" (Gilmore, 2008) in fact, it was communists "who promoted and practiced racial equality and considered the South crucial to their success in elevating labor and overthrowing the capitalist system. They were joined in the late 1930s by a radical left to form a southern Popular Front that sought to overturn Jim Crow, elevate the working class, and promote civil rights and civil liberties." (Gilmore, 2008) This is unknown even to many today who would be shocked to learn that it was a form of socialism that urged the civil right movement and in fact made the provision of a great deal of support to these issues. There were many issues beneath the smooth surface of the society in the 1950s. One of these factors was the emerging nuclear weapons and the coming Cold War which changed the face of international relations and politics.
III. STRUGGLE and ISSUES in the 1950S
There…...
mlaBibliography
Arsenault, Raymond (2008) Defyng Dixie: The Radical Roots of Civil Rights, 1919-1950, by Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore. 13 Jan 2008.
Tolliver, Renee, C. (1999) the Good Old Days: a 1950s Issues Portfolio. Oliver High School. Online available at http://www.chatham.edu/PTI/PDF/Tolliver99.pdf
This Fabulous Century 1950-1960 (1979) Time Life Inc., New York, NY.
The Culture of the United States (nd) U.S. Department of State. Online available at http://countrystudies.us/united-states/history-117.htm
United States History 1492-1865
Q.1) Why was it necessary to change the Articles of Confederation?
Drawbacks of the Articles of Confederation
Under the Articles of Confederation, the Congress was given charge of many affairs such as making decisions about war and peace, regulating the postage system and the currency, settling disagreements between various states, conducting foreign affairs, and managing the western lands. Nevertheless, in spite of this authority, the Articles of Confederation did not give Congress the power whereby it could actually put its resolutions into effect.
The basic reason that necessitated changing the Articles of Confederation was their impracticability to offer executable authority to the Congress. Additionally, there were certain other weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation from 1781 to 1789. The Congress found that it was impossible to pass any laws since there was neither an executive, nor a national judiciary. The Congress did not possess any power to raise an army…...
mlaBibliography
Decision at Philadelphia, Collier and Collier,
Feldmeth, Greg D.U.S. History Resources. March 31, 1998. http://home.earthlink.net/~gfeldmeth/USHistory.html
Foner, Eric and Garraty, John A. (1991) The Reader's Companion to American History. Robert Middlekauff
United States History Up to 1877
The work of literature examined within this analytical book review is entitled Entertaining Satan: itchcraft and the Culture of Early New England. It is written by John Demos who is a professor of history at Brandeis University. Demos is largely regarded as "one of the pioneers in this field" (Rakove, 1992) and that which is based on the 17th century witchcraft phenomenon. Demos' purpose in this book is relatively simple: he is looking to examine the pervasive culture of witchcraft that was prevalent in New England during the aforementioned epoch, and link that culture to the instances of witchcraft that were detected and prosecuted. hat is truly remarkable about this purpose is that the author chooses to pursue it via an interdisciplinary approach, one which was considered "new and fashionable" (Doerner, 2013) at the time of the writing in the latter part of the 20th…...
mlaWorks Cited
Demos, John P. Entertaining Satan: Witchcraft and Culture in Early New England. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1982. Print.
Doerner, Paige. "Book Review: Entertaining Satan: Witchcraft and the Culture of Early New England." Imponderabilia. 2013. Web. http://paigedoerner.wordpress.com/2013/04/18/book-review-entertaining-satan-witchcraft-and-the-culture-of-early-new-england/
Rakove, Jack. "Witching Time." The New York Times. 1982. Web. http://www.nytimes.com/1982/09/19/books/witching-time.html
Smith, Madeline. "Book Review." www.francescollierblogspot.com 2010. Web. http://francescollier.blogspot.com/2010/09/book-review-entertaining-satan.html
U.S. History
he first important event that encouraged freedom was the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which recognized that women are human beings. Before the Nineteenth Amendment was passed, women were not considered citizens with full rights and privileges. Most importantly, women were unable to vote. A society cannot be free if fifty percent of its population is systematically oppressed.
he second important event that encouraged freedom in the United States since 1865 was the Emancipation Proclamation. he reason why the Emancipation Proclamation is not the most important thing that encouraged freedom is the fact that Reconstruction failed. After all the bloodshed of the Civil War, the American government failed to ensure that African-Americans would receive full reparations and the means by which to become instantly integrated into society. Moreover, there were no punishments for the slave owners who had committed brutal crimes. he slave owners simply continued…...
mlaThe second important event that inhibits freedom in the United States since 1865 has been the "war on terrorism" and the infringements on personal liberty and freedom of movement. While protecting national security is important, the government has gone to far. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has become ridiculously heavy-handed to the point where many Americans believe the "terrorists have won" by making daily life more difficult.
The third important event that has limited freedom in the United States has been the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War led to the creation of Agent Orange, which propelled the Monsanto Company into the arms of the government. Monstanto was then able to create chemical-laden food products and food production methods that have caused Americans to lose food security.
In sum, freedom in America has been seriously curtailed due to some major events that have taken place since 1865. However, Americans still do have the power to change. When freedoms are restricted due to negative events, it is important to take action. Even if it takes several generations, change can take place.
United States History
On April 19, 1775, a detachment of the British regular Army marched inland from Boston, Massachusetts, in search of a cache of arms and with orders to arrest certain prominent local leaders. At Lexington, they confronted and fired upon a small group of local militia, who had gathered on the town common, or "green." Further along their line of march, they confronted a much larger group of militia at a bridge in Concord, and were turned back. Retreating to Boston, the British soldiers were subjected to continual sniper attacks. he Battle of Lexington and Concord, coming after a dozen years of escalating political conflict between the colonies and the British Parliament, marked the beginning of the American Revolution.
On May 10, 1775, the Second Continental Congress, with representatives from thirteen of the British colonies along the Atlantic Coast of North America, began meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. he Congress…...
mlaThe diversity of the new nation was also a formidable obstacle to unity. The people who were empowered by the Constitution in the 18th century to elect and control their central government represented different origins, beliefs, and interests. Most had come from Britain, but Sweden, Norway, France, the Netherlands, Prussia, Poland, and many other countries also sent immigrants to the New World. Their religious beliefs were varied and, in most cases, strongly held. There were Anglicans, Roman Catholics, Calvinists, Huguenots, Lutherans, Quakers, Jews, and many more. Economically and socially, Americans ranged from the land-owning aristocracy to slaves from Africa and indentured servants working off debts.
Of all the issues confronting the Constitutional Convention, none was more contentious than the issue of slavery. There had already started to develop a divergence between North and South, based on economic realities. Southern landowners were unwilling to relinquish their prerogatives over the slaves and a compromise was finally reached which prevented Congress from banning the import of slaves before 1808. In that year, Congress acted to ban further imports, and any new slaves would have to be descendants of ones that were currently in the U.S.
Two other issues that confronted the early Americans were the fiscal policies, proposed by Alexander Hamilton, and the location of the new capital of the U.S. Hamilton, as Secretary of the Treasury, was frustrated in his attempts to gain acceptance from southern leaders for one the key provisions of his fiscal proposal, assumption of state debts by the federal government, which would doom all his efforts for fiscal reform. A compromise was reached with James Madison during a dinner that took place on the evening of June 20, 1790, in which "Jefferson
American History
During the American Civil ar, alt hitman wrote insightful pieces that captured the war from an angle that reflected an understanding of the daily effects of the reality of the war on everyone involved.
hitman himself was effected by the war from almost the beginning when, after riding with a trainload of wounded men on the way to ashington, he decided to take a job at the Army Paymaster's Office. He stayed there for three years, where he kept the company of wounded soldiers, befriending those victims of the war.
hitman understood a sense of despair in the country before the war, which is expressed in his poetry. He thought the cause of the war was one that came from within the country and his poetry focused on the individual impact the war had on people as opposed to writing about the larger issues such a s emancipation, slavery, and reconstruction.…...
mlaWorks Cited
Basler, ed. Walt Whitman's Memoranda During the War and Death of Lincoln. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. 1962.
Davidson, Geinapp, Heyman, Lytle, and Stoff. Nations of Nations. New York: McGraw-Hill Publishing. 1990.
Harkness, David and McMurty, Gerald. Lincoln's Favorite Poets. Knoxville: The University of Tennessee. 1959.
House of Representatives passed Health Care reform. What is the next step in the legislative process before it goes to the President to be signed? Do you think it will be signed by the President in its present form or will it die before it gets to him, and why?
A bill is first introduced into the House by one of its members, who becomes the bill's sponsor. Fellow house members may join him/her as bill advocates or cosponsors. The presence of several cosponsors or congressional heads signing onto the bill may elevate prospects of the bill successfully being passed into law. However, the bill needs to first progress across every official procedural obstacle within both Houses prior to reaching the president and being enacted as a law. Following its introduction, the presiding official of each chamber refers the bill to the established committee with jurisdiction over the theme (e.g., homeland…...
he Progressive Movement in the early twentieth century had a somewhat similar though less socialist-leaning agenda; regulation of business and the environment were major policies of Progressives. heodore Roosevelt was the leading figure of the movement, along with Democrat William Jennings Bryant.
In 1896, Bryant ran for President against McKinley in one of the most intense elections in United States history. Multiple parties and factions backed each candidate, and McKinley's coalitions of businessmen, large-scale farmers, and skilled workers beat Bryant and his more populist movement. his had a dramatic effect on the country, taking the government in one direction and leaving a sizeable majority of the public feeling unrepresented by their government. his public pull and the tension it created with the federal government continued to shape policy through World War I and into the Great Depression, when many of the Populist and Progressive reforms were finally introduced by Franklin…...
mlaThe years between the Civil War and the New Deal were marked with major changes in policy, government structure, and the world at large. Though race policy was largely regressive following the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, other reform movements pushing for institutional change gained steam during this period. The struggle for women's suffrage and other rights was truly galvanized in 1848, but was put on hold during the Civil War and completely ignored by the Constitutional amendments following the war. By 1920, women's suffrage was finally established nationally.
The other major reform movements of this period were the Populist and Progressive movements. The Populists grew out of various labor and farm movements. Labor unions began to be discussed and formed during this period, though they would not gain a strong foothold until around the 1920s, following the same timeline as women's suffrage. Some elements of the Populist ideal were government or collective ownership of railroads and communication systems and an income tax somewhat similar to what we have today. The Progressive Movement in the early twentieth century had a somewhat similar though less socialist-leaning agenda; regulation of business and the environment were major policies of Progressives. Theodore Roosevelt was the leading figure of the movement, along with Democrat William Jennings Bryant.
In 1896, Bryant ran for President against McKinley in one of the most intense elections in United States history. Multiple parties and factions backed each candidate, and McKinley's coalitions of businessmen, large-scale farmers, and skilled workers beat Bryant and his more populist movement. This had a dramatic effect on the country, taking the government in one direction and leaving a sizeable majority of the public feeling unrepresented by their government. This public pull and the tension it created with the federal government continued to shape policy through World War I and into the Great Depression, when many of the Populist and Progressive reforms were finally introduced by Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal programs.
Conservative American Presidents
The purpose of this paper is to introduce and discuss the return to conservatism in the American presidency after the 1980s. It will compare the similarities to earlier periods in the 19th and 20th century, and discuss what relationship there is between this return to conservatism, and the continued struggle for U.S. military dominance and economic globalization.
THE RETURN TO CONSERVATISM IN AMERICAN POLITICS
The country emerged from orld ar II as the dominant world force and with a booming national economy.
It was able to construct a series of political, economic, and military alliances that tied most of the former great powers together against its only rival, the Soviet Union. This unique postwar situation could not last forever, and in the 1960s and 1970s the "American Century" began to unravel (Florig 153).
It was this unraveling that Americans were worried about, and so they turned to conservatives like Ronald Regan and…...
mlaWorks Cited
Anderson, Dennis M. "Ronald Reagan." Popular Images of American Presidents. Ed. William C. Spragens. New York: Greenwood Press, 1988. 563-578.
Dansker, Emil. "William Howard Taft." Popular Images of American Presidents. Ed. William C. Spragens. New York: Greenwood Press, 1988. 211-234.
Editors. "Warren G. Harding." The American President. 2002. 13 August 2002. http://www.americanpresident.org/kotrain/courses/WH/WH_In_Brief.htm
Editors. "Ronald Reagan: Impact and Legacy." The American President. 2002. 13 August 2002. http://www.americanpresident.org/kotrain/courses/RR/RR_Impact_and_Legacy.htm
United States Congress:
The legislature of the United States was established in 1789 under the country's constitution and divided structurally from the judicial and executive arms of the government. This legislative arm in separated into two houses which are the Senate and the House of Representatives. hile the Senate requires that each state is represented by two senators regardless of its size, the House of Representatives consist of members who are elected on the basis of population. The Congress was created by the pioneers of the American Constitution on the basis that a huge portion of the powers of the government needs to be on the legislative branch. hereas the two Congressional chambers are separate and distinct, they tend to have an equal role in the enactment of legislation in most cases. Representation, lawmaking, oversight, service to constituents, conflict resolution and public education are the six basic functions of the Congress.…...
mlaWorks Cited:
"Chapter 11: The Congress." Faculty and Staff, Georgia Perimeter College. Georgia Perimeter College. Web. 24 May 2011. .
"Congress of the United States." History.com - History Made Every Day. A&E Television Networks, LLC. Web. 24 May 2011. .
Reception, Perception and Deception: The Genesis of Slavery
Progress has a way of making itself known to the world, even in a situation where there exists resistance. Considering Olaudah Equiano's "The Interesting Narrative, the issue of slavery throughout the colonial world was as much about assimilation as it was oppression. The conflict between cultures is shown in the nature of the cultural assumptions each makes concerning the other. The British are caught in a tunnel vision that doesn't allow for any considerations outside the belief that their way of life is superior and assume that the tribal culture will logically want to adapt to fit into the more modern way of life. They cannot accept the natives as equals, even as they verbalize their intention as one of attempting to create a hybrid culture. The Ibo, for their part, assume that the British will recognize and honor the way of life…...
mlaWorks Cited
Equiano, Olaudah. "The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano." In The Classic Slave Narratives, ed. Henry Louis Gates. New York, NY: 1987.
Freehling, William W. "Founding Fathers and Slavery." American Historical Review, (1972): at http://edweb.tusd.k12.az.us/uhs/APUSH/1st%20Sem/Articles%20Semester%201/Artiles%20Semester%201/Freehling.htm
Richter, Daniel K. Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America. Cambridge, MS: Harvard University Press, 2001.
U.S. Japan
On December 7, 1941, Japan launched an assault on the U.S. Naval Headquarters for the Pacific Fleet, located at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. This assault led directly to the open war between the U.S. And Japan, which several years later would culminate in the U.S. invaded Japan in the Okinawa archipelago and dropping two atomic bombs on Japan. The events that led to the U.S. invasion of Japan are therefore discussed on the macro, meso and micro levels.
Macro-Level Factors
If the U.S. invasion of Japan was spurred by Pearl Harbor, then one has to look at the causes of that attack to understand how the U.S. invasion came about. Japan was one of the world's great imperial powers during the decades prior to World War Two. After the rise of Emperor Hirohito in the 1920s, Japan embarked on a mission, believing that it could and should control "Asia, the South Seas…...
mlaReferences
History. (2014). Imperial Japan. History.com. Retrieved November 22, 2014 from http://www.history.co.uk/study-topics/history-of-ww2/imperial-japan
History Learning (2014). Operation Downfall. History Learning Site. Retrieved November 23, 2014 from http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/operation_downfall.htm
Rosenberg, J. (2014). Pearl Harbor. About.com. Retrieved November 22, 2014 from http://history1900s.about.com/od/worldwarii/a/Attack-Pearl-Harbor.htm
Tsukiyama, T. (2006). Battle of Okinawa. The Hawai'i Nisei Story. Retrieved November 22, 2014 from http://nisei.hawaii.edu/object/io_1149316185200.html
Colonial America: Questions
Puritans
Unlike previous European settlers who came to the New World primarily to make a profit, the Puritans arrived with a commitment to create a new society and genuinely 'settle' on the land. They had no plans to return to England, given that they had been cast out of the Old World because of their religious beliefs. Unlike the settlers at Jamestown, they came prepared to work hard, and did not hope to simply make a quick profit and return to England rich, having done little labor. They believed in the value of hard work as part of their religious philosophy. They believed God had quite literally 'chosen' them to know the truth, which sustained them during times of suffering. During the first years, however, like previous colonists, they did struggle to stay alive. The winter was harsh, and they were forced to adapt their crops and agriculture to…...
mlaReferences
"5b. Indentured servants." The Southern Colonies. U.S. History. 2012. [1 Feb 2013]
http://www.ushistory.org/us/5b.asp
Pearson, Ellen Holmes. "The New World: A Stage for Cultural Interaction." Teaching History.
[1 Feb 2013.]
U.S. History 1877-Present
America has changed so vastly since the U.S. Civil War that it is hard to single out three events that have had the most beneficial impact from the later nineteenth century to the present day. However, in terms of selecting events that have had the greatest impact on the daily lives of Americans in this time period even to the present day it is possible to nominate some specific events. he ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920, the introduction of the New Deal under President Franklin Roosevelt, the passage of the Civil Rights Act during the Presidency of Lyndon Johnson are all events which continue to have a positive impact felt by all Americans.
he Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is what permits women to vote. he fact that it was only passed in 1920 is something of a scandal -- it does…...
mlaThe use of Communism as a fake menace was a staple of American political rhetoric well before Senator McCarthy's day -- the Haymarket Riot was an attempt to place blame on progressive political organizers, and the raids conducted after World War One by attorney general A. Mitchell Palmer were perhaps even more illegal than anything McCarthyism accomplished. However, the real function of McCarthyism was to conduct a witch hunt in American public life, and ruin the careers of people -- also effectively stigmatizing progressive politics for a long stretch afterwards. The most troubling aspect of McCarthyism, however, was that it was brought down by nobody except McCarthy himself. If McCarthy had not overreached by going after the U.S. Army -- which proved to be a crucial miscalculation -- he might have continued his red-baiting until he had effectively forced America into becoming a right-wing one-party totalitarian state, the inverted mirror image of his imaginary enemies.
Finally the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on Bush v. Gore in 2000 was a scandal in any number of ways, but chief among them was the Constitutional crisis that this decision represented. Because the justices split purely along party lines, the decision essentially politicized the Supreme Court, which was not to the benefit of the legal system. But moreover, there was no valid reason to delay the recount in Florida -- which ultimately found Al Gore had won the popular vote there too -- and merely underscored the bizarre elitist character of the Electoral College as being an element of the U.S. Constitution like the three-fifths compromise, a relic of a bygone era. As a result, America ended up with a president who had been installed by a bunch of judges appointed by his dad and his dad's boss -- the fact that his presidency was so disastrous should not be a surprise.
In conclusion, these three events all damaged the public life of the United States in various ways. The Spanish-American War turned warfare into a profiteering activity that could be conducted by coercing the public with propaganda campaigns. McCarthyism demonized political opinion in what should ideally be a tolerant and pluralist society. And the elevation of George W. Bush to the presidency ultimately damaged America's status in the eyes of the world, and its legal system, and ultimately its economy, even if it did give us the most charming amateur painter on the world stage since Adolf Hitler. The fact that Bush essentially revived the worst excesses of the Spanish-American War with his Iraq invasion, and of McCarthyism with his PATRIOT Act, demonstrate how all of these tendencies in American life are still with us.
Assassination of JFK
Why is your chosen turning point actually a turning point and not just another event?
One of the most commonly analyzed and a questionable event in the history of the U.S., the assassination of JFK was a real turning point. The complex analysis on this topic is somehow frustrating. While "JFK-nuts" may be captured in some seriously arcane information of proof, some readily available information can entirely discredit the official government version of what occurred. The assassination of JFK can be seen as a coup-d'etat and a caution to all individuals and government figures who may try to question the status quo. Strong forces within government were able to take off such a criminal action and successfully pass off such a cheap cover story. The condition of the country's democracy can be deciphered from this scenario (Zelizer, 2012).
Even more considerably, the complicity of the United States media and their…...
mlaReference
Zelizer, B. (2012). Covering the body: The Kennedy assassination, the media, and the shaping of collective memory. Chicago u.a: Univ. Of Chicago Press.
The Pivotal Event that Ignited the Civil Rights Movement: The Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Civil Rights Movement, a pivotal era in American history, was marked by transformative events that challenged racial inequality and discrimination. Among these events, the Montgomery Bus Boycott stands as a watershed moment, sparking a wave of activism and resistance that reshaped the nation.
December 1, 1955: The Spark Ignites
On a cold December evening in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks, a 42-year-old African American seamstress, boarded a city bus. As the bus filled up, a white passenger demanded that Parks surrender her seat to him. In accordance with the city's....
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