Ohio American History EOC Module 2 (Imperialism and World War I): a complete overview of the Spanish-American War, US foreign policy, World War I, the peace, and the postwar Red Scare

What Module 2 actually demands

Module 2 is the story of the United States stepping onto the world stage and then stepping back. It covers Ohio's Foreign Affairs from Imperialism to Post-World War I topic (about 1898 to 1930): how the Spanish-American War made the United States an empire and a world power, how it used that power in Latin America and Asia, how it entered and shaped World War I, why the peace failed, and how the country turned to isolationism and intolerance afterward. Ohio's Presidents McKinley and Taft play leading roles.

This guide ties together the matching dot-point pages, each with its own worked questions: American imperialism and the Spanish-American War, the United States as a world power, the road to World War I, the home front and the peace, and postwar isolationism and the Red Scare.

Imperialism and the Spanish-American War

The United States built an overseas empire for economic (markets, raw materials), strategic (naval bases, sea power), and ideological (prestige, civilizing mission) reasons. The Spanish-American War (1898), fueled by yellow journalism and the USS Maine, ended with the Treaty of Paris giving the United States the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam; Cuba became a protectorate, and Hawaii was annexed. This made the United States a world power and split Americans into imperialists and anti-imperialists.

The United States as a world power

In Latin America, the United States built the Panama Canal (1914), applied big stick diplomacy and the Roosevelt Corollary (a claimed right to intervene), and used dollar diplomacy. In Asia, the Open Door Policy kept China open to trade for all nations. These show the active projection of power the standards stress.

The road to World War I

World War I (1914 to 1918) grew from the MAIN causes (militarism, alliances, imperialism, nationalism) and the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. The United States stayed neutral until unrestricted submarine warfare, the Lusitania (1915), economic ties to the Allies, and the Zimmermann Telegram (1917) pushed it to declare war in April 1917. Fresh American troops and supplies helped win the war by November 1918.

The home front and the peace

At home, the war meant mobilization (Liberty Bonds, war agencies), propaganda (the Creel Committee), and limits on civil liberties (the Espionage and Sedition Acts, upheld in Schenck v. United States under the "clear and present danger" test). The Great Migration carried African Americans north for jobs. Wilson's Fourteen Points and League of Nations ran into the harsh Treaty of Versailles, and the Senate rejected the treaty and the League, returning the United States to isolationism.

Postwar isolationism and the Red Scare

The postwar years brought fear: the first Red Scare (1919 to 1920) and the Palmer Raids against suspected radicals, the labor strikes and race riots of 1919, a revived Ku Klux Klan, the Sacco and Vanzetti case, and nativist immigration quotas (1921 and 1924) that slashed immigration from southern and eastern Europe and barred most Asians.

Check your knowledge

A mix of recall and reasoning questions covering Module 2. Attempt them under timed conditions, then check against the solutions.

1. Name two causes of American imperialism. (2 marks)
2. What territories did the United States gain from the Spanish-American War? (2 marks)
3. What did the Open Door Policy call for in China? (2 marks)
4. Explain the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. (2 marks)
5. Name the four MAIN causes of World War I. (4 marks)
6. Give two reasons the United States entered World War I. (2 marks)
7. What was the "clear and present danger" test from Schenck v. United States? (2 marks)
8. Why did the US Senate reject the League of Nations? (2 marks)
9. What caused the first Red Scare, and how did the government respond? (2 marks)
10. Name one 1920s immigration quota law and its effect. (2 marks)