Assignment #15

ACIE American History - Cambridge International Examinations

Mr. Anthony Perno and Mr. Victor Wisniski – American Senior High School – 2009/2010 School Year

Syllabus Excerpt: VI The USA’s Rise as a World Power, 1890-1945

. . .The Washington Conference and the Kellogg Pact. FDR’s ‘Good Neighbour’ policy and policy in the Far East. . . . US neutrality in World War II, Lend-Lease. Pearl Harbor, war with Germany and Japan. The US contribution to the war effort. Conferences at Yalta and Potsdam. The San Francisco Conference, founding of the United Nations. Assessment of the position of the USA in the world by 1945.

Reading Assignment: America, Past and Present, Chapter #27, America and the World, pages 777-804

· Assignment: Using the above reading assignment, the student will prepare to answer the following essay questions. (One question will be chosen randomly the day of the exam.) The essay should encompass all pertinent syllabus topics.

· Essay Questions:

1. To what extent did the foreign policy of the United States from 1921 to 1941 follow consistent principles?

2. To what extent were Roosevelt’s policies towards the ‘aggressor states’ between 1933 and 1941 weak and ineffective?

3. To what extent was American foreign policy ‘isolationist’ between 1920 and 1941?

4. ‘Though always expressed in terms of high moral principles, US foreign policy from 1913 to 1945 was in fact driven by the relentless pursuit of US national interests.’ How accurate is this comment?