U.S. HISTORY THEMES
*Themes used for essay topics*
NOTE: Italicized examples in BOLD are the suggestions given by Mrs. Fiorito/Mrs. Baker for you to use.
I. Constitutional Principles
A. Choose TWO Amendments: You can choose any amendment, but suggested amendments are: 13th, 15th, 18th, 19th
1. What historical circumstances led to the amendment?
2. What was the impact/how did the amendment change society?
Choice #1: ________________________
1. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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2. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Choice #2: ________________________
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2. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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B. Elastic clause
1. How does the elastic clause allow the Constitution to change?
2. Give ONE example when the elastic clause was used.
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2. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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C. Judicial Review
1. What is judicial review?
2. What was the Supreme Court case that established judicial review?
3. Give ONE example of judicial review in U.S. history.
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2. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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3. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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II. Important Writings in U.S. History
A. Choose TWO writings: Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson, Common Sense by Thomas Paine, Uncle Tom’s
Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Emancipation Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln, How the Other Half Lives by Jacob Riis, The
Jungle by Upton Sinclair, The Other America by Michael Harrington, Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, The Feminine Mystique by Betty
Friedan, and “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
1. What were the historical circumstances that led to the writing?
2. Describe the key ideas of the writing.
3. Evaluate the results of the writing.
Choice #1: ________________________
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2. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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3. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Choice #2: ________________________
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2. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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3. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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III. Expansion/Geography
A. Choose TWO periods of expansion: Louisiana Purchase, completion of the Erie Canal, War with Mexico, Homestead Act,
completion of the transcontinental railroad, Native American Indian policies
1. What were the historical circumstances that led to the expansion?
2. Evaluate the impact of the expansion.
Choice #1: ________________________
1. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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2. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Choice #2: ________________________
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2. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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IV. Reform/Equal Rights/Individual Rights
A. Choose TWO reform movements: Abolitionist movement, Progressive movement, women’s rights movement, civil rights
movement, and the labor movement
1. Describe the historical circumstances that led to the need for reform.
2. State ONE goal of the movement and TWO actions taken to improve conditions.
3. Evaluate the effectiveness of the movement.
Choice #1: ________________________
1. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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2. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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3. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Choice #2: ________________________
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2. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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3. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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B. Choose TWO groups: African-Americans, women, Asian-Americans, Native American Indians, Latinos, persons with
disabilities
1. Describe problems and/or discrimination faced by the group.
2. Describe TWO specific actions taken to achieve alleviate the problems/discrimination.
3. Evaluate the extent to which the group has achieved equality today.
Choice #1: ________________________
1. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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2. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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3. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Choice #2: ________________________
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2. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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3. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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C. Choose TWO individuals: Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, John Brown, Jacob Riis, Jane Addams, Susan B. Anthony,
Carrie Chapman Catt, Ida Tarbell, Carrie Nation, W.E.B. Dubois, Booker T. Washington, Upton Sinclair, Henry Ford, Eleanor Roosevelt,
Jackie Robinson, Martin Luther King, Jr., Betty Friedan, Rachel Carson, Cesar Chavez
If Presidents are an option: Lincoln, TR, FDR, Kennedy, Johnson
1. Describe a problem in America that the individual tried to change.
2. Discuss the contribution made by the individual to address the problem.
3. Evaluate the impact of the contribution.
Choice #1: ________________________
1. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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2. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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3. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Choice #2: ________________________
1. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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2. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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3. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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V. Supreme Court Cases
A. Choose TWO cases: Marbury v. Madison, Dred Scott Case, Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), Schenck v. United States (1919),
Korematsu v. United States (1944), Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954), Mapp v. Ohio (1961), Gideon v. Wainwright (1963),
Miranda v. Arizona (1966), Tinker v. Des Moines School District (1969), or New Jersey v. T.L.O. (1965), United States v. Richard Nixon
1. What were the historical circumstances that led to the case?
2. What were the specific details of the case? What was the final ruling?
3. Evaluate the impact of the case.
Choice #1: ________________________
1. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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2. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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3. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Choice #2: ________________________
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2. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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3. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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VI. War
A. Choose TWO wars: French and Indian War, Revolutionary War, Mexican-American War, Civil War, War of 1812, SpanishAmerican War, WWI, WWII, Korean War, Vietnam War
1. What were the historical circumstances that led to the war?
2. What were TWO impacts of the war on the U.S. (social, political, and/or economic)?
Choice #1: ________________________
1. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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2. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Choice #2: ________________________
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2. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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B. Choose TWO wars: Civil War- Lincoln, WWI- Wilson, WWII- FDR, Vietnam War- Johnson
1. How did each war expand presidential powers?
Choice #1: ________________________
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Choice #2: ________________________
1. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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C. Choose TWO groups: Enslaved persons during the Civil War, Native American Indians during the Indian Wars, women during
World War I or World War II, Japanese Americans during World War II, the American college students or army draftees during the
Vietnam War
1. For each group, describe how the war impacted that group.
Choice #1: ________________________
1. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Choice #2: ________________________
1. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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VII. Industrialization
A. Choose TWO topics: increased immigration, new inventions or technologies, growth of labor unions, growth of monopolies,
growth of reform movements, and increased urbanization
1. How did industrialization contribute to the change?
2. Identify ONE positive and ONE negative impact for each topic.
Choice #1: ________________________
1. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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2. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Choice #2: ________________________
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2. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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VIII. Turning Points
A. Choose TWO turning points: The signing of the Declaration of Independence (1776), end of Reconstruction (1877), Henry
Ford’s use of the assembly line (1913), United States entry into World War I (1917), dropping of the atomic bombs, Brown v. Board of
Education of Topeka (1954), passage of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964), and the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989)
1. What were the historical circumstances that led to the turning point?
2. What were the political, social, and/or economic changes that resulted from the turning point?
Choice #1: ________________________
1. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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2. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Choice #2: ________________________
1. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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2. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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IX. Foreign Policy
A. Choose TWO: President George Washington’s Neutrality Proclamation (1793), Louisiana Purchase (1803), issuance of the
Monroe Doctrine (1820), Congressional declaration of war against Mexico (1846), acquisition of the rights to build the Panama Canal
(1901), United States entry into World War I (1917), implementation of the Marshall Plan (1947), United States entry into the Korean
War (1950), escalation of the Vietnam War beginning in 1964, and President Jimmy Carter’s efforts to negotiate the Camp David Accords
(1978)
1. What were the historical circumstances that led to the foreign policy?
2. Evaluate the degree of success of the foreign policy.
Choice #1: ________________________
1. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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2. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Choice #2: ________________________
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2. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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X. Government Role in the Economy
A. Choose TWO: Assumption of Revolutionary War debts, building the transcontinental railroad, passage of tariff laws, passage of
the Interstate Commerce Act, passage of the Sherman or Clayton Antitrust Acts, creation of the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation, adoption of the Social Security system, passage of the federal minimum wage laws, Reagan Era tax cuts, and ratification of
the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
1. What were the historical circumstances that led to the event?
2. What was the impact of the event?
Choice #1: ________________________
1. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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2. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Choice #2: ________________________
1. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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2. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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XI. Technology
A. Choose TWO: Cotton gin, steam-powered engines, the assembly line, radio, nuclear power, the automobile, television, and
computers
1. What were the positive impacts?
2. What were the negative impacts?
Choice #1: ________________________
1. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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2. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Choice #2: ________________________
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2. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
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