Identifying people, things, concepts, and events. In a brief paragraph (6-8 rich, luxurious sentences for each item), identify and give the historical significance for FIVE of the following, your choice. State in your own words the key facts — who, what, when, where, why — and why this development is important to know about in order to understand 20th century U.S. History. How was this idea significant in the course of history — how was it connected to the actions, decisions, or fundamental perceptions of people in the past? Or, how did this represent or symbolize developments in the society in which it appeared?
To explain the historical significance, you may need to use your own judgment and your interpretation of the facts. There may be more than one good answer to the significance question; present a good argument and the points are yours. Consider where the term appears in the chapter and how the term is connected to the larger themes of that subsection or of the chapter as a whole. Not all ID terms are things that were successful or things to be celebrated. Something can be significant precisely because it failed or because it was not the most successful or because it never happened the way people wanted it to happen.
Some possible ways to approach historical significance:
1. The effect or legacy of this thing or person — what difference did this thing/person make in terms of shaping historical events? Did this create a precedent or bring something to an end?
2. An example of a specific trend or issue — is thing or person a good example of a larger historical issue or trend?
3. Illustration of a larger trend or question in history — does this thing or person illustrate a larger principle of historical study, like agency, contingency, unintended consequences, etc.? Is this thing or person useful in addressing a particular controversy among historians?
4. General usefulness — understanding the facts about this thing or person helps explain 20th century U.S. history because _____.
Week 6 terms:
NSC-68
HUAC
Sputnik (Sputnik I)
redlining
Brown v. Board of Education
“reproductive consensus”
