1. Supporting standards comprise 35% of the U. S. History Test 2 (D)

2. Supporting Standard (2) The student understands traditional historical points of reference in U. S. history from 1877 to the present. The Student is expected to: (D) Explain the significance of the following years as turning points: 1898 (Spanish- American War), 1914-1918 (World War I), 1929 (the Great Depression begins), 1939-1945 (World War II, 1957 (Sputnik launch ignites U. S.– Soviet space race), 1968-1969 (Martin Luther King Jr. assassination & U. S. lands on the moon), 1991 (Cold War ends), 2001 (terrorist attack on World Trace Center & the Pentagon), & 2008 (election of first black president)

3. Turning points An event marking a unique or important historical change of course or one on which important developments depend

4. The Student is expected to: (D) 1 Explain the significance of 1898 (Spanish-American War) Haltingly, yet decisively, the U. S. made its first departure from George Washington’s parting advice to avoid foreign entanglements. Although the nation would quickly retreat to its traditional isolationism, the ice had been broken. Henceforth, sporadically yet assuredly America would continue assume an increasingly major role upon the world stage.

5. The Student is expected to: (D) 2 Explain the significance of 1914-1918 (World War I) After three years of determined resistance to remain uninvolved, in 1917 Americans discovered that the forces of history were too strong to resist. For better or worse, and driven by an impractical idealism, the U. S. plunged headlong into world affairs.

6. The Student is expected to: (D) 3 Explain the significance of 1929 (the Great Depression begins) The economic collapse that followed the frenetic postwar economic boom of the 1920s revealed once & for all that the capitalist system may be the best economic system humanly possible... but a completely unregulated economy is far, far, far from perfection.

7. The Student is expected to: (D) 4 Explain the significance of 1939-1949 (World War II) At long last, the U. S. finally recognized & embraced the inevitability of being drawn fully into world affairs. It took on the Nazi menace & imperial Japan... and has not looked back at isolationism since.

8. The Student is expected to: (D) 5 Explain the significance of 1957 (Sputnik launch ignites U.S.- Soviet space race) The successful Oct. 4, 1957 launching of a Soviet artificial satellite sent shock waves across America. The event revolutionized American education, shifting focus decisively to math & science, and accelerated the pace of the U. S. space program.

9. The Student is expected to: (D) 6 Explain the significance of 1968-1969 (Martin Luther King Jr. assassination & U.S. lands on moon) The assassination of MLK on Apr. 4, 1968 accelerated the progress of the Civil Rights movement in America. King’s of equal rights “Dream” moved inexorably forward. And Neil Armstrong’s July 20, 1969 setting foot on the moon tipped the balance of both the space race & the Cold War decisively in favor of the United States of America.

10. The Student is expected to: (D) 7 Explain the significance of 1991 (Cold War ends) The Reagan Administration’s military buildup ultimately broke the Soviet Union financially, forcing it to draw closure to the hostile relationship it had maintained with the U. S. since 1948 during the Truman years. Tearing down of the Berlin Wall in 1989 heralded the soon-coming establishment of a New World Order.

11. The Student is expected to: (D) 8 Explain the significance of 2001 (terrorist attacks on World Trade Center & Pentagon) September 11, 2001 changed forever the way in which Americans perceived the Muslim world, the way in which they would thereafter travel, any self- congratulatory self-image they retained... and any assumption of being safe while traveling aboard.

12. The Student is expected to: (D) 9 Explain the significance of 2008 (election of the first black president, Barak Obama) Two-hundred & thirty-two years after the Declaration of Independence... & one- hundred & forty-five years after the Emancipation Proclamation... America lived up to Thomas Jefferson’s declaration that “all men are created equal.”

13. Fini