From Watergate to the end of the Cold War

Grade 11 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Cards A to C on Watergate (the excerpt is exact; the summaries are in our words). Card A, "The Senate creates a Watergate committee". Who made it: the United States Senate, in Senate Resolution 60. When: February 7, 1973. For whom: the Senate and the public. Why: to start an investigation of the 1972 campaign. Excerpt (Senate Resolution 60, 93d Congress, title as agreed February 7, 1973): "To establish a select committee of the Senate to conduct an investigation and study of the extent, if any, to which illegal, improper, or unethical activities were engaged in by any persons, acting individually or in combination with others, in the presidential election of 1972, or any campaign, canvass, or other activity related to it." Card B, "Nixon leaves office". Who made it: historians and government agencies writing today. When: today. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: On the evening of August 8, 1974, President Nixon told the nation on television that he would resign at noon the next day. He said he had lost the support in Congress that he thought he needed to carry out the duties of the office, and that the interest of the nation must come before personal considerations. By then the House Judiciary Committee had adopted three articles of impeachment, which are formal charges, but the full House had not voted. Gerald Ford took the oath as President on August 9, 1974. Card C, "The tapes and the Supreme Court". Who made it: historians and government agencies writing today. When: today. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: In 1973 the Senate committee asked for tape recordings made in the White House. President Nixon refused, citing executive privilege and the separation of powers. On July 24, 1974, the Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Nixon that he had to give tapes to the special prosecutor. No justice dissented, and Nixon complied.

2. 1.

   Ari reads Card A. The Senate resolution speaks of illegal activities "if any." What does that wording tell a reader about the card as evidence?

   • The Senate was opening an inquiry, so the card shows the question being asked, not a finding
   • The Senate expected to find wrongdoing, since the card lists illegal, improper and unethical activities by name
   • The Senate chose the 1972 election as its subject, so the card shows just which election was under study
   • The Senate limited the inquiry to persons who acted together, since the card speaks of acting in combination with others
3. 2.

   Card C is a summary written today. Esme compares it with the words of the people involved. What is the summary best used for?

   • Showing why Nixon refused the tapes, since the card says he cited executive privilege and the separation of powers
   • Showing how Nixon's supporters saw the ruling, since the card reports that Nixon complied with the Court's order
   • Putting events in order and giving the Court's result, while the actors' own words show how they saw it
   • Showing why the justices ruled as they did, since a summary of a ruling lists the reasons that the Court gave
4. 3.

   Jun writes one sentence about the end of Nixon's presidency, using only Cards A to C. Which sentence do the cards support?

   • The Supreme Court's order forced Nixon to resign, and no other reason played a part
   • The Senate voted to remove Nixon from office, and Nixon resigned the day after that vote
   • The Senate committee found Nixon guilty of the break-in before the Court gave its order, and Nixon then left office
   • A Senate inquiry, a Supreme Court order and House committee charges came before Nixon said he would resign

5. Use this

   Cards A to C on the oil embargo of 1973 (the table and the excerpt are exact; the summary is in our words). Card A, "The 1973 oil embargo, in brief". Who made it: historians and government agencies writing today. When: today. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: In 1973, while an Arab-Israeli war was being fought, oil-producing Arab countries in OPEC (the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) banned oil shipments to the United States. A ban on trade like this is an embargo. Oil prices around the world doubled and then quadrupled, and drivers in the United States waited in long lines at gas stations. The embargo ended in March 1974. Later steps included a national speed limit of 55 miles per hour and a Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Card B, table: the average retail price of a gallon of leaded regular gasoline, in the dollars of each year (U.S. Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Review 2011, Table 5.24). 1972: $0.361. 1973: $0.388. 1974: $0.532. 1975: $0.567. Card C, "Nixon asks Congress for an energy agency". Who made it: President Richard M. Nixon, in a message to the Congress. When: November 8, 1973. For whom: the Congress and the public. Why: to propose a long-term energy effort. Excerpt (Message to the Congress on the energy emergency, November 8, 1973): "Because of the critical role which energy research and development will play in meeting our future energy needs, I am requesting the Congress to give priority attention to the creation of an Energy Research and Development Administration separate from my proposal to create a Department of Energy and Natural Resources. This new administration would direct the $10 billion program aimed at achieving a national capacity for energy self-sufficiency by 1980. This new effort to achieve self-sufficiency in energy, to be known as Project Independence, is absolutely critical to the maintenance of our ability to play our independent role in international affairs."

6. 4.

   Kira looks at the price table in Card B. It gives a yearly average for 1973 and 1974. Which statement about the table is accurate?

   • It shows the embargo lasted through 1974, since the 1974 average is higher than the average for 1973
   • It shows prices month by month, since a yearly average is built up from the monthly prices of the year
   • It shows that average prices rose from 1973 to 1974, but not why or when within the year
   • It shows that the embargo caused the rise from $0.388 to $0.532, since the rise came in the embargo years
7. 5.

   Card C is Nixon's message to Congress. What does its aim tell Milo about how to use it?

   • It shows the whole nation's view of the embargo, since a President's message to Congress speaks for the country
   • It was written to persuade Congress to act, so it shows what Nixon proposed and hoped for, not results
   • It shows that Congress agreed to create the agency, since the message asks Congress to give the matter priority
   • It reports what the program achieved, since the message gives a program cost and a target year of 1980
8. 6.

   Noah writes a sentence about 1973 and 1974 from Cards A, B and C. Which sentence do the cards support?

   • Prices fell in 1975 after the President's plan began, so the plan worked quickly to bring prices down
   • The embargo was the reason gasoline cost more in 1974 than in 1973, and no other cause was involved
   • An oil ban was followed by higher average gasoline prices, and the President asked Congress for a long-term energy effort
   • Congress created the energy agency at once, and the embargo ended soon afterward as a direct result of the new agency's work

9. Use this

   Cards A to C on the end of the Cold War (all three are summaries in our words, not quotations). Card A, "The Berlin Wall opens, in brief". Who made it: historians and government agencies writing today. When: today. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: For two generations the Berlin Wall was the most visible symbol of the division of Europe. On November 9, 1989, the East German government announced that its borders were open, and crowds streamed through the checkpoints. Free elections followed in Eastern Europe, and by 1990 Germany was whole again, with East and West Germany joined as one country. Card B, "The Soviet Union ends, December 1991". Who made it: historians and government agencies writing today. When: today. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: In early December 1991 the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus met in Belarus and formed the Commonwealth of Independent States, which in effect ended the Soviet Union. Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as the Soviet president on December 25, 1991, and the Soviet flag came down from the Kremlin for the last time. The United States recognized all 12 independent republics. Card C, "From Reykjavik to the failed coup". Who made it: historians and government agencies writing today. When: today. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev met at Reykjavik in October 1986. The two leaders signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in December 1987, under which one whole class of missiles was removed. President George H. W. Bush and Gorbachev met off the coast of Malta on December 2, 1989. In August 1991 hard-line Communists tried to take power from Gorbachev, and the coup failed.

10. 7.

    Card A calls the Wall "the most visible symbol of the division of Europe." How should Pia treat that phrase?

    • As the writer's judgment, which readers could weigh differently, unlike the dated opening on November 9, 1989
    • As the view of East Germans, since the Wall's division was most visible to people living on the east side
    • As evidence that the opening of the Wall was the cause of the end of the Soviet Union in 1991
    • As a fact settled by its date, since the card gives November 9, 1989 for the opening of the Wall in Berlin
11. 8.

    Which of these questions could Ren NOT answer from Cards A to C alone?

    • In what order did the Wall open, the Malta meeting take place and Gorbachev resign from office?
    • In which year was Germany whole again, according to the cards, after the Wall opened?
    • Did the failed coup attempt come before or after Gorbachev's resignation as president?
    • Why did Gorbachev choose not to use force to keep Eastern Europe's governments in power?
12. 9.

    All three cards are summaries written today. What does that mean for Tala, who wants to see how people understood 1989 at the time?

    • They give the order of events in 1989 and 1991, which is enough to study how people understood 1989 at the time
    • They show what people in 1989 expected, since the cards name the end of the Soviet Union in 1991
    • They are first-hand sources, since they describe the events of 1989 and 1991 in some detail for readers today
    • They set out dates and outcomes clearly, but sources made in 1989 would be needed to see what people then understood
13. 10.

    Which claim can Zee support with Cards A to C without going beyond them?

    • Leader meetings in 1986 and 1989 and a treaty in 1987 came before the Soviet end, but the cards do not say they caused it
    • The Wall opened after the meeting off Malta in December 1989, which led the East German government to act on its own
    • The coup of August 1991 succeeded, and the Soviet Union ended in the same month as a result
    • The meeting at Reykjavik in October 1986 caused the Soviet Union to end five years later