A Single American Nation 2. Cold War 3. The Age of Reagan 4.The Lived Experience of Ordinary People

A Single American Nation 2. Cold War 3. The Age of Reagan 4.The Lived Experience of Ordinary People

Discussions
To participate in the following discussions, go to this week’s Discussion link in the left navigation.

A Single American Nation

Background: When the First World War began, African-American leaders pressed the government to provide black men the right to go to combat to prove their devotion to their country. Hoping that their service would lay a stake on citizenship that the nation would have no choice but to honor, the “New Negro” of the 1920s adopted a more militant stance toward civil rights. The civil rights struggle envisioned at the time, however, made few concrete gains. Discrimination and disenfranchisement persisted.

African-American leaders responded to the Second World War much as they had to the First, offering their services while expecting recognition in return. They intended to fight a “Double-V Campaign” against fascism abroad and racism at home. They helped to kill fascism abroad; racist policies at home survived, but only for a time. Less than a decade after the war ended, the Brown case struck down the principle of “separate but equal” in schools. A grass-roots movement emerged to challenge discrimination elsewhere. By 1965, nonviolent means had murdered Jim Crow. Yet, the 60s were nothing if not a violent decade, marred by war, riots, and assassinations. By the end of the decade, Americans were as divided in some ways as they had ever been, and hopes for integration into a single American nation largely gave way to an emphasis on the unique needs and interests of different groups within the nation.

Resources: When writing your response, draw from material in the following video:

Beacham, T. Gilmartin, B., Grobman, S, Ling, C., & Rhee, V. (Producers), Libretto, J. (Director). (2004).  Let freedom ring: Moments from the civil rights movement, 1954-1965 [News program]. New York, NY: NBC Universal. Retrieved from http://digital.films.com/OnDemandEmbed.aspx?Token=40565&aid=18596&Plt=FOD&loid=0&w=640&h=480&ref=

Also in your response, draw from at least TWO of the documents listed below:

(1962).  “The bottom of the economic totem pole”: African American women in the workplace. Retrieved from http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6472
(1962). The Port Huron statement of the students for a democratic society. Retrieved from http://www.h-net.org/~hst306/documents/huron.html
(1969).  “The cycle of poverty”: Mexican-American migrant farmworkers testify before Congress. Retrieved from http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/7024
(1970).  “We must destroy the capitalistic system which enslaves us”: Stokely Carmichael advocates black revolution. Retrieved from http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6461
(1976).  “Self determination of free peoples”: Founding documents of the American Indian Movement (AIM). Retrieved from http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6897
Steinem, G. (1970).  “All our problems stem from the same sex based myths”: Gloria Steinem delineates American gender myths during ERA hearings. Retrieved from http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/7025
Truscott, L. (1969, July 3).  Gay power comes to Sheridan Square. The Village Voice. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/primary-resources/stonewall-village-voice/

READ ALSO :   Business in the Asia Pacific Region

Instructions: After reviewing your Instructor’s Guidance and completing the weekly reading assignments (including those in the resource section below), please post a substantive discussion post of at least 200 words that analyzes the development and success of the Civil Rights Movement using the following questions as the basis of your analysis:

What precisely did the Civil Right Movement gain?
What objectives did it fail to achieve?
How were the approaches of Martin Luther King Jr, and Malcom X to Civil Rights different? How were they the same?
Why did so many new movements emerge by the end of the 1960s? (i.e. regarding Native Americans, Women, Chicanos, etc)
Was the nation more or less divided in 1970 than it had been in 1950?

Your initial post should be at least 200 words in length. Support your claims with examples from the required material(s) and properly cite any references. You may use additional scholarly sources to support your points if you choose. Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts by Day 7 in at least 100 words. When responding to classmates, you should refer to the material from one of the sources which you did not reference in your initial post.

Cold War

Background: After the Second World War, the US embarked on what came to be known as the Cold War against the Soviet Union. Although the two sides never fought against each other directly, the Cold War nonetheless erupted into violence at times in places like Vietnam, Korea, and Afghanistan. As the US grew more activist and interventionist in its foreign policy, the domestic government also grew in power and in its role in the people’s lives.

READ ALSO :   Analyse organisational problems and/or challenges and propose justified solutions.

Resources: When responding to these prompts, draw from the material in ONE of the following videos:

Hawksworth, R., Hogan, H., & Spencer, S. (Writers).  The post-war years [Television series episode]. In R. Hawksworth (Executive producer), America in the 20th Century. Chicago, IL: Media Rich Communications, LLC. Available from http://digital.films.com/OnDemandEmbed.aspx?Token=47585&aid=18596&Plt=FOD&loid=0&w=640&h=480&ref=
Isbouts, J., & Johnson, B. D. (Writers), & Johnson, B. D. (Director). (1999). Superpowers collide [Television series episode]. In J. Florescu, J. Isbouts, & B. D. Johnson (Executive producers), Inside the Cold War with Sir David Frost. Los Angeles, CA: Porchlight Entertainment. Available from http://digital.films.com/OnDemandEmbed.aspx?Token=8397&aid=18596&Plt=FOD&loid=0&w=640&h=480&ref=
Wattenberg, B. (Writer). (2000).  1930-1960 [Television series episode]. In A. Walworth (Executive producer), The First Measured Century: The Other Way of Looking at American History. Arlington, VA: PBS. Available from http://digital.films.com/OnDemandEmbed.aspx?Token=44378&aid=18596&Plt=FOD&loid=0&w=640&h=480&ref=

Also, draw from the material in TWO of the following documents:

Byrne, M. (Ed.). (2000).  Electronic briefing book no. 28: The secret CIA history of the Iran coup, 1953 Retrieved from http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB28/
Eisenhower, D. (1961, Jan. 17).  Farewell address Retrieved from http://www.vlib.us/amdocs/texts/ddefarew.html
Herberg, W. (n.d.)  Protestant-Catholic-Jew: An essay in American religious sociology (1960) [Excerpt]. Retrieved from http://personal.ashland.edu/~jmoser1/herberg.htm
Johnson, L. (1964, Aug, 5).  The Tonkin Gulf incident; 1964 Retrieved from http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/tonkin-g.asp
Kennedy, J. (1962, Oct. 22).  Address on the Cuban crisis October 22, 1962. Modern History Sourcebook. Retrieved from http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1962kennedy-cuba.html
Kissinger, H. (1969, March 8).  March 9th memo from Kissinger to Nixon. Retrieved from http://www.historycentral.com/Vietnam/Documents/Kiss.html
Nixon, R. (1974, Aug. 8).  Richard Nixon’s resignation. Retrieved from http://customers.hbci.com/~tgort/resign.htm
Potter, P. (1965).  SDS Vietnam anti-war speech. Retrieved from http://www.hippy.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=130
Schlesinger, A. M. (1949). The vital center: The politics of freedom [Excerpt]. Retrieved from http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/vital-center.html
United States Congress. (1973, Nov. 7). The war powers act. Retrieved from http://customers.hbci.com/~tgort/wpa.htm

Instructions: After reviewing your Instructor’s Guidance and completing the weekly reading assignments (including those in the resource section below), please post a substantive discussion post of at least 200 words that analyzes BOTH U.S. Cold War Policy AND the impact that the Cold War had on U.S. society, using the following questions as the basis of your analysis:

Why did the Cold War start and how did it develop over its first three decades?
How did different presidential administrations, from Truman to Nixon handle Cold War affairs?
How did these approaches affect foreign policy?
How did the Cold War lead to changes within American society and culture?
Your initial post should be at least 200 words in length.

READ ALSO :   Does the death penalty really bring justice to those who were seeking it?

The Lived Experience of Ordinary People

Background: Especially since the 1960s, historians have sought to understand history not just as a series of major events presided over by generals and statesmen, but also as the lived experience of ordinary people. For this last discussion, begin by reflecting on your own past with an eye toward how American society has changed over the course of your life.

Instructions: In your response, focus less on major political or international events than on the ways day-to-day life in America is different today than it was when you were younger. You might consider such factors as the cost of goods and services, the forms of entertainment, means of communication, and so forth. Next, identify what you believe to be the most pressing problem facing America today, providing evidence from recent news sources to show that the problem is real and pressing. There are numerous issues you might consider, such as international security, personal and public debt, heightening racial tensions, economic downturns, and so forth. Be sure to provide concrete information to back your choice. Finally, describe how Americans at different times during the past 150 years have addressed problems similar to the one you identified, and assess whether those past solutions would be applicable today. Draw from material in your textbook or from scholarly outside sources, or both, when addressing this prompt.

Your initial post should be at least 200 words in length. Support your claims with examples from the required material(s)and properly cite any references. You may use additional scholarly sources to support your points if you choose. Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts by Day 7 in at least 100 words.

PLACE THIS ORDER OR A SIMILAR ORDER WITH US TODAY AND GET AN AMAZING DISCOUNT 🙂