" Where thousands of American citizens died in Twin Towers, so did the global efforts of maintaining peace between Western and Muslim countries. Right after, this attack, U.S. invaded Afghanistan initially through Missile attacks and then landed its troops into this land of rocks, physically. Thousands of American soldiers were deputed there and made to fight the mujahids of Al-Qaeda who were rather well-versed with the seasonal feasibility of their land.

Therefore, initially, U.S. army did faced a lot of difficulties, mainly because of weather and foreignness of the war field. However with the support of heavy and most up-to-date artillery, U.S. has successfully managed to erase the name of Al-Qaeda from Afghanistan, leading to a civil government over there and also weakening the strength of this group of terrorists, globally.

Despite the success, that the U.S. has enjoyed in this war of terrorism, one cannot neglect the price that it had to pay. America has borne budget deficits in sequence over past few years, mainly because of war expenses. Furthermore, the increasing number of soldiers dying on the battlefield has also created a feeling of insecurity in general public with respect to their government and country. So yes, the war has ended with the desirable consequences, but has U.S. actually won this war, is still a question which remains unanswered.

Question No. 7

The first movie that one might want to show to a foreigner is 9/11, starring Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock and Thomas Horn. The story surrounds a family of three with a socially challenged kid. After Tom Hanks dies in the 9 / 11 incident, the fear of socializing with other people penetrates into the kid's mind, who now thinks that one can be killed by anyone whether you talk to them or not. Thus, social interaction becomes more of a challenge for him. How he recovers from his fear, is a great story. The movie elaborates the impacts of 9/11 incident on American psychology. How Americans are afraid of trusting foreigners and why their reasons are, is itself an interesting topic to discuss.

The second best movie is God Bless America which was released in 2011. The story is about two individuals from extremely different social backgrounds who are fed up of intolerance which has deeply penetrated into American Society, against the weak ones and those with different opinions. The cruelty, intolerance, political instability which has infected American society is one of the emerging concerns that Americans now, have to deal with before it's too late.

The Company Men is also one of the great movies that one might want to show to someone unaware of American resilience. The movie is about the strong market crunch and recession that America had to go through and how it affected the lives of millions. We are, all aware of what happened during 2008 and 2010; what is noticeable is the strength that Americans showed during this time of distress and the way it maneuvered itself, on to the path of stability. It is a must watch for anyone who wants to know how to emerge out of trouble as a society.

Question No. 8

After viewing the websites of Autry National Center and National Museum of American Indian, the extracts given in course AMST 301, seem more interesting. As a matter of fact, a particular extract from My Life on the Plains, seems fairly fascinating.

This particular piece is written by General George Armstrong Custer and explains his observation about the native Indians. After going through the websites of above mentioned resources, one can have a fair idea of how the life of native Indiasn was. What sort of clothes they used to wear, what kind of ornaments and ammunition they would have been using; in short, how there life would have been, all these questions are well answered by these websites.

Once, one visit these websites, the sketch of native Indian presented in Custer's work, comes to life. They used to pay a lot of attention to their dresses during meetings and festivals. And after going through the websites, one can easily understand that. Also, the images presented in these websites also explain a great deal about the spiritual affiliation of native Indians to the nature. The kind of figurative speech used in passage clearly reflects the deep spiritual connection between the native Indian character and mother earth.

Also, in the later part of the extract, a fighter insider this fine native Indian character is elaborated by the writer. One's imagination can clearly go wild after viewing the weapons used by native Indian tribes.

Armstrong...

And after viewing the objects belonging to the Indian tribes, in these websites, one can easily imagine how the life would have been in those times.
Question 9.

After reviewing the census of 1790, 1890 and 2010, the most interesting elements found out are the abolition of slavery and acceptance of colored citizens as equivalent to the white ones.

In 1790, the emphasis was on finding out the correct headcount of citizens on the basis of race i.e. U.S. citizens and slaves. In fact, the most interesting question out of all six asked, was the color of members other than the family, living in the same house. Due to this rather vague segregation of population, the census of 1790, doesn't provide an accurate data of multi-racial population.

In the census of 1890, there was a further division in the population segregation; the earlier initial groups of three types were now five. Also native Americans were not included in the headcount in 1890. As a matter of fact, a separate counting of tribe members took place as they were quasi-sovereign groups.

The census of 2010 showed an interesting development in the recognition of different ethnic groups and races. Recognition of individuals belonging to multiple race, was also made part of the census. This resulted in providing a rather accurate headcount of citizens adhering to a particular group.

From 1790 till 2010, the census in U.S. has shown a lot of emphasis on providing an accrete data of demographics. It appears as these census tell a story of abolition of slavery and recognition of colored people as citizens enjoying equal rights on American land. It appears as if U.S. is a true secular country with an ability of providing an amiable social environment to people belonging to different social groups and has complete ability of absorbing more colors and variations in its original culture.

Question 10.

The historical traumas of the past -- slavery, the genocide of Native Americans, the assassination of President Kennedy, the Vietnam War -- have now emerged as important catalysts of cultural redefinition, evidenced in the extraordinary degree of contestation and debate circulating around current historical films that deal with these events, and in controversies over recent museum exhibitions and commemorative reenactments.

While going through the residing material provided for AMST 301 related to native Indians, it made me realize how native American culture has given rise to this current social structure of ours and what importance does native Americans have in our national history.

We all know rather well that native American tribes had to go through terrible period of constant destruction and change where they were treated as foreigners on the land which was once theirs. Had that native American culture would not have been mutilated, America would not how it is right now. One does question the morality of such treatment to native Americans; however its benefits, still cannot be denied.

Thus, it was the destruction of old America which gave rise to new one and that is the reason why this chapter of the history has its own significance. For decades, our movies have been focusing on life style and events related to native Americans and there are many more to come on the same subject.

Question 11.

For this question, the first article that caught my eye was Geronimo Code Name for Bin Laden Blasted. The article managed to shed light on the reaction that was projected by native American communities in response to Laden referred to as Geronimo after his death. Now, Geronimo is considered as a freedom fighter in native American history; someone who was hard to defeat and capture. However he died in captivity in 1909. America is being accused of holding biased against native American Indians; and this event supported this perception so vigorously and this particular matter was aggressively discussed in American Senate and even the Pentagon was asked for explanation.

In this series, another noticeable article was Many Indians irked but not surprised by code name. This article explained a great deal of reasons behind why Laden was named as Geronimo, in a secret coded message sent by American army to White House. One of the main reasons given was that because both managed to stay free for a considerable long time and were considered as a major threat for U.S. national security. Secondly, may be, the U.S. government considers Geronimo as a terrorist,…