JA 8 B Civics: May 13-17

This week we continue our investigation of the American legal system. We will examine some of our legal rights & responsibilities. We will examine the rights we are entitled to if we are arrested, as well as the rights we are entitled to during a trial. We will also examine the history of how the American legal system & our laws developed over time. We will also discuss the steps in the trial process & the similarities & differences between civil & criminal law.

U.S. History: May 13-17

This week we will finish our investigation of WWII, then we will begin discussing the post-war world. We will investigate the Yalta Conference and the division of Germany; a major event leading to the beginning of the Cold War. We will discuss the early years of the Cold War as well as the anxiety created by the possible use of atomic and nuclear bombs. We will also investigate the use of propaganda by the United States as a way to battle against communism. We will discuss the emergence of the United States & the Soviet Union as superpowers, and how their influence shaped global politics for years to come.

Conflicts of the 20th Century: May 13-17

This week we will begin our investigation of the Cold War. We will discuss what the Allies decided to do with Germany, now that the war was over. It would be divided up among the Allied powers. After the world was left ravaged by WWII, two nations would emerge as superpowers that would fight for global dominance; the United States & the Soviet Union. The ideologies would face off, Democracy vs. Communism. We will investigate the West's distrust of the Soviets towards the end of WWII as well as the fear that Soviet communism would spread throughout Europe. This week we will examine the causes & consequences of the Korean War as well.

JA 8 B Civics: May 6-10

This week we will continue our investigation of the Judicial Branch. We will discuss the duties of the court system in our country, as well as how they are organized from the Supreme Court all the way down to local courts. We will also discuss the impact that Supreme Court decisions have had on Americans through Constitutional changes that have happened due to the Court's rulings. Once again, we will also focus on checks and balances and the role it plays between the 3 branches of government.

U.S. History: May 6-10

This week we will look at some of the turning points in WWII for the Allies. We will examine the effects of the war on the homefront, as the U.S. would become the "Arsenal of Democracy."  We will then discuss the D-Day invasion to liberate Europe from the Nazis, the Soviet invasion of Berlin from the East, & we will discuss the brutal Pacific theater that looked like it had no end in sight, until the most secret weapon of the war was used not once, but twice. We will discuss the "causes & consequences" of the use of atomic bombs on Japan. Although it put an end to the war, it also created an entire new age: The Cold War.

Conflicts of the 20th Century: May 6-10

This week we will investigate the discovery of the Nazi concentration camps as the Allied troops marched their way into Nazi Germany & would eventually force them to surrender. Then we will also investigate the Allied victory in the Pacific. After the fall of the Nazis, the Allies were still battling the Japanese in brutal combat. We will discuss the use of firebombing in major Japanese cities like Tokyo, as well as the creation of a secret weapon that would change the world forever after it was used to essentially end the war; the atomic bomb!