitrust, muckrakers, women’s suffrage, conservation.
  • Constitutional amendments (16th–19th).
Activities
  • Primary Source Analysis: Alfred Thayer Mahan, The Influence of Sea Power upon History; Theodore Roosevelt’s Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine; excerpts from Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle.
  • Debate: Was U.S. imperialism motivated more by economics or ideology?
  • DBQ Practice: Responses to Progressive reforms.

Week 2: World War I and the Interwar Years
Essential Questions
  • Why did the U.S. enter World War I, and how did the war affect American society?
  • To what extent did the 1920s represent cultural conflict and change?
Content
  • Causes of U.S. entry into WWI (Zimmermann Telegram, unrestricted submarine warfare).
  • Mobilization: Committee on Public Information, Espionage & Sedition Acts.
  • Treaty of Versailles and League of Nations debate.
  • Roaring Twenties: consumer culture, Harlem Renaissance, immigration restriction, religious vs. modernist conflict (Scopes Trial).
Activities
  • Role Play: Senate debate on Treaty of Versailles.
  • Primary Source Study: Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points; Langston Hughes’ poetry.
  • Group Project: 1920s cultural “museum exhibit.”

Week 3: The Great Depression and New Deal
Essential Questions
  • What caused the Great Depression, and how did Americans respond?
  • How effective was the New Deal in addressing economic and social problems?
Content
  • Causes of the Depression: stock market crash, bank failures, overproduction.
  • Hoover’s response vs. FDR’s New Deal programs.
  • Critiques from the left (Huey Long, Upton Sinclair) and right (Supreme Court).
  • Legacy of the New Deal for labor, women, and minorities.
Activities
  • Primary Source Analysis: FDR’s First Inaugural Address; Huey Long’s “Share Our Wealth” speech; photographs from Dorothea Lange.
  • Simulation: Draft New Deal programs to address unemployment.
  • LEQ Practice: Evaluate the effectiveness of the New Deal.

Week 4: World War II and the Transformation of America
​Essential Questions
  • How did WWII affect American society and the role of the federal government?
  • To what extent did WWII alter America’s role in the world?
Content
  • Causes of WWII and U.S. foreign policy (isolationism, Lend-Lease).
  • Mobilization: War Production Board, role of women and minorities, internment of Japanese Americans.
  • Major battles and turning points: D-Day, Pacific theater, atomic bomb.
  • U.S. role in postwar world: United Nations, emergence of Cold War tensions.
Activities
  • Document Analysis: Executive Order 9066; Korematsu v. United States decision.
  • Mapping Activity: WWII theaters of war.
  • Socratic Seminar: Was the use of the atomic bomb justified?

Summative Assessments
  1. DBQ: Evaluate the effectiveness of Progressive and New Deal reforms in addressing economic and social problems caused by industrial capitalism.
  2. LEQ: Assess the extent to which U.S. foreign policy between 1890 and 1945 represented a continuation of or departure from earlier traditions.
  3. Unit Test: Multiple-choice, SAQs, DBQ/LEQ.
  4. Project: Multimedia presentation on how WWII reshaped American society and global power.

Resources
  • Primary Sources:
    • Upton Sinclair, The Jungle (1906)
    • Theodore Roosevelt, Roosevelt Corollary (1904)
    • Woodrow Wilson, Fourteen Points (1918)
    • Langston Hughes, The Weary Blues (1925)
    • Franklin D. Roosevelt, First Inaugural Address (1933)
    • Dorothea Lange photographs (1930s, Library of Congress)
    • Executive Order 9066 (1942)
  • Textbook: The American Pageant
  • Digital Tools: Library of Congress archives, National WWII Museum, DocsTeach.org
​The following activities include AI tools that enhance student engagement, provide data-driven insights, and facilitate personalized learning. 

Week 1: Rise of American Power & Progressivism
Group Activity: AI-Simulated Debate on Imperialism
  • Students use AI chatbots to simulate voices of Alfred Thayer Mahan, Theodore Roosevelt, and William Jennings Bryan.
  • Groups prepare a debate on whether U.S. imperialism (Spanish-American War, Philippines, etc.) was justified.
  • AI provides counterarguments, helps fact-check sources, and generates speech drafts.
Individual Activity: AI-Enhanced Document Analysis
  • Students upload excerpts from The Jungle or Roosevelt’s speeches into an AI analysis tool.
  • AI highlights tone, audience, and purpose, guiding students to identify historical context.
  • Each student writes a short SAQ; AI gives instant feedback on claim-evidence-reasoning structure.

Week 2: World War I and the 1920s
Group Activity: AI-Powered Treaty of Versailles Simulation
  • Students split into groups representing Wilson, Lodge, European Allies, and isolationists.
  • AI provides position papers for each group, including actual quotations from historical figures.
  • Students negotiate and then compare their “AI-simulated treaty” with the real Treaty of Versailles.
Individual Activity: AI-Curated Harlem Renaissance Exhibit
  • Each student selects a Harlem Renaissance poem, essay, or song.
  • AI helps students create a multimedia presentation (text + AI-generated art or voice recordings) that captures its themes.
  • Students reflect on how the source represents cultural shifts in the 1920s.

Week 3: Great Depression & New Deal
Group Activity: AI-Generated New Deal Program Simulation
  • Groups design a new government program to address unemployment.
  • AI models predicted effects on farmers, industrial workers, women, and minorities.
  • Students present proposals, and AI provides a “1930s newspaper headline” reaction (supportive or critical).
Individual Activity: AI-Based Political Cartoon Analysis
  • Students upload a New Deal-era cartoon (e.g., FDR juggling programs).
  • AI identifies symbolism, intended audience, and historical context.
  • Students write a mini-essay explaining the cartoon’s critique of the New Deal, with AI feedback on thesis clarity.

Week 4: World War II & the Transformation of America
Group Activity: AI-Facilitated War Strategy Council
  • Groups represent Allied leaders (Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin).
  • AI provides “intel reports” (maps, casualty figures, production data) from different years.
  • Groups must decide strategy (D-Day, Pacific theater, atomic bomb).
  • AI simulates possible outcomes of different choices, sparking discussion.
Individual Activity: AI-Assisted Civil Liberties Case Study
  • Students analyze Executive Order 9066 and Korematsu v. United States.
  • AI helps annotate the documents, highlighting constitutional issues.
  • Each student writes a DBQ mini-essay; AI grades it using APUSH rubric categories (thesis, evidence, sourcing).

Enrichment / Cross-Unit Project
AI-Generated Timeline of 1890–1945
  • Students (individually or in small groups) build an interactive timeline using an AI timeline generator.
  • AI suggests key turning points (Progressive reforms, WWI, New Deal, WWII).
  • Students annotate entries with primary source excerpts and AI-generated infographics.

Benefits
  • Group work: AI simulates perspectives, generates scenarios, and provides historical data for collaborative projects.
  • Individual work: AI offers scaffolding, annotations, and feedback, reinforcing essay-writing and source analysis skills.
  • CED Alignment: Every activity connects to key concepts (foreign policy, Progressivism, New Deal, WWII) and skills (sourcing, causation, continuity/change, comparison).
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