Saturday, April 28, 2012
The Case of the Vanishing Black Male Teachers....
Presently only two-percent of our nations' teachers are Black males. Researchers have sought to figure out why the field of education is so unappealing to Black males and whether or not they make a difference in relation to the academic performance of children, especially Black male students. Personally, throughout my own educational experience I've only had the opportunity to learn from only one Black male teacher and he definitely made a difference in my life (which is one of the reasons that I am a teacher now). Why you may ask? Sometimes its therapeutic to be able to confide in someone who can be empathize with your life experiences and offer guidance and encouragement. Nationwide there is a shortage of Black male teachers a recent article from "WDSU" closely examines the potential reasons behind this issue. Is it the low pay, is it the notion that teaching is a female dominated profession? Click the Link Below For the Full Article:
African-American Male Teacher A Vanishing Phenomenon, Experts Say - New Orleans News Story - WDSU New Orleans
African-American Male Teacher A Vanishing Phenomenon, Experts Say - New Orleans News Story - WDSU New Orleans
Friday, April 27, 2012
Study Guide for Cold War Unit- For Both History Courses (Study)
Identifications: Be able to identify who, what, when, where, and the historical significance of the following:
Communism, Truman Doctrine, Karl Marx, Stalin, Joseph McCarthy, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Berlin Wall, Iron Curtain, Harry Truman, Marshall Plan, Cold War, 38th parallel, Sputnik, Nikita Khrushchev, Capitalism, Marshall Plan, Korean War, Bay of Pigs, Red Scare, Alger Hiss
Possible Essay Questions: There will be two essays on the exam. You will be required to answer one.
1. Emerging at the end of WWII were two world superpowers. Compare and contrast the ways in which both of these countries rose to world power during this period. What factors at home helped them to become stronger? How did they over come destruction and loss caused by the war?
2. Looking at the Cold War tensions during the late 1950s, write an essay in which you analyze at least two of the crises discussed in class. What was the crisis? Where was it? Why did it occur? What was its significance to the world today?
3. At the start of the Korean War, both President Truman and General MacArthur agreed that the U.S. should intervene and stop the North Korean advancement into South Korea. Four months later, the two men disagreed on the role the U.N. was to have in the region. First, describe the differences in opinion held by the two men. Then explain what lead to the President’s firing of the General.
Communism, Truman Doctrine, Karl Marx, Stalin, Joseph McCarthy, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Berlin Wall, Iron Curtain, Harry Truman, Marshall Plan, Cold War, 38th parallel, Sputnik, Nikita Khrushchev, Capitalism, Marshall Plan, Korean War, Bay of Pigs, Red Scare, Alger Hiss
Possible Essay Questions: There will be two essays on the exam. You will be required to answer one.
1. Emerging at the end of WWII were two world superpowers. Compare and contrast the ways in which both of these countries rose to world power during this period. What factors at home helped them to become stronger? How did they over come destruction and loss caused by the war?
2. Looking at the Cold War tensions during the late 1950s, write an essay in which you analyze at least two of the crises discussed in class. What was the crisis? Where was it? Why did it occur? What was its significance to the world today?
3. At the start of the Korean War, both President Truman and General MacArthur agreed that the U.S. should intervene and stop the North Korean advancement into South Korea. Four months later, the two men disagreed on the role the U.N. was to have in the region. First, describe the differences in opinion held by the two men. Then explain what lead to the President’s firing of the General.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Cold War Timeline - A.P. U.S. History
Click the Link Below For A Full Timeline of Cold War Events and Conflicts...
http://library.thinkquest.org/10826/timeline.htm
http://library.thinkquest.org/10826/timeline.htm
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Korematsu v. United States (1944)
Court case discussed in class dealing with the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. The link is below:
Korematsu v. United States (1944)
Korematsu v. United States (1944)
Keeping Teachers In the Classroom
I just read an interesting article published by the Huffington Post that speaks to the fact that high teacher turnover rates negatively effect student performance. Many schools and school districts are working to support and aid teachers as they undertake the daunting task of educating children. Many teachers leave the classroom for a variety of reasons including but not limited to compensation(low wages), long hours, little to no support, and lastly burnout. How can schools retain and support highly effective teachers? The link to the article is below:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pam-grossman/experienced-teachers_b_1442123.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pam-grossman/experienced-teachers_b_1442123.html
Kennedy's New Frontier; Johnson's Great Society - Study Guide A.P. U.S. History
I. New Domestic Programs – New Frontier to “get the country moving again”
A. Tax cut – though at odds with companies over Steel threats, he regained favor with tax cuts to business – seen as a Republican measure
1. Additional tax cuts pushed through by Johnson after Kennedy assassinated
B. War on Poverty – Johnson – Great Society – “rights revolution” – helped Americans/hurt budget
1. Proposed $1 Bill(Later $2 bill. dollar package – focused on Appalachian mountains and poor
a. Economic and welfare programs – similar to New Deal
b. Michael Harrington’s The Other America – shows 20% of population in poverty
2. Two new cabinet offices – Housing and Urban Development, Department of Transportation
3. Big Four Feats – education, aid to elderly/indigent, immigration reform, voting
a. Education – loans straight to kids, not schools – Project Head Start
b. Medicare/Medicid
II. Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
A. The New Left and the Counterculture – divides America’s into two morals
1. Negative attitude toward authority – America not free of racism, sexism, imperialism, povert
2. 1950s – “Beat” poets - Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Rebel without a Cause
3. UC Berkeley – Free Speech Movement, sexual revolution, lived in communes
4. Turned into violence and cynicism
B. Republican Party – reaction to “flower children” – silent majority
1. Republicans in South – Kennedy – anti-Catholic – Bible belt
2. 1968 – American Independent Party – George Wallace – South really doesn’t want integration – can no longer follow Democrats
3. Blacks move to cities, Democrats begin appealing to urban areas, Republicans elsewhere
C. The Supreme Court – Warren’s Court – After 1953
1. Cases affect sexual freedom, criminals’ rights, religious rights, structure of political representation
A. Griswold v. Connecticut – Condoms OK – people have privacy in lives
B. Gideon v. Wainwright – Defendants have right to legal counsel
C. Miranda/Escobedo – right to remain silent, can’t get confession from torture
D. New York Times v. Sullivan – public figures only win libel if malice intended
E. Engel v. Vitale – prayer illegal in schools
F. Reynolds v. Sims – redraw district lines to better represent population
III. Foreign Policy – Cold war still dominates thinking
A. Bay of Pigs – plan made under Eisenhower to have CIA help Cuban exiles retake gov’t from Castro
1. Fails miserably when Cubans don’t side with Cuban exiles
2. America looks like idiots for sponsoring a revolution – Kennedy held responsible
B. Cuban Missile Crisis – closest America gets to WWIII – US tells USSR to get missiles out of Cuba
1. Puts in “quarantine” – can’t do blockade because it’s an act of war
2. If Russia doesn’t back down > Cuba invaded > Berlin invaded > World War III
3. Khruschev - Russia eventually back down for America’s promise to take out missiles Turkey
4. Created direct phone line between leaders – too close to death
C. Vietnam Quagmire – no-win situation – escalation not possible, N. Vietnamese won’t quit
1. Can’t escalate because might bring in China or Russia, but can’t win without escalation
2. American public – due to media – getting tired of unwinnable wore and empty promises
3. Victory confusing – based on body counts and not land taken (land gets retaken later)
4. People begin dodging draft, tons of protests, Veterans not welcomed back
5. Tet Offensive actually a victory but media portrayal makes it look like gov’t has no touch w/ reality – they had just promised a huge victory
6. Destroys Johnson’s policies
A. Tax cut – though at odds with companies over Steel threats, he regained favor with tax cuts to business – seen as a Republican measure
1. Additional tax cuts pushed through by Johnson after Kennedy assassinated
B. War on Poverty – Johnson – Great Society – “rights revolution” – helped Americans/hurt budget
1. Proposed $1 Bill(Later $2 bill. dollar package – focused on Appalachian mountains and poor
a. Economic and welfare programs – similar to New Deal
b. Michael Harrington’s The Other America – shows 20% of population in poverty
2. Two new cabinet offices – Housing and Urban Development, Department of Transportation
3. Big Four Feats – education, aid to elderly/indigent, immigration reform, voting
a. Education – loans straight to kids, not schools – Project Head Start
b. Medicare/Medicid
II. Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
A. The New Left and the Counterculture – divides America’s into two morals
1. Negative attitude toward authority – America not free of racism, sexism, imperialism, povert
2. 1950s – “Beat” poets - Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Rebel without a Cause
3. UC Berkeley – Free Speech Movement, sexual revolution, lived in communes
4. Turned into violence and cynicism
B. Republican Party – reaction to “flower children” – silent majority
1. Republicans in South – Kennedy – anti-Catholic – Bible belt
2. 1968 – American Independent Party – George Wallace – South really doesn’t want integration – can no longer follow Democrats
3. Blacks move to cities, Democrats begin appealing to urban areas, Republicans elsewhere
C. The Supreme Court – Warren’s Court – After 1953
1. Cases affect sexual freedom, criminals’ rights, religious rights, structure of political representation
A. Griswold v. Connecticut – Condoms OK – people have privacy in lives
B. Gideon v. Wainwright – Defendants have right to legal counsel
C. Miranda/Escobedo – right to remain silent, can’t get confession from torture
D. New York Times v. Sullivan – public figures only win libel if malice intended
E. Engel v. Vitale – prayer illegal in schools
F. Reynolds v. Sims – redraw district lines to better represent population
III. Foreign Policy – Cold war still dominates thinking
A. Bay of Pigs – plan made under Eisenhower to have CIA help Cuban exiles retake gov’t from Castro
1. Fails miserably when Cubans don’t side with Cuban exiles
2. America looks like idiots for sponsoring a revolution – Kennedy held responsible
B. Cuban Missile Crisis – closest America gets to WWIII – US tells USSR to get missiles out of Cuba
1. Puts in “quarantine” – can’t do blockade because it’s an act of war
2. If Russia doesn’t back down > Cuba invaded > Berlin invaded > World War III
3. Khruschev - Russia eventually back down for America’s promise to take out missiles Turkey
4. Created direct phone line between leaders – too close to death
C. Vietnam Quagmire – no-win situation – escalation not possible, N. Vietnamese won’t quit
1. Can’t escalate because might bring in China or Russia, but can’t win without escalation
2. American public – due to media – getting tired of unwinnable wore and empty promises
3. Victory confusing – based on body counts and not land taken (land gets retaken later)
4. People begin dodging draft, tons of protests, Veterans not welcomed back
5. Tet Offensive actually a victory but media portrayal makes it look like gov’t has no touch w/ reality – they had just promised a huge victory
6. Destroys Johnson’s policies
A.P. U.S. Review - Theodore Roosevelt
The Beginnings of Modern Imperialism: What led America into Becoming an Imperialist Nation?
Roosevelt's interventionist foreign policy violated the concept of constitutional government, but it also helped make America the world power it is today.
Describing his foreign policy, Theodore Roosevelt quoted a West African proverb: "Speak softly and carry a big stick." As president, Roosevelt used "big stick diplomacy" to seize the initiative in handling foreign relations, which helped transform the United States into one of the most powerful nations in the world.
However, Roosevelt also disregarded the Constitution’s limitations on federal power by making the executive branch supreme in foreign policy matters. This set a precedent that still exists today. Examples of Roosevelt’s disregard included:
* Converting the U.S. military into the "policeman of the world"
* Committing the U.S. military to foreign countries without congressional consent
* Negotiating agreements with foreign dignitaries without Senate ratification
The Roosevelt Corollary
As European nations began expanding their spheres of influence, many attempted to interfere in Latin America. Germany had threatened to force Venezuela to pay its debts, and other European nations were pressuring the Dominican Republic to do the same.
Roosevelt responded to European pressure by declaring that only the U.S. had the authority to intervene in Latin America, effectively becoming "an international police power." This declaration stemmed from Roosevelt’s belief that the U.S. should protect weaker nations in the Western Hemisphere. This became known as the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine.
Under Roosevelt, U.S. military personnel occupied the Dominican Republic and seized its customs houses. Future military interventions in Nicaragua, Honduras and Mexico were also undertaken, and all were justified by the Roosevelt Corollary.
Cuba had gained independence from Spain in the Spanish-American War. When Cubans rebelled against election results in 1906, Roosevelt deployed military personnel to restore order and organize a new government without the consent of Congress. This set a precedent in which future U.S. presidents committed the military to foreign countries for "nation building" purposes without congressional approval.
When Panama revolted against ruling Colombia, Roosevelt sent warships without Congress's consent to support the Panamanians. Roosevelt recognized the hastily created Republic of Panama and a treaty was negotiated giving the U.S. the right to build the Panama Canal.
Securing the Panama Canal was Roosevelt’s greatest foreign policy achievement, but the way it was done was most likely unconstitutional. Roosevelt defended his actions by later stating: "I took the Canal Zone and let Congress debate; and while the debate goes on the Canal does also."
The Philippines
The Philippine-American War was conducted partly under Roosevelt’s leadership and almost completely without congressional consent. The U.S. had acquired the Philippines in the Spanish-American War, but when the U.S. refused to grant the islands their independence after the war, the Filipinos rebelled. This sparked a conflict that lasted over four years without Congress declaring war. Over 7,000 U.S. troops were either killed or wounded, while Filipino civilian and military deaths numbered anywhere from 250,000 to one million.
This war began a U.S. policy of intervening in countries to impose freedom upon supposedly barbaric peoples for their own good. The war also demonstrated Roosevelt’s disregard for other branches of government.
Another way in which Roosevelt disregarded the Constitution’s separation of powers was to enter into "executive agreements" with foreign countries. Unlike treaties, these agreements would not require approval from two-thirds of the Senate to go into effect. Roosevelt made many of these agreements with Japan, including allowing Japan to control Korea, to restrict Japanese immigration into the U.S., and to recognize Japan’s "special interests" in China. None of these agreements were approved by the Senate or Congress.
In 1907, Roosevelt sent the "Great White Fleet" of U.S. warships on a round-the-world voyage to demonstrate military strength. The voyage was especially meant to intimidate Japan, which was expanding into a world power. While the voyage was initially viewed as a great international success for both Roosevelt and the U.S., it encouraged Japan to accelerate naval and arms production to match America. In this way, the fleet’s voyage indirectly played a role in paving the way toward World War II.
Legacy
While Theodore Roosevelt did much to make the U.S. a world power, he did so by showing contempt not only for Congress but for the constitutional form of government established by the framers. This is partly why America today is so different than what the framers had envisioned. By using unprecedented executive power in international affairs, Theodore Roosevelt was the first modern U.S. president.
Roosevelt's interventionist foreign policy violated the concept of constitutional government, but it also helped make America the world power it is today.
Describing his foreign policy, Theodore Roosevelt quoted a West African proverb: "Speak softly and carry a big stick." As president, Roosevelt used "big stick diplomacy" to seize the initiative in handling foreign relations, which helped transform the United States into one of the most powerful nations in the world.
However, Roosevelt also disregarded the Constitution’s limitations on federal power by making the executive branch supreme in foreign policy matters. This set a precedent that still exists today. Examples of Roosevelt’s disregard included:
* Converting the U.S. military into the "policeman of the world"
* Committing the U.S. military to foreign countries without congressional consent
* Negotiating agreements with foreign dignitaries without Senate ratification
The Roosevelt Corollary
As European nations began expanding their spheres of influence, many attempted to interfere in Latin America. Germany had threatened to force Venezuela to pay its debts, and other European nations were pressuring the Dominican Republic to do the same.
Roosevelt responded to European pressure by declaring that only the U.S. had the authority to intervene in Latin America, effectively becoming "an international police power." This declaration stemmed from Roosevelt’s belief that the U.S. should protect weaker nations in the Western Hemisphere. This became known as the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine.
Under Roosevelt, U.S. military personnel occupied the Dominican Republic and seized its customs houses. Future military interventions in Nicaragua, Honduras and Mexico were also undertaken, and all were justified by the Roosevelt Corollary.
Cuba had gained independence from Spain in the Spanish-American War. When Cubans rebelled against election results in 1906, Roosevelt deployed military personnel to restore order and organize a new government without the consent of Congress. This set a precedent in which future U.S. presidents committed the military to foreign countries for "nation building" purposes without congressional approval.
When Panama revolted against ruling Colombia, Roosevelt sent warships without Congress's consent to support the Panamanians. Roosevelt recognized the hastily created Republic of Panama and a treaty was negotiated giving the U.S. the right to build the Panama Canal.
Securing the Panama Canal was Roosevelt’s greatest foreign policy achievement, but the way it was done was most likely unconstitutional. Roosevelt defended his actions by later stating: "I took the Canal Zone and let Congress debate; and while the debate goes on the Canal does also."
The Philippines
The Philippine-American War was conducted partly under Roosevelt’s leadership and almost completely without congressional consent. The U.S. had acquired the Philippines in the Spanish-American War, but when the U.S. refused to grant the islands their independence after the war, the Filipinos rebelled. This sparked a conflict that lasted over four years without Congress declaring war. Over 7,000 U.S. troops were either killed or wounded, while Filipino civilian and military deaths numbered anywhere from 250,000 to one million.
This war began a U.S. policy of intervening in countries to impose freedom upon supposedly barbaric peoples for their own good. The war also demonstrated Roosevelt’s disregard for other branches of government.
Another way in which Roosevelt disregarded the Constitution’s separation of powers was to enter into "executive agreements" with foreign countries. Unlike treaties, these agreements would not require approval from two-thirds of the Senate to go into effect. Roosevelt made many of these agreements with Japan, including allowing Japan to control Korea, to restrict Japanese immigration into the U.S., and to recognize Japan’s "special interests" in China. None of these agreements were approved by the Senate or Congress.
In 1907, Roosevelt sent the "Great White Fleet" of U.S. warships on a round-the-world voyage to demonstrate military strength. The voyage was especially meant to intimidate Japan, which was expanding into a world power. While the voyage was initially viewed as a great international success for both Roosevelt and the U.S., it encouraged Japan to accelerate naval and arms production to match America. In this way, the fleet’s voyage indirectly played a role in paving the way toward World War II.
Legacy
While Theodore Roosevelt did much to make the U.S. a world power, he did so by showing contempt not only for Congress but for the constitutional form of government established by the framers. This is partly why America today is so different than what the framers had envisioned. By using unprecedented executive power in international affairs, Theodore Roosevelt was the first modern U.S. president.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Half of New College Grads Underemployed or Unemployed - Must Read
Ian Eddy
Time Magazine just published an article that explains a new study from the Associated Press claiming that half of all new college grads are either underemployed or unemployed. The job market is bleak and the promise of a better future with a college education is slowly fading away. Rising tuition costs and a weak job market have led to catastrophe among new college grads. Depending on what you plan to do after college some economists are recommending exploring the job market before entering college. Personally I think that high school students should first figure out what their interests are and research the job market to see how lucrative and promising their potential major choices are juxaposed to the current job market. Times are getting rough but as long as you have some skill you'll be able to navigate through this tumultuous economic climate.
Click the Link Below For the Full Article:
http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/04/23/half-of-new-college-grads-jobless-or-underemployed/
Time Magazine just published an article that explains a new study from the Associated Press claiming that half of all new college grads are either underemployed or unemployed. The job market is bleak and the promise of a better future with a college education is slowly fading away. Rising tuition costs and a weak job market have led to catastrophe among new college grads. Depending on what you plan to do after college some economists are recommending exploring the job market before entering college. Personally I think that high school students should first figure out what their interests are and research the job market to see how lucrative and promising their potential major choices are juxaposed to the current job market. Times are getting rough but as long as you have some skill you'll be able to navigate through this tumultuous economic climate.
Click the Link Below For the Full Article:
http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/04/23/half-of-new-college-grads-jobless-or-underemployed/
Eisenhower and Modern Republicanism - A.P. Study Guide
I. Modern Republicanism – keep social/economic programs but push for military build-up
A. Ike allowed McCarthy because his target was oftentimes previous Democ. Administration
1. Master of manipulating media – careers ended because he “named” you
2. Majority of polled Americans approved of McCarthy – made it hard to criticize
3. Army hearings destroy him in front of 20 million on TV – dies alcohol 3 yrs. Later
II. Civil Rights Movement
A. The Warren Court – Congress resists change, Ike not interested – go to courts
1. Brown v. Board of Education reverses Plessy vs. Ferguson - unanimous
2. Confronted important social issues instead of refusing to hear
3. Little Rock 9 – high school integrated only after Eisenhower intervenes over gov.
B. Montgomery Bus Boycott – year long successful boycott after Rosa Parks refuses seat
1. Martin Luther King – Southern Christian Leadership Conference – gains status
2. Proved blacks could unite
C. Greensboro sit-in – spontaneous sit-in at Woolworth’s – later fad spread all over South in pools, restaurants, public places
III. John Foster Dulles – churchgoer – push back Communist advances, “liberate captive people”
1. Also try to balance budget by reducing military spending
A. Massive retaliation – build-up of Strategic Air Command + nukes to level cities
1. “More bang for the buck” – turned out to be extremely expensive
a. Eventually Ike warns against “military-industrial complex”
2. Problem – can’t use massive nuclear attack threat on minor issues – Hungary
B. Southeast Asia – Ho Chi Minh wants independence – America can’t let go Communist
1. French forces fail at Dien Bien Phu – America must support France for help in Eur.
a. Loss forces compromise – divide country and elect in a year
b. South Vietnam U.S. backed leader Diem takes money but doesn’t help
c. America firmly involved backing losing horse
C. Empires die out – Middle East and Latin America push for independence – democracy
1. Iranians seen as supporting USSR, so US sponsors coup and puts in dictator – shah
a. Arab world angered at US intervention
2. Egyptians not given US money for dam, they end up nationalizing Suez Canal
a. Britain and France go to war against Egypt without US help
b. Demonstrates reliance of west on oil – power shifts to Middle East
D. Khrushchev – tensions only get more fierce after failed attempts at summits
1. Khrushchev shallowly promises disarmament to UN
2. Ike looks stupid when U-2 plane crashes after US says we don’t fly spy missions
IV. American people – homogenized society – buys same thing/has same values – keeping up with the Joneses
A. White collar jobs outnumber blue collar jobs
B. Women – return to female jobs – domestic – baby boom
1. Cult of domesticity – later refuted by Betty Friedan’s Feminine Mystique
2. Ozzie and Harriet and Leave it to Beaver – TV shows with perfect suburban fams
C. Consumer culture – Diner’s Club 1st credit card, McDonalds
1. Rapid TV growth – movie attendance sinks
2. Cultural and social growth destroyed by consumerism and TV media
3. Popular music turns to “crossover” Elvis Presley – black, country, British
4. Americans buy mass-produced, standardized products – where’s the difference
V. Space Race – Sputnik USSR satellite – communism actually key to future – USSR ahead of US
1. Fear – USSR education stronger, could now attack US from space w/ missile
a. Education – too easygoing – substitute square roots for square dancing
b. Authorized loans for college
A. Ike allowed McCarthy because his target was oftentimes previous Democ. Administration
1. Master of manipulating media – careers ended because he “named” you
2. Majority of polled Americans approved of McCarthy – made it hard to criticize
3. Army hearings destroy him in front of 20 million on TV – dies alcohol 3 yrs. Later
II. Civil Rights Movement
A. The Warren Court – Congress resists change, Ike not interested – go to courts
1. Brown v. Board of Education reverses Plessy vs. Ferguson - unanimous
2. Confronted important social issues instead of refusing to hear
3. Little Rock 9 – high school integrated only after Eisenhower intervenes over gov.
B. Montgomery Bus Boycott – year long successful boycott after Rosa Parks refuses seat
1. Martin Luther King – Southern Christian Leadership Conference – gains status
2. Proved blacks could unite
C. Greensboro sit-in – spontaneous sit-in at Woolworth’s – later fad spread all over South in pools, restaurants, public places
III. John Foster Dulles – churchgoer – push back Communist advances, “liberate captive people”
1. Also try to balance budget by reducing military spending
A. Massive retaliation – build-up of Strategic Air Command + nukes to level cities
1. “More bang for the buck” – turned out to be extremely expensive
a. Eventually Ike warns against “military-industrial complex”
2. Problem – can’t use massive nuclear attack threat on minor issues – Hungary
B. Southeast Asia – Ho Chi Minh wants independence – America can’t let go Communist
1. French forces fail at Dien Bien Phu – America must support France for help in Eur.
a. Loss forces compromise – divide country and elect in a year
b. South Vietnam U.S. backed leader Diem takes money but doesn’t help
c. America firmly involved backing losing horse
C. Empires die out – Middle East and Latin America push for independence – democracy
1. Iranians seen as supporting USSR, so US sponsors coup and puts in dictator – shah
a. Arab world angered at US intervention
2. Egyptians not given US money for dam, they end up nationalizing Suez Canal
a. Britain and France go to war against Egypt without US help
b. Demonstrates reliance of west on oil – power shifts to Middle East
D. Khrushchev – tensions only get more fierce after failed attempts at summits
1. Khrushchev shallowly promises disarmament to UN
2. Ike looks stupid when U-2 plane crashes after US says we don’t fly spy missions
IV. American people – homogenized society – buys same thing/has same values – keeping up with the Joneses
A. White collar jobs outnumber blue collar jobs
B. Women – return to female jobs – domestic – baby boom
1. Cult of domesticity – later refuted by Betty Friedan’s Feminine Mystique
2. Ozzie and Harriet and Leave it to Beaver – TV shows with perfect suburban fams
C. Consumer culture – Diner’s Club 1st credit card, McDonalds
1. Rapid TV growth – movie attendance sinks
2. Cultural and social growth destroyed by consumerism and TV media
3. Popular music turns to “crossover” Elvis Presley – black, country, British
4. Americans buy mass-produced, standardized products – where’s the difference
V. Space Race – Sputnik USSR satellite – communism actually key to future – USSR ahead of US
1. Fear – USSR education stronger, could now attack US from space w/ missile
a. Education – too easygoing – substitute square roots for square dancing
b. Authorized loans for college
Monday, April 23, 2012
Truman and the Cold War - Study Guide A.P. U.S. History
I. Postwar Domestic Adjustments
A. Initial faltering economy – inflation rises, GDP down, strikes
1. Taft-Hartley Act – put limits on labor unions
a. Outlawed closed shop, labor leaders take non-Communist oath
2. Sold war factories cheaply to private companies
3. G.I. Bill – paid for school for soldiers; home, farm, and small business loans
B. GDP growth lasts next two decades – Americans – 6% of population controlled 40% of earth’s $
1. Middle class doubles, home ownership increases
2. Not touched by war – America dominates ruined global landscape
3. Rising education level, better technology, workforce leaves agriculture
4. Move to suburbs – massive baby boom
II. Civil Rights - war generated new militancy among blacks, generation of college grads
A. 1948 – Truman ends segregation in federal civil service, equality of treatment in military
B. Election of 1948 – Democrats against Truman because of civil rights stance
1. Form Dixiecrats – States Right – nominated Governor Strom Thurmond of S. Carolina
2. Vice-President Henry Wallace enters election for Progressive Party – pro-Soviet platform
3. Harry delivers 300 “give ‘em hell Harry” speeches – Republican Dewey should have won
a. Chicago Tribune ran newspaper – Dewey Defeats Truman – but…farmers, workers, blacks not interested with Republicans
III. Containment in Europe and the Middle East
A. Truman Doctrine - $400 million for Greece and Turkey – help fight Communism
1. Bigger issue – protect any “free peoples” from outside Communist pressure
a. Problem – any tyrant can claim Communist threat and get help
B. Marshall Plan – 1) make capitalism attractive, resist Communism 2) help rebuild Europe
1. $12.5 billion – reverse of Versailles – helps nations rebuild – became economic miracle
C. Berlin crisis – Berlin divided among four allied powers – France, England, Britain, Russia
1. Becomes East and West Berlin – Russia wants Eastern Europe as “satellite nation”
2. 1948 – Soviets cut off train/highway access – Allies respond w/ massive airlift
a. Symbolic importance – America determined to protect interests
D. NATO – 12 original say an attack on one is an attack on all – isolationists defeated
1. Officially ended American isolationism, helped unite Europe, militarizes Western Europe for Cold War
E. 1949 – Truman announces Soviets had tested nuclear bomb
1. US in 1952 gets Hydrogen bomb, then Soviets get hydrogen bomb next year
IV. Revolution in China
A. American backed Jiang Jieshi defeated by Communist Mao Zedong and banished to Taiwan
1. Looks like America “lost” China to Communism – US looks for someone to blame
V. Korean War – Korea divided into Russia and US spheres of influence at 38 degrees
A. N. Korea invades and then pushed back by MacArthur and UN soldiers, drives to China border
1. China then attacks and pushes forces back to start – 38 degrees
B. NSC-68- Truman quadruples defense spending
1. Belief that American economy can handle any expenditure on defense
C. MacArthur calls Truman a communist appeaser because he has to fight limited war
1. Wants to drop nukes and invade China
2. Truman has to fire MacArthur – returns a hero
A. Initial faltering economy – inflation rises, GDP down, strikes
1. Taft-Hartley Act – put limits on labor unions
a. Outlawed closed shop, labor leaders take non-Communist oath
2. Sold war factories cheaply to private companies
3. G.I. Bill – paid for school for soldiers; home, farm, and small business loans
B. GDP growth lasts next two decades – Americans – 6% of population controlled 40% of earth’s $
1. Middle class doubles, home ownership increases
2. Not touched by war – America dominates ruined global landscape
3. Rising education level, better technology, workforce leaves agriculture
4. Move to suburbs – massive baby boom
II. Civil Rights - war generated new militancy among blacks, generation of college grads
A. 1948 – Truman ends segregation in federal civil service, equality of treatment in military
B. Election of 1948 – Democrats against Truman because of civil rights stance
1. Form Dixiecrats – States Right – nominated Governor Strom Thurmond of S. Carolina
2. Vice-President Henry Wallace enters election for Progressive Party – pro-Soviet platform
3. Harry delivers 300 “give ‘em hell Harry” speeches – Republican Dewey should have won
a. Chicago Tribune ran newspaper – Dewey Defeats Truman – but…farmers, workers, blacks not interested with Republicans
III. Containment in Europe and the Middle East
A. Truman Doctrine - $400 million for Greece and Turkey – help fight Communism
1. Bigger issue – protect any “free peoples” from outside Communist pressure
a. Problem – any tyrant can claim Communist threat and get help
B. Marshall Plan – 1) make capitalism attractive, resist Communism 2) help rebuild Europe
1. $12.5 billion – reverse of Versailles – helps nations rebuild – became economic miracle
C. Berlin crisis – Berlin divided among four allied powers – France, England, Britain, Russia
1. Becomes East and West Berlin – Russia wants Eastern Europe as “satellite nation”
2. 1948 – Soviets cut off train/highway access – Allies respond w/ massive airlift
a. Symbolic importance – America determined to protect interests
D. NATO – 12 original say an attack on one is an attack on all – isolationists defeated
1. Officially ended American isolationism, helped unite Europe, militarizes Western Europe for Cold War
E. 1949 – Truman announces Soviets had tested nuclear bomb
1. US in 1952 gets Hydrogen bomb, then Soviets get hydrogen bomb next year
IV. Revolution in China
A. American backed Jiang Jieshi defeated by Communist Mao Zedong and banished to Taiwan
1. Looks like America “lost” China to Communism – US looks for someone to blame
V. Korean War – Korea divided into Russia and US spheres of influence at 38 degrees
A. N. Korea invades and then pushed back by MacArthur and UN soldiers, drives to China border
1. China then attacks and pushes forces back to start – 38 degrees
B. NSC-68- Truman quadruples defense spending
1. Belief that American economy can handle any expenditure on defense
C. MacArthur calls Truman a communist appeaser because he has to fight limited war
1. Wants to drop nukes and invade China
2. Truman has to fire MacArthur – returns a hero
Sunday, April 22, 2012
World War II Outline - A.P.
The Second World War
1. Organizing for war – Total War – Government controls everything, citizens willing to help
1. Mobilizing production – massive military orders pulled US out of Depression
1. War Production Board – government takes over manufacturing
1. Stops production of nonessentials – cars
2. Wartime rationing after supply of rubber cut off by Japan’s invasion of Malaya
2. Full employment led to inflation
1. Office of Price Administration – regulated prices
3. Labor unions increase in size
1. Women – Rosie the Riveter, African-Americans enter workforce in masse
2. Some strikes led to Government taking over industry – Smith-Connally Anti-Strike Law
4. Propaganda – buy war bonds, support rationing, work harder
1. Posters, movies, demonize/dehumanizes Japanese
5. Roosevelt works with businesses – in capitalism “you have to let business make money”
6. Internment of Japanese Americans – Executive Order 9066
1. Moved for protection, but mostly fear of spying or aiding invasion
2. Constitutionality upheld by Korematsu vs. U.S. case – acceptable during wartime
3. 1988 - $20,000 to each camp survivor
2. The war in Europe, Africa, and the Mediterranean; D Day
1. Strategy – take Africa > go through Italy to set up Southern Front – Russia holds Eastern Front > Create Massive Western Front > D-Day Normandy “Beginning of the End”
3. The war in the Pacific: Hiroshima, Nagasaki
1. Priority take out Germany first
2. Island hopping – take island at a time to provide landing bases – get closer to prepare for invasion
1. Firebombing Tokyo and other cities
3. Manhattan Project – secret plan to create Nuclear Bomb
1. Hiroshima/Nagasaki Fat Man/Little Boy bombed
1. Save Japanese civilians/American soldiers lives if invasion
2. Warning to Russia – starts arms race
4. Diplomacy
1. War aims – work with Russia – Russia holds off Germany until America/Britain can hold front – hesitant friends – realize communism will be problem after war
2. Wartime conferences: Teheran, Yalta, Potsdam – Big Three – Stalin, Roosevelt, Churchill
1. Casablanca Conference. – invade Italy/unconditional surrender;
2. Teheran – set up U.N.
3. Yalta – divide Germany into four sections
4. Potsdam – hot to govern Germany, attack Japan next
5. Postwar atmosphere; the United Nations
1. America feels like king of the world, homeland relatively unhurt
2. Russia takes over Germany’s Eastern holdings, promises to let them have free elections, but…
1. Threat of WWIII with Russia almost immediate
3. Hiroshima and Nagasaki – first shots of Cold War – attempt to frighten Soviets unnecessary
4. Racial/gender inequality returns
5. Economy falters at first – potentially huge unrest – would US return to Depression
1. What to do about returning men – industries drop output at first
2. Massive inflation
3. Organized labor has more power
4. War industry buildings sold cheaply to private industries
1. Organizing for war – Total War – Government controls everything, citizens willing to help
1. Mobilizing production – massive military orders pulled US out of Depression
1. War Production Board – government takes over manufacturing
1. Stops production of nonessentials – cars
2. Wartime rationing after supply of rubber cut off by Japan’s invasion of Malaya
2. Full employment led to inflation
1. Office of Price Administration – regulated prices
3. Labor unions increase in size
1. Women – Rosie the Riveter, African-Americans enter workforce in masse
2. Some strikes led to Government taking over industry – Smith-Connally Anti-Strike Law
4. Propaganda – buy war bonds, support rationing, work harder
1. Posters, movies, demonize/dehumanizes Japanese
5. Roosevelt works with businesses – in capitalism “you have to let business make money”
6. Internment of Japanese Americans – Executive Order 9066
1. Moved for protection, but mostly fear of spying or aiding invasion
2. Constitutionality upheld by Korematsu vs. U.S. case – acceptable during wartime
3. 1988 - $20,000 to each camp survivor
2. The war in Europe, Africa, and the Mediterranean; D Day
1. Strategy – take Africa > go through Italy to set up Southern Front – Russia holds Eastern Front > Create Massive Western Front > D-Day Normandy “Beginning of the End”
3. The war in the Pacific: Hiroshima, Nagasaki
1. Priority take out Germany first
2. Island hopping – take island at a time to provide landing bases – get closer to prepare for invasion
1. Firebombing Tokyo and other cities
3. Manhattan Project – secret plan to create Nuclear Bomb
1. Hiroshima/Nagasaki Fat Man/Little Boy bombed
1. Save Japanese civilians/American soldiers lives if invasion
2. Warning to Russia – starts arms race
4. Diplomacy
1. War aims – work with Russia – Russia holds off Germany until America/Britain can hold front – hesitant friends – realize communism will be problem after war
2. Wartime conferences: Teheran, Yalta, Potsdam – Big Three – Stalin, Roosevelt, Churchill
1. Casablanca Conference. – invade Italy/unconditional surrender;
2. Teheran – set up U.N.
3. Yalta – divide Germany into four sections
4. Potsdam – hot to govern Germany, attack Japan next
5. Postwar atmosphere; the United Nations
1. America feels like king of the world, homeland relatively unhurt
2. Russia takes over Germany’s Eastern holdings, promises to let them have free elections, but…
1. Threat of WWIII with Russia almost immediate
3. Hiroshima and Nagasaki – first shots of Cold War – attempt to frighten Soviets unnecessary
4. Racial/gender inequality returns
5. Economy falters at first – potentially huge unrest – would US return to Depression
1. What to do about returning men – industries drop output at first
2. Massive inflation
3. Organized labor has more power
4. War industry buildings sold cheaply to private industries
Foreign Policy After World War 1 Study Guide - A.P.
I. Hoover/Stimson Diplomacy Japan
A. Japan alleges provocation – invades Manchuria – Japan quits League of Nations
1. Interventionist Sec. of State Stimson encourages embargo/Isolationist Hoover disagrees
2. 1932 - Stimson doctrine – US would not recognize new territorial acquisitions
3. League proves useless World War II technically begins
II. Good Neighbor Policy – economic imperialism difficult with slowing economy – alters Roosevelt Corollary
A. Hoover takes troops out of some S. American nations – treat Southern neighbors more fairly
III. London Economic Conference – Summer 1933
A. American wants to stay isolated so doesn’t meet with other nations to work on ending Depression
1. Led to extreme nationalism among European countries – working together ain’t happening
IV. Disarmament
A.
V. Congress Legislates Neutrality – World War I blamed on munitions makers wanting money
A. Neutrality Acts of 1935, 1936, 1937 – America could not sell/transport to belligerents, sail on their boats, or make loans – only effects American-declared wars
1. Ended freedom of the seas – also won’t even help victims – considered belligerent
2. Some even ask for Constitutional Amendment
VI. Aggressors: Japan, Italy, and Germany – nations swept up in nationalism, militarism – dictators rule
VII. Appeasement – avoiding World War II at all costs – gives into demands of leaders
A. Germany – Ignore Treaty of Versailles – Austria > Czechoslovakia – Munich Conference
B. Japan invades China – Roosevelt’s Quarantine Speech decried by isolationists
VII. Rearmament – cash and carry policy first – to stop Germany’s blitzkrieg (lightning fast war)
A. Lend-lease – US would be arsenal of democracy – send guns, not sons – lend arms and then they can return later – led to America’s rearmament
B. Destroyers for bases – give old destroyers in exchange for bases around world
VIII. Atlantic Charter – Atlantic Conference 1941 – Churchill and Roosevelt meet for first time
A. Discuss how to make world safer for democracies at end of war
B. People can choose own government, can take no territory without consent of people
C. Looked at as non-isolationist – Roosevelt making treaties with other nations
IX. Pearl Harbor – 1940 embargo on Japan bound supplies – taking oil hurts Japan
A. Broke Japanese code – knew war was coming – thought in Malaya or Philippines
B. December 8, 1941declared war on Japan after “date that will live in infamy” short by one vote
A. Japan alleges provocation – invades Manchuria – Japan quits League of Nations
1. Interventionist Sec. of State Stimson encourages embargo/Isolationist Hoover disagrees
2. 1932 - Stimson doctrine – US would not recognize new territorial acquisitions
3. League proves useless World War II technically begins
II. Good Neighbor Policy – economic imperialism difficult with slowing economy – alters Roosevelt Corollary
A. Hoover takes troops out of some S. American nations – treat Southern neighbors more fairly
III. London Economic Conference – Summer 1933
A. American wants to stay isolated so doesn’t meet with other nations to work on ending Depression
1. Led to extreme nationalism among European countries – working together ain’t happening
IV. Disarmament
A.
V. Congress Legislates Neutrality – World War I blamed on munitions makers wanting money
A. Neutrality Acts of 1935, 1936, 1937 – America could not sell/transport to belligerents, sail on their boats, or make loans – only effects American-declared wars
1. Ended freedom of the seas – also won’t even help victims – considered belligerent
2. Some even ask for Constitutional Amendment
VI. Aggressors: Japan, Italy, and Germany – nations swept up in nationalism, militarism – dictators rule
VII. Appeasement – avoiding World War II at all costs – gives into demands of leaders
A. Germany – Ignore Treaty of Versailles – Austria > Czechoslovakia – Munich Conference
B. Japan invades China – Roosevelt’s Quarantine Speech decried by isolationists
VII. Rearmament – cash and carry policy first – to stop Germany’s blitzkrieg (lightning fast war)
A. Lend-lease – US would be arsenal of democracy – send guns, not sons – lend arms and then they can return later – led to America’s rearmament
B. Destroyers for bases – give old destroyers in exchange for bases around world
VIII. Atlantic Charter – Atlantic Conference 1941 – Churchill and Roosevelt meet for first time
A. Discuss how to make world safer for democracies at end of war
B. People can choose own government, can take no territory without consent of people
C. Looked at as non-isolationist – Roosevelt making treaties with other nations
IX. Pearl Harbor – 1940 embargo on Japan bound supplies – taking oil hurts Japan
A. Broke Japanese code – knew war was coming – thought in Malaya or Philippines
B. December 8, 1941declared war on Japan after “date that will live in infamy” short by one vote
Thursday, April 19, 2012
What Made the Stock Market Crash? U.S. History
Key Terms: Black Tuesday, Inflation, capital, stock
Capital is the tool needed to produce things of value out of raw materials. Buildings and machines are common examples of capital. A factory is a building with machines for making valued goods. Throughout the twentieth century, most of the capital in the United States was represented by stocks. A corporation owned capital. Ownership of the corporation in turn took the form of shares of stock. Each share of stock represented a proportionate share of the corporation. The stocks were bought and sold on stock exchanges, of which the most important was the New York Stock Exchange located on Wall Street in Manhattan.
Throughout the 1920s a long boom took stock prices to peaks never before seen. From 1920 to 1929 stocks more than quadrupled in value. Many investors became convinced that stocks were a sure thing and borrowed heavily to invest more money in the market.
But in 1929, the bubble burst and stocks started down an even more precipitous cliff. In 1932 and 1933, they hit bottom, down about 80% from their highs in the late 1920s. This had sharp effects on the economy. Demand for goods declined because people felt poor because of their losses in the stock market. New investment could not be financed through the sale of stock, because no one would buy the new stock.
But perhaps the most important effect was chaos in the banking system as banks tried to collect on loans made to stockmarket investors whose holdings were now worth little or nothing at all. Worse, many banks had themselves invested depositors' money in the stockmarket. When word spread that banks' assets contained huge uncollectable loans and almost worthless stock certificates, depositors rushed to withdraw their savings. Unable to raise fresh funds from the Federal Reserve System, banks began failing by the hundreds in 1932 and 1933.
By the inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt as president in March 1933, the banking system of the United States had largely ceased to function. Depositors had seen $140 billion disappear when their banks failed. Businesses could not get credit for inventory. Checks could not be used for payments because no one knew which checks were worthless and which were sound.
Roosevelt closed all the banks in the United States for three days - a "bank holiday." Some banks were then cautiously re-opened with strict limits on withdrawals. Eventually, confidence returned to the system and banks were able to perform their economic function again. To prevent similar disasters, the federal government set up the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which eliminated the rationale for bank "runs" - to get one's money before the bank "runs out." Backed by the FDIC, the bank could fail and go out of business, but then the government would reimburse depositors. Another crucial mechanism insulated commercial banks from stock market panics by banning banks from investing depositors' money in stocks.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
The Great Depression (Study Guide 2 - A.P.)
I The Stock Market as Catalyst
• Bear and Bull Market
• Confidence and speculation
• Government Controls and supervision of the economy
• Crash of 1929
• “We in America today are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any land. The poorhouse is vanishing from among us.”
• Herbert Hoover, March, 1929
II Causes of the Great Depression
• Overproduction and under-consumption
• Artificially high prices because of pools and monopolies
• Collapse in silver prices
• Going on gold standard
• Interdependence of purchasing power
• World interdependence
• Dislocation of trade caused by WW I settlements
• Reparations
• Wartime loans
• Flow of gold to USA
• Self-generating effects of economic slide [loss of purchasing power]
• momentum
• Inability or unwillingness of government to soften effects of business cycle [Laissez faire]
• Nationalistic Tariffs
• Fordney-McCumber [22]
• Hawley-Smoot [29]
• Overextension of credit; installment purchases
• Speculation on the stock market by the clueless; margin buying
• Role of mass advertising
• Wants and needs confused
• affordability
• Cyclical and technological unemployment
• Uneven distribution of wealth
• Republican financial policies 1921-29 taxes and tariffs
• Industrial Warfare 1920s
• Changes that cannot continue: Law of diminishing returns
• Progress of industrial revolution
• Powers sources
• Specialization of labor
• Efficiency techniques
• Mass production
• Improvements in transportation & communication
• Population increases
The Extent Of The Collapse (1929-1933)
The entire capitalist world experienced the collapse. The crisis was most devastating in the most highly industrialized countries—the United States, Germany, and Great Britain. In the United States alone eighty-five thousand businesses closed. Listed below are the other major effects and symptoms of the economic crisis:
• The gross national product (the total net value of goods and services produced nationally within a given time, usually one year) fell from $104 billion in 1929 to $56 billion in 1933. Per capita disposable income (the money available after taxes, inflation, and other necessary expenses are taken out) fell from $678 in 1929 to $369 in 1933.
• Farmers' income declined from $5.7 billion in 1929 to $1.7 billion in 1933. Four hundred thousand farmers lost their land through foreclosures; many became tenant farmers. By 1932 farmers began destroying their own crops to drive up prices.
• Unemployment increased from 1.5 million in 1929 to 12.8 million (or 25 percent of the working population) in 1933. In 1931 three-quarters of the nation's cities banned married women from holding jobs as teachers while at the same time children were forced to look for work.
• New investments declined from $10 billion in 1929 to $1 billion in 1933.
• Exports fell from $5.2 billion in 1929 to $1.7 billion in 1933. Building construction decreased from $300 billion in 1929 to $500 million in 1933.
• In 1928 and 1929, bank failures averaged 550 per year. Between 1930 and 1933, there were 1,700 bank failures per year. Hunger, homelessness, and mental depression and other social maladies increased dramatically.
• Capacity utilization (the percentage of functional factories and mines in use) fell from a high of 91 percent in 1925 to 42 percent in 1932.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
The Great Depression (Study Guide)
Complaints: Left – didn’t go far enough to remake society, Right – created welfare state
I. Wall Street Crash – started business depression home/abroad unprecedented
A. 5000 banks collapse, 25% unemployed nationwide
B. Hoover’s reaction – “rugged individualism” – locals gov’t and indiv. Take care of selves
C. Depression Economy – Hoover actually pioneered New Deal – just didn’t market it properly
1. Created public works projects - $2.25 billion – Hoover Dam
2. Reconstruction Finance Corporation – gave loans to needy
2. Fought against anti-union behavior
3. But…didn’t have help from Congress – couldn’t pass a lot
4. Set important precedent that FDR would take further
D. Hawley Smoot Tariff – 38% to 60% - world responds with similarly high tariffs – out of control
II. Moods of Despair
A. Bonus Army – Bonus Expeditionary Force – demand payment of 1945 retirement money
1. 20,000 march on Washington – set up Hoovervilles – 2 die
2. Riots put down by General Douglas MacArthur – tear gas – injured – Hoover looks bad
III. Franklin D. Roosevelt – 1921 paralyzed, wife Eleanor – “conscience of New Deal” –
A. Loved by liberals – golden speaking voice – “traitor to his class”
B. New Deal – for “forgotten man” – Brain Trust – relief, recovery, reform
C. 100 days – “alphabet agencies”- based on Progressive Movement
1. unemployment insurance, old age insurance, minimum wage, conservation, child labor
2. Created jobs – CCC, CWA, FERA
D. Critics – either too autocratic or not going far enough
1. Father Charles Coughlin – Catholic Priest
2. Huey Long – Kingfish – “Share our Wealth” “Every Man a King” – assassinated
3. Court packing – Supreme Court sees practices as socialist – add 6 judges because tired
a. Seen as dictator – destroying checks and balances – but courts start changing > liberal
4. Some graft and abuses, depression still exists in 36 (hey that rhymes)
5. Capitalists – thought they were being punished
a. Many say his programs saved capitalism, just got rid of abusers
E. Rise of CIO – labor strikes – Roosevelt passes minimum wage, max hour work week
1. CIO emerges – 4 million members by 1940s – 200,000 blacks
2. Seemed like civil war between AFL and CIO
F. Recession of 1938 – eventually runs out of new programs – depression still exists
1. “Spendocracy” – Keynes – run massive deficit spending – Keynesian
2. National debt - $19 billion to $40 billion
IV. American People in the Depression
A. Social values, women, ethnic groups – start working together – everyone suffering
1. Eleanor Roosevelt – women first time have influence – Mary Dewson
a. Frances Perkins – first cabinet –Secretary of Labor
2. But women take women’s jobs to not take away job from male “breadwinners”
3. Birth rates drop, men’s #1 role in family diminishes
B. South – 1938 – worst section of nation – economics, schools, housing, income – blacks worst
C. Indian Reorganization Act – slowed loss of Indian lands – encourages self- government
1. Some thought it demeaning – “back to the blanket” – treated like museums
D. Mexican-American Deportation – 1-2 million deported to free up jobs for “real” Americans
I. Wall Street Crash – started business depression home/abroad unprecedented
A. 5000 banks collapse, 25% unemployed nationwide
B. Hoover’s reaction – “rugged individualism” – locals gov’t and indiv. Take care of selves
C. Depression Economy – Hoover actually pioneered New Deal – just didn’t market it properly
1. Created public works projects - $2.25 billion – Hoover Dam
2. Reconstruction Finance Corporation – gave loans to needy
2. Fought against anti-union behavior
3. But…didn’t have help from Congress – couldn’t pass a lot
4. Set important precedent that FDR would take further
D. Hawley Smoot Tariff – 38% to 60% - world responds with similarly high tariffs – out of control
II. Moods of Despair
A. Bonus Army – Bonus Expeditionary Force – demand payment of 1945 retirement money
1. 20,000 march on Washington – set up Hoovervilles – 2 die
2. Riots put down by General Douglas MacArthur – tear gas – injured – Hoover looks bad
III. Franklin D. Roosevelt – 1921 paralyzed, wife Eleanor – “conscience of New Deal” –
A. Loved by liberals – golden speaking voice – “traitor to his class”
B. New Deal – for “forgotten man” – Brain Trust – relief, recovery, reform
C. 100 days – “alphabet agencies”- based on Progressive Movement
1. unemployment insurance, old age insurance, minimum wage, conservation, child labor
2. Created jobs – CCC, CWA, FERA
D. Critics – either too autocratic or not going far enough
1. Father Charles Coughlin – Catholic Priest
2. Huey Long – Kingfish – “Share our Wealth” “Every Man a King” – assassinated
3. Court packing – Supreme Court sees practices as socialist – add 6 judges because tired
a. Seen as dictator – destroying checks and balances – but courts start changing > liberal
4. Some graft and abuses, depression still exists in 36 (hey that rhymes)
5. Capitalists – thought they were being punished
a. Many say his programs saved capitalism, just got rid of abusers
E. Rise of CIO – labor strikes – Roosevelt passes minimum wage, max hour work week
1. CIO emerges – 4 million members by 1940s – 200,000 blacks
2. Seemed like civil war between AFL and CIO
F. Recession of 1938 – eventually runs out of new programs – depression still exists
1. “Spendocracy” – Keynes – run massive deficit spending – Keynesian
2. National debt - $19 billion to $40 billion
IV. American People in the Depression
A. Social values, women, ethnic groups – start working together – everyone suffering
1. Eleanor Roosevelt – women first time have influence – Mary Dewson
a. Frances Perkins – first cabinet –Secretary of Labor
2. But women take women’s jobs to not take away job from male “breadwinners”
3. Birth rates drop, men’s #1 role in family diminishes
B. South – 1938 – worst section of nation – economics, schools, housing, income – blacks worst
C. Indian Reorganization Act – slowed loss of Indian lands – encourages self- government
1. Some thought it demeaning – “back to the blanket” – treated like museums
D. Mexican-American Deportation – 1-2 million deported to free up jobs for “real” Americans
1920s America – Roaring Twenties/Jazz Age (Study Guide)
I. Red fear- radical ideas – Russia – anti-union/pro business
A. Strikes – labor = Bolsheviks, Left wing = un-American
B. Sacco/Vanzetti – Mass. murder, Ital, atheists, anarchists, draft dodgers
C. A.Gen. Palmer – “Fighting Quaker” – bomb – paranoid dude
D. Buford “Soviet Ark” – 249 deported – not nice
II. Race/Immigration Issues
A. KKK – anti Jew, foreign, Catholic, pacifist, bootlegger, birth control – crabby dudes
1. 1925 - 5 mil, march on Wash
2. Died w/ corruption of leaders
B. Immigration – new immigration bad, we like Northern Europeans, white, white people – first time America restricts immigration
1. Emergency Quota Act – 1921 – 3 % of 1910 numbers
2. Immigration Act of 1924 – 2% of 1890 #s – no Japanese
III. Social Lives
A. Prohibition – 1919 18th Amendment, Volstead Act enforces
1. South likes (conservative, don’t want drunk blacks), N.Eastern cities no
2. Joke – can’t legislate personal lives – tough to enforce – speakeasies, home brew
B. Consumerism – war + Mellon’s nice taxes + machines + oil + assembly line + electricity + buy on credit/installment
1. Car symbol of all – advertising, rubber, glass follows – 1930 20 mill.
a. Freedom, roads, women free, death toll “demon machine”
C. Entertainment
1. Watching Sports – Babe Ruth - baseball, Jack Dempsey – boxing
2. Airplanes – “flying coffins” – WWI, but others famous
a. Charles Lindbergh – Lucky Lindy – New York/Paris $25K
3. Radio – 1920 Pittsburg – announces election – national programming – home
4. Hollywood- movies – nickelodeons – 1927 Jazz Singer, 1915 Birth of Nation
a. $100,000 salaries, Americanization – vulgar pop culture
D. Battle of Morals – change, move to cities
1. Feminism – Sanger – birth control, 1923 Equal Rights Amendment failed
2. Religion – Modernism – God nice guy
3. Sexuality – “struck sex o’clock” – flappers – danced, knees, dark movies
4. Scopes Monkey Trial – Tennessee – old Bryan vs. young Darrow - $100 fine
E. Music – jazz, blues – Big Bands
1. Racial pride – Harlem Renaissance – Langston Hughes – poetry
a. Marcus Garvey – African Homeland – United Negro Improvement Association – support black communities – pay for improve
F. Literature – not all white protestants, energy – resented old ideals
1. Mencken – journal – mocked old ideals – American Mercury
2. Fitzgerald – jazz age – This Side of Paradise/Gatsby
3. Hemingway – anti-progovt-propaganda – Farewell to Arms
4. Poetry – T.S. Eliot – Wasteland, Hughes, ee cummings – dared to be diff.
A. Strikes – labor = Bolsheviks, Left wing = un-American
B. Sacco/Vanzetti – Mass. murder, Ital, atheists, anarchists, draft dodgers
C. A.Gen. Palmer – “Fighting Quaker” – bomb – paranoid dude
D. Buford “Soviet Ark” – 249 deported – not nice
II. Race/Immigration Issues
A. KKK – anti Jew, foreign, Catholic, pacifist, bootlegger, birth control – crabby dudes
1. 1925 - 5 mil, march on Wash
2. Died w/ corruption of leaders
B. Immigration – new immigration bad, we like Northern Europeans, white, white people – first time America restricts immigration
1. Emergency Quota Act – 1921 – 3 % of 1910 numbers
2. Immigration Act of 1924 – 2% of 1890 #s – no Japanese
III. Social Lives
A. Prohibition – 1919 18th Amendment, Volstead Act enforces
1. South likes (conservative, don’t want drunk blacks), N.Eastern cities no
2. Joke – can’t legislate personal lives – tough to enforce – speakeasies, home brew
B. Consumerism – war + Mellon’s nice taxes + machines + oil + assembly line + electricity + buy on credit/installment
1. Car symbol of all – advertising, rubber, glass follows – 1930 20 mill.
a. Freedom, roads, women free, death toll “demon machine”
C. Entertainment
1. Watching Sports – Babe Ruth - baseball, Jack Dempsey – boxing
2. Airplanes – “flying coffins” – WWI, but others famous
a. Charles Lindbergh – Lucky Lindy – New York/Paris $25K
3. Radio – 1920 Pittsburg – announces election – national programming – home
4. Hollywood- movies – nickelodeons – 1927 Jazz Singer, 1915 Birth of Nation
a. $100,000 salaries, Americanization – vulgar pop culture
D. Battle of Morals – change, move to cities
1. Feminism – Sanger – birth control, 1923 Equal Rights Amendment failed
2. Religion – Modernism – God nice guy
3. Sexuality – “struck sex o’clock” – flappers – danced, knees, dark movies
4. Scopes Monkey Trial – Tennessee – old Bryan vs. young Darrow - $100 fine
E. Music – jazz, blues – Big Bands
1. Racial pride – Harlem Renaissance – Langston Hughes – poetry
a. Marcus Garvey – African Homeland – United Negro Improvement Association – support black communities – pay for improve
F. Literature – not all white protestants, energy – resented old ideals
1. Mencken – journal – mocked old ideals – American Mercury
2. Fitzgerald – jazz age – This Side of Paradise/Gatsby
3. Hemingway – anti-progovt-propaganda – Farewell to Arms
4. Poetry – T.S. Eliot – Wasteland, Hughes, ee cummings – dared to be diff.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Why did the U.S. get involved in World War I?
These are the main reasons why the U.S. got involved in World War I:
Submarine Warfare and the Lusitania:
* There were unauthorized German submarines along the US East coast. Germany's resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare in the spring of 1917 provided the final straw for US politicians, and America declared war.
* The first and foremost answer would be the sinking of the Lusitania, a British transport ship, bound for Britain from New York. The German U-boat ring sought to sink all supply ships headed for Britain in order to starve the island. It sank the Lusitania as part of its efforts. 1195 people died, including 128 Americans.
* The Lusitania's sinking was the biggest influence on the American decision to enter the war. German submarine warfare sank many ships of many countries during the war.
Zimmerman Telegram:
Other points influenced entrance to the war, but the Zimmerman Telegram (sometimes called the "Zimmerman note" or "Zimmerman telegraph") finally pushed the US to war. The Zimmerman Telegram was sent from the German foreign secretary to the German Ambassador to Mexico. It stated the following:
* On the first of February, 1917, submarine warfare will be reinstated without restriction.
* The US has to stay neutral.
* Germany proposes an alliance with Mexico on the following basis: If the US goes to war, Mexico must fight on the home front in an financially supported alliance with Germany; If Mexico agrees to fight, they will annex prior holdings such as: New Mexico, Texas and Arizona.
Politics:
* Propaganda from both sides influenced the American decision.
* Woodrow Wilson did not want to go to war but when Teddy Roosevelt decided to run for another term, Wilson felt threatened and announced that there would be a preparedness program and possibly that the country would go to war.
* By entering the war, the US got to flex its muscles on the world stage and establish itself as a world power.
* After both sides of the Mexican civil war demanded that our troops leave and public opinion badly swayed against US intervention in Mexico, Wilson had no choice but to withdraw. By having the threat of Germany helping Mexico fight back against him, Wilson knew he had to take action. He couldn't go back into Mexico because the American people would not allow it.
Economics:
Some say the "bankers" were involved.
* The US placed large economic investments with British and French governments. If the British and the French were to lose, then they would not be able to pay the U.S. debt back (amounting to about two billion dollars while Germany only borrowed a mere 27 million). If the Allies could not pay back all the loans made to them by the American bankers, the US economy could possibly collapse.
* France and England were financing their war with US loans. In addition, they were buying massive amounts of arms from the US on credit. The US wanted to make sure that it got paid back. Germany also purchased arms, but in a much more limited fashion.
Ideology:
* President Wilson wanted to make the world safe for democracy or the United State's foreign interests/trade.
* It was partly for idealistic reasons (propaganda was not seen as an evil until after the Great War). The occupation of Belgium and the sinking of the Lusitania changed a lot people's minds in the US about Germany.
* There was more to it than just the submarine warfare and the sinking of the Lusitania although those were the formal and legalistic reasons for declaring war. A moral sense had developed that Britain and France were fighting the good fight for freedom against a genuine evil. If that sense had not existed, the US might have let the Lusitania pass. As it was, it was nearly two years after she was sunk that the US finally declared war.
Submarine Warfare and the Lusitania:
* There were unauthorized German submarines along the US East coast. Germany's resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare in the spring of 1917 provided the final straw for US politicians, and America declared war.
* The first and foremost answer would be the sinking of the Lusitania, a British transport ship, bound for Britain from New York. The German U-boat ring sought to sink all supply ships headed for Britain in order to starve the island. It sank the Lusitania as part of its efforts. 1195 people died, including 128 Americans.
* The Lusitania's sinking was the biggest influence on the American decision to enter the war. German submarine warfare sank many ships of many countries during the war.
Zimmerman Telegram:
Other points influenced entrance to the war, but the Zimmerman Telegram (sometimes called the "Zimmerman note" or "Zimmerman telegraph") finally pushed the US to war. The Zimmerman Telegram was sent from the German foreign secretary to the German Ambassador to Mexico. It stated the following:
* On the first of February, 1917, submarine warfare will be reinstated without restriction.
* The US has to stay neutral.
* Germany proposes an alliance with Mexico on the following basis: If the US goes to war, Mexico must fight on the home front in an financially supported alliance with Germany; If Mexico agrees to fight, they will annex prior holdings such as: New Mexico, Texas and Arizona.
Politics:
* Propaganda from both sides influenced the American decision.
* Woodrow Wilson did not want to go to war but when Teddy Roosevelt decided to run for another term, Wilson felt threatened and announced that there would be a preparedness program and possibly that the country would go to war.
* By entering the war, the US got to flex its muscles on the world stage and establish itself as a world power.
* After both sides of the Mexican civil war demanded that our troops leave and public opinion badly swayed against US intervention in Mexico, Wilson had no choice but to withdraw. By having the threat of Germany helping Mexico fight back against him, Wilson knew he had to take action. He couldn't go back into Mexico because the American people would not allow it.
Economics:
Some say the "bankers" were involved.
* The US placed large economic investments with British and French governments. If the British and the French were to lose, then they would not be able to pay the U.S. debt back (amounting to about two billion dollars while Germany only borrowed a mere 27 million). If the Allies could not pay back all the loans made to them by the American bankers, the US economy could possibly collapse.
* France and England were financing their war with US loans. In addition, they were buying massive amounts of arms from the US on credit. The US wanted to make sure that it got paid back. Germany also purchased arms, but in a much more limited fashion.
Ideology:
* President Wilson wanted to make the world safe for democracy or the United State's foreign interests/trade.
* It was partly for idealistic reasons (propaganda was not seen as an evil until after the Great War). The occupation of Belgium and the sinking of the Lusitania changed a lot people's minds in the US about Germany.
* There was more to it than just the submarine warfare and the sinking of the Lusitania although those were the formal and legalistic reasons for declaring war. A moral sense had developed that Britain and France were fighting the good fight for freedom against a genuine evil. If that sense had not existed, the US might have let the Lusitania pass. As it was, it was nearly two years after she was sunk that the US finally declared war.
California's Unemployment Rate Higher than the National Average
California's unemployment rate is much higher than the national average (8.2%) at 10.9 percent. Jobs are hard to come by which means that in order to obtain employment you must be willing to make yourself more marketable. California needs to develop a plan to obtain work for willing individuals.
"In Los Angeles County, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was unchanged from January at 11.8%. The employment rate was not adjusted for seasonal variations in other Southland counties and was unchanged at 8.0% in Orange and 9.3% in San Diego. The unemployment rate ticked down to 9.6% from 9.8% in Ventura, and edged up to 12.5% from 12.4% in the Inland Empire."
Click the Link Below For The Full Article written by
"In Los Angeles County, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was unchanged from January at 11.8%. The employment rate was not adjusted for seasonal variations in other Southland counties and was unchanged at 8.0% in Orange and 9.3% in San Diego. The unemployment rate ticked down to 9.6% from 9.8% in Ventura, and edged up to 12.5% from 12.4% in the Inland Empire."
Click the Link Below For The Full Article written by
Higher Education or Prisons? Where Your Money Goes...
I came across an interesting article about college affordability and state spending. I think that its time to focus our full efforts on restoring our educational system to its former prominence and reduce prison spending. I believe that there is a reciprocal and parasitic relationship between the amount of money spent on prisons and the lack of money that being spent within our schools.
Click the Link Below For the Full Article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/education/edlife/where-your-money-goes.html
Click the Link Below For the Full Article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/education/edlife/where-your-money-goes.html
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Caine's Arcade - 9 year old boy makes his dream a reality
Nine year-old boy constructs an arcade out of cardboard, wow....
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Why Conversations on Race Usually Fail - Interesting Perspective
'We can't just talk about racism during a big national story. We need constant dialogue.'
By: Mychal Smith
We can't just talk about racism during a big national story. We need constant dialogue.
In college I had a professor who would dismiss class if too many of us had neglected to finish the assigned reading. It would infuriate us as a group of late-teens and early-20-somethings who felt that our very presence should have been rewarded, but I honestly couldn't blame him. His reasoning was sound.
What would be the point of wasting his own time and ours if we were unwilling to come to class prepared for an informed dialogue? He could lecture and we could take detailed notes, but it would always be a much richer experience if an actual conversation took place. That required stretching past our comfort zones and proved useful in broadening the scope of thought for both student and professor. But it worked only if we had all done the reading.
I think about this now, in the wake of the killing of Trayvon Martin and in the midst of yet another "national conversation on race." It's about time we canceled class until everyone has completed the reading.
It happens after every major news story involving race, and we fail miserably as a nation every time. We now find ourselves asking questions about the lives of young black men -- including the lessons that black parents hand down to their sons about how to move in the world that finds them suspicious -- and, to a lesser degree, about the perceptions we all hold of black men. While that may sound as if we're on the right track, given how much experience we have already had with unarmed black men being gunned down for no reason, it raises the question: Why don't we know the answers yet?
To come back to the metaphor, while we're all in class, everyone seems energetic and attentive, prepared to engage with the curiosity required to master any subject. But as soon as the 50 minutes are up, we all forget what we've learned and fail to do any independent study. The next time we come to class, we have to relearn everything from previous classes before attempting to broach the new stuff.
A national conversation on race is pointless if we have to keep starting over. We won't settle the issue in a two-week span of op-eds, cable-news specials and one-off discussions with our favorite black pundits. Doing so requires constant engagement and active listening on the part of those who have benefited from centuries of racism. This isn't about being able to see the world through the eyes of the oppressed; rather, it's about paying attention when the oppressed tell their own stories and believing them. But privilege means never having to consider that anyone experiences the world differently from you.
It allows Jonah Goldberg to write in the Los Angeles Times that racism currently exists only in "pockets," Ann Coulter to compare calls for justice in Trayvon's death to a lynch mob and Pat Buchanan to refer to this situation as an "exacerbation of and the exploitation of racial conflict." To honestly believe any of these assertions requires cultural blindness and a deep misreading of history, one in which the lives of marginalized people do not exist unless they serve the self-aggrandizing agenda of the controlling group.
When racism exists only in the extreme in the dominant historical narrative and the public imagination, it's not difficult to understand why the conversation becomes stalled. We understand racism as the domain of slaveholders and violent segregationists, cross-burning members of the Ku Klux Klan and ignorant Southerners. Racists possess cold, black hearts and eyes that become engorged with blood and hate at the sight of skin that differs from their own. And they can be defeated only by the good-natured and colorblind folks who believe in one race: human.
Of course, that isn't true in the slightest. Racism doesn't require vicious hatred -- only passive acceptance of an idea of human hierarchy based on mostly arbitrary differences. It is internalized beliefs about the inferiority of one group that in turn grants power and privilege to another. Racism is not a battle of good vs. evil, of individual actors of a heroic or demonic nature determining the worth of people. It is a story of subjugation, exploitation, resistance and the messy complexities that make humanity so intriguing. We would know that if we bothered to study.
In a best-case scenario, Trayvon's death should allow for a moment in which we re-evaluate the way we think racism operates. Racism need not be overt or expressed only in the use of racial epithets. Racist ideas can and do lie in the subconscious, since we are all bombarded with racist images and messaging every day. Racism exists in the fabric of what makes America America, and we make judgments of people based on those ideas without necessarily meaning to do so. And while this affects all of us, whether black, Latino, Asian or other, white Americans are the only group that actually benefits from this system.
Instead, the killing of Trayvon Martin has become another opportunity for some to deny the existence of racism and distort the history of race. And once again, we have a national conversation on race in which everyone talks past one another and nothing gets resolved.
Attorney General Eric Holder said that when it comes to race, we are a nation of cowards. Perhaps, but the real obstacle in having a conversation about race is that some of us are terribly ill informed.
By: Mychal Smith
We can't just talk about racism during a big national story. We need constant dialogue.
In college I had a professor who would dismiss class if too many of us had neglected to finish the assigned reading. It would infuriate us as a group of late-teens and early-20-somethings who felt that our very presence should have been rewarded, but I honestly couldn't blame him. His reasoning was sound.
What would be the point of wasting his own time and ours if we were unwilling to come to class prepared for an informed dialogue? He could lecture and we could take detailed notes, but it would always be a much richer experience if an actual conversation took place. That required stretching past our comfort zones and proved useful in broadening the scope of thought for both student and professor. But it worked only if we had all done the reading.
I think about this now, in the wake of the killing of Trayvon Martin and in the midst of yet another "national conversation on race." It's about time we canceled class until everyone has completed the reading.
It happens after every major news story involving race, and we fail miserably as a nation every time. We now find ourselves asking questions about the lives of young black men -- including the lessons that black parents hand down to their sons about how to move in the world that finds them suspicious -- and, to a lesser degree, about the perceptions we all hold of black men. While that may sound as if we're on the right track, given how much experience we have already had with unarmed black men being gunned down for no reason, it raises the question: Why don't we know the answers yet?
To come back to the metaphor, while we're all in class, everyone seems energetic and attentive, prepared to engage with the curiosity required to master any subject. But as soon as the 50 minutes are up, we all forget what we've learned and fail to do any independent study. The next time we come to class, we have to relearn everything from previous classes before attempting to broach the new stuff.
A national conversation on race is pointless if we have to keep starting over. We won't settle the issue in a two-week span of op-eds, cable-news specials and one-off discussions with our favorite black pundits. Doing so requires constant engagement and active listening on the part of those who have benefited from centuries of racism. This isn't about being able to see the world through the eyes of the oppressed; rather, it's about paying attention when the oppressed tell their own stories and believing them. But privilege means never having to consider that anyone experiences the world differently from you.
It allows Jonah Goldberg to write in the Los Angeles Times that racism currently exists only in "pockets," Ann Coulter to compare calls for justice in Trayvon's death to a lynch mob and Pat Buchanan to refer to this situation as an "exacerbation of and the exploitation of racial conflict." To honestly believe any of these assertions requires cultural blindness and a deep misreading of history, one in which the lives of marginalized people do not exist unless they serve the self-aggrandizing agenda of the controlling group.
When racism exists only in the extreme in the dominant historical narrative and the public imagination, it's not difficult to understand why the conversation becomes stalled. We understand racism as the domain of slaveholders and violent segregationists, cross-burning members of the Ku Klux Klan and ignorant Southerners. Racists possess cold, black hearts and eyes that become engorged with blood and hate at the sight of skin that differs from their own. And they can be defeated only by the good-natured and colorblind folks who believe in one race: human.
Of course, that isn't true in the slightest. Racism doesn't require vicious hatred -- only passive acceptance of an idea of human hierarchy based on mostly arbitrary differences. It is internalized beliefs about the inferiority of one group that in turn grants power and privilege to another. Racism is not a battle of good vs. evil, of individual actors of a heroic or demonic nature determining the worth of people. It is a story of subjugation, exploitation, resistance and the messy complexities that make humanity so intriguing. We would know that if we bothered to study.
In a best-case scenario, Trayvon's death should allow for a moment in which we re-evaluate the way we think racism operates. Racism need not be overt or expressed only in the use of racial epithets. Racist ideas can and do lie in the subconscious, since we are all bombarded with racist images and messaging every day. Racism exists in the fabric of what makes America America, and we make judgments of people based on those ideas without necessarily meaning to do so. And while this affects all of us, whether black, Latino, Asian or other, white Americans are the only group that actually benefits from this system.
Instead, the killing of Trayvon Martin has become another opportunity for some to deny the existence of racism and distort the history of race. And once again, we have a national conversation on race in which everyone talks past one another and nothing gets resolved.
Attorney General Eric Holder said that when it comes to race, we are a nation of cowards. Perhaps, but the real obstacle in having a conversation about race is that some of us are terribly ill informed.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Beyond Race: The Trayvon Martin Case ReExamined (Part II)
Written By: Mr. Ian Eddy
The shooting death of Trayvon Martin has sparked outrage, protests, and reopened old wounds that pertain to the racial past of America. In addition many questions have been raised but the answers to these questions have been elusive. Questions such as: Was Trayvon Martin a victim of racial profiling or racism? Is racial profiling an effective tool for law enforcement or neighborhood watch volunteers? Is a suspicious person deserving of death? Lastly, can an unarmed man (or child) pose a threat that makes deadly force necessary? These questions mixed with feelings of injustice and unfairness have propelled the Trayvon Martin case into the national media spotlight week after week.
After reading countless articles I have surmised that this issue is not fully a racially issue but a legal issue. Throughout the America’s history biased and unfair laws have inflicted pain and suffering among ethnic and poverty stricken groups. Over time many laws and amendments have sought to balance societal inequities. However there are new laws that have been passed by state legislatures that are unclear and ambiguous such as the “Stand Your Ground Law.” I’m not staying that a change in the law would have prevented the death of Trayvon Martin but I feel that Zimmerman would have thought twice about pulling the trigger if the law clearly prohibited and or defined deadly force and when it is necessary. This would have prevent Zimmerman from turning the “Stand Your Ground Law” in to the “Kill at Will Law.”
Some say that the law is clearly written and Zimmerman violated and broke the law. However if he violated the law why wasn’t his gun seized and why wasn’t he arrested until a full investigation took place. Others say that since the average citizen has not been trained as a law enforcement official they should not be able to carry concealed weapons throughout the city (Sanford).
In this country a man is innocent until proven guilty? With that being said this incident could have been avoided, Zimmerman could have called the real police to investigate the teen and as a result Zimmerman would not be in hiding today.
Regardless of racial issues that have been associated with this case, the case was handled improperly. Since this case is absent of a thorough investigation bloggers, rogue journalists, and the public at large have been working to fill in the missing gaps that pertain to this case. Citizens want answers and the police department has few to give to the awaiting public.
Presently George Zimmerman remains free, still in possession of his firearm and still no thorough investigation has been launched.
Let’s not let this event pass without discussing how events such as this can be prevented in the future.
For more click the link below:
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1682117/trayvon-martins-death-timeline-tragedy.jhtml?xrs=share_copy
The shooting death of Trayvon Martin has sparked outrage, protests, and reopened old wounds that pertain to the racial past of America. In addition many questions have been raised but the answers to these questions have been elusive. Questions such as: Was Trayvon Martin a victim of racial profiling or racism? Is racial profiling an effective tool for law enforcement or neighborhood watch volunteers? Is a suspicious person deserving of death? Lastly, can an unarmed man (or child) pose a threat that makes deadly force necessary? These questions mixed with feelings of injustice and unfairness have propelled the Trayvon Martin case into the national media spotlight week after week.
After reading countless articles I have surmised that this issue is not fully a racially issue but a legal issue. Throughout the America’s history biased and unfair laws have inflicted pain and suffering among ethnic and poverty stricken groups. Over time many laws and amendments have sought to balance societal inequities. However there are new laws that have been passed by state legislatures that are unclear and ambiguous such as the “Stand Your Ground Law.” I’m not staying that a change in the law would have prevented the death of Trayvon Martin but I feel that Zimmerman would have thought twice about pulling the trigger if the law clearly prohibited and or defined deadly force and when it is necessary. This would have prevent Zimmerman from turning the “Stand Your Ground Law” in to the “Kill at Will Law.”
Some say that the law is clearly written and Zimmerman violated and broke the law. However if he violated the law why wasn’t his gun seized and why wasn’t he arrested until a full investigation took place. Others say that since the average citizen has not been trained as a law enforcement official they should not be able to carry concealed weapons throughout the city (Sanford).
In this country a man is innocent until proven guilty? With that being said this incident could have been avoided, Zimmerman could have called the real police to investigate the teen and as a result Zimmerman would not be in hiding today.
Regardless of racial issues that have been associated with this case, the case was handled improperly. Since this case is absent of a thorough investigation bloggers, rogue journalists, and the public at large have been working to fill in the missing gaps that pertain to this case. Citizens want answers and the police department has few to give to the awaiting public.
Presently George Zimmerman remains free, still in possession of his firearm and still no thorough investigation has been launched.
Let’s not let this event pass without discussing how events such as this can be prevented in the future.
For more click the link below:
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1682117/trayvon-martins-death-timeline-tragedy.jhtml?xrs=share_copy
Presidental Project- A.P. U.S. History
Purpose: This project will give you an opportunity to highlight the key events that have occurred during U.S. Presidential terms. Using spatial thinking I would like for you to think of the goals and aims of the president during different and distinctive time periods.
Directions: A President’s term can be defined by the type of legislation that is passed while they are in office. Research the following Presidents (from the list below) and find the following:
1. List and Describe different events that occurred while they were in office (at least 5)
2. List and Describe different legislation that was passed while they were president (as many as you can find)
3. How did America change during their presidency? (Give at least 3 well thought out examples with substantial evidence)
4. What is this President known for, what is the most distinctive event that occurred while they were president. Were they conservative or liberal?
5. How long did they serve as President of the United States?
*Make sure you put each President in order and name their Vice President if they had one.
Presidents:
Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877)
Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881)
James A. Garfield (1881)- Skip This President
Chester Arthur (1881-1885)
Grover Cleveland (1885-1889)
Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893)
Grover Cleveland (1893-1897)
William McKinley (1897-1901)
Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909)
William Howard Taft (1909-1913)
Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)
Warren G. Harding (1921-1923)
Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929)
Herbert Hoover (1929-1933)
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945)
Harry S. Truman (1945-1953)
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961)
John F. Kennedy (1961-1963)
Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969)
Richard Nixon (1969-1974)
Gerald Ford (1974-1977)
Jimmy Carter (1977-1981)
Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)
Grading: Your grade will be based on how thorough your research is and how well you describe each President’s term.
Directions: A President’s term can be defined by the type of legislation that is passed while they are in office. Research the following Presidents (from the list below) and find the following:
1. List and Describe different events that occurred while they were in office (at least 5)
2. List and Describe different legislation that was passed while they were president (as many as you can find)
3. How did America change during their presidency? (Give at least 3 well thought out examples with substantial evidence)
4. What is this President known for, what is the most distinctive event that occurred while they were president. Were they conservative or liberal?
5. How long did they serve as President of the United States?
*Make sure you put each President in order and name their Vice President if they had one.
Presidents:
Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877)
Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881)
James A. Garfield (1881)- Skip This President
Chester Arthur (1881-1885)
Grover Cleveland (1885-1889)
Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893)
Grover Cleveland (1893-1897)
William McKinley (1897-1901)
Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909)
William Howard Taft (1909-1913)
Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)
Warren G. Harding (1921-1923)
Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929)
Herbert Hoover (1929-1933)
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945)
Harry S. Truman (1945-1953)
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961)
John F. Kennedy (1961-1963)
Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969)
Richard Nixon (1969-1974)
Gerald Ford (1974-1977)
Jimmy Carter (1977-1981)
Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)
Grading: Your grade will be based on how thorough your research is and how well you describe each President’s term.
What Are Your Thoughts Concerning The Trayvon Martin Case? A.P. U.S. History
This case has infiltrated and dominated national media and debates; so what are your thoughts based upon what you've read or heard? Feel free to read some of the posted articles below to help you form an opinion. Personally I've read about twelve articles on this case and there are many arguments that can be made from many different perspectives. I've written an article on the subject below also....
Twitter Campaign (Student Submission)
Students,
Your twitter campaign was a huge success and I commend you for your participatory efforts in the realm of social justice and equality. However I have a few questions for those that participated in the activity.
Questions:
1. Did our Twitter campaign change your perception of social media at all? If yes, how? Do you think that social media can be useful to spread credible information to your peers?
2. Do you plan to use social media tools to spread pertinent messages
that pertain to injustice and inequality in the future whenever a situation (that effects society at large) may arise?
3. Do you feel that social media tools can be used to help students
organize and share their thoughts cooperatively to achieve a goal? Do
you feel that this activity was successful and achieved its goal of
uniting students behind a common cause?
4. Do you think social media can give certain people power that may not usually have power? What does this power involve?
Your twitter campaign was a huge success and I commend you for your participatory efforts in the realm of social justice and equality. However I have a few questions for those that participated in the activity.
Questions:
1. Did our Twitter campaign change your perception of social media at all? If yes, how? Do you think that social media can be useful to spread credible information to your peers?
2. Do you plan to use social media tools to spread pertinent messages
that pertain to injustice and inequality in the future whenever a situation (that effects society at large) may arise?
3. Do you feel that social media tools can be used to help students
organize and share their thoughts cooperatively to achieve a goal? Do
you feel that this activity was successful and achieved its goal of
uniting students behind a common cause?
4. Do you think social media can give certain people power that may not usually have power? What does this power involve?
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Piers Morgan Vs. Toure - Piers Morgan Tonight (3/30/12)
Heated debate over Piers Morgan's interview of Zimmerman's brother about the Trayvon Martin controversy.
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