Lesson #36 - The United States in Latin America

We'll have our final "regular" lessons today and tomorrow. Wednesday will be our Unit #6 "Two-Minute Reviews," and we'll wrap up with the Unit #6 Exam on Thursday and Friday. (Thursday is the Identification Exam, and the Objective Exam is Friday. You need to turn in the Unit #6 Essay Exam no later than your arrival to class on Friday.) More information below on this.

A reminder that you should have posted your "Blog-a-thon" entry on the correct lesson.

Unit #6 "Two-Minute Review": Our review activity will take place on Wednesday.

Current Events #2
: Your final batch of Current Events for the quarter are due Thursday.

The United States in Latin America: Even a casual reading of the assignment for today should make it clear that the United States has a long record of intervention in Latin America. I have not checked all examples on this site for accuracy or anything, but here is a long list of United States interventions in Latin America.

We'll have you look at some editorial cartoons on US foreign policy towards Latin America here as well.

Specifics of which you should be aware:

Discussion: United States Foreign Policy - Then and Now
We've talked, directly and indirectly, about a number of events in the history of American foreign policy over the last couple of weeks. Some of them were quite noble and well-intentioned, others were less so. Here's your chance to talk about events from both then and now.

First, let's focus on "then."
  • Was the United States being imperialistic when it issued the Monroe Doctrine? Why or why not?
  • Was "manifest destiny" justified? Why or why not?
  • Did the US act appropriately in the Mexican-American War? Why or why not?
  • Were US actions in Spanish-American War justified? Why or why not?
  • Were US actions in securing land for and building the Panama Canal appropriate? Why or why not?
  • Was the Roosevelt Corollary justified? Why or why not?
Second, let's turn to the "now."
  • What "limits" should there be on United States' foreign policy? What tools, tactics and strategies are appropriate? Which should not be considered?
  • What external factors should influence our foreign policy decisions? Why?
  • Are we imperialistic? Should we be?
  • What sort of relationship should we pursue with the nations of Latin America?
  • Is it time to end our economic embargo on Cuba?
  • Should we grant Puerto Rico independence? Statehood?
  • Were we correct to turn the Panama Canal Zone over to Panama's control in 1977?

Homework for tomorrow - Tuesday, October 27th:     

Finish your reading for the quarter in Chapter 28 with Section 4, "Turmoil and Change in Mexico." (pp. 822 - 827) The quiz format will be true/false.

Your China "Choose Your Assignments" are due tomorrow.

Your Unit #6 "Two-Minute Review" will be due on Wednesday.

Your Current Events #2 are due on Thursday. You can find the template on earlier blog entries.

The Unit #6 Exam will take place on Thursday and Friday. On Thursday, you must complete the Identifications portion of the exam. On Friday, you must complete the Objective Exam. Your Unit #6 Essay is due (printed out and double-spaced) no later than your arrival to class on Friday. More information on the exam is available on the entry immediately preceding this one on the blog.

About this Entry

This page contains a single entry by Mike Vergin published on October 26, 2009 2:00 AM.

Unit #6 Exam - Identifications and Essay Questions was the previous entry in this blog.

Lesson #37 - The Mexican Revolution is the next entry in this blog.

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