CSET Social Science 115
The international organization established to work for world peace at the end of the Second World War is the:
A) League of Nations B) United Federation of Nations C*) United Nations D) United World League
What was the major market for the products of the mining boom of the 19th century?
A) Construction boom in the east B) Federal Army C*) New manufacturing industries D) Gold working
What was the only colony not founded and settled for religious, political or business reasons was
A) Delaware B) Virginia C*) Georgia D) New York
Explain and analyze different political systems and the philosophies that underline them, including the parliamentary system.
Anarchism- Political movement believing in the elimination of all government and its replacement by a cooperative community of individuals. Sometimes it has involved political violence such as assassinations of important political or governmental figures. The historical banner of the movement is a black flag. Communism- A belief as well as a political system, characterized by the ideology of class conflict and revolution, one party state dictatorship, repressive police apparatus, and government ownership of the means of production and distribution of goods and services. A revolutionary ideology preaching the eventual overthrow of all other political orders and the establishment of one world Communist government. Some as Marxism. The historical banner of the movement is a red flag and variation of stars, hammer and sickles, representing the various types of workers. Dictatorship- The rule by an individual or small group of individuals (Oligarchy) that centralizes all political control in itself and enforces its will with a terrorist police force. Fascism- A belief as well as a political system, opposed ideologically to Communism, through similar in basic structure, with a one-party state, centralized political control and a repressive police system. It however tolerates private ownership of the means of production, through it maintains tight overall control. Central to its belief is the idolization of the Leader, and expansionist ideology. Examples have been German Nazism and Italian Fascism. Monarchy- The rule of a nation by a monarch, (a non-elected usually hereditary leader), most often a king or queen. There may or may not be some measure of democratic open institutions and elections at various levels. A modern example is Saudi Arabia. Parliamentary System- A system of government with a legislature and usually involves a multiplicity of political parties, and often coalition politics. There is division between the head of state and head of government. The head of government is usually known as prime minister who is usually the head of the largest party. The head of government and cabinet usually both sit and vote in the parliament. The head of state is most often an elected president, (though in the case of a constitutional monarchy, like Great Britain, the sovereign may take the please of a president as a head of state). A government may fall when a majority in parliament votes "no confidence" in the the government. When that happens, a new prime minster or party head is chosen. Presidential System- A system of government with a legislature and usually involves a multiplicity of political parties, and often coalition politics. There is division between the head of state and the head of government. The president serves both capacities. The president is elected either by direct or indirect election. A president and cabinet usually do not sit or vote in the legislature and the president may or may not be head of the largest political party. A President can only be removed from office before an election for major infractions of the law. Socialism- Political belief and system in which the state takes a guiding role in the national economy and provides extreme social services to its population. It may or may not own outright means of production, but even where it does not, it exercises regulatory control. It usually promotes democracy, (Democratic-Socialism), through the heavy state involvement procedures excessive bureaucracy. Socialism is a variant of Marxism, which also uses a red flag as a symbol.
Analyze the foreign policies of post-World War II presidential administrations and their effect on the Cold War.
In 1962 Premier Khrushchev of the Soviet Union decided to install nuclear missiles on Cuban soil. American U-2 spy planes identified missiles bases under construction, touching off the Cuban Missile Crisis. President John F. Kennedy announced that the U.S. would blockade Cuba and stop any Soviet ships from reaching the island. The Soviets were concerned about American missiles in Turkey aimed at the Soviet Union and about a possible invasion of Cuba. Khrushchev wanted to demonstrate to the Russian and Chinese critics of his policy of peaceful coexistence that he was tough. A week of incredible tension and anxiety gripped the entire world until Khrushchev capitulated. Soviet ships carrying missiles for the Cuban bases turned back and the crisis eased. America agreed to remove its missiles in Turkey and a telephone "hot line" was set up between Moscow and Washington to allow the two heads of government to have instant contact with each other. The U.S. agreed to sell its surplus wheat to the Soviets. During Lyndon Johnson's presidency, the war in Vietnam escalated with hundreds of thousands of American troops sent to fight alongside the South Vietnamese against the Vietcong or North Vietnamese army. The war was unpopular in America and caused such divisiveness that Johnson decide to not seek re-election in 1968. Probably the highlight of foreign policy of President Richard Nixon was his 1972 trip to China. Since 1949 America had refused to recognize the communist government of China. For more than two decades official American policy regarded the legitimate government of China to be that of Chiang Kia-Shek, who was exiled on the island of Taiwan. In 1971, Nixon sent Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on a secret trip to Peking to investigate whether it would be possible for America to give recognition to the Communist or Red China. In 1972, President and Mrs. Nixon spent a number of days in China and met with the two leaders, Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai. Agreements were made for cultural and scientific exchanges, eventual resumption of trade and future unification of the mainland with Taiwan. In 1979, formal diplomatic recognition was achieved. With this one visit, the pattern of the Cold War shifted. Under the administration of President Jimmy Carter, Egyptian President Anwar el-Sedat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin met at presidential retreat Camp David and agreed to sign a formal treaty of peace between the two countries. In 1979, the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. The Carter administration perceived the action as a threat to the rich oil fields in the Persian Gulf but did not take action. The last year of of Carter's presidential term was taken by the 52 American hostages held in Iran. The Shah was deposed and control of the government and country was in the hands of Muslim leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. President Carter froze all Iranian assets in the U.S., set up trade restrictions and approved a risky rescue attempt, which failed. He appealed to the UN for aid in gaining release for the hostages and to European allies to join the trade embargo on Iran. Khomeini ignored UN requests to release the Americans and Europeans refused to support the embargo so as not to risk loosing access to Iran's oil. American prestige was damaged and Carter's chances for re-election were doomed. The Hostages were released on the day of Ronald Regan's inauguration as President when Iranian assets were released as ransom. President Ronald Regan's foreign policy focused primarily on the Western Hemisphere, particularly in Central America and the West Indies during his first term. U.S. involvement in the domestic revolutions of El Salvador and Nicaragua continued into Reagan's second term when Congress held televised hearings on what came to be known as the Iran-Contra Affair. A cover-up was exposed showing that profits from secretly selling military hardware to Iran had been used to give support to rebels, called Contras, who fought in Nicaragua. In 1983, more than 200 American Marines were killed in Lebanon when an Islamic suicide bomber drove an explosive-laden truck into the United States Marines headquarters in Beirut. This tragic event came as part of the unrest and violence between the Israelite and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) force in southern Lebanon. American Marines landed on the island of Grenada in the same year or rescue a small group of American medical students and depose the leftist government. A pivotal event of Reagan's second term was the arms-reduction agreement Reagan reached with Soviet General Secretary Michael Gorbachev. Gorbachev began to relax East-West tensions by stressing the importance of cooperation with the west and easing the harsh restrictive life of the people in the Soviet Union. Reagan regarded Gorbachev as a fierce Cold Warrior and compared the Soviet Union to an evil empire but was willing to talk repeatedly with the Soviets to reach a new level of accord.
American foreign policy prior to the Civil War.
In the early years of the American nation, three primary ideas determined American foreign policy. The first of these, isolationism, was perhaps also the most long-lasting. The founding fathers and the earliest Americans (after the Revolution) tended to believed that the U.S. had been created and destined for a unique role, what was Thomas Jefferson called the "City on the Hill." They understood personal and religious freedom to be a unique experiment. Although many hoped the nation would grow, this experiment did not extend to efforts to plant colonies in other parts of the world. The second ideas was that of "No Entangling Alliances." George Washington's farewell address had initially espoused the intention of avoiding permanent alliances in any part of the world. That was echoed in Jefferson's inaugural address. In fact, when James Madison led the nation into the War of 1812, he refrained from entering an alliance with France, which was also at war with England. The United States' unintentional and accidental involvement in what was known as the War of 1812 came about due to the political and economic struggles between France and Great Britain. Napoleon's goal was complete conquest and control of Europe, including and especially Great Britain. Napoleon drove the British troops from Continental Europe, however the British still controlled the seas, which France needed to conduct commerce and transportation and movement of military. America traded with both nations, especially France and its colonies. The British decided to destroy the American trade with France, mainly for two reasons. First, products and goods from the U.S. gave Napoleon what he needed to keep up his struggle with Britain. France was the enemy and it was felt that the Americans were aiding Britains enemy. Second, Britain felt threatened by the increased strength and success of the U.S. merchant fleet. They became major competitors with the ship owners and merchants of Britain. The British issued Orders in Council which was a series of measures that barred American ships entrance to any French ports in Europe, India and the West Indies. At the same time, Napoleon began efforts to block aid the British Isles. He issued a series of orders that prohibited all trade with the British. He threatened seizure of every ship entering French ports after they stopped at any British port or colony, even threatened to seize every ship inspected by the British cruisers or that paid duties to the the British government. The British stopped American ships and impressed (capture and forced labor of the crew) American seamen to service on British ships. Americans were outraged. In 1807, Congress passed the Embargo Act that prohibited American ships from sailing to foreign ports. The act couldn't be completely enforced and it also hurt business and trade in America, so it's was repealed in 1809. Two additional acts were signed by James Madison, that attempted to get Britain and France to remove restrictions they had put on American shipping. the catch was that whichever nation removed restrictions, the U.S. agreed not to trade with the other one. Napoleon was the first to do this so Madison issued orders that prohibited trade with Britain. Although Britain eventually rescinded the Orders in Council, war came in June of 1812. During the war, Americans were divided over not only whether it was necessary to fight, but also over what territories should be fought for and taken. The nation was still young and unprepared for war. The primary American objective to conquer Canada need in failure. Two naval victories and one military victory stand out for the United States. Oliver Perry gained control of Lake Erie and Thomas MacDonough fought on Lake Champlain. Both of these naval battles successfully prevented the British Invasion of the United States from Canada. Nevertheless, British troops did land below Washington on the Potomac marched into the city and burned government buildings including the White House. Andrew Jackson's victory at New Orleans was a great morale booster to Americans. It gave the impression that the U.S. had won the war. The battle actually took place after Britain and the United States had reached an freemen's and it had no impact on the war's outcome. The war ended Christmas Eve, 1814, with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent. The peace treaty did little for the United States other than bring peace, release prisoners of war, restore all occupied territory and set up a commission to settle boundary disputes with Canada. Interestingly, the war proved a turning point in American history. In President Monroe's message to Congress on December 2, 1823, delivered what would be called the Monroe Doctrine. The United States informed the powers of the Old World that the American continents were no longer open to European colonization. The Monroe Doctrine holds that any effort to extend European political influence into the New World would be considered by the United States "dangerous to our peace and safety." The United States would not interfere in European wars or internal affairs, and expected Europe to stay out of American affairs. The American experience had created a profound wariness of any encroachment on to the continent by European countries. The Monroe Doctrine was a clear warning: no new colonies in the Americas. The nineteenth century was the age of "Manifest Destiny"-the belief in the divinely given right of the nation to expand westward and incorporate more of the continent into the nation. This belief had been expressed, at the end of the Revolutionary War, in the demand that Britain cede all lands east of the Mississippi River to America. The goal of westward expansion was further confirmed with the Northwest Ordinance (1787) and the Louisiana Purchase (1803). Manifest Destiny was the justification of the Mexican-American War (1846-48) which resulted in the annexation of Texas and California, as well as much of the southwest. The feelings of nationalism became stronger during this period.
Explain and analyze the causes for, and the impact of, Populism and Progressivism.
Populism is the philosophy that is concerned with the common-sense needs of average people. Populism often finds expression as a reaction against perceived oppression of the average people by the wealthy elite society. The prevalent claim of populist movements is that the people should be put first. Populism flourished in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Several political parties were formed out of the philosophy, including: the Greenback Party, the Wealth movement of Henry Long, the Progressive Party, and the Union Party. In the 1890s, the People's Party won the support of millions of farmers and other working people. This party changed the social ills of the monopolists of the Gilded Age. The late 1800s was a period of significant reforms and changes in the areas of politics, society and the economy. In the 1890s, the reformers gained increased public support and were able to achieve some influence in government. Since some of these individuals referred to themselves as progressives, the period form 1890 to 1917 is referred to by historians as the Progressive Era. In the late 1890s a new type of journalism appeared. It emphasized sensationalism rather than facts and helped push the U.S. in one direction or another. It was called yellow journalism and was used to incite Americans and encourage the declaration of war against Spain when the battleship Maine was blown up in Havana, Cuba. During the Spanish-American War yellow journalism promoted the acquisition of territories, such as Puerto Rico and the Philippines. The muckrakers were investigative journalists who published scathing exposes of political and business wrongdoing and corruption. The efforts of these reformers were far-reaching. In an attempt to be more responsive to voters many states enacted the initiate, referendum and recall. On the national level, 17th Amendment was ratified and provided U.S. Senators would be chosen by popular election. The 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote was also ratified. Major economic reforms of the period included aggressive enforcement of the Sherman Antitrust Act, passage of Elkins and Hepburn acts, that gave the Interstate Commerce Commission greater power to regulate the railroads, the Pure Food and Drug Act that prohibited the use of harmful chemicals in food, and The Meat Inspection Act that regulated the meat industry to protect the public against tainted meat. More than two-thirds of the states passed laws to ban child labor . Workmen's compensation was mandated, and the Department of Commerce and Labor was created. President Theodore Roosevelt set aside 238 million acres of federal lands to protect them form development. Wildlife preservers were established, the national park system was expanded, and the National Conservation Commission was created. The Newlands Reclamation Act provided federal funding for the construction of irrigation projects and dams in semi-arid areas of the country. The Wilson Administration carried out additional reforms. The Federal Reserve Act created a national banking system that could provided a stable money supply. The Sherman and the Clayton Antitrust acts defined unfair competition, made corporate officers liable for illegal actions of employees, and exempted labor unions from antitrust lawsuits. The Federal Trade Commission was established to enforce these measures. The 16th Amendment established the income tax.
Describe the international migration to California in the 19th century, the social, economic and political responses to this migration, and the contributions of immigrants to the development of California
Regional mining districts were established that paid lip service to democratic principles, but they were discriminatory. These mining districts generally excluded African Americans, Asians and Latinos, and resorted to vigilante justice when people were suspected of wrongdoing. The discrimination practiced by the Anglo-American settlers had far-reaching effects on an increasingly and unique diverse and predominately immigrant society. There were frequent ethnic conflicts because of the lure of gold had attracted so many people from America, Mexico, Chile, Peru and other South and Central American countries, fromEurope and from China and the Pacific Islands. The Native People of California responded in several ways. Some simply got out of the way and moved into the central part of the state. Some, particularly the Miwok and Yakuts, raided the settlements for horses and livestock. Some became miners, or worked for white miners, and some mined gold and traded it to white merchants for goods. Within four years of the beginning of the gold rush, the Native American population declined from about 150,000 to 30,000. Much of this was due to malnutrition and disease introduced by the white men. Thousands of Native people died in campaigns of extermination carried out by the whites. Miners and ranchers joined forces, with the support of localism to carry out raids on native villages. Some frontier communities even paid bounties for Indian scalps and heads. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican American War and provided for the property rights of Mexicans who owned property in lands claimed by the United States.. At the time, the ranchos covered about 13 million acres but the gold frenzy had ignored property rights of the rancho owners. Miners settled on rancho lands as "squatters." There was vast confusion about ownership of land. In 1851 Congress passed a land law that outlined and extensive process by which rancho owners could prove their title to the land and have squatters removed. Resolution of these claims took about seventeen years. About 200 of the claim owners lost land amounting to nearly four million acres. But by the time the claims were won, the owners were usually bankrupt and lost the land anyway. African Americans accounted for about one percent of the non-Indian population during the Gold Rush. These were both escaped slaves and free persons. The free blacks came to mine for themselves. Slaves were brought by their southern owners, despite the fact that California was a free state. African Americans were victims of discrimination. The state constitution restricted voting rights to "free white males." Membership in the state militia also restricted to whites. California enacted a harsh fugitive slave law and the state passed a law that made it illegal for "blacks, negros, mulattoes" and Indians from testifying either for or against a "white man." Latin American immigrants made up the largest of foreign miners. There was great hostility between the Latino miners and the Anglo miners. Some of this hostility was a residual effect of the recent war, but a large part of the animosity was due to economic competition. Most of the Latino miners were me experienced and knowledgeable in mining. In 1850, the state legislature passed the Foreign Miners License Tax. All miners who were not U.S. citizens were required to pay a monthly tax of $20. After the tax was passed, about two-thirds of the Mexican miners returned to Mexico. In 1853, a newspaper estimated there were 32,000 French gold miners in the state. The French also suffered from discrimination from U.S. citizens. The Americans called the French "Keskydees", a derogatory imitation of the question frequently asked by French miners, The French miners objected to paying the monthly tax of $20 to mine gold in California. Some French miners joined forces with German and Mexicans and staged peaceful protest at Sonora. This came to be called The French Revolution. Natives of the Hawaiian Islands (called kanakas) began to immigrate to California fifty years earlier to hunt sea otter and work in coastal areas. Hundreds more came to work in the gold mines. They were treated no better. Thousands of Chinese came during the gold rush. Anglo-American miners feared that they'd too, would take too much of the gold. Others hated them because they were willing to work for very low wages. The state legislature enacted another Foreign Miners License Tax of $3 per month in 1852 that was particularly directed against the Chinese. For 18 years this tax generated 25% of California's annual revenue. It was not until 1870 that it was declared unconstitutional. Despite discrimination and hostility, California's development resulted to a great extent from the labor and struggle of immigrants. The Chinese, in particular, who worked in the mines had superior knowledge of explosives. They were also the major source of labor for railroads. The completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 ended California's isolation from the rest of the country. The four men who provided the vision and much of the initial financial backing for the construction of the railroad were known as the Big Four (Leland Stanford, Collis P. Huntington, Mark Hopkins and Charles Cooker). They became the wealthiest and most powerful men of their generation. Construction took more than six years. There was a great celebration when the tracks of the Central Pacific Railroad met the tracks of the Union Pacific Railroad. The track was attached to the final tie with three commemorative spikes-one was silver and two were gold. The immediate benefit of the completion of the railroad and the invention of the refrigerated car was that cars could deliver California produce to the East quickly, and the produce could be kept ripe and cool during shipment. Yet the first ten years after completion of the railroad were disappointing. The expected new prosperity did not arrive. What followed were ten years of economic depression, merchants overextended themselves in expectation of a large influx of new settlers. When new settlers did not arrive, the market was over-supplied and the prices of goods declined. Land prices rose as the railroad neared completion, also in completion of new settlers. Completion of the railroad actually resulted in decreases in land prices. The completion of the work also returned thousands of workers back to the California labor pool, reducing wages and causing extensive unemployment. The expected boom did come in 1880's, partly due to the railroad. The owners of the railroad advertised California throughout the nation. A second railroad line (the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe) reached Los Angeles in the middle of the decade. A rate war between two railroads ensued. More than 200,000 new residents came to California in 1887 alone. The railroad recruited Chinese laborers because they were willing to work for wages (usually a dollar a day) and do dangerous work. more than 10,000 Chinese laborers, and many Irish immigrants, built the railroad. When construction ended and the Chinese returned to California, the resulting depression was blamed on them. Anti-Chinese activities included riots and and the looting and burning of Chinese settlements. Several cities passed laws that were intended to drive out the Chinese. Unemployed whites frequently destroyed Chinese businesses. In 1877, unemployed white men of San Francisco formed a new political party called The Workingmen's Party and demanded the expulsion of Chinese immigrants. California voters adopted a new state constitution in 1879, during the height of anti-Chinese hostility. The new constitution included anti-Chinese provisions that prohibited the Chinese being employed by government except as punishment for crimes. Chinese were required to live outside of the city or town limits if they did not want live in designated parts of towns. Chinese immigrants were ineligible for U.S. citizenship and further Chinese immigration was discouraged. The Chinese Exclusion Act was passed by the U.S. Congress in 1882. It prohibited Chinese immigration for ten years. In 1892 it was extended for another ten years. In 1902, it became permanent. It was not repealed until China and the U.S. became allies against Japan in World War II. This law produced further difficulties for the Chinese, including boycotts of Chinese-produced goods.
Analyze the relationship of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments to Reconstruction and compare and contrast their initial and later interpretations.
The 13th Amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime. The Amendment was ratified by the necessary number of states on December 18, 1865. It followed the Emancipation Proclamation that had freed slaves held in states that were considered to be in rebellion. This amendment freed slaves in states and territories controlled by the Union. The 14th Amendment provides for Due Process and Equal Protection under the law. It was ratified on July 28, 1868. The Amendment requires that states provide equal protection under the law to all persons. The Amendment overturned the Dred Scott case. The full potential of this amendment was realized in the 1950s and 1960s, when it became the basis of ending segregation in the Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education. This amendment includes includes the stipulation that all children born on American soil are U.S. citizens. After the Civil War, many Southern states passes laws that attempted to restrict the movements of blacks and prevent them from bringing lawsuits or testifying in court. In the Slaughterhouse Cases (1871) the Supreme Court first interpreted the 14th Amendment and ruled that the Amendment applies only to rights granted by the federal government. It was not until the 1960s that the Supreme Court held that the 14th Amendment applies to all people everywhere. In the Civil Rights Cases, the Court held that the guarantee of rights did not outlaw racial discrimination by individuals and organizations. In the next few decades the Court outnumbered several laws barring blacks from serving on juries or discriminating against the Chinese immigrants in regulating the laundry businesses. The segregate but equal doctrine was reversed in the area of education in the case of Brown v. Board of Education. Since this ruling in the Court has extended the equal protection clause to a number of other historically disadvantaged groups. The second section of the 14th Amendment establishes the "one man, one vote" appointment of congressional representation. This ended the counting of blacks as three fifths of a person. Section III of the Amendment prevents anyone who took "an oath to support the Constitution of the United States" then served the Confederacy from holding any local, state (such as the Electoral College), federal or military office. Section IV stipulated that government would not pay damages for the loss of slaves or debts incurred by the Confederate governments (e.g., with English or French banks). The 15th Amendment (ratified February 1970) gave voting rights to black men. It states the right of citizens of the of the United States or by any state on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude. All three of these Constitutional Amendments were part of the Reconstruction effort to create stability and rule of law to provide, protect and enforce the rights of former slaves through the nation.
Describe and analyze the role of entrepreneurs and industrialists and their impact on the United States economy.
There was a marked degree of industrialization before and during the Civil War, but at war's end, industry in America was small. After the war, dramatic changes took place. Machines replaced hand labor and extensive nationwide railroad service made possible the wider distribution of goods. New products were made available in large quantities and large amounts of money from bankers and investors were available for expansion of business operations. American life was definitely affected by this phenomenal industrial growth. Cities became the centers of this new business activity. Cities attracted mass population movements and tremendous growth. This new boom in business resulted in huge fortunes for few Americans and extreme poverty for many others. The discontent this caused resulted in a number of new reform movements from which came measures controlling the power and size of big business and help for the poor. Industry before, during and after the Civil War was centered mainly in the North, The use of machines in industry enabled workers to produce a large quantity of goods much faster than ever before. With the increase in business, hundreds of workers were hired, assigned to perform a certain job in the production process. This was a method of production called division of labor. Due to increased rates of production called division of labor. Due to increased rates of production business lowered prices for their products to be more affordable. The typewriter, the telephone, barbed wire, the electric light, the phonograph and the gasoline automobile were examples of new products/inventions that became available. The automobile had the greatest effect on America's economy. The late 1800s and the early 1900s also saw the increased buildup of military strength and the U.S. became a world power. As businesses grow, methods of sales and promotion were developed, Salespersons went to all parts of the country to promote various products. Large department stores opened in the growing cities and offered many products at affordable prices. People who lived too far from the cities could use a mail order service. The developments in communication, such as the telephone and telegraph, increased the efficiency and prosperity of big business. Individuals invested heavily in stocks and bonds in an eager desire to share in the profits. Their investments made available the needed capital for for companies to expand their operations. From this, banks made loans to businesses, resulting in significant contributions to economic growth. At the same time, during the 1880s government made little effort to regulate businesses. They gave rise to monopolies were larger businesses eliminated their smaller competitors and assumed control of their industries. Some owners in the same business would join or merge to form one company. Others formed what were called trusts, a type of monopoly in which rival businesses were controlled but not formally owned. Monopolies had some good effects on the economy. Out of them grew the nations economy. Monopolies enabled businesses to keep their sales steady and avoid sharp fluctuations in price and production. Leaders of monopolies participated in unfair business practices that took advantage of others. They could require suppliers to supply goods at a low cost and then sell the finished products at high prices, making huge profits and reducing the quality of the product to save money. The industrial boom produced several extremely wealthy and powerful captains of industry such as Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gold, J.P. Morgan and Philip Armour. Most workers put in long hours in dangerous conditions doing heavy work for low wages. Most were unable to afford to participate in the comforts and forms of entertainments that were available. Farmers believed they were also being exploited by the bankers, suppliers and the railroads. This produced instability to fuel several recessions and two severe depressions.
Describe the significance of the Bill of Rights and the 14th Amendment as limits on government in the American constitutional process as compared to English Common law.
The First ten amendments to the United States Constitution deal with civil liberties and civil rights. 1) Freedom of speech, press, assembly, religion and the right to petition the government for redress of grievances 2) A well-regulated militia, being necessary for the security of a free state, the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed 3) The government cannot quarter troops in private homes during peacetime 4) Right against unreasonable searches and seizures 5) Right to due process and protection for self-incrimination 6) Right to a trial by jury and legal council 7) Right to jury trial for civil actions. 8) No cruel and unusual punishment 9) The rights listed in the Constitution are not the only rights the people enjoy 10) Powers not mentioned in the Constitution shall be retained by the states or the people. The Magna Carta is considered the basis of the English constitutional liberties. In 1215 the noblemen forced King John to define their rights. The nobles refused to pay and taxes until King John grated the noble class certain inalienable property rights. The Magna Carta is considered to be their first modern document that sought to limit the powers of state authority. The Magna Carta only dealt with the rights of the nobility and all of its provisions excluded the rights of common people. It would take more than seven centuries before the rights won by the nobles were given to other people. The Great Council in England grew into a representative assembly called Parliament. By the 1600's, Parliament was divided into the House of Lords, made up of nobles and the House of Commons. In the beginning, only a few wealthy men could vote. Still English people firmly believed that the ruler must consult Parliament on money matters and obey the law. Thus, it did set a precedent that there was a limit to the power of the state. The Petition of Right was addressed to King Charles I, by the British parliament in 1628. Parliament demanded the King stop proclaiming new taxes without consent. Parliament demanded that he cease housing soldiers and sailors in the homes of private citizens, proclaiming martial law in times of peace, and imprisoning people without good cause. These demands were echoed American colonists 150 years later, as there's were some of the rights that, as Englishmen were denied to them. The British Bill of Rights was known as the Declaration of Rights. It spelled out the rights that were considered to belong to Englishmen. It was granted by King William III in 1869. It had previously been passed by Parliament and it came out of the struggle for power that took place in Great Britain that was known as the Glorious Revolution, a revolution that was accomplished with virtually no bloodshed and led to King William III and Queen Mary II becoming joint sovereigns. The Declaration of Rights is similar to the American Bill of Rights. It protects the rights of individuals and gives anyone accused of a crime the right to trial by jury. It outlaws cruel punishments and states that a ruler could not raise taxes or an army without the consent of Parliament. All of these events and the principles that arose from them are of the utmost importance in understanding the process that eventually led to ideals that are inherent in the Constitution of the United States. The fact is that all of these ideals are universal in nature and have become the basis for the idea of human freedoms throughout the world. The British settlers in the American colonies brought with them the form of law they had know in England, the Common Law. Common law is judge-made law and is based on the concept of precedent. Case decisions follow earlier case decisions, when possible, common law is different from statutory law, which is law made by a legislative body.
How were urbanization and industrialization developed in the post WWI American economy?
A) Large companies started by establishing headquarters in great cities B*) Industries serving the urban household started to rise C) Automobile industry helped decrease urban concentration of the population D) Factories concentrated in cities helped increase the concentration of urban population
After World War II, the United States:
A) Limited its involvement in European affairs B) Shifted foreign policy emphasis from Europe to Asia C) Passed significant legislation pertaining to aid to farmers and tariffs on imports D*) Entered the greatest period of economic growth in its history
Analyze the major's domestic policies of presidential administrations from Harry S. Truman to the present.
Harry S. Truman became president near the end of WWII. When Japan refused to surrender. Truman authorized the use of atomic bombs on Japanese's cities. He took to the Congress a plan that came to be know as the Fair Deal. It included: expansion of Social Security, a full-employment program, public housing and slum clearance and permanent Fair Employment Practices Act. The Truman Doctrine provided support for support for Greece and Turkey when they were threatened by the Soviet Union. The Marshall Plan stimulated economic recovery for Western Europe. Truman participated in the negotiations that resulted in the formation of NATO. He and his administration believed it necessary to support South Korea when it was invaded by the communist government of North Korea. Truman contained American involvement in Korea so as not to risk conflict with China or Russia. Dwight D. Eisenhower succeeded Truman. Eisenhower obtained a truce in Korea and worked during his two terms to mitigate the tension of the Cold War. He continued most of the programs introduced under both the New Deal and the Fair Deal. He enforced school desegregation by sending federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas. Eisenhower enforced President Truman's ordered to completely desegregate the military. Eisenhower's Administration created the Departments of Health, Education and Welfare and the National Aeronautics and Spence Administration. John F. Kennedy Inaugural Address is remastered for his statement, Ask not what your country can do for you-ask what you can do for your country." He pledged to get America moving again. During his brief presidency, his economic programs created the longest period of continuous expansion in the country since WWII. He wanted the U.S. to again take up the mission of being committed to the spread of human rights. Through the Alliance for Progress and the Peace Corps, the nation reached out to assist developing nations. He believed the arts were critical to society and instituted programs to support the arts. Lyndon B. Johnson assumed the presidency after the assassination of Kennedy. His vision for America was called The Great Society. He won support in Congress for the largest group of legislative programs in the history of the nation. These included a new civil rights bill and a tax cut. He defined the Great Society as "a place where the meaning of man's life matches the marvels of man's labor. The legislation enacted during the Johnson administration included (an attack on disease, urban renewal, Medicare, aid to education, conservation and beautification, development of economically depressed areas, a war on poverty, costing rights for all, and control of crime and delinquency). President Johnson managed an unpopular war in Vietnam and encouraged the exploration of space. His administration created the Department of Transportation and appointed the first black Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall. Richard Nixon inherited racial unrest and the Vietnam War. Nixon expanded the war to include Cambodia and Laos. His administration improved relations with China and the USSR. President Nixon is best known for the Watergate scandal that led to his resignation. His major domestic achievements were: the appointment of conservative justices to the Supreme Court, passage of new anti crime legislation, a broad environmental program,creation of Environmental Protection Agency, revenues sharing legislation, and ending the draft. Gerald Ford was the first Vice President selected under the 25th Amendment. His administration faced a depressed economy, inflation and energy shortages. Once inflation slowed and recession was the major economic problem, he instituted measures that would stimulate the economy. He tried to reduce the role of the federal government. He reduced business taxes and lessened the controls on business. His international focus was on preventing a major war in the Middle East. He negotiated with Russia for limitations on nuclear weapon. Jimmy Carter strove to make the government "competent and compassionate" in response to the expectations of the American people. His administration made significant strides in job creation and decreased the budget deficit but inflation and interest rates were at record highs. His administration established a national energy policy to deal with the energy shortage, controlled petroleum prices to stimulate production, implemented civil service reform, deregulated the tucking and airline industries, and created the Department of Education. He expanded the national park system, supported the Social Security system, and appointed a record number of women and minorities to government jobs. During the last year of his presidency, fifty-two American hostages were held in Iran. Ronald Regan's program came to be known as the Regan Revolution. The goal was to reduce the reliance of the American people upon government. His legislative accomplishments include economic growth stimulation, lower inflation, increased employment, and strengthening the national defense. He won Congressional support for a complete overhaul of the income tax code in 1986. When he left office there was prosperity and peace. His foreign policy was "peace through strength." Regan nominated Sandra Day O'Connor as the first female justice on the Supreme Court. George H.W. Bush was committed to traditional American values and to make America a kinder gentler nation. He dealt with defense of the Panama Canal and Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, which led to the first Gulf War, known as Operation Desert Storm. His international affairs record was strong but he could not turn around the struggling economy or increased violence in the inner cities. Bill Clinton's domestic accomplishments include: the lowest inflation in thirty years, the lowest unemployment rate in modern days, the highest home ownership rate in history, lower crime rates and smaller welfare's rolls. He proposed and achieved a balanced budget and achieved a budget surplus. George W. Bush's presidency was radically altered by the 9/11 attacks. George W. Bush campaigned, was elected and inaugurated in the pre-9/11 world. After the attacks President Bush created the Department of Homeland Security and presided over the invasions of Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003). The Bush Administrations' domestic goals were overshadowed by the War on Terror. President Bush passed a large tax cut, attempted to move Social Security to greater privatization and passed some Medicare reform. In 2007-2008 The American economy suffered through The Great Recession. It was the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. Barack Obama was elected in 2008 and is America's first African-American president. President Obama presided over the longest streak of peacetime job growth in American history. President Obama is most well-known for the Obamacare initiate. This was a large scale reform of America's health insurance sector. Obamacare provides subsidies so people can afford health insurance and make sure that on one could be turned down due to pre-existing condition. In 2011 American forces found and killed Osama bin Laden
Analyze the differing explanation for the 1929 stock market crash, Herbert Hoover's and Congress' responses to the crisis, and implementation of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal policies.
The 1929 Stock Market crash was the powerful event that is generally interpreted as the beginning of the Great Depression in America. The crash was unexpected but it was not without identifiable causes. The 1920s had been a decade of social and economic growth and hope. But the attitudes and actions of the 1920s regarding wealth, production, and investment created several trends quietly set the stage for the 1929 disaster. Uneven distribution of wealth: In the 1920s, the distribution of wealth between the rich and the middle-class was grossly disproportionate. In 1929, the combined income of the top 0.1% of the population was equal to the combined income of the bottom 42%. The top 0.1% of the population controlled 34% of all savings, while 80% of Americans had no savings. Capitalism enriched the wealthy at the expense of the workers. Between 1920 and 1929, the amount of disposable income per person rose 9%. The top 0.1% of the population however enjoyed disposable income of 75%. One reason for this disparity was the increased manufacturing productivity during the 1920s. Average worker productivity in manufacturing increased 32% during this period. Yet wages in manufacturing increased only 8%. The wages of the workers rose very slowly, failing to keep pace with increasing productivity. As production costs fell and prices remained constant, profits soared. But profits were retained by the companies and the owners. The legislative and executive branches of the Coolidge administration tended to favor business and the wealthy. The Revenue Act of 1926 significantly reduced income taxes for the wealthy. Despite the rise of labor unions, even the Supreme Court ruled in ways that further widened the gap between the rich and the middle class. In the case of Adkins v. Children's Hospital (1923), the Court ruled that minimum wage legislation was unconstitutional. Buying on credit caught on very quickly. Buying on credit can create artificial demand for products people cannot ordinarily afford. The 1920s economy also relied on investment and luxury spending. If people lose confidence in the economy luxury spending can came to an abrupt halt. In the 1920s, investing was robust but investors began to expect greater returns on their investments and this led many to speculative investments in risky opportunities. The automotive and radio industries drove the 1920's economy. The government tended to support new industries rather than agriculture. During WWI, the government had subsidized farms and farmers had been encourage to buy and farm more land to use more technology to increase production. The nation fed much of Europe during and after the war. When the war ended, these farm policies were cut off. Prices plummeted, farmers fell into debt and farm prices declined. The agriculture industry was on the brink of ruin before the stock market crash. The concentration of production and economic stability in the automotive industry and the production and sale of radios was expected to last forever. When these two industries declined due to decreased demand, they caused collapse of other industries upon which they were dependent (e.g., rubber tires, glass, fuel, construction, etc.). The other factor contributing to the Great Depression was the economic condition of Europe. The U.S. lent money to European nations to rebuild. Many of these countries used this money to purchase U.S. food manufactured goods but they were unable to pay their debts. While the U.S. provided money, food and goods to Europe, America was unwilling to buy European goods. This locked Europe in an economic spiral where they could not break their dependency on American loans. Trade barriers were enacted to maintain a favorable trade balance. Risky speculative investments in the stock market was the second major factor contributing to the stock market crash of 1929 and the Depression. Stock market speculation was spectacular through the 1920s. In 1928 and 1929 stock prices doubled and tripled. The opportunities to achieve such profits were irresistible. This created an investment craze that drove the market higher and higher. Several factors are cited by some scholars as contributing to the Great Depression. In 1929, the Federal Reserve increased rates. Also, as interest rates rose and the stock market began to decline, people began to hoard money. In September 1929, stock prices began to slip but people remained optimistic. On Monday, October 21, prices began to fall quickly. The volume traded was so high that the tickers were unable to keep up. Investors were frightened, and they started to sell quickly. This caused further collapse. For the next two days prices stabilized somewhat. On Black Thursday, October 24, prices plummeted again. By this time investors had lost confidence. On Friday and Saturday an attempt to stop the crash was made by some leading bankers. But on Monday the 28th, prices began to fall again, declining 13% in one day. The next day, Black Tuesday, October 29, saw 16.4 million shares traded. Stock prices fell so far, that at many times no one wanted to buy at any price. The Great Depression of the 1930s resulted in bank failures, loss of jobs due to cut-backs in production and a lack of money. This lack of currency led to a sharp decline in spending, which in turn affected businesses, factories and stores, drove unemployment. Farm products were unaffordable so the farmers suffered even more. Foreign trade sharply decreased and in early 1930s, the U.S. economy was effectively paralyzed. Europe was affected even more so. In the immediate aftermath of the stock market crash, many urged President Herbert Hoover to provide government relief. Hoover responded by urging the nation to be patient. By the time he signed relief bills in 1932, it was too late, and Hoover's bid for re-election in 1932 failed. The new president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, won the White House on his promise to the American people of a "new deal." Roosevelt's New Deal programs aimed in part to provide relief to hard-hit workers through government-sponsored work programs such as the Civilian Conservation Corps. Many of Roosevelt's policies faced strong opposition, and some programs were struck down by the Supreme Court. Roosevelt's was elected to four terms. His New Deal was the start of the social and economic recovery and reform legislative acts designed to gradually ease the country back to prosperity. The legislation was intended to accomplish three goals: relief, recovery, and reform. The first step of the New Deal was to relieve suffering. This was accomplished through a number of job creation projects. The second step, the recovery aspect, was to stimulate the economy. The third set was to create social and economic change through innovative legislation. Congress passed the Glass-Steagall Act, which separated banking and investing. The Securities and Exchange Commission was created to regulate dangerous speculative practices on Wall Street. The Wagner Act guaranteed a number of rights to workers and unions in an effort to improve worker-employer relations. The Social Security Act of 1935 established pensions for the aged and infirm as well as a system of unemployment insurance. The National Recovery Administration attempted to accomplish several goals: (Restore employment, Increase general purchasing power, Provide character-building for unemployed youth, Encourage decentralized of industry and thus divert population from crowded cities to rural or semi-rural communities, To develop River resources in the interest of navigation and cheep power and light, To complete flood control on a permanent basis, To enlarge the national program of forest protection and to develop forest resources, To control farm production and improve farm prices, To assist home builders and home owners, To restore public faith in banking and trust operations, To recapture the value of physical assets, whether in real property securities or other investments). These objectives and their accomplishment implied a restoration of public confidence and courage. Alphabet organizations were set up to work out the details of the recovery plan. The most prominent were (Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA) designed to readjust agricultural production and prices thereby boost farm income. Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) designed to give wholesome useful activity in the forestry service to unemployed young men. Civil Works Administration (CWA) and the Public Works Administration (PWA) designed to give employment the construction and repair of public buildings, parks and highways. Works Progress Administration (WPA) whose task was to move individuals from relief rolls to work projects or private employment. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was of a more permanent nature. It's goal was to improve the navigability of the Tennessee River and increased productivity of the timber and farm lands in its valley. The program built 16 dams that provided water control and hydroelectric generation. The Public Works Administration employed Americans to work on more than 34,000 public works projects. Projects included the construction of a highway that linked the Florida Keys and Miami, the Boulder Dam (now the Hoover Dam) and numerous highway projects. The nation's economy, however, did not fully recover until America entered World War II.
The belief that the United States should control all of North America was called:
A) Westward Expansion B) Pan Americanism C*) Manifest Destiny D) Nationalism
After the Civil War, the US adapted an attitudes of isolation from foreign affairs. But the turning point marking the beginning of the US becoming a world power was:
A) World War I B) Expansion of business and trade overseas C*) The Spanish-American War D) The building and finance of the Panama Canal
Compare the significant political and socioeconomic ideas and issues during the Jeffersonian and Jacksonian periods and contrast how they were implemented in policy and practice.
European events have helped shape U.S. policies especially how America's foreign policy. After 1815, the U.S. became much more independent from European influence and was treated with growing respect by European nations. These nations were impressed that the young United States showed no hesitancy in going to war with the world's greatest naval power. The election of Andrew Jackson as President signaled a swing of the political pendulum from government influence of the wealthy, aristocratic Easterners to the interests of the Western farmers and pioneers and the era of the "common man". Jacksonian democracy expanded the franchise (right to vote) to poorer white men. After the War of 1812, Henry Clay and his supporters favored economic measures that came to be known as the American System. These economic measures involved tariffs that protected American farmers and manufacturers from having to compete with foreign products and stimulated industrial growth and employment. With more people employed, more farm products would be consumed, prosperous farmers would be able to buy more manufactured goods. And the additional monies from tariffs would make it possible for the government to make needed internal improvements. In 1816 Congress passed a high tariff and chartered a second Bank of the United States. When Andrew Jackson became President, he fought to close the bank. One of the many duties of the bank was to regulate the supply of money for the nation, President Jackson believed that the bank was a monopoly that favored the wealthy. Congress voted in 1832 to renew the bank's charter but Jackson vetoed the bill, withdrew the governments money and the bank collapsed. Jackson also faced the "nullification issue from South Carolina. In 1828 Congress passed a law that placed high tariffs on goods imported to the United States. Southerners, led by then Vice President John C. Calhoun (a South Carolinian), felt that the tariff favored the manufacturing interests of New England. In response he denounced the tariff as an abomination, and claimed that any state could nullify any federal law it considered unconstitutional. The tariff was lowered in 1832, but not low enough to satisfy South Carolina, which promptly threatened to secede from the Union. Although Jackson agreed with the rights of states, he also believed in the preservation of the Union. A year later, the tariffs were lowered and the crisis averted.
Analyze the roles of the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan and military alliances, including the North American Treaty Organization (NATO), the South East Asian Treaty Organizations (SEATO), and the Warsaw Pact.
The Soviet Union emerged from World War II as the second strongest power on Earth. The United Sates embarked on a policy of containment to confront the expansion of Soviet power. This included the Marshall Plan and the Truman Doctrine. The Marshall Plan provided economic aid for Europe and financial aid to prevent the spread of communism. The Marshall Plan was also know as the European Recovery Program. In February 1948, Britain and the U.S. combined their two zones in Germany, with France joining in June. These actions lead to the Cold War. The U.S. joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) that had been formed in 1949 to oppose communist aggression. The Southeast Treaty Organization (SEATO) is a defense pact for Southeast Asia. When it originated in 1954. It had eight member nations. It is similar to NATO and was created as part of the Truman Doctrine, to stop the spread of communism. The Warsaw Pact was the Soviet response to NATO. It was a military alliance but also a "treaty of friendship, cooperation and mutual and mutual assistance." It was a treaty among Eastern European nations and the Soviet Union. It was signed in 1955 in Warsaw, Poland.
Interpret the debates over the doctrines of nullification and state secession.
The doctrine of nullification states that the states have the right to nullify (declare invalid) any act of Congress they believe to be injections of unconstitutional. The nullification crisis of the mid-nineteenth century resulted from a new tariff on imported manufactured goods that was enacted by the Congress in 1828. The tariff protected the manufacturing and industrial interests of the North but raised the prices of needed goods in the South. John C. Calhoun, Andrew Jackson's Vice President, led South Carolina to adopt the Ordinance of Nullification which declared the tariff null and void within state borders. The issue came to the brink of military action but was resolved by enactment of a new tariff in 1832. The South believed in a state's right to nullify any federal law which was contrary to local interests. The South based this belief on the assumption that the United States was a union of independent commonwealths, and that the general government was merely the agent of several states- not their superior. The North, however, assumed the Federal government to be supreme and that the Union was inseparable. When economic issues and the issue of slavery came to a head, the North declared slavery illegal. The South acted on the principles of the doctrine of nullification, declared the new laws nuke and acted upon their presumed right as states to secede from the union and from their own government. The North saw secession as a violation of the national unity contract.
Analyze the significance of the passage of the 18th and 19th Amendments as they related to the changing political and economic roles of women in society.
The end of World War I and the decade of the 1920s saw tremendous changes in the United States. The shift from farm to city life occurred in tremendous numbers. The 18th Amendment to the Constitution, the so-called Prohibition Amendment, prohibited selling alcoholic beverages through the U.S. The 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote in all elections. The decade of the 1920s also showed a marked change in roles and opportunities for women with more women seeking and finding careers outside home life. The influence of the automobile, the entertainment industry, and the rejection of the morals and values of pre-World War I life resulted in the fast-passed Roaring Twenties. These were significant effects on events leading to the Great Depression of the 1930s and another world war. Many Americans desired the pre-war life and supported political policies and candidates in favor of the return to what was considered normal, ending the government's strong role and adopting a policy of isolation the country from world affairs. Prohibition of the sale of alcohol increased bootlegging, gangs, illegal speakeasies and Jazz music. The customers of these clubs were considered "modern," reflected by extremes in clothing, hairstyles and attitudes towards authority and life. Movies and other types of entertainment, along with increased interest in sports figures and accomplishments of national heroes (such as aviator Charles Lindbergh) influenced Americans to admire, emulate and support individual accomplishments.
Trace the origins and consequences of the Korean War.
The first "hot war" in the post-World War II era was the Korean War (1950-53). Communist North Korean troops invaded South Korea in an effort to unite both sections under Communist control. Member countries of the United Nations furnished peacekeeping troops. It was the first war in which a world organization played a major military role. President Truman sent American troops to help South Korea. The war ended in a truce, and Korea remained divided. Korea had been under control of Japan from 1895 to the end of the Second World War in 1945. At war's end, the Soviet and U.S. military troops moved into Korea with the U.S. troops in the southern half and the Soviet troops in the northern half with the 38th degree North Latitude line as the boundary. In 1947, the UN General Assembly ordered elections in Korea to select one government for the entire country. The Soviet Union did not allow the North Koreans to vote and set up a Communist government there. The South Koreans set up a democratic government but both claimed the entire country. The U.S. removed its troops in 1949 and announced in early 1950 that Korea was not part of its defensive line in Asia. The communists then invaded.
Explain the development of federal Indian policy- including the environmental consequences of forced migration into marginal regions and its consequences for American Indians.
The forced migration of the Native Americans of federal Indian policy, combined with the near-extermination of the buffalo, caused a downturn in Prairie Culture. Conflict was intense an frequent until 1867 when the government established two large tracts of land called reservations in Oklahoma and the Dakotas to which all tribes would be confined. With the Civil War over, troops were sent west to enforce the relocation and reservation containment policies. As white settlers attempted to move onto Indian lands, the tribes resisted confinement. Numerous conflicts, often called the Indian Wars broke out between the U.S. army and many different native tribes. Two notable battles were the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876, in which native people defeated General Custer and his forces and the massacre of Native Americans in 1890 at Wounded Knee. Many treaties were signed with the tribes, but most were broken by the government. In 1876, the U.S. government ordered all surviving Native Americans to move to reservations. Counting conflict led to passage of the Dawes Act of 1887. This law was intended to break up the Indian communities and bring about assimilation into white culture by deeding portions of the reservation lands to individual Indians who were expected to farm the land. The policy continued until 1934. During the late nineteenth century government began a practice of trying to "civilize" Indian children by educating them in Indian boarding schools. The children were forbidden to speak their native languages, were forced to convert to Christianity, and generally compelled to give up all aspects of their native culture and identity. Conditions at these schools were harsh. Many children were beaten and abused by the staff. Armed resistance essentially came to an end by 1890. Geronimo surrendered at the massacre at Wounded Knee led a change of strategy by the Indians. Thereafter, they strove to preserve their culture and traditions. During World War I, many Native Americans were drafted into military service. Most served heroically. This fact, combined with a desire to see the native peoples effectively merge into mainstream society, led to the enactment of the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, which granted Native Americans citizenship. The policies of extermination and relocation, as well as the introduction of disease among Native Americans significantly decreased their numbers by the end of the nineteenth century.
Analyze the impact of industrialism and urbanization on the physical and social environments of the United States.
The increase in business and industry greatly affected by the rich natural resources were found through the nation. Industrial machines were powered by the abundant water supply. The construction industry depended heavily on lumber from forests. Coal and iron ore were needed for the steel industry, which used steel in such things as skyscrapers, automobiles, bridges, railroad tracks and machines. Other minerals such as silver, copper and petroleum played a large role in industrial growth, especially petroleum, from which gasoline was refined as fuel for the increasingly popular automobile. The abundance of resources, the growth of industry and the pace of capital investments led to the growth of cities. Populations shifted from rural agricultural to urban industrial areas. By the early 1900s one-third of the nation's population lived in cities. Industry needed workers in its factories, mills and plants and rural workers were being displaced by advances in farm machinery and automation. Densely populated urban areas, often without adequate sanitation or clean water led to public health challenges that required cities to establish sanitation, water and public health departments to cope with and prevent epidemics. Political organizations also saw the advantage of mobilizing the new industrial working class and created vast patronage programs that sometimes became notorious for corruption in big-city machine politics, such as Tammany Hall in New York.
Trace the origins of the Cold War.
The major thrust of the U.S. foreign policy from the end of World War II to 1990 was the post-war struggle between non-Communist nations (led by the United States) and Communist nations (led by the Soviet Union). It was referred to as the Cold War because its conflicts did not lead to a major war, or hot war. The Soviet Union and the United States embarked on a buildup of atomic and hydrogen bombs as well as other nuclear weapons. Both nations had the capacity of destroying each other but because of the continuous threat of nuclear war and accidents, extreme caution was practiced on both sides. The efforts of both sides to serve and protect their political philosophies and support and assist their allies resulted in a number of events during this 45-year period. In 1946, Josef Stalin stated publicly that the presence of capitalism and its development of the world's economy made international peace impossible. George F. Kennen, future American ambassador to the Soviet Union, proposed the foreign policy known as containment.
Explain the basis and practice of acquiring or requiring American citizenship.
A citizen of the United States may either be native-born or a naturalized citizen. Naturalization is the process by which one acquires citizenship. In certain circumstances a person may have dual-citizenship that is citizenship United States as well as another country. In order to become a citizen the applicant must be at least 18 years old and lawfully admitted into the U.S. as a permanent resident. There is a residency requirement in most situations and the applicant must be of good moral character and believe in the principles of the Constitution of the United States of America. The applicant must have an understanding of American history and government and be able to read, write, speak and understand basic English. An oath giving up foreign allegiance and promising to obey the Constitution and U.S. laws is also required. Successful candidates become American citizens at a ceremony presided over by a judge. Once a person is naturalized, it is expected the person will vote, serve on jury, participate in military service, if appropriate, and participate in the government as responsible citizens do.
Debate the adequacy of the solution of majority rule and the role of minority rights in a majority-rules system
A majority-rules system is one that places the responsibility for governing and policy-making in the hands of the group that has at least more than 50 percent of the members. Those in the minority may be ignored, passed over or disenfranchised in favor of the majority. The winning side many be victorious by a small majority. With a few changes in the election, the majority may lose its strength. The minority role is important because minority views may take hold and eventually cause members of the majority to change position on an issue.
Native communities in early California are commonly divided into several cultural areas. How many cultural areas?
A) 4 B) 5 C*) 6 D) 7
Which of the following was the primary motivation for the Western expansion of the U.S.?
A) A Manifest Destiny to convert all native Americans to Christianity B*) Jefferson expansionism C) The need to limit the power of the Mexican government west of Mississippi D) The search for gold
Which of the following would not be considered an example of an environmental factor affecting human migration?
A) A lack of fresh water resources B*) War C) A devastating hurricane D) Severe climate
Which demographic was most impacted by the changes in the Immigration Act of 1965?
A) Africans B) Asians C*) Latin Americans D) Western Europeans
In which way was the Nazi treatment of Jews not similar to the American treatment of Japanese-Americans during WWII?
A) Denial of citizenship rights B) Interment in labor camps C*) Formation of segregated military units to serve in the armed forces D) Eviction from homes, jobs & universities
In the United States, federal investigations into deceptive business activities are handled by the:
A) Department of Treasury B) Security and Exchange Commission C) Government Accounting Office D*) Federal Trade Commission
A significant change in immigration policy occurred after World War II when the United States:
A) Eliminated restrictions B) Prevented Japanese immigration C*) Imposed policies based on ethnicity and country of origin D) Banned immigration
Leaders in the movement for woman's rights have included all but:
A) Elizabeth Candy Stanton B*) Lucretia Borgia C) Susan B. Anthony D) Lucretia Mott
What triggered U.S. intervention in Vietnam?
A) Expansion into foreign markets B) Desire to colonize the country C) American dependence on oil D*) Belief in the Domino Theory
The early growth in the population of the Virginia colony was due to which of the following?
A) Immigrants coming in search of gold B) Criminals being exiled from England to the New World C*) Immigration of indentured workers D) High fertility rate of the settlers in the New World
What was the socio-political reason for the rise of Fascism in Italy after WWI?
A) Increasing fascination with German Nationalism B) A distrust and hatred of the Jews in Italy C*) Culmination of Italian nationalism and jingoism D) Occupation of Italy by the German army
Other than the crash of the Market, which one of the following best describes the elements which contributed to the deepening of the Great Depression?
A) Increasing reliance of the American consumers on credit purchases B*) Lack of government regulations for banks and bank failures. C) Decreasing European taste for American products D) Government bankruptcy and the decrease in federal services
Pre-Civil War American policy did not include
A) Isolationism B*) Imperialism C) Nationalism D) No entangling alliances
Under the brand-new Constitution, the most urgent of the many problems facing the new federal government was that of:
A) Maintaining a strong army and navy B) Establishing a strong foreign policy C*) Raising money to pay salaries and war debts D) Setting up courts, passing federal laws, and providing for law enforcement officers. However, the most important and pressing issue was how to raise money to pay salaries and war debts from the Revolutionary War. Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804), Secretary of the Treasury, proposed increased tariffs and taxes on products such as liquor. This money would be used to pay of war debts and to pay for internal programs.
In what way did the Black Coates limit African-American equality?
A) Prohibited the public expression of legal concern B) Prohibited testifying against whites C) Restricted voting rights D*) All of the above
Which of the following laws encouraged African-Americans participation in government?
A) The 15th Amendment B) The Voting Rights Act C) The 24th Amendment D*) All of the above
How was the Bonus March resolved?
A) The Congress agreed to redeem Bonus vouchers early B) The army paid a bonus to its veterans C*) The Bonus Marchers were broken up by the army D) The President established a Veteran's Affair office
The term Red Scare refers to:
A) The Halloween holiday B*) The fear of communists C) Sun Spots D) Labor strikes
Which one of the following would not be considered a result of WWII?
A*) Economic depressions and slow resumption of trade and financial aid. B) Western Europe was no longer the center of world power C) The beginnings of new power struggles not only in Europe but in Asia as well D) Territorial and boundary changes for many nations especially in Europe. Following World War II, the economy was vibrant and flourished from the stimulant of war and an increased dependence of the world on the United States industries. Answers B,C and D are events that did happen as a result of World War II.
How did the lifestyle of the 1920's lead to the Great Depression?
A*) Overproduction & availability of credit encouraged reckless spending B) Foreign investments fell through after WWI C) Emphasis on cultural movements like the Harlem Renaissance deviated resources from industry D) Increase in immigration led to a rise in unemployment
Result of Missouri Compromise
A*) Slavery was not allowed in the Louisiana Purchase B) The Louisiana Purchase was nullified C) Louisiana separated from the Union D) The Embargo Act was repealed The Missouri Compromise was the agreement that eventually allowed Missouri to enter the Union. It did not nullify (B) the Louisiana Purchase or repeal (D) the Embargo Act and did not (C) separate Louisiana from the Union. (A) As a result of the Missouri Compromise slavery was specifically banned north of the 36 degree 30'.
It can be reasonably stated that the change in the United States from primarily an agricultural country into an industrial power was due to all of the following except:
A*) Tariffs on foreign imports B) Millions of hardworking immigrants C) An increase in technological developments D) The change from steam to electricity for powering machinery
Compare and contrast plans for Reconstruction within its actual implementation.
After the Civil War, the nation was faced with repairing the torn Union and readmitting the Confederate states. Reconstruction was the period between 1865 and 1877 when the federal government implemented plans to provide civil rights to freed slaves and set the terms under which the former Confederate states would rejoin the Union. Plans for Reconstruction began in 1861. The Republican Party favored the extension of voting rights to black men, but was divided as to how far to extend the right. Moderates, such as Lincoln, wanted only literate blacks and those who had fought for the Union to be allowed to vote. Radical Republicans wanted to extend the vote to all back men to vote. Conservative Democrats didn't not want to give black men the vote at all. Moderates wanted to allow Confederate soldiers except former leaders to vote, while the radicals wanted to require from all eligible voters an oath that they had never borne arms against the U.S., which would have excluded all former reals. On the issue of readmission into the Union, moderates favored a much lower standard, with the radicals demanding nearly impossible conditions for return. Lincolns moderate plan for Reconstruction was actually part of his effort to win the war. Lincoln and the moderates felt that if it remained easy for states to return to the Union, and if moderates felt proposals on black suffrage were made, that Confederate might be swayed to re-join the Union rather than continue to fight. The radical plan was to ensure that Reconstruction did not actually start until after the war. In 1865 Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, leaving his Vice-President Andrew Johnson to oversee the beginning of the actual implementation of Reconstruction. Johnson struck a moderate pose and was willing to allow former Confederates to keep control of their state governments. Unfortunately, after Johnson became president the radical Republicans gained control of Congress in 1866 and the harsh measures of radical Reconstruction were implemented. There was economic and social chaos in the South after the war. The U.S. Army provided some relief of food and clothing for both white and blacks but the major responsibility fell to the Friedman's Bureau. Though the bureau agents helped southern whites, their main responsibility was to the freed slaves. They were to assist the freedmen to become self-sufficient and protect them from being taken advantage of by others. Northerners looked on it as a real, honest effort to help the South out of the chaos it was in. Mostly White Southerners charged the bureau with causing racial friction and deliberately encouraging the freedmen to consider former owners as enemies. As a result southern leaders adopted a set of laws known as "black codes", containing many of the provisions of the prewar "slave codes." The codes denied the freedom, their basic civil rights. The black codes were one piece of an expansive effort to keep the freedmen subordinate to whites. Three amendments were added to the constitution. The 13th Amendment (1865) outlawed slavery through the entire United States. The 15th Amendment (1870) gave black American men the right to vote and made it illegal to deny anyone the right to vote based on race. In 1866, the Radical Republicans in control of Congress and passed the Reconstruction Acts, which placed the government's of the Southern states under the control of the federal military. Republicans began to implement their policies such as granting all black men to vote, and denying the vote to former confederate soldiers. Congress made ratification of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments a condition of readmission into the Union by the rebel states. The Republicans found support in the South among Freedmen (as former slaves were called) white southerners who had not supported the Confederacy (called Scalawags) and northerners who had moved to the south, known as Carpetbaggers. Military control continued throughout President Grant's administration (1869-1877), despite increased conflict inside and outside the Republican Party. Conservatives in Congress and in the states opposed the liberal policies of the Republicans. Some Republicans became concerned over corruption issues among Grant's appointees and dropped support for him. The presidential election of 1876 between Republican Rutherford B. Hayes and Democrat Samuel J. Tilden. The election produced no clear winner. Through legal and political battles Hayes was declared the winner. Three southern states: Florida, Louisiana and South Carolina awarded their electoral votes to Hayes. Those votes were enough to swing the election to Republican candidate Hayes. In exchange for these electoral votes Hayes promised to withdraw troops from the South- thus ending Reconstruction. The withdraw led to the legal codification of segregation and white supremacy. Under President Rutherford B. Hayes, federal troops were removed from the south. Without support, this Republican governments were replaced by so-called Redeemer governments. The rise of Redeemer governments marked the beginning of the Jim Crow laws and official segregation. Blacks were still allowed to vote, but were found to make it difficult for them to do so, such as literacy tests and poll taxes. For example, during Reconstruction South Carolina had 92,801 African-American registered voters. By 1898 that number fell to 2,823. This pattern was repeated throughout the old Confederacy once federal troops were withdrawn. Reconstruction, which had set as its goal the reunification of the south with the North and the granting of civil rights to freed slaves was a limited success, at best and in the eyes of blacks was considered a failure. Federal troops stationed through the South and protected African-Americans and the new Southern governments. Bitterly resentful, while Southerners fought the new political system by joining a secret society called Ku Klux Klan, using violence to keep black Americans from the vote, employment and education. Before being allowed to rejoin the Union, the Confederate states were required to agree to all federal laws. between 1866 and 1870, all of the states had returned to the Union. Northern interest in Reconstruction faded. Reconstruction officially ended when President Hayes ordered the last federal troops to leave the south in 1877.
Analyze key principles in California's constitutional and political development (including the Progressive Era reforms of initiate, referendum, and recall), and compare and contrast the California and U.S. Constitutions.
Between the end of the Mexican American War and California's admission to the Union in 1850, the political situation was unstable. The U.S. Congress was consumed with the issue of slavery in the areas ceded to the U.S. by the treaty that ended the war. For this reason, no formal government was established for California until 1850. In 1849, a constitution was drafted but the most pressing issue was whether to petition for admission as a state. Due to the great influx of new settlers and gold fever, the delegates decided to apply for statehood immediately. The second major issue was the question of slavery. California requested to be admitted as a free state. The constitution included a provision that permitted married women to own property independently of their husbands. Any property owned by a woman prior to marriage or during marriage would remain her personal property. This was the first such provision in the nation. The provision was included because Mexican California had the same law. The eastern boundary of the state was established as the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada. The admission of California as a free state would upset the balance between free states in the Congress. The issue was resolved when Congress passed a strict new fugitive slave law. California became a state on September 9, 1850, during the presidency of Millard Fillmore. One of the critical issues not addressed in the original state constitution was the location of the state capital.The location was to be determined on the basis of bids from various towns. For about six years, the capital moved between San Jose, Vallejo and Benicia. Sacramento was selected as the permanent capital in 1854. The pre-statehood constitution was superseded by the current California Constitution, which was ratified in 1879. Unlike most constitutions, California's is 110 pages and has been amended 425 times. Executive power is vested in a governor, lieutenant-governor, Secretary of State, controller, treasurer, attorney-general and surveyor-general, each elected to four-year terms. The governor and lieutenant governor are elected separately. The governor may use a line-item veto for legislation. A line-item veto gives the executive power to veto certain sections of a bill without vectoring the whole bill. The California legislature is bi-cameras and both houses are based on population. Members are term limited. The senate is made up of a representative of each county, elected for four years and an assembly made up of representatives of districts of equal population, elected for two years. The judiciary consists of a Supreme Court (a Chief Justice and six associates) elected for twelve-year terms, a superior spurt for each county and inferior courts established by the legislature. In civil cases, a finding may be established by agreement of three-fourth of the jury. California's Constitution includes provisions for the initiate that allows voters to directly create laws or constitutional amendments, the referendum that allows voters to veto acts of legislature, and the recall that permits voters to remove from office any elected official.
Describe and evaluate the impact of the Enlightenment and the unique colonial expenditures in the writing of the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, Federalist Papers and Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Democracy is loosely defined as "rule by the people," either directly or indirectly or through representatives. The basic concept of democracy existed in thirteen English colonies with the practice of independent self-government. The Declaration of Independence is an outgrowth of Ancient Greek ideas of democracy, individual rights Renaissance ideas and the European Enlightenment. Particularly the Enlightenment ideology of the political thinkers John Locke. Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), the principe author of the Declaration, borrowed much from Locke's theories and writings. Jefferson was attracted to Locke's great emphasis on human rights and the belief that when governments violate those rights, people should rebel. Locke wrote Two Treatises of Government in 1690, which had tremendous influence on political thought in the American colonies and helped shaped the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence. Jefferson argued that King George III had repeatedly violated the rights of the colonists as subjects of the British Crown and that American colonists were left with no choice but to but to abolish such government and institute a new government. Locke and Jefferson both stressed that the individual citizen's rights are prior to and more important than any obligation to the state. Government is the servant of the people. The officials of government hold their positions at the sufferance of the people. The rights of the people must be preserved and protected by that government. The Declaration of Independence (July 1776) was intended to demonstrate the reasons why the colonies sought independence from Great Britain. the Colonists had tried all means to resolve their dispute peacefully. It was the rights of a people, when all other methods had been tired and failed, to separate themselves from that power that was keeping them from full expression of their rights to "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The Articles of Confederation was the first political system under which the newly independent colonies were organized. It was passed by the Continental Congress on November 15, 1777, ratified by the thirteen states, and took effect on March 1, 1781. The newly independent states were unwilling to give too much power to a national government. They did not want to replace one harsh ruler with another under the Articles of Confederation, each state had one vote in the Congress. Congress had the power to declare war, appoint military officers, and coin money. It was also responsible for foreign affairs. The Articles of Confederation limited the powers for COngress by giving the states final authority. Although Congress could pass laws, at least nine of the thirteen states had to approve a law before it went into effect. Congress had to ask each state for it, and no state could be forced to pay. The Articles created a loose alliance among the thirteen states. The national government was weak, in part, because it didn't have a strong chief executive to carry out laws passed by legislature. Many different disputes arose and there was no way of settling them. Delegates met to try an fix the Articles; instead they needed up scrapping them and created a new form of government. The first order of business at the Constitutional Convention was the agreement among all the delegates that the convention would be kept secret. the delegates wanted to be able to discuss, argue and agree among themselves before presenting the completed document to the American people. Between the official notes kept an the complete notes of future President James Madison, an accurate picture of the events of the Convention. The delegates went to Philadelphia representing different areas and different interests. They all agreed on a strong central government but with limited powers. They also agreed that no one part of government could control the rest. It would be a republican form of government (sometimes referred to as representative democracy) in which the supreme power was in the hands of the voters who would elect people to govern them. One of the first serious controversies involved the small states versus the large states over representation in Congress. Virginia's Governor Edmund Randolph proposed that state population determine the number of representatives sent to Congress, a plan known as the Virginia Plan. New Jersey delegate William Paterson counted with what is known as the New Jersey plan, where every state would have equal representation. After much debate, the Great Compromise was reached. It is also known as the Connecticut Compromise. It was proposed by Roger Sherman. It was agreed that Congress would have two houses. The would have two senators from each state, while The House of Representatives would have its members elected based on population. Both houses could draft bills to debate and vote on with the exception of bills pertaining to money, which must originate in the House of Representatives. Another controversy involved economic differences between North and South. Once concerned the counting of the African slaves for determining representation in the House of Representatives. The southern delegates wanted slaves counted to determine taxes to be paid. The northern delegates argued the opposite: count the slaves for taxes but not for representation. The resulting agreement was known as the "three fifths" compromise. Three-fifths of themselves would be counted for both taxes and determining representation in the House. The last major compromise was the Commerce Compromise. The economic interests of the northern part of the country were industry and business, whereas the South's economic interests were primarily agriculture. The northern merchants wanted the government to regulate and control commerce with foreign nations and with the states. Southern planters opposed this idea as they felt that any tariff laws passed would be unfavorable to them. The acceptable compromise to this's dispute was that COngress was given the power to regulate commerce with other nations and between the states, including leveling tariffs on imports, however, Congress did not have the power to levy tariffs on any exports. This increased the South's concern about the effect it would have on the slave trade. The delegates finally agreed that the importation of slaves would continue for 20 more years with no interference from Congress. Any import tax could not exceed 10 dollars per person. After 1808, Congress would be able to decide whether to prohibit or regulate any further importation of slaves. Nine states needed to ratify for the Constitution to go into effect. those favoring the Constitution and a strong central government were Federalists. The opposition had three major concerns (States felt they were being asked to surrender too much power to the national government, The voters did not have enough control and influence over the men who would be elected by them to run the government, There was no bill of rights guaranteeing hard-woven individual freedoms and liberties. Promoters of the Constitution wrote articles called the Federalist Papers to convince the public of the need to ratify the constitution. The Constitution also incorporated the separation of powers of their three branches of government and the built-in system of checks and balances to keep power balanced.
Identify major environmental issues in California history and their economic, social and political implications (e.g., water supply and delivery, air/water/soil quality, transportation).
Environmental issues have always been part of the history of California. The early native tribes in parts subsisted by moving around constantly in search of food and water. Hydraulicking caused problems because it eroded hills and banks as miners searched for gold. The runoff deposited tons of mud, gravel, rock and sand into the rivers, burying farms, depositing silt in the rivers and causing more frequent flooding. Farmers banned together to create the Anti-Debris Association, to urge the government to outlaw the dumping of mining debris into rivers. The California Debris Commission, a federal regulatory agency, was created to enforce the law. John Muir was responsible for the establishment of Yosemite National Park in 1890. A few years later he founded the Sierra Club. California's water issue results from the majority of the precipitation in the state occurring in the northern third of the state while 80% of the need for water is in the southern two-thirds of the state. As Los Angeles grew, its water supply proved to be inadequate to provide water for Los Angeles. This project was completed in 1913, but it deprived a farming community in the Owens Valley of much needed water. The most aggressive approach to moving water in California was the Central Valley Project. Construction of the Central Valley Project began in 1937. The original phase of the plan called for the construction of three dams, five canals, and two power transmission lines. This program provides flood control and water for agriculture throughout the Central Valley.
Describe the purpose, challenges and economic incentives associated with settlements of the West, including the concept of Manifest Destiny.
In the United States, territorial expansion occurred westward under the banner of "Manifest Destiny." In addition, the U.S. was involved in the War with Mexico, the Spanish-American War, and support of the Latin American colonies were successful in their fight for independence and self-government. After the U.S. purchased the Louisiana Territory, Jefferson appointed Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore it, to find out exactly what had been bought. With the help of local guides, including Native American woman named Sacagawea, the expedition called the Corps of Discovery went all the way to the Pacific Ocean. They returned two years later with maps, journals and artifacts. This led the way for future explorers to make available more knowledge about the territory and resulted in the Westward Movement and the later belief in the doctrine of Manifest Destiny. It was the belief of many that the United States was destined to control all of the land between the two oceans. This mass migration westward put the U.S. government on a collision course with the Indians, Great Britain, Spain and Mexico. The fur traders and missionaries ran up against the Indians in the northwest and the claims of Great Britain for the Oregon country. The Red River cession was the next acquisition of land came about as part of a treaty with Great Britain in 1818. The area included parts of North and South Dakota and Minnesota. In 1819, Florida, both east and west, was ceded to the U.S. by Spain along with parts of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. Texas was annexed in 1845 and after the war with Mexico in 1848, the government paid $15 million for what would become the states of California, Utah, Nevada and parts of other states. The U.S. and Britain had shared the Oregon territory. By the 1840's, with the increase in the free and slave populations and the demand of the settlers for entry into the U.S., the conflict had to be resolved. in a treaty, signed in 1846, the Oregon Territory was ceded to the U.S. The acquisition extended the western border to the Pacific Ocean. The northern U.S. boundary was established at the 49th parallel. The states of Idaho, Oregon and Washington were doomed from this territory. In 1853, the Gadsden Purchase rounded out the present boundary of the 48 conterminous states with payment to Mexico of $10 million for land that makes up the present states of New Mexico and Arizona. Spain had claimed the American Southwest since the 1540's. Spain had spread northward from Mexico City, and, in the 1700's, had established missions, forts, villages, towns and very large ranches. After the purchase of the Louisiana Territory in 1803, Americans began to move into Spanish territory. A few hundred American families in what is now Texas were allowed to live there but had to agree to become loyal subjects to Spain. In 1821, Mexico successfully revolted against Spanish rule, won independence and chose to be more tolerant toward the American settlers and traders. The Mexican government encouraged and allowed extensive trade and settlement, especially in Texas. Many of the new settlers were Southerners who brought their slaves with them. Slavery was outlawed in Mexico and was illegal in Texas, although the Mexican government looked the other way. Friction increased between land-hungry Americans who were swarmed into western lands and the Mexican government, which controlled these lands. The clash was not only political but also cultural and economic. The Spanish influence permitted all parts of the southwestern life: Americans were determined U.S. control of not only the Mexican Territory but also Oregon. Peaceful negotiations with Great Britain secured Oregon but it took two years of war to gain control of the southwestern U.S. In addition, the Mexican government owed debts to the U.S. citizens whose property was damaged or destroyed during it's struggle for independence from Spain. By the time war broke out in 1845, Mexico had not paid its war debt. The government was weak, corrupt, irresponsible and torn apart by revolution. Mexico was also not is good financial shape. Mexico was also bitter over American expansion into Texas and the 1836 revolution, which resulted in Texas independence. In the 1844 Presidential Election, the Democrats pushed for annexation of Texas and Oregon and after winning, they started the procedure to admit Texas to the Union. When Texas statehood occurred, diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Mexico ended. President Polk wanted the U.S. control of the entire southwest, fromTexas to the Pacific Ocean. He sent a diplomatic mission with an offer to purchase New Mexico and Upper California but the Mexican government refused to received the diplomat. Consequently, in 1846, each nation claimed aggression on the part of the other and war was declared. The treaty signed in 1848 and a subsequent once in 1853 completed the southwestern boundary of the United States, extending to the Pacific Ocean, as Polk wished.
Describe 20th century migration to California from the rest of the U.S. and the world, and analyze its impact on the cultural economic, social and political evolution of the state
In the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, California experienced dramatic growth. The climate of the Central Valley is perfect for growing wheat. This agricultural industry fostered the development of new approaches to agriculture and the development of new technology. The first was the Stockton gang plow that was made up of a beam to which was attached to several plow shares. Thus was mounted on wheels and was pulled by a team of horses or mules. New machines were developed for planting seeds and for cutting and threshing grain. Steam-powered combined harvesters and stem-powered tractors were invented. The first internal combustion tractor was invented in Stockton, California. Luther Burbank, a horticulturist, arrived in California for Massachusetts in the latter part of the nineteenth century. He created hundreds of new varieties of plants, including new types of plums, lilies, berries, apples, rhubarb, and quince. Although the Spanish missionaries had first introduced oranges to California, it was not until 1870 that John Wesley North planted orange trees into sandy soil of riverbanks and irrigating the groves with water from the river. He produced winter-ripening Riverside navel oranges and shipped them across the country in refrigerated rail cars. A few years later California produced summer-ripening Valencia oranges. The state was then able to provide fresh oranges year-round. It was the source of more than 65% of the nation's oranges and 90% of its lemons. The discovery of extensive oil deposits in the late nineteenth century created California's petroleum industry. The discovery of extensive oil deposits in the late nineteenth century created California's petroleum industry. The deposits were located in the San Joaquin Valley, the Los Angeles basin, and Santa Barbra County. New discoveries of oil in the 1920's led to a second major economic boom for California. Petroleum refinement became the state's major manufacturing industry and the Los Angeles harbor became the leading oil-exporting post in the world. At about the same time as the discovery of oil in California the automobile became more popular in California than anywhere else in the nation. by the middle of the 1920's the car was a mainstay of the California lifestyle. It also facilitated numerous other changes. The suburbs grew and were connected to the cities by networks of new roads. The suburbs began to experience the rise of shopping centers, supermarkets and single-family homes. And tourism became a major industry for California, which in turn gave rise to motels, auto camps, tourist cabins, and even drive-ins. Soon after this, the motion picture industry made its home in Southern California. In 1913, Samuel Goldfish and Archibald Selwin formed the feature motion picture Company Goldwyn. They partnered with Louis B. Mayer to form Metro-Goldwin Mayer, the leading studio in Hollywood for more than a quarter century. Of particular significance in the early twentieth century were the labor struggles and the growth of labor unions. This struggle was very intense, particularly in San Francisco. Through the first two decades of the twentieth century, San Francisco was a closed-shop city (I.e., one in which employers hired only union members). In Los Angeles, largely through the efforts of Harrison Gray Otis and the Los Angeles Times, the open shop (employers refuse to hire union members) prevailed. California agriculture depended on migratory farm workers. Most of them were foreign-born, not unionized, and non-white. They became organized in the early part of the century (Industrial Workers of the World). Farm owners tended to regard the union as dangerous to the American Way of life. Many local governments tried to pass laws that banned the activities of the union. In 1916, a bomb exploded during a parade near the San Francisco waterfront area. Thomas J. Mooney was blamed, tried and convicted of murder. He was sentenced to hang. labor leaders thought the nation believed Mooney had been framed by an anti-labor conspiracy. The governor commuted his sentence to life in prison. Twenty-three years later, Mooney was pardoned and released from prison. The number of Japanese immigrants steadily increased in the early twentieth century. Anti-Japanese sentiment also grew. A series of actions were taken against Japanese immigrants. Labor leaders in San Francisco formed the Asiatice Exclusion League in 1905 and demanded public policies against the Japanese. They pressured the city into requiring that Japanese children attend segregated schools with other Asian children. Protests from Japan led to intervention by President Theodore Roosevelt. The city agreed to suspend the segregation act in exchange for a law that would limit Japanese immigration. Japan agreed in 1907 to prohibit its workers from immigrating to the U.S. Japanese immigrants were capable farmers. White farmers tried to eliminate the completion. In 1913 the state legislature passed a law prohibiting anyone who was not eligible for citizenship to own land in the state. Asians were ineligible for naturalization under federal law. In 1924, U.S. Congress passed the National Origins Quota Act that prohibited all further immigration from Japan. This period of rapid economic growth and industrial expansion in California came to an abrupt end with the Stock Market crash of 1929. With 20-25% of the population unemployed and loosing, nativism and fear of foreigners rose quickly. White workers complained that Filipino immigrants posed an economic threat to native-born workers. Numerous riots out. Congress passed the Filipino Repatriation Actin 1935. The government offered to pay transportation expenses for any Filipinos who wished to return home. In the 1930's Dust Bowl refugees came by hundreds of thousands in search of a better life in California. These refugees held on to the culture of the Southwest, created their own subculture in California, and were called Oakies because many came from Oklahoma, although they came from several states. California hosted the Olympics in 1932 and constructed the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge. Coit Tower in San Francisco and the murals that presented California history were completed in the 1930s and in 1939, San Francisco hosted the Golden Fate International Exposition on an island built specifically for the fair.
Describe the differing versions of the early political parties and explain the reasons for the respective successes and failures of those parties.
It is important to realize that political parties are unmentioned in the United States Constitution. George Washington himself warned against the creation of factions in American politics "that cause jealous and false alarms and result in damage to the body politic". Thomas Jefferson echoed this warning, yet lead a political party. In 1789, the Electoral College unanimously elected George Washington as the first President. The early presidential administrations established much of the procedures still present today, including the development of the party system. George Washington established a Cabinet: individual advisers overseeing the various functions of the executive branch and who advise the President, who makes a final decision. Divisions withinWashington's Cabinet and within Congress during his administration eventually led to the development of political parties. By the time Washington retired from office in 1796, the new political parties would come to play an important role in choosing his successor. The election of 1776 was the first in American history. Washington's Vice President, John Adams, was elected to succeed him. Adams' administration was marked by the new nation's first entanglement in international affairs. Britain and France were at war, with Adams' Federalist Party supporting the British and Vice President Thomas Jefferson's Republican Party supporting the French, but Adams managed to negotiate a treaty that avoided conflict. In the process, however, he lost the support of his party and was defeated after one term by Thomas Jefferson. Americans had good reason to fear the emergence of political parties. They had witnessed how parties worked in Great Britain. Parties, called "factions" in Britain were made up of a few people who schemed to win favors from the government. They were more interested in their own personal profit and advantage than in the public good. American leaders wanted to prevent the rise of any factions. It was, ironically, disagreements between two of Washington's chief advisers, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton that spurred the formation of the political parties in the United States. Hamilton wanted the federal government to be stronger than the state governments. Jefferson believed that the state governments should be supreme. Hamilton supported the creation of the first Bank of the United States. Jefferson opposed it because he felt that it gave too much power to wealthy investors who would help run it. Jefferson interpreted the Constitution strictly; he argued that nowhere did the Constitution give the federal government the power to create a national bank. He believed that the common people, especially the farmers, were the backbone of the nation. He thought that the rise of big cities and manufacturing would corrupt American life. Hamilton interpreted the Constitution more loosely. he pointed out that the Constitution gave Congress the power to make all laws "necessary and proper" to carry out it's duties. He reasoned that since Congress had that right to collect taxes, then Congress had the right to create the bank. Hamilton wanted the government to encourage economic growth. He favored the growth of trade, manufacturing, and the rise of cities as necessary parts of economic growth. Hamilton believed that government should focus more on business leaders than farmers. When Congress began to pass many of Hamilton's ideas and programs. Jefferson and James Madison declined to organize support for their own views. Jefferson was interested in meeting with several important New York politicians such as New York Governor George Clinton and Aaron Burr, a strong critic of Hamilton. Jefferson asked Clinton and Burr to help defeat Hamilton's program by getting New Yorkers to vote for Jefferson supporters in the nect election. Soon leaders in other states began to organize support for either Jefferson or Hamilton. Jeffersons supporters called themselves Democratic-Republicans or Republicans. Hamilton and his supporters were known as Federalists because they favored a strong federal government. The Federalists were supported by the merchants and ship owners in the Northeast and some planters in the South. Small farmers, craft workers and some of the wealthier landowners supported Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans. By the beginning of the 1800's, the Federalist Party, torn by internal division, began to decline. After the 1800 election when Thomas Jefferson became President, the Federalist Party began to collapse. By 1816, after loosing a string of important elections, (Jefferson was re-elected in 1804 and James Madison, a Republican elected in 1808), the Federalist Party ceased to be an effective political force, and soon passed off the national stage. By the late 1820's, new political parties had grown up. The Democratic-Republican Party was the major party for two decades, but differences within the party caused a split after 1824. Those who favored strong national growth took the name Whigs and united around President John Quincy Adams. Many business people in the Northeast as well as some wealthy planters in the South supported the Whigs. Those who favored slower growth and were more worker and small farmer oriented, formed the New Democratic Party. Andrew Jackson was its first leader as well as the party's first President. This party was the front runner of today's Democratic Party. In the mid-1850's, the issue of slavery began to come to a head. In 1854, those opposed slavery, the Whigs and some norther Democrats opposed slavery, united to form the Republican Party. Before the Civil War, the Democratic Party was more heavily represented in the South and was thus pro-slavery. By the Civil War, the present form of the major political parties had been formed through there would be changes in ideology and platforms over the years, no other political party would manage to gain enough strength to seriously challenge the "Big Two" parties.
Evaluate an analyze significant events, issues and experiences during World War II, including Internment of people of Japanese's ancestry; Allied response to the Holocaust; the experiences and contributions of American fighting forces, including the role of minorities (e.g. the Tuskegee Airmen, the 442nd Regimental Combat Union, Navajo Code Talkers); the role of women and minority groups at home; major developments in aviation, weaponry, communications, and medicine; the significance and ramifications of the decision to drop the atomic bomb.
Military strategy in the European theater of war was developed by Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin and concentrated on Germany's defeat first, the Japan's. Fighting in North Africa began in 1942 and the German and Italians armies were pushed off the continent in May 1943, Before the war, Hitler and Stalin had signed a non-aggression pact in 1939, which Hitler violated in 1941 when he invaded the Soviet Union. The German defeat at Stalingrad, in the Soviet Union, marked a turning point in the war by Soviet troops and the death of many more Germans by starvation and freezing due to the horrendous winter conditions. All of this occurred at the same time the Allies drove the Axis out of North Africa. The liberation of Italy began July 1943 and ended in May 1945. The third part of the strategy began with D-Day, June 6, 1944 and the Allied invasion of France on the beaches of Normandy. The Soviets began to push German troops back into Europe in January, 1943. The Soviet Union's effort was greatly assisted by supplies from Britain and the United States. By April, 1945, the Allies occupied positions beyond the Rhine River in Germany and the Soviets moved on to Berlin, surrounding it by April 25. Germany surrendered May 7, 1945. The Yalta Conference took place at Yalta in the Crimea in February 1945. The Allied leaders-Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin-met to determine the shape of post-war Europe. Germany would be divided into four zones of occupation, as was the capital city of Britain. Germany was also to undergo demilitarization and to make reparation payments for the war. Poland was to remain under control of Soviet Russia. Roosevelt also received a promise from Stalin that the Soviet Union would join the new United Nations. After the surrender of Germany the Allies met in Potsdam, Germany in July 1945. At the Potsdam Conference, Prime Minister Clement Attlee, President Harry Truman and Stalin addressed the administration of post-war Germany and provided for the forced migration of millions of Germans from previously occupied regions. In the six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese forces moved across Southeast Asia and the western Pacific Ocean. By August 1942, the Japanese Empire was at its largest size and stretched northeast to Alaska's Aleutian Islands, west to Burma, and south to what is now Indonesia. Conquered areas included Hong Kong, Guam, Wake Island, Thailand, part of Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines. The Japanese even bombed Darwin on the north coast of Australia. General Doolittle's bombers flew raids over Japanese cities. The American naval victory at Midway and the fighting in the Battle of the Coral Sea helped turn the tide against Japan. Island-hopping by U.S. Seabees and Marines and the grueling bloody battles fought resulted in gradually pushing the Japanese back toward Japan. It took dropping two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to finally end the war in the Pacific. Japan formally surrendered on September 2, 1945, aboard the U.S. battleship Missouri anchored in Tokyo Bay. After Japan's defeat, the Allies began a military occupation of Japan directed by American General Douglass MacArthur, who introduced a number of reforms and eventually rid Japan of its military institutions. A constitution was drawn up in 1947, transferring all political rights from the emperor to the people, granting women the right to vote, and denying Japan the right to declare war. War crimes trials for twenty-five war leaders and government officials were also conducted. The U.S did not sign a peace treaty until 1951. The treaty permitted Japan to ream but took away its overseas empire. Interment of people of Japanese ancestors. From the turn of the twentieth century, there was tension between Caucasian's and Japanese in California. A series of laws had been passed discouraging Japanese immigration and prohibiting land ownership by Japanese. The Alien Registration Act of 1940 (The Smith Act) required the fingerprinting and registration of all aliens over the age of fourteen. Aliens were required to report and change of address within five days. Almost five million aliens registered under the provisions of this act. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941) raised suspicion that Japan was planning a full scale attack on the west coast. Many believed that American citizenship did not necessarily imply loyalty. Some authorities feared sabotage of both civilian and military facilities within the country. In early 1942, Presidential Executive Orders authorized the arrest of all aliens suspected of subversive activities and the creation of exclusion zones where people could not damage national infrastructure. These War Relocation Camps were used to isolate about 120,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans (62% were citizens) during World War II. Allied response to the Holocaust. International organizations received sharp criticism during WWII for their failure to act to save European Jews. The Allied Powers, in particular, were accused of gross negligence. Many organizations and individuals did not believe reports of the abuse and mass genocide that occurred in Europe. Many nations did not want to accept the Jewish refugees. The International Red Cross was on for the organizations that discontinued reports of atrocities. One particular point of criticism was the failure of the Allied Powers to bomb the death camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau or the railroad tracks that lead there. Military leaders argued that their planes did not have the range to reach the camp and that they could not provide sufficiently precise targeting to safeguard the inmates. Critics have claimed that even if Allied bombs killed all inmates at Auschwitz at the time, the destruction of the camp would have saved thousands of Jews. The word genocide was invented by lawyer Raphael Lemkin to describe the crimes of the Second World War. In 1948, three years after its founding, the UN unanimously passed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Nuremberg Trials redefined morality on a global scale. The phrase "crimes against humanity" attained popular currency, and individuals, rather than governments, were held accountable for war crimes. Women and minorities accepted remarkable new roles and served the with great distinction during WWII, both in the theater of military operations and at home. Women served in the military as drivers, nurses, communication operators, and clears. The Flight Nurses corps was created at the beginning of the war. Among the most notable minority groups in the military were: The Tuskegee Airmen- a group of African American aviators who made a major contribution to the war effort. Although they were not considered eligible for the gold wings of an Army Pilot until 1948, they completed standard Army flight classroom instruction and the required flight time. They were the first blacks permitted to fly for the military. They flew more that 15,000 missions, destroyed over 1,000 German aircraft, and earned more than 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses and hundreds of Air Medals. The 442nd Regimental Combat Team- a unit composed of Japanese Americans who fought in Europe. This unit was the most highly decorated unit of its size and in its length of service in the history of the U.S. Army. This self-sufficient force served with great distinction in North Africa, Italy, southern France, and Germany. The medals earned by the group include 21 Congressional Medals of Honor (the highest ward given). The unit was awarded 9,486 Purple Hearts (for being wounded in battle). The casualty rat, combining those killed in action, missing in action, and wounded and removed from action, was 93%. The Navajo Code Talkers have been credited with saving countless lives and accelerating the end of the war. There were more than 400 Navajo Indians who served in all six Marine divisions from 1942 to 1945. At the time of WWII, less than 30 non-Navajos understood the Navajo language, a complex language. Because it was not a code, it was untranslatable by the Germans or the Japanese. The Code Talkers transmitted information about tactics, troop movements, orders and other vital military information. It is generally accepted that without the Navajo Code Talkers, Iwo Jima could not have been taken. Several minorities, including blacks, Chinese, Japanese, Hawaiians, American Indians, Filipinos, and Puerto Ricans represented the U.S. military during WWII. The role of women and minority groups at home overturned many expectations and assumptions. To a greater extent than any previous war, WWII required industrial productions. Those who remained at home were needed to build the planes, tanks, ships, bombs, torpedoes, etc. A call went out to women to join the effort and enter the industrial work force. A vast campaign was launched to recruit women to these tasks that combined emotional appeals and patriotism. One of the most famous recruitment campaigns featured "Rosie the Riviter". By the middle of 1944, more than 19 million women had the work force. Women worked all manufacturing shifts making everything from clothing to fighter jets. Most women and their families tended Victory Gardens at home to produce at home to produce foods that were in short supply. There were major developments in aviation, weaponry, communications, and medicine during the war. Major developments included flight-based weapons delivery systems such as the long-range bomber, jet fighters, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles. Glider planes were heavily used in WWII because they were silent upon approach. Another significant development was the broad use of paratrooper units. Hospital planes came into use to move the seriously wounded from the front and transport them to hospitals for treatment. Used for the first time were: radar, electronic computers, nuclear weapons, and new tank designs. Material first used in World War II included (aircraft carriers, armored vehicles, tank destroyers, anti-tank weapons, assault rifles, Higgins boats, bazookas, guided weapons, napalm, cruise missiles, light tanks, mine-clearing flail tanks, flame tanks, rockets, rockets, submersible tanks). The significance and ramifications of the decision to drop the atomic bomb. The development of the atomic bomb was the most profound military development of the war years. The invention made it possible for a single plane to carry a single bomb that could destroy an entire city. It was believed that possession of the bomb would serve as a deterrent to any nation because it would make aggression against a nation with a bomb, mass suicide. The development and use of nuclear weapons marked the beginning of a new age in warfare that created greater distance from the act of killing and eliminated the ability to minimize the effect of war on non-combatants. Two nuclear bombs were dropped in 1945 on the Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. They caused the immediate deaths of 100,000 to 200,000 people, and far more deaths over time. Dropping the bomb was (and still is) a controversial decision.
Describe new trends in literature, music and art, including the Harlem Renaissance and the Jazz Age.
Millions of African Americans left the rural South and migrated North during The Great Migration. They left in search of opportunity and field violence and oppression. Many settled in Harlem in New York City. By the 1920s, Harlem had become a center of life and activity for persons of color. The music, art and literature of this community gave birth to a cultural movement know as the Harlem Renaissance. The artistic expressions that emerged from this community in the 1920s and 1930s celebrated the black experience, black traditions and voices of black America. Major writers and works of this movement included: Langston Hughes (The Weary Blues), Nella Larsen (Passing), Zora Neale Hurston (Their Eyes Were Watching God), Claude McKay, Countee Cullen and Jean Toomer. Many refer to the decade of the 1920s and The Jazz Age. Jazz is essentially free-flowing improvisation on a simple theme with a four-beat rhythm. It originated in the poor districts of New Orleans as an outgrowth of the Blues. The decade was a time of optimism and exploration of new boundaries. It was a clear movement in many ways away from conventionalism. Jazz, uniquely American, was the country's popular music at the time and its musical style typified the mood of society. The leading Jazz musicians of the time included: Buddy Bolden, Joseph "King" Oliver, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton. As jazz grew in popularity, it gave birth to Swing and the era of Big Band by the mid-1920s. Some of the most notable musicians of the Big Band ear were: Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Don Redman, Fletcher Henderson, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and The Dorsey Brothers. In painting and sculpture, the new direction of the decade was realism. Some realist styles were influenced by modernism and others reacted against it. The Eight or The Ashcan School developed around the work style of Robert Henri. Their subjects were everyday urban life presented without adornment or glamor. The American Scene Painters produced a tight, detailed style of painting that focused on images of American life that were understandable to all. In the Midwest, a school with this group was called regionalism. One of the leading artists of regionalism was Grant Wood, best known for American Gothic. Other important realists of the day were Edward Hopper and Georgia O'Keeffe.
Analyze the interaction between public officials and the media to communicate and influence public opinion.
Public officials need to communicate to the public to explain how they are carrying out duties as elected officials. The press can help elected officials convey those ideas. Good communications between public officials and the media can help between public officials and the convey those ideas and help mold public opinion. When the press of the of the public official is resistant to cover government events in a non-partisan way, or in a way the public understands, the results can be negative either for the press or the official. Public officials often employ individuals who are good and public relations. These individuals write press releases, arrange media events (like tours of schools or soup kitchens), and keep their employer's name in public eye. This includes making the lawmaker's position on important issues known to the public.
Describe and analyze the impact of slavery on American society, governments and economy, and the contributions of enslaved Africans to America, and trace the attempts to abolish slavery in the first half of the 19th century.
Slavery in the English colonies began in 1619 when twenty Africans arrived in the colony of Virginia at Jamestown. From then on, slavery had a foothold, especially in the agricultural South, where a large amount of cheap labor was needed to keep the extensive plantations profitable. Free men refused to work for wages on the plantations when land was available for settling on the frontier. Therefore the plantation class actively invested in slave labor. At the Constitutional Convention, one of the slavery compromises concerned how to count slaves to decide the number of representatives for the House and the amount of taxes to be paid. Southerners pushed for the opposite. The resulting compromise, sometimes referred to as the three-fifths compromise, was that both groups agreed that three-fifths of the slaves would be counted for both taxation and representation. The other compromise over slavery was part of the disputes over how much regulation the central government would control over commercial activities such as trade with other nations and the slave trade. It was agreed that Congress would regulate commerce with other nations including taxing imports. Southerners were worried about taxing the slaves coming into the country and the possibility that Congress would prohibit the slave trade altogether. The agreement allowed the states to continue to import slaves for the next twenty years until 1808, at which time Congress would make the decision as to the future of the slave trade. During the 20-year period, no more than $10 per person could be levied on slaves coming into the country. These two slavery compromises were a necessary concession to have Southern support and approval for the Constitution and new government. Many Americans felt that the system of slavery would eventually die out in the U.S., but by 1808 cotton was increasingly important in the primary agricultural South and slavery was firmly entrenched in Southern culture. It is also evident that as early as the Constitutional Convention, active anti-slavery feelings and opinions were very strong, leading to extremely active groups and societies. The first serious clash between North and South occurred during 1819-1820 when James Monroe was president. It concerned the admission of Missouri as a state. In 1819, the U.S. consisted of 21 states (11 free states and 10 slave states). The Missouri Territory allowed slavery and if admitted would cause an imbalance in the number of U.S. Senators. Alabama had already been admitted as a slave states and that had balanced the Senate with North and South each having 22 senators. The Missouri Compromise resolved the conflict by approving admission of Maine as a free states along with Missouri as a slave state , thus continuing to keep a balance of power in the Senate with the same number of free and slaves sates. An additional provision of this compromise was that with the admission of Missouri, slavery would not be allowed in the rest of the Louisiana Purchase territory north if latitude 36 degrees and 30'. This was acceptable to the Southern Congressmen since it was not profitable to grow cotton on land north of this latitude line. It was thought that the crisis had been resolved until it discovered that Missouri's state constitution discriminated gains free blacks. Anti-slavery supporters in Congress went into an uproar and were determined to exclude Missouri from the Union. Henry Clay, known as the Great Compromiser, then proposed a second Missouri Compromise which was accepted and opened the way for Missouri's statehood-a temporary reprieve on the issue of slavery. Restless pioneers moved into new frontiers of the West, seeking land, wealth and opportunity. Many were from the SOuth and were slave owners who brought their slaves with them. A fraction arose supporting the doctrine of "popular sovereignty" which stated that people living in territories and states should be allowed to decide for themselves whether slavery should be permitted. By 1836, Texas was an independent republic with its own constitution. During its fight for independence, Americans were sympathetic to and supportive of the Texans and some volunteers crossed into Texas to help the struggle. Problems arose when the state petitioned Congress for statehood. Texans wanted to allow slavery but Northerners in Congress opposed admission to the Union because it would disrupt the balance between free and slave states and give Southerners in Congress increased influence. In 1849, California applied for admittance to the Union and the furor began. The result was the Compromise of 1850, a series of laws designed as a final solution to the slavery issue. Concessions made to the North included the admission of California as a free state and the abolition of the slave trade in Washington D.C. The laws also provided for the creation of New Mexico and Utah territories. As a concession to Southerners, the residents there would decide whether to permit slavery when theses two territories became states. In addition, Congress authorized implementation of stricter measures to capture runaway slaves. A few years later, Congress took up consideration for new territories between Missouri and present-day Idaho. Those opposed to slavery used the Missouri Compromise to argue that the land considered for territories was part of the area the Compromise had designated as banned to slavery. On May 25, 1854 Congress passed the infamous Kansas-Nebraska Act which nullified this provision, created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, and provided for the people of these two territories to decide for themselves whether of not to permit slavery. Feelings were so deep and divided that any further attempts to compromise would be met with little, if any, success. Political and social turmoil swirled everywhere. Kansas was called :Bleeding Kansas" because of the extreme violence and bloodshed through the territory caused by the two governments there, one pro-slavery and the other anti-slavey. The Supreme Court in 1857 handed down the Dread Scott Decision. Dread Scott was a slave who's owner had taken him from salve state Missouri, then to the free state of Illinois, into the Minnesota Territory, which was free under the provisions of the Missouri Compromise, and then finally back to the salve state Missouri. Abolitionists argued that since Scott had lived in a Free State and free territory, he was a free man. Two lower courts had ruled before the Supreme Court, one rule in favor and one rule against. The Supreme Court decided that residing in a Free State and free territory did not make Scott a free man, because Scott (or any slave) was not a U.S. Citizen of Missouri, therefore, he did not have the right to sue in a state or federal courts. The Court went a step further and ruled that the old Missouri Compromise was now unconstitutional because Congress did not have the power to prohibit slavery in the territories. Anti-slavery supporters were stunned. They had just recently formed the new Republican Party and one of its platforms was to keep slavery out of the territories. According to the decision in the Dred Scott case, this basic party principle was unconstitutional. The only way to ban slavery in new areas was by a Constitutional amendment, requiring ratification by three-froths of all states. In 1858, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas ran for Illinois senate and participated in a series of debates, which directly affected the outcome of the 1860 Presidential election. Douglas, a Democrat, was up for re-election and knew that if he won this race, he had a good chance to be President in 1860. Lincoln, a Republican, was not an abolitionist, but believed that slavery was morally wrong and he firmly believed in and supported the Republican Party principle that slavery must not be allowed to extend any further. Douglas, on the other hand, originated the doctrine of "popular sovereignty" and was responsible for the inflammatory Kansas-Nebraska Act. In the corse of the diabetes, Lincoln challenged Douglas to show that popular sovereignty reconciled with the Dread Scott decision. Either way he answered Lincoln, Douglas would loose critical support. If he supported the Dread Scott decision, Southerners would support him but he would loose Northern support. If he stayed with popular sovereignty, Northern support would be his, but Southern support would be lost. His reply to Lincoln, that Territorial legislatures could exclude slavery through refusal to pass laws to support slavery, gave him enough support to be re-elected to the Senate, but it cost him the Democratic nomination for President in 1860. Southerners came to realize that Douglass supported and was devoted to popular sovereignty but did not necessarily to the expansion of slavery. Two years later, Lincoln received the nomination of the Republican Party for president. In 1859 John Brown and his followers seized the federal arsenal at. Harpers Ferry in what is now West Virginia. His purpose was to take the guns stored there, and give them to slaves, and lead them to a widespread rebellion. Brown and his men were captured by Colonel Robert E. Lee of the United States Army and after a trial found him guilty, he was hanged. Browns execution made him into a martyr of the North and widened the gap between pro-slavery and anti-slavery said she. The Final straw came with the election of Lincoln to the Presidency the next year. Due to a split in the Democratic Party, there were four candidates from four political parties. Lincoln received a minority of the popular vote and a majority of electoral votes. The Southern States, one by one, voted to secede from the Union as they had promised they would if Lincoln and the Republicans were victorious.
Describe the institution of African slavery in the Western Hemisphere and analyze its consequences in sub-Saharan Africa
Slavery in the English colonies began in 1619 when the first twenty African slaves arrived in Jamestown, Virginia. From 1619 onward, slavery became a feature in American society, especially in plantations. Free man refused to work for wages on plantations, while land was available for settlement on the frontier. Slavery became profitable in the South but not in the other colonial regions. Slavery began in America in 1619 and legally ended in 1865, after the South's defeat in the Civil War and passage of the Thirteenth Amendment.
Trace and evaluate the gains and losses or organized labor in the 1930's.
The charter of the National Recovery Administration included a statement defending the right of labor unions to exist and negotiate with employers. This was interpreted by thousands as support for unions. But the Supreme Court declared this unconstitutional. There were, however, several major events or actions that were particularly important to the history of organized labor during the decade. The Wagner Act (The National Labor Relations Act) established a legal basis for unions, set collective bargaining as a matter of national policy required by the law, provided for secret ballot elections for choosing unions, and protected union members from employer intimidation and coercion. This law was later amended by the Taft-Hartley Act (1947) and by the Landrum-Griffin Act (1959). The Wagner Act was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1937. The strike was a common tactic of the union. Half a million mill workers walked off the job in the Great Uprising of 1934 and established the precedent that without workers, industry could not move forward. In 1936, the Anti-Strikebreaker Act (the Byrnes Act) made it illegal to transport or aid strikebreakers in interstate or foreign trade. During a 1937 strike of the Steel Workers Organizing Committee against Republic Steel, police attacked a crowd gathered in support of the strike, killing and injuring eighty. This came to be called the Memorial Day Massacre. A number of acts were passed to provide fair compensation and other benefits to workers. The Davis-Bacon Act provided that employers of contractors and subcontractors on public construction should be paid the prevailing wages. Wisconsin created the first unemployment insurance in the country in 1932. The Public Contracts Act (the Walsh-Henley Act) of 1936 established labor standards, including minimum wages, overtime pay, child and convict labor provisions and safety standards on federal contracts. The Fair Labor Standards Act created a minimum wage, stipulated time-and a-half pay for hours over 40 per week. The Social Security Act was passed in 1935. There were also efforts to unionize particular industries. The Supreme Court upheld the Railway Labor Act in 1930, including its prohibition of employer interference or coercion in the choice of bargaining representatives. This was later applied to other labor unions. The Guffey Act stabilized the coal industry and improved labor conditions, though a year later it was declared unconstitutional. General Motors recognized the United Auto Workers and US Steel recognized the Steel Workers Organizing Committee. The Merchant Marine Act created a Federal Maritime Labor Board. One of labor's biggest unions was formed in 1935. The Committee for industrial Organization (CIO) was formed within the AFL over charges of dual unionism or competition. It then became known as the Congress of Industrial Organizations. Federal labor efforts included: (The Anti-Injunction Act that prohibited federal injunctions in most labor disputes, The Wagner-Peyser Act that created the United States Employment Service within the Department of Labor, The Secretary of Labor calling for the first National Labor Legislation Conference to obtain better cooperation between the federal government and the States in defining a national labor legislation program, The U.S. joining the International Labor Organization, The National Apprenticeship Act establishing the Bureau of Apprenticeship with the Department of Labor
Examine and analyze the key people, events, policies and court cases in the field of civil rights from varying perspectives.
The economic boom that followed WWII led to prosperity for many Americans in the 1950's. This prosperity did not extend to poor blacks of the South, and the economic disparities between the races became more pronounced. Efforts began to end discrimination in education, housing and jobs. A civil rights movement began to gain momentum under such leaders as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The phrase "Civil Rights Movement" generally refers to the nation-wide effort made by black people and those who supported them to gain equal rights and eliminate segregation. Discussion of this movement is generally understood in terms of the period of the 1950's and 1960's. Key people in the civil rights movement: Rosa Parks- A black seamstress form Montgomery Alabama who in 1955, refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man. This event is generally understood as the spark that lit the fire of the Civil Rights Movement. She has been generally regarded as the "mother of the civil rights movement." Martin Luther King Jr.- The most prominent member of the Civil Rights movement. King promoted nonviolent methods of opposition to segregation. The Letter from Birmingham Jail explained the purpose of nonviolent action as a way to make people notice injustice. He led the march on Washington in 1963, at which he delivered the "I Have a Dream" speech. He received the 1964 Nobel Prize for Peace. James Meredith- the first African American to enroll at the University of Mississippi. Emmett Till- a teenage boy who was murdered in Mississippi while visiting from Chicago. He was accused of "whistling at a white woman in a store." He was beaten and murdered, and his body was dumped in a river. His two white abductors were apprehended and tried but acquitted by an all-white jury. After the acquittal, they admitted guilt, but remained free because of double jeopardy laws. Ralph Abernathy- successor to Martin Luther King Jr, as head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Malcolm X- a political leader, Black Muslim, and part of the Civil Rights Movement who did not take to a pacifist stance. He maintained the view that African Americans should do everything that was necessary to secure their rights. Stokeley Carmichael- a leader of the Black Power movement who called for independent development of political and social institutions for blacks. He called for black pride and maintenance of black culture. He was head of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Key events of the Civil Rights Movement include: Brown vs. Board of Education, 1954- U.S. Supreme Court case that ended the separate but equal doctrine in public education. The Montgomery Bus Boycott 1955-56 -After refusing to give up her set on the bus in Montgomery, Alabama, Parks was arrested, tried and convicted of disorderly conduct and violating a local ordinance. When word reached the black community a bus boycott was organized to protest the segregation of blacks and whites on public buses. The boycott lasted 361 days, until the ordinance was lifted. Direct action (1955-1965)-nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience, consisting mostly of bus boycotts, sit-ins and freedom rides. Formation of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, 1957. By Martin Luther King Jr. John Duffy, Rev C.D. Steele, Rev. T.J. Jamison. Desegregation of Central High School, Little Rock, Arkansas, 1957 Following the decision of the Supreme Court in Brown vs. Board of Education, the school board voted to integrate the school system. However, Governor Orville Faubus called up the National Guard to prevent nine black students from attending Little Rock's Central High School. President Eisenhower sent Federal troops to enforce the integration of the school. Sit-in's- In 1960, students began to stage "sit—in's" at local lunch counters and stores as a means of protesting the refusal of those businesses to desegregate. The first was in Greensboro, NC. This led to a rash of similar campaigns through the South. Demonstrators began to protest parks, beaches, theaters, museums and libraries. When arrested, the protesters made "jail-no-bail" pledges. Freedom Rides- Activists traveled by bus through the Deep South to desegregate bus terminals (required by federal law). Many busses were firebombed, and protesters were attacked by the KKK and beaten. Key figures in this effort included John Lewis, James Lawson, Diane Nash, Bob Moses, James Bevel, Charles McDew, Bernard Lafayette, Charles Jones, Lonnie King, Julian Bond, Hosea Williams and Stokeley Carmichael. The Birmingham Campaign, 1963-64. A campaign to use sit-ins, kneel-ins in churches, and march to the county building to launch a voter registration campaign. The City obtained an injunction to forbid all such protest. The protesters, including Martin Luther King Jr., believed the injunction was unconstitutional and defied it. They were arrested. While in jail, King wrote famous "Letter from Birmingham Jail." When the campaign began to falter, the "Children's Crusade" called students to leave school and Japan the protests. The events became news when more than 600 students were jailed. Media. coverage resulted in public outrage. The Kennedy administration intervened and formed a committee to end hiring discrimination, arrange for the release of jailed protesters and establish communication between blacks and whites. The KKK bombed the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, killing four girls. The March on Washington, 1963.-A march for jobs and freedom. A combined effort of all major civil rights organizations, the march had the goals of civil rights laws, a federal works program, full and fair employment, decent housing, the right to vote, and adequate integrated education. Here, Martin Luther King Jr., made the famous "I have a Dream" speech. Mississippi Freedom Summer, 1964. Students from various states assisted local activists in registering voters, teaching in Freedom Schools and in forming the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. There of the workers, James Chancey, Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman disappeared -murdered by the KKK. President Johnson sent in the FBI and effected passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act by Congress. Selma to Montgomery marches, 1965. Marches led by Martin Luther King to obtain voting rights for blacks. Marches were met with violent resistance by police. National broadcast of police action provoked a nation-wide response and passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Key policies, legislation and court cases: Brown vs. Board of Education, 1954-U.S. Supreme Court overturned the separate but equal doctrine set forth by Plessy vs. Ferguson. The Court ordered immediate desegregation of public schools. Civil Right Act of 1964-bars discrimination in public accommodations, employment and education. Voting Rights Act of 1965-suspended poll taxes, literacy tests and other tests for voter registration.
Define and assess the impact of Spanish and colonization, including the establishment of the mission system, ranches and Pueblo's and their influences on the development of the agricultural economy of early California.
The first explorers visited California in search of riches and a route to Asia. Hernan Cortez led an expedition north form Acapulco to the Baja peninsula in 1553. He established a colonial outpost on the coast of the Bay of La Paz, but it was abandoned in 1535. The coastal areas of California were first explored by Portuguese explorer Juan Rodriguez Carrillo in 1542 who was working for the Spaniard Cortez. Cabrillo's expedition resulted in the discovery of Alta California. Francis Drake, an Englishmen, was the first to explore the entire coast and claim possession of the territory. The strategy of the Spanish empire in California was to exploit, transform and include the native people of the America in the new settlements called missions. Missions were the key to transplanting the empire and converting the native people to Roman Catholicism. Beginning in 1769, California missions were established along the coast by Spanish Catholic missionaries in a program called the Sacred Expedition. The first mission was at San Diego. By 1823, there were 21 missions. The Franciscan leader of the San Diego mission was Father junipers Serra. After Serra's death, Fermin Francisco de Lauren became the leader of the missionary effort. Missions were generally established with the distance of a day's walk between them. Native people were brought to the mission, given religious instruction and taught various skills. The secondary goal of the missions was to thoroughly transition the native people to life under the Spanish empire. This included language, work habits, social organization and attire. The missions were surrounded by orange groves, grape plantations and cattle ranches. Some of the native people cooperated with the missions and some choose a course of active resistance. Revolts were quickly and violently put down. The missions were intended to be temporary schools that would convert the native people and acculturate them as Spaniards. Once this was accomplished the missions were to be disbanded. When Mexico declared independence from Spain, the missions became possessions of the Mexican Government. By 1832 the were officially abandoned. The impact of the missions on the native people of California is a matter of considerable debate. It is clear that the change in lifestyle, the compression of the people in a small area, and the introduction of new diseases resulted in an exceptionally high death rate. The life of the native people at the missions was harsh. In the 1820's, trappers and settlers from Canada and the United States began to reach California. They brought tremendous change. Russia made a weak attempt to claim part of California. The territory was sparsely settled during this period due to frequent endemic outbreaks of malaria, plague and yellow fever. Spanish colonial officials built four military forest, presidios, along the coast of California. They were built near the best ports so the harbors could be defended against attack. Presidios were built in close proximity to the missions so soldiers could be dispatched quickly in the event of an uprising. To ensure an adequate food supply for the soldiers, civilian towns, called Pueblo's, were founded. Settlers were attracted to these settlements with offers of free land farming, equipment, livestock and annual stipend. In return they had to sell their surplus agricultural products to the presidios. Cattle and horses were introduced in the late eighteenth century. Their numbers doubled every fiver years, giving rise to cattle ranches (ranchos) that became the primary expressions of the lifestyle of Mexican California. Families that owned and operated these ranches were elite. The ranches relied on native labor. This resulted in the creation of a feudal state in California. One where the natives were held on the land and received food and shelter in return for their labor.
Describe the cause of the Mexican-American War and assess its impact on California.
The immediate cause of the Mexican-American War was the annexation of Texas by the United Sates in 1845. In 1836, Texas had revolted from Mexico and established itself as an independent republic. The Republic of Texas was recognized by the U.S. in 1837. Mexico never acknowledged Texan independence. Mexico warned the U.S. that Mexico would consider an attempt to annex Texas to the American Union a declaration of war. The Texas issue was a major consideration in the Presidential election of 1844. Democrats favored annexation: the Whigs opposed it. Democrat James K. Polk was elected President and made the annexation of Texas the first major action of his administration. He ordered General Zachary Taylor to lead troops to the Rio Grande. Taylor was met be a Mexican army counter-offensive. The war began on April 25, 1846. On May 13, Congress finally declared war. Although the annexation of Texas was the direct cause of the Mexican-American War, there were also indirect causes. By the terms of the Missouri Compromise, slavery was banned north of boundary 36 30". Texas won the last potential slave-holding state that could be admitted to the Union. The balance of power in the Senate on the slavery debate was at stake. Let. John C. Fremont (an officer with the Army Corps of Topographical Engineers ) and troop of about sixty armed men arrived in California. All of the men were expert marksmen. Mexican officials ordered the out of California. After initially refusing to leave, Fremont relented and started moving north toward Oregon. He later returned to California and helped instigate what was the Bear Flag Revolt. Fremont joined forces with a group of Anglo-American settlers in Northern California who seized Colonel Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo and other Mexicans in Sonoma on June 14, 1846. The combined force (called the California Battalion) declared California an independent republic. They raised a flag that showed a crude drawing of a bear, a single star and the worlds "California Republic". The flag raising came to be known as the Bear Flag Revolt. The Revolt created tension and bitterness between the Anglo-Americans and the Spanish-speaking Californios. U.S. naval forces landed on the coats of California in July 1846 and proclaimed California part of He United Staes. Mexico responded with military force that included the Californios. Fighting in California needed on January 13, 1847 when Andres Pico surrenders to John C. Fremont. The Mexican-American War officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo on February 2, 1848. The U.S. agreed to pay Mexico $15 million and assume unpaid claims against Mexico. Mexico agreed to transfer to the United States more than 525,000 square miles of land, an area that includes present-day states of California, Nevada and Utah, most of Arizona and New Mexico, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming. Mexico lost half of its land. American people believed they had achieved their Manifest Destiny. A small strip of land north of the Rio Grande remained in Mexican control. It was later purchased by the U.S. in the Gadsden Purchase. Slavery was prohibited in this area. The major results of the Mexican-American War were the addition of more than 525,000 square miles of territory to the United States and reorganization of the political parties along the lines of anti slavery and pro-slavery. Indirect results included an increase in prestige of the United States with the acquisition of an extended coastline on the Pacific. In addition, the settlement of California was facilitated by the discovery of gold. The doctrine of squatter sovereignty or popular sovereignty (the idea that people of a territory should decide whether they would be free or slaves) was introduced and became and underlying cause of the Civil War.
Describe and analyze the effects of industrialization on the American economy and society, including increased immigration, changing working conditions, and the growth of early labor organizations.
The nation witnessed significant industrial growth during and after the Civil War. Steam power generation, sophisticated manufacturing equipment, the ability to move about the country quickly by railroad, and the invention of the steam, steel and oil industries provided a significant impetus to industrial growth an added thousands of new jobs. Between 1870 and 1916, more than 25 million immigrants came into the United States, adding to the phenomenal population growth aided business and industry in two ways. First, demand for products rose with increase in consumers. Second, with increased production and expanding business, more workers were available for new created jobs. The completion of the nation's transcontinental railroad in 1869 continued greatly to the nations economic growth. Railroads could ship raw materials quickly and finished products were sent to all parts of the country. During the last 40 years of the nineteenth century inventors registered almost 700,000 new patents. Inventions in new industrial processes and technology grew at a pace unmatched at any other time in American history. Thomas Edison was the most prolific inventor of all that time. He used systematic and efficient method to invent and improve on technologies in a profitable manner. One result of industrialization was the growth of the labor movement. There were boycotts and strikes. Some became violent when the police or the militia were called in to stop the strikes. Labor and farmer organizations were created and became a political force. Industrialization brought an influx of immigrants from Asia (particularly Chinese and Japanese) and from Europe (Particularly Jews, Irish and Russians). High rates of immigration led to the creation of communities in various cities like "little Russia" or "little Italy." Industrialization led to overwhelming growth of cities as workers moved closer to their places of work. Skilled laborers were organized into a labor union called American Federation of Labor in an effort to gain better working conditions and wages for its members. Farmers joined organizations such as the National Grange and farmers alliances. Because both new farmlands rapidly sprouted on the plains and prairies and the development and availability of new farm machinery and newer and better methods of farming farmers produced more food than people could buy. They to sell their surpluses abroad but faced stiff competition from other nations. Items farmers needed for daily life were expensive. They had to borrow money to carry on farming and were constantly in debt. Higher interest rates, shortage of money, falling from prices, dealing with the "middlemen", and the increasingly high charges by the railroads to haul products to large markets all contributed to the desperate need for relieve the plight of American farmers.
Explain and analyze the historical role of religion, religious diversity and religious discrimination and conflict in American life.
The second set of English settlers who built a colony in North America are commonly known as the Pilgrims. They fled religious persecution in their homeland. As more people settled on the East Coast of what is now America, they bought more religions. Puritans (the largest group of Protestants to immigrate to America) targeted people who didn't share their strict religious views or expulsion from the community. Two examples of such discrimination involved Anne Hutchison and Roger Williams. Both were dynamic preachers who were forced to leave Massachusetts for having views different than the Puritan majority (even though they were Puritan's themselves). Williams founded the neighboring community of Rhode Island and Hutchinson followed him there before settling in New York. Another religion to suffer at the hands of Puritans was the Society of Friends, or the Quakers. In 1660 Massachusetts Puritans hanged Quaker leader Mary Dyer for refusing to convert to Puritanism. The Pennsylvania colony was later founded, among other things as a refuge for Quakers. Maryland was founded in large part as a colony for Catholics, supporters of Mary Stuart, the embattled queen for whom the colony was named. The language of the colony's charter contained absolutely no reference to religion, a significant departure for the charter language of other colonies. The Church of England, or Anglicanism, was founded by Henry VIII and preferred by his daughter Elizabeth. It became an established religion in Virginia but the Virginia Anglicans wanted all Virginians to be Anglicans and went out of their way to convince new settlers to embrace the religion. The First Great Awakening (1730-1740s) was a time of intense religious revival in America. It made religion a main part of everyday lives. Dynamic sermons by George Whitefield, Cotton Mather and Jonathan Edwards made settlers in America think about their souls and how to better their chances of going to heaven. The zealots were the Deists. They believed in the general idea of a supreme being but didn't think he took any part in human lives. Famous Deists included George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Government documents of the newly formed United States sanction no religion. Rather, the first Amendment guarantees freedom for religion and freedom from religion. This was certainly a departure from the colonial charters that demanded that their citizens believe and behave in certain way. Baptists, were on the wrong end of religious arguments in many states. Violence often flailed up as the result of religious disagreements. Age-old debates between Catholics and Protestants continued.
Analyze Articles I,II and III as they relate to the legislative executive and judicial branches of government.
The three branches of government, Executive, Legislative and Judicial, that make up the federal government each have specific powers. Legislative- Article I of the Constitution establishes the legislative, or law- making, branch of government called Congress. Congress is bicameral legislature, meaning that it is made up of two houses, the House of Representatives and the Senate. Voters in each state elect the members who serve in each chamber of Congress. The legislative branch is responsible for making laws, raising and printing money, regulating trade, establishing the postal service and federal courts, approving the president's appointments, declaring war and supporting the armed forces. Congress also has the power to amend (change) the Constitution. The House of Representatives can impeach (bring charges against) the President or other federal officials. The Senate tries cases of impeachment. Executive-Article II of the Constitution creates the Executive branch of the government, which is headed by the president. The President can recommend (through Congress is under no obligation to consider) new laws and can veto bills passed by the legislative branch. As the head of state, the president is responsible for executing (carrying out) the laws of the country and the treaties and declarations of war passed by the Legislative branch. The President appoints federal judges (who must be confirmed by the Senate) and is commander-in-chief of the military. Other members of the Executive branch include the elected Vice-President, and various cabinet members the president might appoint. Ambassadors, presidential advisors, and civil servants must be confirmed by the Senate. Judicial-Article III of the Constitution establishes the judicial branch of government. It creates the Supreme Court and provides the Congress may create lower (inferior) federal courts as needed. The Supreme Court's function is to interpret the law. It has the power to declare acts of Congress unconstitutional. Most cases heard before the Supreme Court are brought to it on appeal but the Court has original jurisdiction (hearing a case for the first time) in certain types of cases, such as between states. Powers delegated to the federal government: -To tax -To borrow and coin money -To establish postal service -To grant patients and copyrights -To regulate interstate and foreign commerce -To establish courts -To declare war -To raise and support the armed forces -To govern territories -To define and punish felonies and piracy on the high seas -To fix standards of weights and measures -To conduct foreign affairs Powers reserved to the states: -To regulate interstate trade -To establish local governments -To protect the general welfare -To protect life and property -To ratify amendments -To conduct elections -To make state and local laws Concurrent powers of the federal government and states -Both Congress and the states may tax -Both may borrow money -Both may charter banks and corporations -Both may establish courts -Both may make and enforce laws -Both may take property for public purposes -Both may spend money to provide for the public welfare Implied powers of the federal government -To establish banks or other corporations, implied from delegated powers to tax, borrow and regulate commerce -To spend money for roads, schools, health, insurance, etc. implied from powers to establish post roads, to tax to provide for general welfare and defense and to regulate commerce. -To create military academies, implied from powers to raise and support an armed force -To locate and generate sources of power and sell surplus, implied from powers to dispose of government property, commerce and war powers -To assist and regulate and regulate, implied from power to tax and spend for general welfare and regulate commerce
Analyze the causes for the War for Independence, the conduct of the war, and its impact on Americans.
The war for independence occurred due to a number of changes, the two most important ones being economic and political. By the end of the French and Indian War in 1763. Britain's American colonies were 13 of thirty-three around the world. Britain strived for a strong economy and favorable balance of trade. In order to accomplish this, Britain needed to have a wealth, self-sufficiency and a powerful army and navy. The English colonies, with only a few exceptions, were considered commercial ventures founded to make a profit for the crown, company who financiers. The colonies provided raw materials for the industries in the Mother Country and were a market for finished products. This mercantilism assisted England in becoming economically and militarily powerful. Great Britain's strong merchant fleet provided training for the Royal Navy and bases of operation. Trade was the major reason for British encouragement and support of colonization, especially in North America. Between 1607 and 1763, the British Parliament enacted different laws to assist the government in maintaining a positive trade balance. One series of laws required that most of the manufacturing be done exclusively in England. Another prohibited exporting any wool or woolen cloths from the colonies, and prohibited the manufacture of beaver hats or iron products. This forced money to flow from the colonies back to the mother country. The Navigation Acts of 1651 put restrictions on shipping and trade within the British Empire by requiring that trade was allowed only on British ships. This increased the strength of the British merchant fleet and greatly benefited the American colonists. Since they were British citizens, they could have their own vessels and build and operate the as well. By the end of the war in 1763, the shipyards in the colonies wee building one-third of the merchant ships under the British flag. The Navigation Act of 1660 restricted the shipment and sale of colonial products to England only. In 1663, another Navigation Act stipulated that the colonies had to buy manufactured products only from England and that any European goods going to the colonies had to go to England first. These acts were protection from enemy ships and pirates and from competition from European rivals. The New England and Middle Atlantic colonies at first felt threatened by these laws but soon found new markets for goods and began their own triangular trade. Colonial vessels started the first part of the triangle by sailing to Africa, loaded with kegs of rum from colonial distilleries. On Africa's West Coast, the rum was traded for either gold or slaves. The second part of the triangle was from Africa to the West Indies we're slaves were traded for molasses, sugar or money. The third part of the triangle was home, bringing sugar or molasses (to make rum), gold, silver. The major concern of the British government was that the trade violated the 1733 Molasses Act. Planters had wanted the colonists to buy all of their molasses in the British West Indies but these islands could give the traders only about one eighth of the amount of molasses needed for distilling the rum. The colonists were forced to buy the rest from the French, Dutch and Spanish islands. Buying from outside colonies Americans avoided the high taxes placed on British molasses. I Britain had enforced the Molasses Act, economic chaos and ruin would have occurred. For this act and all other mercantile laws, the government followed the policy of "salutary neglect" deliberately failing to enforce the laws. In 1763, after the war, Britain needed money to pay their war debt, the defense of the empire and the governing of thirty-three colonies scattered around the globe. It was decided to adopt a new colonial policy and pass law as to raised revenue. The earlier laws passed had been for the purposes of regulating production and trade, which generally put money into colonial pockets. These new laws would take money out of their pockets-unjustly and illegally in colonial eyes. Colonial governments differed, depending on the type of colony. Each colony had a lower legislative assembly that was elected and a higher council and over more that were elected or appointed in different ways, depending on how colony was organized. In most colonies, the councils and governors were appointed by the King of England or by British property owners. In corporate colonies, the colonies, the council and governors were elected by colonial property owners who maintained close connections with England. Colonies were allowed to retaliate much of their daily lives through representation in the colonial assemblies but Britain maintained control of international affairs and international trade by controlling upper levels of colonial government. The first glimmers of dissent from the colonies came during the French and Indian War when colonial militias were raised to fight the French in America. Conflict arose with Britain over who should control these militias. The colonials wanted the assemblies to have control. Shortly after the start of the war in 1754, the French and their Native allies defeated Major George Washington and his militia at Fort Necessity. This left the entire northern frontier of the colonies vulnerable and open to attack. In the wake of this, Benjamin Franklin proposed to the thirteen colonies that they unite permanently to better defend themselves. Delegates from seven of the thirteen colonies met at Albany, New York along with representatives from the Iroquois Confederation and British officials. Franklin's proposal, known as the Albany Plan of Union, was rejected by the colonists, among with a similar proposal from the British. Delegates simply did not want each of the colonies to lose its rights to act independently. Before 1763, except for trade and the supply of raw materials, the colonies had mostly been left to themselves. England looked on them merely as part of an economic or commercial empire. Little consideration was given to how they were to conduct their daily affairs, so the colonists became very independent, self-reliant, and skillful at handling those daily affairs. This, in turn, gave rise to leadership, initiate, achievement and vast experience. In fact, there was a far greater degree of independence and self-government in America than could be found in Britain or the major countries on the Continent or any other colony anywhere. In America, representatives to the colonial legislatures were elected from the districts in which they lived. Only qualified legislatures were property-owing males who could vote. Each colony had a royal governor appointed by the king, representing his interests in the colonies. Nevertheless, the colonial legislative assemblies controlled the purse strings by having the power to vote on all issues involving money to be spent by the colonial governments. The colonists' protest of "No taxation without representation" was meaningless to the English. The colonists were incensed at the English attitude and considered their colonial legislative assemblies equal to Parliament, a position which was totally unacceptable to the English. In 1763, Parliament decided to garrison a standing army in North America to reinforce British control. In 1765, the Quartering Act was passed requiring the colonists to provide supplies and living quarters for British troops. In addition efforts by the British were made to keep the peace by establishing good relations. The Declaratory Act, attached to the repeal, plainly stated that Parliament still had the right to make all laws for the colonies. Other acts leading up to armed conflict included the Townshend Acts passed in 1767 taxing lead, paint, paper and tea brought into the colonies. This, too, increased anger and tension. In response Britain sent troops to New York and Boston. In Boston, mob violence brought about the deaths of five people and wounded eight in the Boston Massacre. A growing patriot movement gained foothold and the issue of independence arose in common thought. When Britain proposed that the East India Company be allowed to import tea to the colonies without customs duty, the colonists were faced with a dilemma. They could purchase the tea at a much lower price than the smuggled Dutch tea they had been drinking, however tea was still subject to the Townshend Act, and to purchase it would be a acceptance of the act. The Boston Tea Party was the result, where a group of colonists seized a shipment of British tea in Boston Harbor and dumped it into the sea. Britain responded with a series of even more restrictive acts, driving the colonies to come together in the First Continental Congress to make a unfixed demand that Britain remove these Intolerable Acts. In 1774, the passage of the Quebec Act extended the limits of that Canadian colony's boundary southward to include territory located north of the Ohio River. Bostons port was closed; the royal governor of the colony of Massachusetts was given increased power an the colonists were compelled to the house to feed British soldiers. The propaganda activities of the patriot organizations Sons of Liberty and Committees of Correspondence kept the opposition and resistance before everyone's eyes. Delegates from twelve colonies met in Philadelphia on September 5, 1774, in the First Continental Congress. They opposed acts of lawlessness and wanted some form of peaceful settlement with Britain. The Continental congress affirmed America's loyalty to the Mother Country an Parliaments power over colonial foreign affairs. They insisted on repeal of the Intolerable Acts and demanded an end to all trade with Britain until the repeal took effect. The reply from King George III, was an insistence of colonial submission to British rule. Britain stood firm and sought to dissolve the colonial assemblies that came forth in opposition of British policies. When British soldiers in America were ordered to break up the illegal meeting of Massachusetts' assembly outside Boston, they were met with armed resistance at Lexington and Concord in April 1775, sparking the start of the American War for Independence. The second continental Congress met a month later in Philadelphia to conduct the business of war and government. Many of the delegates recommended a Declaration of Independence from Britain. The group established an army and commissioned George Washington as a commander. British forces attacked patriot strongholds at Breed's Hill and Bunker Hill near Boston. King George III declared the American colonies to be in a state of rebellion. The colonial army was small in compared to the British army, and lacked formal military training, the colonists had learned a new method of warfare from the Indians. Many battles were fought in traditional style of two firing lines facing off, but the colonists had advantage of guerrilla warfare: fighting from behind trees and other defenses, and fighting on the run. In 1176, colonial representatives met for the Second Continental Congress. On July 3, 1776, British General Howe arrived in New York harbor with 10,000 troops to prepare for an attack on the city. The next day, the Declaration of Independence was drafted and declared. The first American victory of the Revolutionary War followed a surprise attack on British and Hessian troops under the command of George Washington at Trenton, New Jersey. Washington and his men crossed the icy Delaware River on Christmas Day, 1776, and attacked the next day, completely surprising the British, The victory helped restore American morale. Washington labored against tremendous odds to wage a victorious war. American troops spent the winter of 1777-1778 at Valley Forge. The encampment became a symbol of the endurance and adversity of the war. The Turing point in Americas favor occurred in 1777 with the American victory at Saratoga. The victory led French to align with the American cause. With the aid of Admiral deGrasse and French warships blocking the entrance to Chesapeake Bay, British General Cornwallis was trapped in Yorktown, Virginia. Cornwallis surrendered in 1781 and the war was over . The Treaty of Paris of 1783 officially ended the war.
Describe the major military and political turning points of the Civil War.
The war strategies for both sides were relatively simple The South planned a defensive war, wearing down the North until it agreed to peace on Southern terms. The exception was to gain control of Washington D.C., go north through the Shenandoah Valley into Maryland and Pennsylvania in order to drive a wedge between the northeast and mid-west. This would interrupt the lines of communication and end the war quickly. The North had three basic strategies (Blockade the confederate coastline in order to cripple the south, Size control of the Mississippi River and interior railroad lines to split the Confederacy in two, Size the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, then derived southward to join up with Union forces eastward from the Mississippi Valley. The South won decisively until the Battle of Gettysburg. July 1-3, 1863. Prior to Gettysburg's Lincolns commanders, McDowell and McCellan, were less than effective and Burnside and Hooker had not been what was needed. General Lee, on the other hand, had many able officers such as Jackson and Stuart. Jackson died at Chancellorsville and was replaced by Longstreet. Lee decided to invade the North and depended on J.E.B. Stuart and his cavalry to keep him informed of the location of Union troops and their strengths. Four things worked against Lee at Gettysburg (1. The Union troops gained the best positions and the best ground first, making it easier to make stands. 2. Lee's move into Northern Territory put him and his army a long way from food and supply lines. they were more or less on their own. 3. Lee thought that his Army of Northern Virginia was invincible and could fight and win under any conditions. 4. Stuart and his men did not arrive at Gettysburg until the end of the second day of fighting. They detoured around Union soldiers and that delayed the information Lee needed). Consequently, Lee made that mistake of ignoring Longstreet. Lee refused to regroup back into Southern territory to the supply lines. Lee felt that regrouping was retreating and almost an admission of defeat. It was not the intention of either side to fight at Gettysburg but the battle began when a Confederate brigade stumbled onto a unit of Union cavalry while looking for shoes. On the third day Lee launched the final attempt to break Union lines. General George Pickett sent his division of three brigades against Union troops on Cemetery Ridge under command of General Winefield Scott Hancock. Union lines held and the Army of Northern Virginia made their way back to Virginia. Lincoln's commander George Meade successfully turned back a Confederate charge but failed to pursue Lee and the Confederates. This battle was the turning point for the North because after the battle Lee never again had the troop strength to launch a major offensive. The day after Gettysburg, on July 4, Vicksburg, Mississippi surrendered to the Union General Ulysses Grant. The Union had severed the western Confederacy from the eastern part. In September 1863, the Confederacy won its last important victory at Chickamauga. In November, the Union victory at Chattanooga made it possible for Union troops to go into Alabama and Georgia that split the eastern Confederacy in two. Lincoln gave Grant command of all Northern armies in March of 1864. Grant led his armies into battles in Virginia while Sheridan and his cavalry did as much damage as possible. In a skirmish at Yellow Tavern, Virginia, Sheridan's and Stuart's forces met Stuart. The Union won the Battle of Mobile Bay. In May 1864, William Tecumseh Sherman began his march to successfully demolish Atlanta, and then to Savanah, He and his troops turned northward through the Carolinas to meet Grant in Virginia. On April 9, 1865, Lee formally surrender to Grant at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia.
Trace the causes, controversies and consequences of the Vietnam War, its effects on American combatants and civilians, and its continued impact on American society.
U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War from 1957 to 1973 was the second of three phases in Vietnam's modern history. Since 1861 Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia had been part of the French colony of Indochina. Since 1861 Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia had been part of the French colony of Indochina. The first phase of Vietnam's modern history began in 1946 when the Vietnamese fought French troops for control of the country. The French-Indochina War (1946-1954) involved France, which had ruled Vietnam as its colony (French Indochina), and the newly independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam under Ho Chi Minh. On May 7, 1954, at a French military base known as Dien Bien Phu, Vietnamese troops emerged victorious after a 56-day siege. Dien Bien Phu lead directly to the end of France's involvement in Indochina. The defeated French left and the country was divided into communist North and capitalism South. The United States' aid and influence continued as part of the U.S. Cold War foreign policy to help any nation threatened by Communism. The second phase involved a much more direct U.S. commitment. The Communist North Vietnamese considered the war one of national liberation, a struggle to avoid continual dominance of a foreign power. Participants were the United States of America, Australia, New Zealand, South and North Vietnam, South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines. With active U.S. involvement from 1957 to 1973, it was the longest war participated in by the U.S. to that date. The Vietnam War divided the Democratic Party, and in 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago turned out to be a highly contentious and bitterly fought over event. Outside the convention thousands had gathered to protest the Vietnam War. Vice President Hubert H Humphrey became the party's nominee, but led a divided party. In Vietnam, the forces of the Vietnam Cong and the North Vietnamese's Army (NVA) launched a coordinated and devastating offensive on the eve of Tet (the Lunar New Year), 1968. The Tet Offensive disproved the Johnson Administration officials who claimed that the Vietnamese's Communists were no longer a viable military force. Although the Tet Offensive was a tactical was a tactical defeat for the Vietnam Cong, it was a strategic defeat for the Americans. America lost the political will to continue in a seemingly endless conflict. A cease-fire was arranged five years later in January 1973 and by 1975 U.S. troops left for good. The third and final phase consisted of fighting between the North and South Vietnamese but ended April 30, 1975, with the surrender of South Vietnam. The entire country was united under Communist rule. Poverty remained a serious Problem in the inner cities resulting in riots and soaring crime rates. The escalation of the war in Vietnam and the social conflict and upheaval of support vs. opposition to U.S. involvement led to anti war demonstrations, escalation of drug abuse, weakening of the family unit, homelessness, poverty, mental illness along with increased social, mental and physical problems experienced by the Vietnam veterans returning to families marriages and a country torn apart. Returning veterans faced not only readjustment to civilian life but also bitterness, anger, rejection, and no heroes welcome. Many suffered severe physical injuries and deep psychological problems. The war set a precedent where both Congress and the American people actively challenged U.S. military and foreign policy
Evaluate the political, economic, social and geographic consequences of World War I in terms of American foreign policy and the war's impact on the American home front.
U.S. involvement in the WW I did not occur late in the war. When the war began in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson declared a policy of neutrality. Wilson was re-elected to a second term based the slogan "He kept us out of war". The development of the German unterseeboat (submarine) or U-boat allowed them to efficiently attack merchant ships that supplied Germany's enemies. German submarines began unlimited warfare against American merchant shipping. A German U-boat sank the British passenger liner RMS Lusitania, more than 1,000 civilians and more than 100 Americans were killed. The attack on the Lusitania became a rallying point for those advocating for those advocating U.S. involvement in the European conflict. Great Britain intercepted and decoded a secret message from Germany to Mexico that urged Mexico to go to war against the U.S. The publishing of this information, known as the Zimmerman Note, also got with continued German destruction of American ships resulted in the eventual entry of the U.S. into the conflict (Tripoli, Cuba, Philippines, etc.). The U.S. made a massive defense mobilization, with America's economy directed to the war effort. In December 1917, the government assumed control of all of the railroads in the nation and consolidated them into a single system with regional directions. The goal of this action was to increase efficiency and enable and enable the rail system to meet the needs of both commerce and military transportation. This was done with the understanding that private ownership would be restored after the war. The restoration occurred in 1920. In 1918, telegraphy, telephone and cable services were also taken over by the federal government; they were returned to original management and ownership in 1919. The government sold Liberty Bonds to the people to obtain money to fight the war. More than one-fifth of Americans bought bonds. After the war Victory Bonds were sold, and for the first time millions of people began to save money. The war effort required required massive production of weapons, ammunition, radios and other equipment. During wartime work hours were shortened, wages, were increased and labor conditions improved. But when the war ended, industrial owners and managers attempted a return to pre-war conditions, the workers revolted. These conditions contributed to the Red Scare and the establishment of new labor laws. The United States war effort included more than four million who served in the military in some capacity, two million who served overseas. 53,402 Americans were killed in battle and an additional 204,002 were wounded. While there were several peace and non-intervention movements most Americans energetically supported the war effort. President Wilson proposed a program called the Fourteen Points as a method of bringing the war to an end with an equitable peace settlement. There were five points setting out general ideals, eight pertained to resolution of territorial and political problems and the fourteenth point established an organization of nations to keep world peace. When Germany agreed to an armistice, it assumed the peace settlement would be drawn up on the basis of these Fourteen Points, however the peace conference in Paris in 1919 ignored these points and Wilson had to be content with the establishment of the League of Nations. Italy, France and Great Britain, suffered and sacrificed far more in the war than America and wanted retribution. The treaty was harsh toward the Central Powers. It took away arms and territories and required reparations payments. Germany was punished more than the others and was forced to assume the responsibility for war. President Wilson failed to get the U.S. Senate to approve the Treaty of Versailles. The approval of the treaty would have made the U.S. a member of the League of Nations but Americans had just come off a bloody war to ensure that democracy would exist through the world. Americans did not want to accept and responsibility that resulted form its new position of power and were afraid that membership in the League of Nations would embroil the U.S. in future disputes in Europe.
Describe and assess the human toll of the Great Depression, including the impact of natural disasters and agricultural practices on the migration from rural Southern and Eastern regions to urban and Western areas.
Unemployment reached 25% nationwide. People lost their homes and created makeshift domiciles of cardboard, scraps of wood and tents. These communities were called Hoovervilles. Families stood in bread lines, rural workers left the dust bowl of the plains to search for work in California, and banks failed. More than 100,000 businesses failed between 1929 and 1932. The despair that swept the nation left an incredible scar on all who endured the Depression. Everyone who lived through the Great Depression was permanently affected in some way. Many never trusted banks again. Many people of later generation hoarded cash so they would not risk loosing everything again. Some permanently rejected the use of credit. In several parts of the country, economic disaster was exacerbated by natural disaster. The Florida Keys were hit by the "Labor Day Hurricane" in 1935. The Great Hurricane of 1938 struck Long Island, caused more than 600 fatalities, resulting in millions of dollars of damage to the coast of New York City to Boston. By far the worst disaster of the decade came to be known as the Dust Bowl. Due to prolonged drought in the Great Plains and a reliance on unsustainable farming techniques, a series of devastating dust storms occurred in the 1930s. These storms resulted in destruction, economic ruin and dramatic ecological change. Plowing the plains for agriculture had removed the grass and exposed the soil. When the drought occurred, the soil dried out and became dust. Wind blew away the dust. Between 1934 and 1939 winds blew the soil to the east, all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. The dust storms, called "black blizzards," created huge clouds of dust that were visible as far as Chicago. Topsoil was stripped from millions of acres. Crops were ruined, the land was destroyed, and people lost and abandoned homes and farms. In Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Kansas and Colorado more than half a million people were homeless. Fifteen percent of Oklahoma's population left. Because so many of the migrants were from Oklahoma, the migrants came to be called Okies no matter where they came from. Estimates of the number of people displaced by this disaster range from 300,000 to 2.5 million.
Compare and contrast the role of the individual in democratic and authoritarian societies.
A person who lives in a democratic society has rights guaranteed to him or her by the government. Some of the important right are: -The right to speak out in public -The right to pursue any religion -The right for a group of people to gather in public for any reason that doesn't fall under a national security cloud -The right not to have soldiers stationed in your home -The right not to be forced to testify against yourself in a court of law -The right to a speedy and public trial by a jury of your peers -The right to not suffer from cruel and unusual punishment -And the right to avoid unreasonable search and seizure of your person, your house, and your vehicle Citizens of authoritarian countries have few, if any, of these rights and must watch his/her worlds and actions to avoid the appearance off disobeying the law. Citizens in both types of society can serve in government. They can run for office and can be voted in by their peers. One large difference exists. In an authoritarian society, the members of government will most likely be of the same political party. China is an example of an authoritarian society. Citizens in democratic societies can vote for whomever they want can run for any office they choose. Democratic countries have more meetings, fund-raisers and even conventions without fear of reprisals from Government
What were the conditions under which the Confederate States were admitted back into the Union?
A) Applying for individual presidential pardons B) Accepting the Emancipation Declaration C) Freeing all their slaves and giving them equal rights D*) Ratifying the 14th Amendment
In what ways did the Cold War impact the scientific achievements of the two competing zones?
A) It hurt the research on peaceful means of progress by concentrating much energy on the development of aggressive technologies B*) It increased the pressure for innovation and invention on both sides C) It hindered the advancements by rerouting much of the resources away from science and research D) It improved collaboration and communication between the scientific communities on both sides
The Great Awakening was among the intellectual trends behind the American Revolutionary because:
A) It instilled Enlightenment ideals in the American society B) It promoted the rule of the people C*) It allowed religious plurality and diversity D) It highlighted the religious foundations of the colonies
What was the most revolutionary medium changing the face of early 20th century American society?
A) The increased popularization of Vaudeville B) The rise of the film industry C*) The popularization of the radio D) The invention of television
What was the outcome of the Miner's Strike of 1902?
A) The strike was broken by the Federal troops B) The mine owners were imprisoned and forced to agree to a settlement C) The miners were imprisoned and forced to agree to a settlement D*) The miner's demands were met by the owners with the help of the president
The post-Civil War years were a time of low public morality, a time of greed, graft and dishonesty. Which one of the reasons listed would not be accurate?
A) The war itself because of the money and materials needed to carry on the war B) The very rapid growth of industry and big business after the War C*) The personal example set by President Grant D) Unscrupulous heads of large impersonal corporations
In 1776, the Democrat-Republicans represented which segment of the colonial population?
A) Wealthy northern merchants B*) Southern tobacco farmers C) Puritans D) Those loyal to the Constitution
Explain the process by which the Constitution is amended.
An amendment is a change or addition to the United States Constitution. Amending the United States Constitution is difficult. Two-thirds of each house of Congress must approved proposed amendments. If the amendment is proposed by state legislatures, than two-thirds of the state legislatures must call a convention to propose the amendment. Constitutional amendments must be ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures. To date there are only twenty-seven amendments to the Constitution. An amendment may be used to cancel out a previous one. For example, the 18th Amendment (1919) created Prohibition but the 21st Amendment (1933) canceled Prohibition.
Describe and analyze the controversies that have resulted over the changing interpretations of civil right's, including, but not limited to, those in Plessy v Ferguson; Brown V Board of Education; Miranda v Arizona; Roe v Wade; Regents of the University of California v Bakke; Adarand Constructors, Inc v Pena; United States v Virginia (VMI) and Bush v Palm Beach County Canvasing Board.
In Dred Scott v Sanford the Supreme Court held to decide whether a slave taken to a free state returned to a slave state was a free person. The court ruled that Scott had no right to sue because he was not a citizen. This ensured that Scott remained a slave. The Civil Rights Cases involved five separate cases where private individuals or companies were sued for violations of equal protection. The Supreme Court ruled that the newly minted Fourteenth Amendment and its equal protection clause didn't apply to private individuals or their companies. This 1883 ruling opened the floodgates to Jim Crow laws and the enshrinement of segregation into American life. Little more than a decade later, the Court expanded its denial of the equal protection clause in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) when it decided "separate but equal" railway cars were legal. In Brown v Board of Education the Supreme Court's unanimous decision overturned the Plessy separate but equal doctrine in the realm of education. The Heart of Atlanta case involved interstate travel. It was a landmark case and the court's decision held that Congress could, pursuant to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Commerce Clause of the U.S Constitution, force businesses to comply with Civil Rights legislation. In Miranda v Arizona (1966) the Supreme Court ruled that arresting officers were required to provide an arrested person with information about their rights such as the right to an attorney, the right to avoid self-incrimination and the right to a trial by jury. Roe v Wade was a landmark right to privacy case that was decided in 1973. The Supreme Court ruled the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process clause extended to a woman's right to have an abortion. The court balanced that right against the state's interest in protecting health and the potential human life. The court limited the state's regulation of abortions to the third trimester of a woman's pregnancy. The phrase race-neutral has been used by the Supreme Court in decisions about affirmative action programs, which attempted to grant preferences to African-Americans. In Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978) the Supreme Court invalidated the denial of a white student from law school because the school had to meet its mandated quota of minority applicants. In the 1995 case Adarand Constructors, Inc v. Pena, the Court mandated that race neutrality be examined in federal agencies under strict scrutiny; in effect, the Court validated the idea of race neutrality and ended the raft of affirmative action programs in the federal government's departments and agencies. United States v Virginia (VMI) was a 1996 case that struck down the Virginia Military Institute policy against admission of females. The high court ruled that the all-male admission policy violated the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. In Bush v Palm Beach County Canvassing Board (2000), presidential candidate George W. Bush sued to invalidate the recount that had begun in the wake of Bush's narrow victory over Al Gore in Florida. Bush claimed, among other things, that his Fifth Amendment due process rights were violated by the various court orders since Election Day. The Court stopped all recounts and declared Bush the winner of the 2000 presidential election. This was not a classical civil rights case, per se, but it was one that involved the sort of protections that had been argued under previous Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment cases.
Explain how civil society provides opportunities for individuals to promote private or public interests.
In a civil society people are free to pursue business interests, both private and public. Private activities are less regulated than public ones, but public activities are not discouraged, as long as they don't violate or invade other people's rights. In America a person has the rights to pursue any kind of legal business strategy he/she wants. The age of internet advertising and marketing has created opportunities for new and different businesses. State and federal governments encourage businesses to succeed and provide loans and grants to start-ups. Americans are also encouraged to join non-business organizations, both public and private. American are also encouraged to join non-business organizations, both public and private. America is a land full of groups: religious, political, social and economic. All these groups meet in public and in private and the people who belong to these groups are free to associate with any groups they choose, again as long as the practices of those groups are not illegal or harmful to other people. Religious participation finds extraordinary protection under the law. The First Amendment guarantees every American the right to worship as he or she sees fit, without fear of reprisal by the government. Religious organizations do not, for the most part receive funding from governments to support their efforts. The First Amendment denies the government the right to establish religion, meaning that it can favor no one religion over another. Entities such as parochial schools, which provide both education and religious training, routinely have to seek funding in places other than the federal or state government. Social groups are encouraged. The First Amendment gives American people the right to peaceful assembly. This describes the meetings of most social organizations in America, from clubs to interest groups to veterans organizations. One public interest that many people pursue is politics. Theoretically, anyone who is a U.S. citizen can get on a ballot somewhere and run for something. Participation in politics is encouraged in America, and more and more people are getting involved at the local, state and federal levels.
Analyze problems of the new democracies in the 19th and 20th centuries and their internal struggles.
Most countries in South America and the Caribbean region gained their independence in the nineteenth century. In some, cases, countries replaced one colonial governor with another authoritarian figure. To varying degrees, theses countries suffered internal strife, most notably in the twentieth century as the Cold War and horrendous debt threatened to engulf countries. Two of the most notable conversions to democracy in the twentieth century were India and Japan. India, one of the most ancient societies, was recently a colony of Great Britain. Thanks largely to the efforts of Mohandas Gandhi. And other activists, India achieved its independence by the mid-twentieth century. The country became a democracy, with a parliamentary system. The change in political theory, however, didn't mean an end to internal strife. At the heart of the country's political identity is a religious dichotomy- the struggle between Muslims and Hindus. This religious conflict has continued for centuries and has not been diminished by the fact that Indian people elect their own leaders. Shortly after India gained independence the country was split into Muslim Pakistan and Hindu. In the seventy years since independence India and Pakistan have fought several wars. There is a continued conflict over the Kashmir region, an area that was known as India at various times under various masters, including Great Britain, but was partitioned when it was freed. Another main source of internal strife in India is an economic one. India is the world's second most populous country, and a huge number of its people have little to no resources of their own. Japan by contrast, has suffered much less religious and political strife since becoming a democracy after its defeat in World War II. The occupying Americans army instituted a new constitution, which provided for a representative government, and also lead efforts to rebuild the country. The result has been an economic powerhouse that is now one of the world's strongest and most wide-ranging economies. Japan has had its periods of economic weakness, of course, but has bounced back each time stronger than ever. The end of World War II was the beginning of the end of African colonization. In many cases, African countries embraced the idea of representative government, with mixed results. Political divisions on the Korean Peninsula and Southeast Asia have created intense internal strife of a mostly economic and political nature North Korea, an authoritarian state, has lived in relative isolation from the rest of the world and has suffered economically from that isolation. South Korea became a democracy and has proposed economically, although the specter of war with North Korea has loomed large for more than 50 years. The two countries did go to war in 1950. The resulting three-year conflict involved forces from a handful of other countries, most notably China and the United States, and resulted in the status quo geography. The most notable facet of life in either Korean country is the idea that another war could begin tomorrow. An intensely patrolled area known as the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) serves as the boarder between the two countries. Southeast Asia has also seen its share of strife since the 1950's, most notably in Vietnam, which was once two countries. It is similar to Korea because the North is Communist and the South is an American ally. Those two countries began to fight not long after the end of WWII, and the United Nations became involved. The war consumed the two countries and most of their neighbors for many years resulting in horrible economic and social conditions through the region for many years afterward. North Vietnam ended up winning the war, absorbing all of South Vietnam into one country. The country, which continues under an authoritarian government, is becoming more economically important.
Analyze domestic events that resulted in, or contributed to, the Red Scare, Marcus Garvey's Back to Africa movement, the Ku Klux Klan, the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the Anti-Defamation League.
The 1920s was a period of relative prosperity, under the leadership of Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge. Harding promised a return to "normalcy" in the aftermath of World War I and the radical reactions of labor. During most of the decade, the output of industry boomed and the automobile industry put almost 27 million cars on the road. Per capita income rose for almost everyone except farmers. The decade was also characterized by profound change. Jazz became the popular musical form. Professional boxing, radio and silent movies provided new entertainment for the public. The Charleston (dance) and the flapper look were popular. The National Origins Act of 1924 restricted European immigration for the first time in history. In Tennessee, the Monkey Trial convicted John Scopes for teaching evolution in science classes. The Bolshevik Revolution in Russia was also on the minds of the people. Part of the return to "normalcy" promised by Harding, was to restore order in the aftermath of a wave of radicalism. During the war, patriotism prevailed. This strong patriotism provided fertile ground for the Red Scare to grow. During the war, about nine million people in the nation were employed in war-related industries. An additional four million served in the military. When the war ended most of these people were without jobs and the war industries were without work. There was a small depression in 1920-21, which gave rise to worker unrest. Two groups were highly visible at the time: the International Workers of the Word (IWW) and the Socialist Party, led by Eugene Debs. Because both groups had opposed the war, the intensely patriotic population viewed them as unpatriotic and dangerous. A huge wave of labor strikes sought a return to war-time working conditions when the work day was shorter, wages were higher and conditions better. Many of these labor strikes turned violent. The majority of the population viewed the early strikes as the work of radicals who were labeled as "reds" (communists). As the news spread and other strikes occurred, the Red Scare swept the country. Americans feared a Bolshevik-type revolution in America. As a result, people were jailed for expressing views that were considered anarchists, communist or socialist. In an attempt to control the potential for revolution, civil liberties were scrutinized and thousands were deported, The Socialist Party came to be viewed as a group of anarchist radicals. Several state and local governments passed a variety of laws designed to reduce radical speech and activity. Congress considered more than 70 anti-sedition bills, though none were passed. Within a year the Red Scare had run its course. Marcus Garvey, an English-educated Jamaican, established an organization called the Universal Negro Improvement and Conservation Association and African Communities League (usually called Universal Negro Improvement Association). In 1919 Garvey claimed followers numbering about two million. He spoke of a "new negro" who was proud to be black. He published a newspaper in which he taught about the "heroes" of the race and the strengths of African culture. He told blacks that they would be respected only when they were economically strong. He created a number of businesses to achieved this goal. His belief in black separatism was not shared by a number of black leaders. In 1922 he and other members of the organization were jailed for mail fraud. His sentence was commuted and he was deported to Jamaica as an alien. The Ku Klux Klan entered the second period in 1915. Using the new film medium, this group tried to spread its message with Birth of a Nation. They published a number of anti-Semitic newspaper articles and became a structured membership organization. It's membership did not begin to decline until the Great Depression. Membership in the 1920s reached approximately four million and the group's political influence was significant, essentially controlling some southern legislatures and state governments. Several groups were formed to protect the civil rights and liberties guaranteed to all citizens by the U.S. Constitution. The American Civil Liberties Union was formed in 1920. It was originally an outgrowth of the American Union against Militarism, which opposed American involvement in WWI and provided legal assistance to conscience objectors and those prosecuted under the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918. With the name change there was attention to additional concerns and activities. The agency began to try to protect immigrants threatened with deportation and citizens threatened with prosecution for communist activities. They also opposed efforts to repress the industrial Workers of the World and other labor unions. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded in 1909 to assist African Americans. In the early years, the work of the organization focused on working through the courts to overturn Jim Crow statutes that legalized racial discrimination. The group organized voters to oppose Woodrow Wilson's efforts to weave radical segregation into federal government policy. Between WWI and WWII, much energy was devoted to stop the lynching of blacks through the country. The Anti-Defamation League was created in 1913 to stop discrimination against the Jewish people. The organization has historically opposed all groups considered anti-Semitic and/or racist. This has included the Ku Klux Klan, the Nazis and a variety of others.
Assess the impact of radio, mass production techniques, and the growth of cities on American society.
The British patent for the radio was awarded in 1896, but it was not until WWI that the equipment and capability of the radio was recognized. One of the first developments in the twentieth century was the use of commercial AM radio stations for aircraft navigation. Radio was used to communicate orders and information between army and navy units on both aides of the war during WWI. Broadcasting became practical in the 1920s and radio receivers were introduced on a wide scale. The relative economic boom of the 1920s made it possible for many households to own a radio. The beginning of broadcasting and the proliferation of receivers revolutionized communication. The news translated into every home with a radio and could be transmitted very quickly. By the time of the Stock Market Crash in 1929, approximately 40% of households had a radio. Another innovation of the 1920s was the introduction of mass production, the production of large amounts of standardized products on production lines. Henry Ford used mass production to build the Model T Ford and made cars less expensive. Form an economic perspective, mass production decreases labor costs, increases the rate of production, and increases profit. Mass production refuses the chance of human error and variation but it is inflexible. Once a process is established, it is difficult to modify a design or a production process. From the viewpoint of labor, mass production can create job shortages. During the period before and after 1900, a large number of people migrated to the cities of America. The new immigrants were not farmers. Polish immigrants became steelworkers in Pittsburgh. Serbian immigrants became meat-packers in Chicago. Russian Jewish immigrants became tailors in New York City. Slovakian's assembled cars in Detroit. Italians worked in the factories of Baltimore. Several factors promoted urbanization during the 1920's. The decline of agriculture, the drop in price for grain and produce, and the end of financial support for farming after WWI caused many farmers to go bankrupt. Many sold or lost their farms and migrated to cities to find work. Continuing industrialization drew more workers to areas near or surrounding industrial or manufacturing centers. Cities became the focus of political, cultural, financial and economic life. New forms of transportation beyond the city limits enabled the middle and upper classes to leave city centers. Urbanization brings certain needs in its wake, including adequate water supply. Management of sewage and garbage, the need for public services, such as fire and police, road construction and maintenance, bridges to connect parts of cities and taller buildings were needed. This last led to the invention of steel-framed buildings and of the elevator. In addition, electricity and the telephone lines were needed, department stores and supermarkets grew, and the need for additional schools were related to urbanization. With the large migration and low wages came overcrowding, often in old buildings. Slums began to appear. Soon public health issues began to arise.
Analyze the significance and evolving meaning of the principles of American democracy; autonomy/liberty, equality, basic opportunity, debate and deliberation and representation.
The American nation was founded on the idea that the people would have a large degree of autonomy and liberty. The famous "no taxation without representation" was a rallying cry for the Revolution, not only because people felt unfairly taxed, but also because the people could not influence Parliament in regard to those taxes. The American colonists had become used to doing things their way and solving their own problems. Especially during the French and Indian War, when a large number of soldiers who served and died for the British Army called America home. The colonists were allowed to choose some of the people who governed them, although colonial governors were chosen in England. When the French and Indian War ended, the British government attempted to levy heavy taxes on the American colonists. The colonists believed the taxes were an infringement on their autonomy. One of the most famous words in the Declaration of Independence is "Liberty the pursuit of which all people should be free to attempt. That idea, that a people should be free to pursue their own course, even to the extent of making their own mistakes, has dominated political thought in the 20-plus years of the American republic. Representation is the idea that a people can vote for individuals to represent them in government. Representation was not a new idea in Britain, but was in the colonies because residents of other British colonies did not have these rights. When individuals and groups (such as the Sons of Liberty) objected to lack of representation, they were asking to stand on an equal footing with the mother country. Along with the idea of representation comes the idea that issues should be debated, discussed and deliberated. Taxation without representation ran counter to that. Another key concept in the American ideal is equality, the idea that every person has the same rights and responsibilities under the law. The goals of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were to provide equality for all who read those documents. The reality was vastly different for larger sectors of society, including women and non-white Americans. The so-called American Dream is that every individual has an equal chance to make his or her fortune and that initiate will be welcomed and even encouraged. For many, who were not white males that basic opportunity has been difficult to achieve.
Explain the function and evolution of the College of Electors and analyze its role in contemporary American politics.
The College of Electors, or the Electoral College as it is more commonly known, was provided for in the Constitution. Article II of the Constitution lists the specifics of the Electoral College The Founding Fathers included the Electoral College as one of the checks and balances for two reasons. To give states with small populations more weight in the presidential election. To have informed voters make the decision for president because the Founders didn't trust the common man to make proper depictions on which candidate would make the best president. Individuals for each states are chosen as Electors. The Electoral College meets a few weeks after the presidential election. When all the electoral votes are counted, the candidate with the most votes wins. In most cases, the candidate who wins the popular votes also wins the Electoral College. However, this has not always been the case. In 1800, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, both candidates of the Democratic-Republican Party, received the same number of electoral votes. The election went to the House of Representatives to break the tie. Federalist leader Alexander Hamilton who hated both Jefferson and Burr, had a clear preference for Thomas Jefferson. Hamilton worked behind the scenes to ensure that Burr would never become president. The House of Representatives chose Jefferson on the 36th ballot. Aaron Burr became Jefferson's vice-president. In 1824, all of the candidates were members of the Democratic-Republican Party. John Quincy Adams, son of President John Adams, was the most experienced. Andrew Jackson was a war hero. Henry Clay was the Speaker of the House. When the votes were counted, Jackson had the most, but not enough to win. The decision was then made by the House of Representatives. Clay, as Speaker of the House, had control over proceedings and, when it became clear that something had to be done, he agreed to withdraw from the race if his supporters would support Adams. Each state had one vote in the House of Representatives. The country had 24 states at the time, and 13 of them voted for Adams. Clay in turn was named Secretary of State. Jackson and his supporters, along with many other neutral observers, deemed this turn of events the Corrupt Bargain. The third election decided by the House of Representatives was of 1876. By then, the concept of a popular vote was established and the electoral vote had become a reflection of the popular vote. In 1876 however, that wasn't the case. The country was still healing from wounds of the Civil War. Federal troops were still in Southern states, sometimes in large numbers, enforcing the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. Reconstruction was still in effect and many people in the South resented what they saw as the continuation of an occupation by the victorious North. The two presidential terms of Ulysses S. Grant were marred by political scandal. Samuel J. Tilden, the governor of New York, was the Democratic candidate, and the Republicans had nominated Ohio governor Rutherford B. Hayes. When the popular votes were counted, Tilden had 280,000 more than Hayes. But he didn't have enough electoral votes to win. Hayes gained enough Democratic support for the House to win the presidency when he promised to withdrawal federal troops from the South if elected. The 2000 presidential election came down to Florida and Florida's method of counting votes. The election was eventually decided by the Supreme Court. The Democratic Party's nominee was Vice-President Al Gore. Gore had served as vice-president for both of President Bill Clinton's terms. As such, he was both a champion of Clinton's successes and a reflection of his failures. The Republican Party's nominee was George W. Bush, governor of Texas and son of former President George H.W. Bush. He campaigned on a platform of a strong national defense and an end to questionable ethics in the White House. The election was hotly contested, and many states were decided by only a handful of votes. Gore won the popular vote, by nearly 540,000 million votes. But he didn't win the electoral vote. The vote was so close in Florida that a recount was necessary under federal law. Eventually, the Supreme Court stopped all the recounts. Florida's electoral votes went to Brush and he became president. Sixteen years later Donald Trump won the Presidency without the popular vote. The 2016 presidential election was between Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton, First Lady, Senator and Secretary of State, was the first woman to lead a major party's ticket. Donald Trump ran as a Washington outsider who would bring his business experience to government. Secretary Clinton won the popular vote by almost 3,000,000 votes. Mr. Trump captured the swing states of Ohio and Florida along with Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania and with them the presidency. Many argue that the Electoral College, should be abolished. Proponents of the Electoral College point to reasons why the College provided for in the Constitution.
Which of the following contributed to the severity of the Great Depression in California?
A) An influx of Chinese immigrants B) The dust bowl drove people out of the cities C) An influx of Mexican immigrants D*) An influx of Oakies
Native South American tribes included all of the following except
A) Aztec B) Inca C*) Minoans D) Maya
What country did not have a colonial stake in America?
A) France B) Spain C) Mexico D*) China
Describe the discovery of goal and assess its consequences on the cultures, societies, politics and economies of California, including its impact on California Indians and Californios.
In January 1848, James Marshall, an employee of Captain John A. Shutter observed the glitter of gold in sands he had picked up in a mill race (the water that turns a water wheel) at Sutter's Coloma sawmill. By August, world of the discovery reached Washington, D.C. gold fever swept the nation. Men left farms, businesses and families to become part of the Gold Rush. The population of California rose from 14,000 to more than 100,000 within a year and to more than 220,000 by 1852. Mark Twain and Bret Harte wrote of the Gold Rush and the roughness, sentiment and unexpected heroism of the Forty-Niners. People came from all over the world to seek gold. Those who came from the East traveled by prairie schooner (covered wagon), and proclaimed the motto "California or Bust." Many made the journey in ships and endured the damages of rounding Cape Horn. Most who came were men without families. Widespread disorder was the result of this influx of men who experienced the sudden rise to wealth or the dark disparity of failure. The land had been ceded from Mexico and had no established government or laws. What laws there were was varied from camp to camp. Nugget stealing and horse stealing were considered worse than murder and were punished accordingly. The early settlers had the important task of establishing communication with the rest of the world. Steamship lines began to make the 19,000-mile trip around Cape Horn. Overland routes carried mail and freight from Missouri to San Francisco. The most notable routes were: The Merchant Express, with 2,000 wagons and 20,000 yoke of oxen to move freight across the content. The Pony Express that relayed mail from Missouri to San Francisco in just ten days. Stage lines that traveled twice a week from Saint Louis to San Francisco and made it possible to travel from coast to coast in only three weeks. The Union Pacific Railroad was completed in 1869, eliminating the need for stage travel. The successful miners built fabulous homes along the crest of Nob Hill in San Francisco. Those who provided supplies and services for the miners also amassed great wealth. The unsuccessful drifted down into valley and filled land with wheat fields and orchards and began remarkable agricultural development that would define California well into the future. To a large extent, California's economic and social character can be traced to both the successful and unsuccessful miners of the Gold Rush. The Gold Rush gave rise to several notable boom towns. The largest in the central part of the state were Sacramento and Stockton. Sacramento was the gateway to the mines in the central and northern part of the state, and Stockton was the supply center for the southern mines. San Francisco was the greatest of the boom towns. It was the port through which those who sailed to California entered the state and was the center if banking and manufacturing. The earliest mining methods (panning, rockers, "long Tom") were essentially innocuous in environmental terms. But as the supply of readily available gold was exhausted, miners turned to more destructive methods to find and extract goals from the earth. Some dug deep starts or tunnels into earth. Most destructive was hydraulicking, a method that used high-pressure water to erode banks and hills. This was uniquely California innovation was the predominant type of mining for about 30 years.
Explain and assess the development and adoption of segregation laws, the influence of social mores on the passage and implementation of these laws and the rise of white supremacist organizations.
The Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and the 13th amendment in 1865 ended slavery in the United States, but these measures did not erase the centuries or racial prejudices among whites that held blacks to be inferior in intelligence and morality. These prejudices, along with fear of economic competition from newly freed salves, led to a series of state laws that permitted or required physical action of blacks and whites. The Black Codes aimed to keep blacks subservient to whites. Freedmen, as newly freed slaves were called, were afforded some civil rights protection during the Reconstruction period; however, beginning around 1876, Redeemer governments began to take office in the Southern states after the removal of federal troops that had supported Reconstruction goals. The Redeemer state legislatures began passing segregation laws which came to be know as Jim Crow laws. The Jim Crow laws varied from state to state, but the most significant of them required separate school systems and libraries for blacks and whites and separated ticket windows, waiting rooms and seating areas on trains and later other public transportation. Restaurant owners were permitted or sometimes required to provided separate entrances and tables and counters for blacks and whites, so that the two races did not see one another while dining. Public parks an playgrounds were constructed for each race. Landlords were not allowed to mix black and white tenants in apartment houses in some states. The Jim Crow laws were given credibility in 1896 when the Supreme Court handed down its decision in the case Plessy vs Ferguson. In 1890, Louisiana had passed a law requiring separate train cars for blacks and whites. To challenge this law, in 1892 Homer Plessy, a man who had a black great grandparent was considered legally black, he was told to move to the black car. He refused and was arrested. His case was eventually heard by the Supreme Court. The Court ruled against Plessy, thereby ensuring that the Jim Crow laws continue to proliferate and be enforced. The Court held that segregating races was constitutional as long as facilities for each were identical. This became known as the "separate but equal" principle. In facilities were seldom equal. Black schools were funded a far lower levels. Streets and parks in black neighborhoods were not maintained. This trend continued through the following decade. Even the federal government adopted segregation as official policy when President Woodrow Wilson segregated the civil service in 1910. Legal segregation was a part of life for generations of Americans until the "separate but equal" doctrine was challenged. In 1954, in the Supreme Court case of Brown vs. Board of Education, the "separate but equal" doctrine was overturned in the field of education. This case arose when a Topeka, Kansas man attempted to enroll his third-grade daughter in a segregated white neighborhood elementary school and was refused. Even with the new legal interpretation, some states refused to integrate their schools. In Virginia, the state closed some schools rather than integrate them. In Arkansas, Governor Orville Faubus moralized the National Guard to prevent the integration of Little Rock High School. President Eisenhower sent federal troops to enforce integration. The civil rights movement, led by Martin Luther King, Jr. and others, cultivated in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This act ended legal segregation in the United States; however, some forms of de facto segregation continue to exist. Some organized groups opposed integration of blacks into white society. The most notable of these was the Ku Klux Klan. First organized in Reconstruction South, the KKK was a loose group made up mainly of former Confederate soldiers who opposed the Reconstruction government and espoused a doctrine of white supremacy. KKK members intimidated, and sometimes killed, their proclaimed enemies. In 1871, President Grant took action to use federal troops to halt the activities of the KKK and actively prosecuted them in federal court. In 1915, the Klan was resurrected following the film The Birth of a Nation. The new clan added an anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic slant to its platform and was organized on a national level. Reaching its peak in 1920, this new Klan obtained widespread political and social influence, especially through the South and Midwest. The Klan saw membership decline through the Great Depression and the Second World War, when they emerged as sympathizers with Nazi sentiment and lost public support.
Analyze the development of the women's rights movements and its connections to other social and political movements.
The women's right movement is concerned with the freedoms of women as separate from other groups. These issue are generally different from these that affect men and boys because of biological conditions or social constructions. The rights the movement has sought to protect through history include the right to: vote, to work, fair wages, bodily integrity and autonomy, own property, education, and to hold public office. Rights also include: marital, parental, religious and the right to serve in the military and to enter into legal contracts. Some of the most famous leader in the women's movement throughout American history include: Abigale Adams, Susan B. Anthony, Gloria E. Anzaldua, Betty Friedan, Olympia de Gouges, Gloria Steinem, Harriet Tubman, Mary Wollstonecraft, Virginia Woolf and Germaine Greer.
Describe the civil rights movements of African Americans and other minority groups and their impacts on government, society and the economy.
"Minority rights" encompasses two ideas: individual rights for members of ethnic, racial, class, religious or sexual minorities and collective rights of minority groups. Anti-discrimination laws that protect minority rights include: Fair Employment Act; Civil Rights Acts of 1964, 1968 and 1991; Immigration and Nationality Services Act; Voting Rights Act: Age Discrimination in Employment Act; Age Discrimination Act of 1975; Pregnancy Discrimination Act; Americans with Disabilities Act; and Employment Non-Discrimination Act. The disability rights movement was successful effort to guarantee access to public buildings and transportation, equal access to education and employment and equal protection under the law in terms of access to insurance and other basic rights of American citizens. As a result of these efforts, public buildings and public transportation must be accessible to persons with disabilities. Discrimination in hiring and housing on the basis of disability is also illegal. A prisoners rights movement works to ensure protections of rights for the incarcerated. Immigrant rights movements have provided for employment and housing rights, as well as preventing abuse of immigrants through hate crimes. In some states, immigrant rights movements have provided for employment and housing rights, as well as preventing abuse of immigrants through hate crimes. In some states, immigrants rights movements have led to bi-lingual education and public information access. Another group movement to obtain equal rights is the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender social movement. This movement seeks equal housing, freedom from social and employment discrimination and equal recognition of relationships under the law.
What was the decisive battle that started the Civil War?
A) Battle of Antietam B*) Battle of Fort Sumter C) Battle of Gettysburg D) Battle of Boonville
From about 1870 to 1900 the settlement of America's "last frontier", the West, was completed. One attraction for settlers was free land but it would have been to no avail without:
A) Better farming methods and technology B) Surveying to set boundaries C) Immigrants and others to seek new land D*) The railroad to get them there
How were African-Americans affected by the policies under President Truman?
A) Cabinet positions were offered to African-Americans for the first time B*) The American Forces were desegregated C) Public schools in the south were desegregated D) The first African-American Supreme Court judge was appointed
The Federalists:
A) Favored state's rights B) Favored a weak central government C*) Favored a strong federal government D) Supported the British The Federalists were opposed to (A) state's rights and a (B) weak federal government. (D) Most of them opposed the British. (C) The Federalists favored a strong federal government.
What conflict prompted the US entry into the theater of the First World War?
A) German attack on France B*) Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare C) German-Mexican alliance D) German alliance with Spain
Which country was not a part of the Axis in World War II?
A) Germany B) Italy C) Japan D*) United States
How did Virginia and Kentucky respond to the Sedition Act?
A) They seceded from the Union B) They withdrew their representatives from Congress C*) They declared the Act illegal D) They brought the law before the Supreme Court to counter its constitutionality
Why were Europeans interested in finding a passage to India?
A) They wanted to import pepper directly from India B*) They wanted to access the Asian commercial market C) They wanted to attack the Ottoman Turks from behind D) They were interested in Indian silk and cotton products
Which of the following was a reform on the excesses of the Gilded Age?
A) Gospel of Wealth B) Social Darwinism C*) Trust busting D) Manifest Destiny
Why did the United States enter WWII on behalf of the Allies?
A) Germany declared war on the United States B) The US had a special relationship with Britain since WWI C) The US fundamentally opposed the German genocide against the Jews D*) United States was attacked at Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, one of the Axis powers
In what way did the railroad most help the American economy in the 19th century?
A) It allowed for the quicker travel to the west and helped move more settlers B*) The cost of shipping agricultural goods was lowered C) It allowed for quicker access to the parts in the south D) It gave rise to rich, entrepreneurial railroads magnates
The United States legislature is bi-cameral; this means:
A) It consists of several houses B*) It consists of two houses C) The Vice-President is in charge of the legislature when in session D) It has an upper and lower house
What was the achievement of the Glass-Steagall Banking Reform Act?
A) It divided the failing banks into four categories based on their performance B) It allowed the federal government to bail out failing banks C) It created the Securities and Exchange Commission D*) It created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
How did WWII help the American economy?
A) It encouraged the entry of women laborers into the factories B) It initiated technological innovations C) American armament factories sold weapons to the Allies D*) Munitions factories employed more laborers and helped solve the unemployment problem.
What was the symbolic importance of the creation of NATO on US foreign policy?
A) It transformed the United States from a peaceful state to an aggressive government B) It marked the beginning of American imperialism C*) It ended the long standing American policy of isolationism D) It cemented the US-Britain "Special Relationship" status
Describe the significance of a free press, including the role of the broadcast, print and electronic media in American society and government.
A free press is essential to maintaining responsibility and civic-mindedness in government and in society. The broadcast, print, and electronic media in America serve as societal and governmental watchdogs, who show American and the world what elected officials are doing. Media reports on policy debates discussions on controversial issues, struggles against foreign powers in economic and wartime endeavors. The First Amendment guarantees media in America the right to report on these things. Reporting is covered by newspapers, radio stations, magazines and websites. Today, mass media is an important method of communicating news. The internet carries out functions that the magazines and newspapers did in the past. A free press can sway public opinion. For that reason, the role of the press is invaluable. In other countries that do not have free press, the government controls what is published and the press does little to sway voters and/or the public.
Which of the following statements best explains why trade and shipping are historically more dominant industries in the Northeast then they are in the South?
A) Settlers who populated New England were predominantly of the college educated merchant class while settlers in the South were predominantly aristocrats and indentured servants, precursors of plantation owners and slaves B) The natural abundance of timber in the Northeast lent itself to the building of ships for trade, while the natural abundance of tobacco and cotton in the South lent itself to growing cash crops. C*) The abundance of natural harbors and fast moving rivers in the Northeast lent itself to the ease of creating canals and ports for trade, while the longer warm climate in the South lent itself to commercial agriculture D) The frequency of tropical storms in the South are devastating to shipping while the relatively calm currents along the Northeast coast are favorable to shipping.
In what way was the US economic role increased in the world after WWII?
A) The US became the major manufacturer after Europe was devastated by the war B*) The US government aided Europe through the Marshall Plan and became a major creditor C) American services were given exclusive rights for reconstructing the war damages D) America concluded treaties requiring defeated powers to buy American products
What was the legal debate that promoted the secession of the states from the Union prior to the Civil War?
A) The imposition of federal tariffs B*) The right of the federal government to interfere with state laws C) The abolition of slavery in Northern states D) The right of the southern states to continue owning slaves.
The Spanish-American war occurred over what issue?
A) The independence of Texas from New Spain (Mexico) B) The U.S. control of the Philippines C*) The independence of Cuba D) The US control of Puerto Rico
Among the Iroquois tribes, women possessed a position of ascendency because:
A) They were elected as monarchs B) They were the only ones allowed to be sachems C*) They were believed to be connected to the earth deity D) They were the owners of the longhouses
What was the motivation for the writing of the Federalist Papers?
A) To clarify the meaning of the articles of the Constitution B) To argue for more power to be given to the Federal Government C) To oppose the drawing of a separate Bill of Rights D*) All of the above
Analyze the issues that arise out of the divisions of jurisdiction among federal, state and tribal governments at each level of government; consider their impacts on those different levels of government.
America operates on a system of federalism. This means that while the states are subordinate to the federal government they still retain a great deal of power over their own affairs. Criminal matters are handled by states. Unless the crime crosses state lines, in which case the federal government has jurisdiction.. States control their own election laws and practices. This is why North Carolina has early voting but New York does not. State government are sometimes called the "laboratories of democracy" because they can experiment to find the best way to govern. What works best in Montana may not fit Texas and vise versa. Sometimes the federal government needs to step in to ensure basic minimum fairness. In 1963 The Supreme Court heard Gideon v Wainwright. The case hinged on the question of whether a man could get a fair trial without counsel. Clarence Gideon was tried for the burglary of a Florida pool hall. He asked for the local for a lawyer and was told that it was not the responsibility of the court to provide Gideon a lawyer. Gideon was convicted and sentenced to prison. From prison Gideon appealed to the Supreme Court. Florida argued that as a sovereign state they have the right to structure their criminal courts as they see fit, Florida further argued that because the crime occurred solely within Florida the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments do not apply to Gideon. Had Gideon been charged with a federal crime he would be entitled to a lawyer, however the matter falls entirely within Florida's jurisdiction only Florida's rules apply. Gideon argued that it is impossible to get a fair trail without an advocate. That a man with no legal training cannot hope to defend himself against a professional prosecutor and a legal system that is for all intents and purposes conducted in another language. The Court agreed with Gideon and ruled that every criminal defendant in America had the absolute right to an attorney. The Court ruled that if a defendant could not afford an attorney then the state must provide that attorney. Gideon v. Wainwright is an example of federalism. The states are allowed to structure their systems as they see fit, however, when things become unconstitutional it is the responsibility of the federal government to correct the abuse of power.
Describe and evaluate issues of state redistributing and the political nature of reapportionment.
Equal political representation for all of the people in the United States is important. Problems include trying to ensure proper racial and minority representation. Various civil rights acts, notably the Voting Rights Act of 1965, sought to eliminate the remaining features of unequal suffrage in the United Sates. Questions can involve the issue of gerrymandering, which involves the adjustment of various electoral districts in order to achieve a predetermined goal. This may be to affect minority political representation or the strength of a political party within a voting district. Gerrymandering, which involves the adjustment of various electoral districts in order to achieve a predetermined goal. This may be to affect minority political representation or the strength of a political party within a voting district. Gerrymandering sometimes creates odd and unusual looking districts. Sate redistributing takes place when a state's population changes and there is a reapportionment of Congressional districts. Population changes are noted as the result of the census that is taken every ten years. When a state loses, or gains, population it must adjust the number of people elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Therefore, it is necessary to redraw the boundary lines for the Congressional districts. The party in power in the state government can have an effect on the final boundary lines that are drawn.
Analyze the evolving practices of citizen collaboration and deliberation, and special interest influence in American democratic decision-making
Form the earliest days of political expression in American, efforts were a collaborative affair. One of the first of the democratic movements was the Sons of Liberty, an organization that made its actions know but kept the identity of its members a secret. Famous members of this group included John and Samuel Adams. American political discussion built on the example of the British Parliament, the legislative branch of government that had two houses. The assemblies of the American colonies inherited this tradition and enjoyed spirited debate, even through they met just once or a few times a year. One of the most famous examples of both collaboration and deliberation was the Stamp Act Congress, a gathering of Americans who demanded that Great Britain repeal the unpopular tax on paper documents. The Americans who met at both the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention built on this tradition as well. James Madison took voluminous notes at the Constitution Convention and as a result, we have a clear record of just how contentious the debate over the shape and scope of the American federal government was. The result was a blueprint for the government approved by the vast majority of the delegates and eventually approved by the people in all of the American colonies. This ratification process has continued to modern times. The nation's first political parties, the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans, were formed for people to see their political interests protected. As the nation grew, so did the number of political parties and so did the number of people who pursued so-called special interests. As special interest is nothing more than a subject that a person/people pursue. Special interests can be found today. We can draw a straight line from the deliberative-collaborative traditions of today to the secret meetings and political conventions of colonial days.
Describe and analyze the issues that arise as a result of the checks and balances system.
In the United States, checks and balances refers to the ability of each branch of government to limit the actions of the others. Examples of checks and balances: The Executive branch limits the Legislature through its veto power. The Judicial branch limits the Legislative thought its veto power. The Judicial branch limits the power of the Legislature through judicial review. Judicial review is the power to declare acts of Congress or the president unconstitutional and to force those actions to stop. The Legislature checks the Executive by power of impeachment and denial of appointments. Issues arise when a branch of government uses its powers to become stronger that the other branches.
Evaluate the Founding Fathers' contribution to the establishment of a constitutional system as articulated in the Federalist Papers, constitutional debates and the U.S. Constitution.
It quickly became apparent that there were serious defects with the Articles of Confederation. In 1786, the Annapolis Convention made effort to regulate commerce. Because only five states were represented, this Convention was unable to accomplish anything. The debates, however made it clear that foreign and interstate commerce could not be regulated by a government with as little authority as the Articles of Confederation allowed. Congress called a convention to provide changes that would address the needs of the new nation. The convention met in Philadelphia with fifty-five of the sixty-five appointed members present. A constitution was written in four months. The Constitution of the United States is the fundamental law to the republic. It is the supreme law of the land. Amendments to the Constitution must be ratified by two-thirds of the Congress and three-fourths of the states. The compromises that resolved the conflicts are reflected in the final document. The first point of disagreement and compromise was related to the Presidency. The compromise was to give the President broad powers but to limit the president to a four year term, subject to re-election. Appointments and treaties made by the president must be consented to by the Senate. The second conflict was between populous and non-populous states over representation in Congress. The populous states wanted power proportionate to their voting strength; the non-populous states opposed this plan. The compromise was that states should have equal voting over in the Senate, but linked membership in the House of Representatives to a state's population. The third conflict was about slavery. One compromise was that (a) fugitive slaves should be returned to their owners (b) that no law would be passed for 20 years (1808) prohibiting the importation of slaves. Another was that 3/5 of the slaves would be counted toward the population for deciding the number of representatives a state would have in the House of Representatives. The fourth major area of conflict was how the president would be chosen. The Compromise was the Electoral College. A system of checks and balances was created to ensure that no branch of government became too powerful. Separation of powers was also an important concept provided for in the Constitution. Each branch of government had its own duties/functions. The Federalist Papers were written to win popular support for the newly proposed constitution. The papers provide and explanation of the underlying philosophies of the Constitution. The Federalist Papers are still an important resource to understand the Constitution.
Evaluate the effects of the Court's interpretations of the Constitution in Marbury v Madison, McCullough vs Maryland and United States v. Nixon
Maury v. Madison is the Supreme Court case that established the doctrine of judicial review. Judicial review is the theory that the courts can declare laws or acts unconstitutional. John Adams was a Federalist president. Thomas Jefferson was a Democrat-Republican. Jefferson was elected in November 1800. At that time, the new president didn't take office until March of the following year. Shortly before Adams left office, he appointed several Federalist judges. Those judges were known as the "Midnight judges." One of these "Midnight Judges" was William Marbury, who was appointed to be justice of the peace for the District of Columbia. The Secretary of State had the duty of notifying the appointed person by delivering a "commission," or notice, of appointment. President Jefferson told his Secretary of State James Madison not to deliver the commissions that were still waiting to be delivered. Marbury sued Madison and asked the Supreme Court to force the delivery of the commission. The Supreme Court decided that the power to deliver commission to judges was provided for in the Constitution, it was in conflict with the Constitution and, therefore subject to review by the Supreme Court. The Court held that the law was unconstitutional, but did not order Madison to deliver Marbury's commission McCulloch v Maryland involved Maryland's attempt to tax the Bank of the United Sates. Maryland voted to tax all bank business not done with state banks. Andrew McCulloch, who worked in the Baltimore branch of the Bank of the United States, refused to pay the tax. The State of Maryland sued, and the Supreme Court accepted the case. Chief Justice John Marshall wrote the opinion of the Court. The decision was that the federal government had the right and power to set up a federal bank and that a state did not have the power to tax the federal government. In United States v. Nixon, the Supreme Court was asked whether the tape recordings in President Richard Nixon's possession were required to be turned over to the Watergate prosecutor. The recordings were thought to implicate Nixon in a cover-up of the Watergate break-in, an attempt by a team of thieves to gain information on the activities of George McGovern, Nixon's opponent in the 1972 election. Nixon claimed that the tapes were the property of the Executive Branch and, more to the point, of Nixon himself. Nixon claimed an "executive privilege" that would keep him from having to relinquish the recordings. In this case, the court ordered President Nixon to hand over the tapes.
Analyze the sources of power and influence in democratic politics, such as access to and use of mass media, money, economic interests and the ability to mobilize groups.
Money is a source of power and influence in politics. It is needed to pay the people who will run a candidate's campaign and to buy or rent all of the tangible and intangible things that are needed to power a political campaign: office supplies, meeting places, and transportation vehicles, for example. Media advertising is the most expensive kind of advertising, but also has the potential to reach the widest audience. The sources of money can be personal funds of the candidate, outside donations and personal interest groups. Money is important to a campaign, but so is the ability to mobilize groups who support a candidate. That is why a good volunteer base is important. Volunteers generate interest in a campaign and bring on supporters and voters for the candidate. Another powerful source of support for a political campaign is the special interest group. There's are groups that want to effect political change (or make sure that such change doesn't take place). Anti-abortion groups, environmental groups and labor groups are examples.
Analyze citizen participation in governmental decision-making in a large modern society and the challenges Americans faced historically to their political participation.
Most Americans don't play a large role in governmental decision-making, except at the local level. Only there, in the towns and cities in which they live, can they afford the time and money to personally lobby their lawmakers in the name of passage or defeat of laws. Where people make a difference at the higher levels is in joining political parties and, more importantly, citizen action groups or political action committees. Only in the larger numbers that make up these groups can individual people make a difference in the government. However, the avenues of lobbying lawmakers are not closed to the average American. Letter are still read, phone calls are still taken, and donations are still appreciated. Emails, hashtag campaigns and other social media outlets have proven effective in moving the needle with lawmakers. Personal office visits are definitely appreciated as well. If enough people write or call or visit their lawmakers, they may listen. The colonies weren't totally devoid of representative government. In 1619 Virginia's House of Burgesses was established. There, Patrick Henry introduced the revolutions (1765) that ultimately resulted in the repeal of the Stamp Act. Fifteen of the 22 members of the House of Burgesses were elected by the people of Virginia. The governor (who was appointed by the King) and six of his appointees were the seven un-elected members. The Burgesses met once a year but the elements of representative government were there. Generally, each colony had a legislature. They had various names; most were called the Assembly. They dealt with financial matters, like taxes and budgets. The governor had the power to dissolve the Assembly, which was done frequently during the months leading up to the Revolutionary War. Representation was limited to free, white, property-owing males. Women couldn't vote or own property. The cry for representation was a key rallying point of the Revolution. The Constitution was a blueprint of a representative government. Senators, who made up the upper house of government, were appointed by the Legislature of each state. This practice lasted until 1913 when the Seventeenth Amendment allowed for the direct election of senators. African American men had to wait until the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified after the Civil War, and women had to wait until the twentieth century (1920) to vote in national elections.
Analyze the changing interpretations of the Bill of Rights and later constitutional amendments.
The Bill of Rights comprises the first ten Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. These amendments were passes almost immediately upon ratification of the Constitution by the states. They reflect concerns that were raised throughout the country and by the Founding Fathers during the ratification process. People believed that the power and authority of the government must be restricted from denying or limiting the rights of the people of the nation. The experience of the founders of the nation as colonists formed the foundation of the concern to limit the power of government. The Bill of Right has been interpreted in different ways at different times by different interpreters very strictly or very loosely. The terms of the amendments may be defined in a different way to enfranchise or to disenfranchise individuals or groups of persons. For example, until the passage of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, the Constitution interoperate blacks as property-not people. The Fourteenth Amendment's provision of "equal protection under the law" made the Constitution applicable to minority groups. The doctrine of "separate but equal" pronounced in Plessey case 1896 was reversed as to education 50 years later in the case of Brown v. Board of Education. During times of war, limitations have been placed on the freedom of speech and the meaning of what constitutes search or seizure has changed over the years.
Describe the meaning and importance of each of the rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights and analyze the reciprocal nature of citizenship, including the obligation to obey the law, serve as a juror, vote, pay taxes and pursue various avenues of participation open to citizens.
The First Amendment provides for freedom of religion. The policy of the government has been guided by the premise that church and state should be separated. However, when religious practices have been at cross-purposes with attitudes prevailing in the nation at particular times, there have been restrictions placed on these practices. Some of these have been restrictions against the practice of polygamy and the prohibition of animal sacrifice that is promoted by some religious groups. The use of mind altering illegal substances that some use in religious rituals have been restricted. In the United States, all recognized religious institutions are tax-exempt, following the idea of separation of church and state. Freedom of speech, press and assembly are rights that have historically have been given wide latitude; however, there have been instances when they have been limited for various reasons. The classic limitation, for instance, in regards to freedom of speech, has been the precept than an individual is prohibited from yelling "fire!" In a crowded theater. This prohibition is an example of the state saying that freedom of speech does not extend to speech that might endanger people. There is also a prohibition against slander, or knowing statement of deliberate falsehood about a person. Regulations regarding freedom of the press include libel, which is printing of a known falsehood. In times of national emergency, various restrictions have been placed on the rights of press, speech and sometimes assembly. The next three amendments were the result of colonist's struggle with Great Britain. The Second Amendment guaranties the right to bear arms and the Third Amendment prevents the government from forcing citizens to keep troops in their homes during peacetime. The Fourth Amendment protects from unreasonable searches and seizures. There are established procedures where searches can be conducted with a warrant and seizures can take place if the search is valid. Amendments five through eight protect citizens who are accused of crimes and are brought to trial. Every citizen has the right to due process of law. Although due process has not been precisely defined, the term means a process that is fair. What is fair depends on the facts/circumstances of a case. A person cannot be compelled to testify against him/herself. The Fifth Amendment guarantee against self-incrimination is a criminal defendants right. If a citizen is accused of a crime, they are pursuant to the Sixth Amendment entitled to a speedy public trial, the right to an attorney, and an impartial jury of their peers. Individuals may not be subject to cruel or unusual punishment, according to the Eighth Amendment. The last two amendments in the Bill of Rights limit the powers of the federal government to those that are expressly granted in the Constitution and provide that any rights not expressly mentioned in the Constitution belong to the states or to the people. The protections in the Bill of Rights limit the powers of the federal government. It was not until the Fourteenth Amendment (1868) that these guarantees and prohibitions were extended to the states. However, it was not until the 1960's that this interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment was put into practice. The nature of citizenship carries with it responsibilities such as obeying the law, paying taxes and serving as a juror. Voting is another responsibility of citizens.
Analyze the constitutional interpretations of the First Amendment's statement about the separation of church and state
The First Amendment to the Constitution prohibits a state-sponsored religion while also prohibiting the government from interfering with people's exercise of their religions. Theses have been two of the most fundamental tenets and faithfully upheld provisions of the Constitution since their inception. The First Amendment builds the wall of separation between church and state and means there will no be entanglement between government and religion. Funding for patriarchal schools has raised the issue of separation of church and state in courts. In Cochran v. Louisiana State Board of Educators (1930), the Supreme Court ruled that a law that provided textbook funds for students of secular and parochial schools did not violate the First Amendment because the funds were intended to benefit the students, not the religious entities that sponsored the schools. The effectiveness of that decision has weakened in seventy years since it was issued, as subsequent court decisions have found fault with it to one degree or another. Engle v. Vitale (1962) is a landmark case in which the Supreme Court invalidated a school policy of beginning each class day with school wide prayer. This principle was reaffirmed in Wallace v Joffre (1985), when the Court invalidated a day-opening moment of silence because the law that mandated it made clear that it was intended as a time of prayer. Universities allow religious groups to meet on university property, provided that secular groups have the same meeting opportunity. The Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment means a person has the ability to practice their religion as he/she sees fit. Many businesses in America close on Sunday, the traditional day of worship for Christians. This practice is enforced by laws in many states, called Blue Laws, laws that require certain types of businesses to close on Sunday. Some Jewish businessmen challenged the Blue Laws but in Braunfeld v. Brown (1961), the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Blue Laws, deciding that the loss of business that Jewish owners suffered by closing Sunday in addition to Saturday (which they did because of their religious beliefs but, rather a secular policy. Other famous religious beliefs-government mandated cases have involved the Amish religion's prohibition of education beyond eighth grade (Wisconsin v. Yoder, 1972 and United Sates v. Lee). A particularly contentious issue involves the Native American use of peyote, a narcotic in religious ceremonies. According to American law, the use of such as drug is illegal. Native Americans, however claim that they use it as part of sacred practices that superseded the laws of the land. The result has been a federal law that protects such practices, extending to the growth and cultivation of said substance but only for religious purposes. Public displays of religious images on state-owned property have also been issues resolved by the courts. Various groups have tried to prevent such displays. Generally secular decorations may be used to celebrate holidays and in narrow circumstances religious symbols may be used. Whether the displays are constitutional depends upon the facts of the case and the courts decide each case on its own facts.
Describe the means that citizens use to participate in the political process.
The most basic way for citizens to participate in the political process is to vote. Since the passing of the 23rd Amendment in 1965, U.S citizens who are at least 18 years old are eligible to vote. Citizens who wish to engage in the political process to a greater degree have several paths open, such as participating in local government. Countries, states and sometimes even neighborhoods are governed by locally-elected boards or councils which meet publicly. Citizens are usually able to address these boards: to bring their concerns and express their opinions on matters being considered. Citizens may even wish to stand for local election and join a governing board or seek support for higher office. Supporting a political party is another means by which citizens can participate in the political process. Political parties endorse certain platform that express general social and political goals, and support candidates in elections. Political parties make use of volunteer labor, with supporters making telephone calls, distributing printed material and campaigning for the party's causes and candidates. Political parties solicit donations to support their efforts as well. Contributing money to a political party is another for of participation citizens can undertake. Another for of political activity is to support an issue-related political group. Several political groups work to sway public opinion on various issues or on behalf of a segment of American society. These groups may have representatives who meet with state and federal legislators to lobby them. To lobby is to provide information on an issue and persuade lawmakers to take favorable action.
Describe the nature and importance of law in U.S. political theory, including the democratic procedures of law making, the rule of adherence to the law, and the role of civil disobedience.
The rule of law recognizes that the authority of the government is to be exercised only within the context and boundaries established by laws that are enacted according to established procedure and publicly disclosed. As a Constitutional government and political system, the basis of all laws, decisions and enforcement of laws in the U.S. Constitution. The Constitution establishes the process by which law can be written and enacted and the means of interpretation and enforcement of those laws by the courts. The Constitution grants Congress the power to enact laws. Congressional statutes are gathered and published in the United States Code. Agencies of the executive branch have the power to create regulations that carry the force of law. When these regulations are challenged, courts interoperable the meaning of the regulations. Laws are introduced, debated and passed by Congress. When both houses of Congress pass the same version of the law the law must then be signed by the president. Once signed, the law is considered enacted. Challenges to the constitutionality of the federal courts. Each state has the authority to make laws covering anything not reserved to the federal government. State laws cannot negate or be contrary to federal laws. Civil disobedience is the refusal to obey certain laws regulations or requirements of a government because those laws are believed to be unjust. Civil disobedience is a nonviolent protest against unjust laws. Notable examples of civil disobedience have included Henry David Thoreau's refusal to pay taxes in protest against slavery and the Mexican American War. Dr Martin Luther King Jr. led the Civil Rights Movement on the principle and practices of peaceful civil disobedience.
Explain and analyze the principles of the Declaration of Independence and how the U.S. Constitution reflects a balance between classical republican and classical liberal thinking.
The terms civil liberties and civil rights are often used interchangeably, but there are some distinctions between the terms. Civil liberties implies that the sate has a positive role to play in assuring that all citizens have quality protection and justice under the law with equal opportunities to exercise their privileges of citizenship and to participate fully in the life of the nation, regardless of race, religion, sex, color or creed. Civil rights refers to rights that may be described as guarantees against the state authority, implying limitations on the actions on the actions of the state to interfere with citizens liberties. The two concepts are really inseparable and interacting. Equality implies the proper order of liberty in a society so that an individual's freedom does not infringe on the rights of others. The beginnings of civil liberties and the idea of civil rights in the United States go back to the ideas of the ancient Greeks. American colonists struggled for civil rights against the British. Religious freedom, political freedom and the right to live ones life as they see fit are basic to American ideal. These were embodied in the ideas expressed in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. All theses ideas found their final expression in the United Sates Constitution's first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights protects certain liberties and basic rights. James Maddison, who wrote the amendments, said that natural rights belong to all human begins. The Bill of Rights simply prevents the government from taking ways these rights.
Identify the various ways in which federal, state, local and tribal governments are organized.
The various governments of the United Sates and of the Native American tribes have many similarities a a few notable differences. The United States Government has three distinct branches, the Executive, the Legislative and the Judicial. Each has its own function and its own "check" on the other two. The Legislative Branch consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House has 435 members and the Senate has 100 (two for every state). House members serve two-year terms; Senators serve six-year terms. Each house can initiate a bill, but it must be passed by a majority of both houses in order to become a law. The House is primary responsible fo initiating spending bills; the Senate is responsible for ratifying treaties that the president might sign with other countries. The Executive Branch is headed by the president. The president is commander-in-chef of the armed forces and the person who can approve or veto any bill from Congress. (Vetoed bills can become law if two-thirds of each house of Congress cote to override the veto) The president is elected to a four-year term by the Electoral College and can serve a total of two terms. Advisors to the president form the cabinet. These departments include State, Defense, Education, Treasury and Commerce, among others. Members of these departments are appointed by the President and approved by the Senate. The Judicial Branch consists of courts, with the highest court being the Supreme Court. The Court decides whether laws are constitutional. Any law invalidated by the Supreme Court from federal Appeals Courts, which hear appeals of decisions made by federal trial courts called District Courts. Federal court judges are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. They serve during good behavior, which usually means for life. State governments are generally in the same manner as the federal government. State Supreme Court decisions that involve a constitutional questions can be appealed to federal courts. Local governments vary widely across the country, although none of them have a judicial branch per se. Some local governments consist of a city council, of which mayor is a member and has limited powers. In other cities, the mayor is the head of the government and the city council are the chief lawmakers. Local governments also have looser requirements for people running for office than the state and federal governments. The format of the governments of the Native American tribes varies, as well. Most tribes have governments along the lines of the U.S. federal or state governments. An example is the Cherokee Nation, which has a 15-member Tribal Council as the head of the Legislative Branch, a Principal Chief and Deputy Chief who head up the Executive branch and carry out the laws passed by the Tribal Council. They have judicial branch made up of the Judicial Appeals Tribunal and the Cherokee Nation District Court. Members of the Tribunal are appointed by the Principal Chief. Members of the Tribunal are appointed by the Principal Chief. Members of the other two branches are elected by popular vote of the Cherokee Nation.
Analyze the effects of, and controversies arising from, New Deal policies, including the social and physical consequences of regional programs (e.g., the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Central Valley Project).
There were negative reactions to some of the measures taken to pull the country out of the Depression. Farmers lost tillable land and some water supply to the construction of the aqueduct and the Hoover Dam. Tennesseans were initially unhappy with the changes in river flow and navigation when the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) began construction of dams, the directing of water to form, and reservoirs, and hydroelectric plants. Some business leaders were unhappy with the introduction of minimum wage laws and controls on working conditions for laborers. The numerous import/export tariffs of the period were the subject of controversy, however, much that was accomplished under the New Deal had positive long-term effects on economic, ecological, social and political issues for the next several decades. The Tennessee Valley Authority and the Central Valley Project in California provided reliable sources and supplies of water to major cities. The New Deal promoted rural electrification. Electricity was brought to communities that had never had it. For the middle class and the poor, the labor regulations, the establishment of the Social Security Administration, and the separation of investment and banking have severed the nation admirably for more than six decades.
During the 1920s, the United States almost completely stopped all immigration. One of the reasons was:
A*) Plentiful cheap unskilled labor was no longer needed by industrialists B) War debts from World War I made it difficult to render financial assistance C) European nations were reluctant to allow people to leave since there was a need to rebuild populations D) The United States did not become a member of the League of Nations
Which of the following shows a difference between the California and U.S. Constitution?
A*) The governor of California has a pocket veto B) In California representation in both houses of the legislature is based on population C) The Governor and Lt. Governor are elected separately D) The equivalent of cabinet positions are elected rather than appointed
The source of authority for national, state and local governments in the U.S. is:
A*) The will of the people B) The US constitution C) Written laws D) The Bill of Rights The source of authority for national, state and local governments in the United States is the will of the people. Although the United States Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and other written laws of the land are important guidelines for authority, they may ultimately be altered or changed by the will of the people.
Examine the issues regarding ratification of the Constitution and compare and contrast the positions of the Federalists and Anti-Federalists.
Among the leaders of the Federalists were Alexander Hamilton and John Jay. Both Hamilton and Jay, wrote a series of letters to New York newspapers, urging that the state ratify the Constitution. These became known as the Federalist Papers. In the Anti-Federalist camp was Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry. They, along with others worried that strong national government would descend into the kind of tyranny that they had just worked to abolish. Just like their foes, they wrote the Anti-Federalist Papers, which argued against the Constitution. Both sided got most of what they wanted. The Federalists got their strong national government, which was held in place by checks and balances. The Anti-Federalists got the Bill of Rights, the first ten Amendments to the Constitution and a series of laws that protect some of the most basic human rights.
Jim Crow refers to:
A) Equality B) Labor Movement C*) Racism D) Free trade
The three-day Battle of Gettysburg was the turning point of the Civil War for the North leading to ultimate victory. The winning commander was:
A) McDowell B*) Lee C) Jackson D) McClean
The Union had many strengths over the Confederacy. Which was not a strength?
A) Railroads B) Industry C*) Slaves D) Manpower
There is no doubt of the vast improvements of the US Constitution over the week Articles of Confederation. Which one of the four accurate statements below is a unique yet eloquent description of the Constitution?
A) The establishment of a strong central government in no way lessened or weakened the individual states B) Individual rights were protected and secured C*) The Constitution is the best representation of the results of the American genius for compromise D) Its flexibility and adaptation to change gives it a sense of timelessness
France decided in 1777 to help the American colonies in their war against Britain. This decision was based on:
A) The naval victory of John Paul Jones over the British ship "Serapis" B) The survival of the terrible winter at Valley Forge C) The success of colonial guerrilla fighters in the South D*) The defeat of the British at Saratoga The defeat of the British at Saratoga was the overwhelming factor in the Franco-American alliance of 1777 that helped the American colonies defeat the British. Some historians believe that without the Franco-American alliance, the American colonies would not have been able to defeat the British and America would have remained a British colony
Who applied Locke's principles to the American situation?
A) Thomas Paine B) Samuel Adams C) Benjamin Franklin D*) Thomas Jefferson
The pilgrims came to America to:
A) To drill for oil B) To be the official representatives of the King C) To take over the East India Company D*) To flee religious persecution
Of all the major causes of both World Wars I and II, the most significant one is considered to be:
A*) Extreme nationalism B) Military buildup and aggression C) Political Unrest D) Agreements and alliances
The Radical Republicans who pushed the harsh Reconstruction measures through Congress after Lincoln's death lost public and moderate when they went too far.
A*) In their efforts to impeach the President B) By dividing ten southern states military controlled districts C) By making the ten states give freed African Americans the right to vote D) Sending carpetbaggers into the South to build up support for Congressional legislation
Which one of the following was not a post-World War II organization?
A*) Monroe Doctrine B) Marshall Plan C) Warsaw Pact D) North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Explain and analyze the relationship between domestic and foreign policy during the Cold War.
After 1945, social and economic chaos continued in Western Europe, especially in Germany. Secretary of State George C. Marshall proposed a program known as the European Recovery Program or the Marshall Plan. Although the Soviet Union withdrew from any participation, the U.S. continued to assist Europe to regain economic stability. In Germany the situation was critical, with the American Army shouldering the burden of relieving the serious problems of the German economy. In February 1948, Britain and the U.S. combined their two zones. France joined in June. The Soviets were opposed to German unification and in 1948 blocked all road traffic access to West Berlin from West Germany. To avoid any armed conflict, it was decided to airlift needed supplies into West Berlin. From June 1948 to mid-May 1949 during the Berlin Airlift Allied forces flew needed items into the city. The Soviets lifted the blockade and permitted vehicle access to the city. In 1954, the French were forced to give up their colonial claims in Indochina, the present-day countries of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. The Communist North fought with South Vietnam for control of the entire country. In the late 1950's and early 1960's Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy sent military advisers and aid to assist and support South Vietnam's non-Communist government. During Lyndon Johnson's presidency, the war escalated with hundreds of thousands of American troops sent into combat against the North Vietnamese's. The war was unpopular in America and caused such serious divisiveness among its citizens that Johnson decided not to seek re-election in 1968. In 1973, during Richard Nixon's second term in office the U.S. signed an agreement that ended the Vietnam War. American troops would complete the withdraw from Vietnam in 1975, during the presidency of Gerald Ford.
Explain the origins of American involvement in World War II, including reactions to events in Europe, Africa and Asia.
After war began in Europe in 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced that the United States was neutral. President Roosevelt announced that the United States was neutral. President Roosevelt and his supporters, called interventions, favored all aid except war to the Allies nations fighting Axis aggression. They feared that an Axis victory would seriously threaten and endanger all democracies. The isolationists were against any U.S. aid to the warring nations. Isolationists believed that any aid would lead the U.S. into a war the country was unprepared to fight. Roosevelt's plan was to defeat the Axis nations by sending the Allied nations the equipment needed to fight: ships, aircraft, tanks and other war materials. In Asia, the U.S. had opposed Japan's invasion of Southeast Asia, and effort to gain Japanese's control of that region's rich resources. Consequently, the U.S. stopped all important exports to Japan, whose industries depended heavily on petroleum, scrap metal and other raw materials. Later Roosevelt refused to allow the withdrawal of Japanese funds from American banks. General Tojo became the Japanese premiere in October 1941 and quickly realized that the U.S. Navy was powerful enough to block Japanese expansion into Asia. In an attempt to cripple the U.S. Pacific Fleet Japan launched a surprise attack on December 7, 1941. The Japanese's did immense damage to the fleet while at anchor in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack quickly motivated America to Jain the war.
Analyze the effects of English, French, Dutch and Spanish colonial rule on social, economic and governmental structures in North America, and the relationships of these colonies with American Indian societies.
Colonists from England, France, Holland, Sweden and Spain all settled in North America, on lands once frequented by Native Americans. Spanish colonies were mainly in the south, French colonies were mainly in the north and in the middle of the content and the rest of the European colonies in the northeast and along the Atlantic coast. These colonists got along with neighbors with varying levels. The French colonists seemed the most willing to work with the Native Americans, despite their overgrowing demand. They managed to keep their native allies happy. Dutch and Swedish were mainly interested in living in the new homes. The Dutch West India Company founded a colony in what is now New York establishing it as New Holland. It was taken over by the English who allowed Dutch families to keep estates.English colonies were divided generally into three regions (New England, Middle Atlantic, and South. The cultures of each were distinct and affected attitudes, politics, religion and economic activities. The New England colonies were Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New Hampshire. Life in these towns was centered in the towns. Every family farmed its own plot, because of short summer growing season and limited good soil. Manufacturing, fishing, shipbuilding and trade were important aspects of living in New England. The vast majority of settlers had similar origins in England and Scotland. Government was done in the form of town meetings where all adult males met to make laws. The General Court, consisted of an upper and lower house. The Middle or Atlantic colonies included New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. New York and New Jersey were once a Dutch colony. The settlers were a melting pot of different nations and backgrounds. The main activity was farming, with settlers maintaining large farms. This area became known as the breadbasket for its great food production. Philadelphia seaports were filled with meat and flour for the West Indies and England. In Pennsylvania the legislative body was unicameral (one house). In other colonies, the legislative body was bicameral (two houses). Local government units were counties and towns. The settlers from these colonies came from diverse backgrounds and cultures. Virginia was colonized by mostly people from England while Georgia was started by debtors from English prisons. Pioneers from Virginia settled North Carolina. South Carolina started by people from England, Scotland, French Protestants, Germans and emigrants from islands in the West Indies. Products from farms and plantations included, rice, tobacco, indigo, cotton and wheat. Other economic activities included lumber and naval stores (tar, pitch, rosin and turpentine) from the pine forests and fur trade on the frontier. Cities such as Savanah and Charlestown were important seaports and trading centers. Daily life of the colonists differed greatly between the costal settlements and the inland or interior. Southern planters and the people living in the costal cities and towns had a way of life similar to English towns. The influence was seen and heard in they way people talked and dressed. The architectural styles of houses and public buildings, and the social divisions or levels of society. Planters and city dwellers enjoyed an active social life and had strong emotional ties to England. Life on the frontier had marked differences. All facets of daily life-clothing, food, home, economic and social activities-were connected to what was needed to sustain life and survive in the wilderness. The people produced practically everything themselves. They were a self-sufficient and extremely individualistic and independent. There were few, if any, levels of society or class distinctions as they considered themselves to be equal to all others, regardless of station in life. The roots of equality, independence, individual rights and freedoms were extremely strong and well developed.
Describe and compare and contrast early 19th-Century social and reform movements and their impact on antebellum American society (e.g., the Second Great Awakening, the temperance movement, the early women's movement, Utopianism).
The spirit of the nineteenth century reform found expression in the effort to protect the rights and opportunities of all. Many other social reform movements began during this period, including education, women's rights, labor and working conditions, temperance, prisons and insane asylums. The labor organizations movement began during the 1830's-1850's and resulted in the establishment of a ten-hour workday in several sates. A new understanding of education led to movements for public education for children. The public school system became common in the North. The most intense and controversial movement was the abolitionists' efforts to end slavery. This effort split the country , hardened southern defense of slavery, and led to four years of bloody war. The abolitionist movement, affected admittance of states into the Union and the government's continued efforts to keep a balance between total numbers of free and slave states. Congressional legislation after 1820 reflected this. The Industrial Revolution had spread from Great Britain to the United States. Before 1800, most manufacturing activities were done in small shops or in homes, however starting in the early 1800's, factories with modern machines were built. This made it possible to produce goods faster. The eastern part of the country become a major industrial area although some industry developed in the West. At about the some time, improvements began to be made in roads, railroads, canals and steamboats. The increased ease of travel facilitated the westward movement as well as boosted the economy with faster and sharper shipment of goods and products. Some of the innovations included the Erie Canal that connected the interior and Great Lakes with the Hudson River and the coastal point of New York. Robert Fulton's Clermont, the first commercially successful steamboat, led the way in changing the fastest way to ship goods. Later, steam-powered railroads became the biggest rival of the steamboat as a means of shipping. The railroad became the most important transportation method to pen the west. With expansion into the interior of the country, the United States became the leading agricultural nation in the world. The hardy pioneer farmers produced a vast surplus and emphasis went to producing products with high-sales value. Implementations such as the cotton gin and reaper aided in production efficiencies. Travel and shipping were greatly assisted in areas not yet touched by railroad. Improvements, such as the National Road in the East and Oregon and Santa Fe in the West. People were exposed to works of literature, art, newspapers, drama, live entertainment, and political rallies. With better communication and travel, more information was desired about previously unknown areas of the country, especially in the West. The discovery of gold and other mineral wealth resulted in a literal surge of settlers. More industries and factories required more labor. Women, children and entire families worked the long hours and days. By the 1830's, the factories were even larger and employers began to hire immigrants who came to America in huge numbers. Efforts were made to organize a labor movement to improve working conditions and increase wages. Utopianism is the dream of or the desire to create the perfect society. By the nineteenth century few believed this was possible. One of the major causes of Utopianism is the desire for moral clarity. Against the backdrop of efforts of a young nation to define itself and ensure the rights and freedoms of its citizens, within the context of the second Great Awakening, it is easy to see how the reform movements, the religious sentiment, and the gathering national storm would lead to the desire to create the perfect society. Robert Owen was one of the utopian movement's major proponents. The Second Great Awakening was an evangelical Protestant revival that preached personal responsibility for one's actions, both individually and socially. This movement was led by preachers such as Charles Finley who traveled the country preaching the gospel of social responsibility. Social responsibility was a point of view taken up by the "mainline Protestant denominations" (Episcopal Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Congressional). Part of the social reform movement that led to an end to child labor, to better working conditions and to other changes in social attitudes, arose from this new recognition that the Christian faith should be expressed for the good of society. Closely allied to the Second Great Awakening was the temperance movement. This movement had the purpose had the purpose of ending the sale and consumption of alcohol and the purpose arose from religious beliefs, the violence that women and children experienced from heavy drinkers and from the effect of alcohol consumption on the work force. The Society for the Promotion of Temperance was organized in Boston in 1826. Public schools were established in many states to educate more children, with more literacy and more participation in literature and the arts, the younger nation developed a unique culture, one that was less dependent on Europe. Horace Mann grew up a poor child with little opportunity for education except for his small community library. He took full advantage of the library and was admitted to Brown University, from which he graduated in 1819. Mann practice law for several years and served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. He served on the committee of the first school funded by public tax dollars in Dedham, Massachusetts, and in 1837 was appointed secretary to the newly formed State Board of Education. Mann became a outspoken proponent of proponent of educational reform, and fought for better resources for schools and teachers. Mann planned the Massachusetts Normal School system for training new teachers. The compulsory public education that is taken for granted in the antebellum (pre-Civil War) America, and Mann faced opposition to his ideas. Shortly after Massachusetts adopted this system, New York followed suit. This lay the foundation for the present state-based educational system. Dorothea Dix was an advocated for public treatment and care for the mentally ill. In the early 1840s, Dix called attention to the deplorable treatment and conditions the mentally ill in Massachusetts were subjected to in a pamphlet entitled Memorial. Her efforts resulted in a bill that expanded the state hospital. I'd traveled to several other states, encouraging and overseeing the founding of state mental hospitals. She proposed federal legislation that would have sold public land with proceeds being distributed to the states to fund care for the mentally ill. The legislation was approved by Congress, however, using public money for social welfare was a contentious issue, and President Franklin Pierce vetoed it. It was during this period that efforts were made to transform the prison system and its emphasis on punishments into a penitentiary system that attempted rehabilitation. A group of women emerged in the 1840's who began the women's rights movement in the nations history. Among the early leaders were Elizabeth Candy Stanton, Lucretia Mott and Ernestine Rose. At this time few states recognized women's suffrage, property rights, sue for divorce or execute contacts. In 1869, Susan B. Anthony, Ernestine Rose and Elizabeth Candy Stanton founded that National Women's Suffrage Association. The Seneca Falls convention was gathering of women and men in 1848, in the New York mill town of Seneca Falls. The aim was to address the rights of women in the U.S. The growing momentum of the anti-slavery and discussion over the rights of black citizens had drawn attention to the rights of female citizens, who could not vote or hold important positions in American government. Some 300 people attended the convention, which was molded on the Declaration of Independence and called for the equal participation for women. The Seneca Falls Convention is considered an early milestone in the feminist movement. The following is a partial list of well-known Americans who contributed their leadership and talents in various fields and reforms during this period (*Emma Hart Willard, Catherine Esther Beecher and Mary Lyon for education of women, *Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman doctor, *Antoinette Louisa Blackwell, the first female minister, *Elihu Burritt and William Ladd for peace movements, *Horace Mann, Henry Barnard, Calvin E. Stowe, Caleb Mills, and John Swett for public education, *Benjamin Lundy, David Walker, William Lloyd Garrison, Isaac Hooper, Arthur and Lewis Tappan, Theodore Weld, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, James G. Birney, Henry Highland Garnet, James Forten, Robert Purvis, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Wendell Phillips and John Brown for the abolition of slavery/Underground Railroad, *Louisa Mae Alcott, James Fenimore Cooper, Washington Irving, Walt Whitman, Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Herman Melville, Richard Henry Dana, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Greenleaf Whittier, Edgar Allan Poe, Oliver Wendell Holmes, for writers, *John C. Fremont, Zebulon Pike, Kit Carson, as explorers. Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, Stephen Douglas, John C. Calhoun, as American statesman. Robert Fulton, Cyrus McCormick, Eli Whitney, investors. Noah Webster, American dictionary and spellers).
Analyze American foreign policy before and during WWII.
By the 1930's, the U.S. and the rest of the world entered a period of economic decline know as the Depression. Roosevelt tried tp pursue peace and cooperation, especially in regards to the American content and the nations of Central and South America. His policy was called the Good Neighbor Policy. In Europe matters became more difficult because the worldwide economic downturn had more effects there. Because of the problems in Europe, the isolationist mood in the United States gained support well into the late 1930's. With the rise of fascism in Germany and Italy war became inevitable. After the outbreak of war in 1939, the American government proclaimed a public stance of neutrality, while covertly and carefully doing what it could to aid its friends and allies. This involved the process that came to be known as Lend-Lease, in which the United States would give, on what was presumed a temporary basis, certain war supplies to the forces fighting Germany and its allies. At first, Lend-Lease went only to Great Britain. When Germany attacked the Soviet Union in June 1941, it went there as well.
Describe the increased role of the federal government in response to World War II and the Cold War and assess the impact of this increased role on regional economic structures, society and the political system.
During World War II Americans found it advisable to cede to the federal government a greater degree of control over the economy, key institutions and services to ensure their personal welfare and their security. This led to significant growth in both the reach and size of the federal government. This marked the culmination of a major change in the role of the federal government that many have called the rise of the welfare state. New challenges led to the growth of the power and control of the federal government. The attempts to bring the nation through both the Depression and the war saw much experimentation. Roosevelt's used of the radio to speak to the American people in his fireside chats permitted him to rally the populace and convince the public to consider new ideas and new approaches to the problems of the day. Essentially, Roosevelt convinced the nation that a more active role for the federal government, internationally and at home, would prevent another Depression and world war. In many ways, the period from 1945 to 1972 was a time of unprecedented prosperity for the nation. Wages increased, car and home ownership increased, average education levels when veterans of the war took the opportunity to receive a college education paid for by the G.I. Benefits. People gave the government this major role in perpetuating this prosperous society. Just as WWII had united the people in a common commitment to support the troops and win the war, they again rallied together to support the government in the Cold War.
Assess changes in American immigration policy in the 1920s.
Immigration has played a crucial role in the growth and settlement of the United States. With a large interior territory to fill and ample opportunity, the U.S. encouraged immigration through most of the nineteenth century, maintaining a almost completely open policy. Famine in Ireland and Germany in the 1840s resulted in more than 3.5 million ingredients from these two countries alone between the years of 1830 and 1860. Following the Civil War, rapid expansion in rail transportation brought the interior states within easy reach of new immigrants who still came primarily from Western Europe and entered the U.S. on the east coast. As immigration increased several states adopted individual immigration laws, and in 1875 the U.S. Supreme Court declared immigration a federal matter. After a huge surge in European immigration in 1880, the United States began to regulate immigration first by passing a tax on new immigrants, then by instituting literacy requirements an barring those with mental or physical illness. A large influx of Chinese immigration to the Western states resulted in the complete exclusion of immigrants from that country in 1882. In 1891, the Federal Bureau of Immigration was established. Even with these new limits in place, U.S. immigration remained relatively open to those from European countries, and increased steadily until World War I. With much of Europe left in ruins after WWI, immigration into the exploded in the years after the war. In 1920 and 1921, some 800,000 new immigrants arrived. Unlike previous immigrants who came mainly from Western European countries, the new wave of immigrants were from southern and Eastern Europe. The U.S. responded to this sudden shift in the makeup of new immigrants with quota system, first enacted by Congress in 1921. This system limited immigration in proportion to the ethnic groups that were already settled in the U.S. according to previous census records. This national-origins policy was extended and further defined by Congress in 1924. This policy remained the official policy the U.S. for the next forty years. Occasional challenges to the law from non-white immigrants re-affirmed that the intention of the policy was to limit immigration primarily to white, Western Europeans, who the government felt were best able to assimilate into American culture. Strict limitations on Chinese immigration were extended through the period, and only relaxed in 1940. In 1965, Congress overhauled immigration policy, removing the quotas and replacing them with a preference-based system. Immigrants reuniting with family members and those with special skills or education were given preference. As a result, immigration from Asian and African countries began to increase. The 40-year legacy of the 1920s immigration restrictions had a direct and dramatic impact on the makeup of modern American society.
Describe the major American Indian cultural groups and their contributions to early American society.
Native Americans lived in degrees of togetherness throught what we now call the United States. They adopt different customs, pursued different avenues of agriculture and food gathering. They made different types of weapons. They went to war with other tibes and established culture long before European contact. The Algonquians were the first to interact with the English settlers in Plymouth and other places. They lived in wigwams and wore clothing made from animal skins. They were skilled hunters and trappers. They know a great deal about farming. A man named Tisquantum (Squanto) encountered English and taught them how to plant corn and squash. The Iroquois, were fierce fighters who lived in the Northeast. They lived in long houses and wore clothes of buckskin. They grew corn, squash and beans. Five Iroquois tribes formed a federation for shared government. They also formed the False Face Society where medicine men shared their medical knowledge. The Seminoles and Creeks had a huge collection who lived in chickees (open, bark covered houses). They wore clothes of plant fibers and lived in the southeast. They were expert planters and hunters. They made canoes and made beaded necklaces. They were known for their struggle against the Spanish and English settlers. The Cherokee lived in the Southeast and were one of the most advanced tribes. They lived in domed houses and wore deerskin and rabbit fur. They had beautiful clay pottery and played lacrosse. The Plains Tribes lived in the Midwest. These tribes included Sioux, Cheyenne, Blackfeet, Comanche and Pawnee. These tribes lived in teepees and worse buffalo skins with a feather headdress. They were known for their ceremonies, like the Sun Dance. Some famous Plains people include Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, Sacajawea and Chief Joseph. The Pueblo lived in hoses in the desert. They made clothiers of wool and woven cotton, farmed crops, made pottery and kachina dolls. The Apaches lived in the Southwest in homes called wickiups (large bark, grass and branch). They believe everything in nature holds special powers. The Navajo also resided in the Southeast in hogans (round homes built with forked sticks). The painted in sand, made weapons, silversmithing and weavers. The Inuit lived in tents made from animal skins and igloos. The animal skins were made from seals and caribou. They were skilled fisherman. They used kayaks to take them through waterways. They created totem poles and ivory.
Evaluate the debate about American imperialistic policies before, during and following the Spanish-American War.
Once the American West was firmly under government control, the United States started to look beyond its shores. Overseas markets became important as American industry produced goods more efficiently and in greater quantities. The U.S. modernized and increased its Navy, which by 1900 ranked third in the world and gave the U.S. the means to become an imperial power. The first overseas possession, Midway Island, was annexed in 1867. By the 1880s, the U.S. pushed to expand trade and influence to Central and South American. In the 1890s, President Grover Cleveland invoked the Monroe Doctrine to intercede in Latin American affairs when it appeared Great Britain was going to exert its influence and power in the Western Hemisphere. In the Pacific, the United States supported American sugar planters who overthrew the Kingdom of Hawaii. Eventually Hawaii was annexed as a U.S. territory. During the 1890s, Spain controlled such overseas possessions as Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Cuba. Cubans rebelled against Spanish rule and the U.S. government found itself participating in the Spanish-American War of 1898. When the revolution began in Cuba, Spain attempted to put it down. When reports of gross atrocities reached America, public sentiment clearly favored the Cuban people. President McKinley refused to recognized the rebellion but affirmed the possibility of American intervention. In February 1898, the American battleship Maine was blown up at the Havana harbor. There was no proof that the Spanish were responsible but popular sentiment accused Spanish agents and war became inevitable. Two moths later, Congress declared war on Spain and the U.S. was quickly victorious. The peace treaty gave the U.S. Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Guam and Hawaii. Victory over the Spanish proved fruitful for American territorial ambitions. Congress passed legislation renouncing claims to annex Cuba but annexed Puerto Rico, kept a permanent deep-water naval harbor at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the Philippines and various other Pacific islands formerly possessed by Spain. The decision to occupy the Philippines, rather than grant it immediate independence, led to a guerrilla war. The Philippine Insurrection lasted until 1902. U.S. rule over the Philippines lasted until 1942.
Explain and analyze the struggle for control of North America among European powers and the emergence of the 13 Colonies under English rule
Through the 1700s the British searched for the Northwest Passage, an open-water route across North America to Asia, for wealth. The 1806 Lewis and Clark Expedition proved that no such route existed. Spain, France, England and Dutch led the way in expanding Western European civilization in the New World. Spain, England and France had strong monarchal governments and were struggling for power in Europe. Spains mighty Armada was defeated in 1588 and England became the most dominant navy in Europe. This allowed England and France to carry on their rivalry, which lead to the control of the American. Spain's influence extended across Florida, along the Gulf Coast and west to California. Spains influence was filled by the French. French control started from New Orleans to the north of Northern Canada. England settled the eastern seaboard, including parts of Canada and Maine to Georgia. The Dutch had New Amsterdam (New York) for a period, but ceded control to Britain. The Spanish settlements were started in the Caribbean with establishments of colonies in Puerto Rico, Cuba and Hispaniola at Santa Domingo. A settlement in St. Augustine, Florida in 1565 and a permanent settlement in Santa Fe. Spains reasons for involvement in the Americas included (Adventure, desire for land, expansion of Empire, desire for wealth and expansion of Roman Catholic influence on natives). France and England laid claim to some of the same seas. Ranches and Missions were built and the Natives who were in contact were introduced to domesticating animals, plants and seed from the old world that they had never seen before. Animals brought in included horses, cattle, donkeys, pigs, sheep, goats. The Spanish imported trees bearing apples, oranges, limes, cherries, pears, figs and almonds. All Spanish colonies belonged to the King of Spain who was an absolute monarch (God gave the right to rule). He used viceroys to rule for him. They were rewarded with land and other riches, such as silver mines. Natives were enslaved to work on the mines and plantations. They rapidly died from a lack of immunity from European disease, such as smallpox. Some escaped to mountains or jungles. Spain's control of the New World lasted more than 300 years, longer than England and France. Spain's remains in names of places, art, architecture, music, literature, law and cuisine. The Spanish settlement were established to defend the wealth of the Spanish Empire. The treasure found in the New World went back to the Spain. Spain didn't not set up its own industries and bought everything. As a result the amount of gold and silver was depleted and Spain unable to produce. Spanish treasure and ships were seized by the English and Dutch pirates who took the wealth to use in their own countries. The English moved into Florida and beyond the Appalachians. French traders and trappers and trappers made their way from Louisiana and other parts of New France into Spanish territory. By 1750's in Europe, Spain was no longer a powerful nation. Between 1689 and 1748, a series of armed conflicts between England and France took place. These conflicts spilled over into North America. New France consisted of land west of the Appalachian Mountains (St. Lawrence Valley, the Great Lakes, Mississippi Valley, Rockies wasteland). They gained control of Montreal and New Orleans. This gave France control of two major gateways into the vast interior of North America. This gateway made it possible for French to roam, explore, trade and gain other resources for the good of France. Most of France's settlements were along the St. Lawrence River. Trading posts were found along the upper Mississippi. The French intended the settlements to have vast estates for nobles that were worked by peasants. These houses became farming houses along Quebec to Montreal. French fur traders steeled uninhabited areas of New France. Fur traders sent fur back to France and made allies with natives, who benefitted from the exchange. The resources gained made France more powerful. It's navy and armories giving England stiff competition, and setting the stage for conflict in Europe and North America. The final conflict was the French and Indian War, which began in North America in 1754. In Europe its was called the Seven Years War. William Pitt was a strong, energetic, self-confident leader. He gave equal rank to British offices. In 1763 Spain, France and Britain met in Paris to draw up the Treaty of Paris to end the Seven Years War. Great Britain got most of India and North East America east of the Mississippi River. The control of New Orleans remained with France. England gained Louisburg and Cape Breton Island. From France, Spain gained Cuba and the Philippines.
Describe the effects of technological developments on society, politics, and the economy since 1945.
Post-WWII was a time of great hope and economic prosperity in America. Europe had been redefined and began to recover from the devastating effects of the war, however the threat of the spread of communism and the Cold War was a palpable feature of everyday life. The discoveries and innovations of the war years in science and technology were simultaneously directed to: peaceful and life-enhancing uses of technology, and the buildup of a sufficient military to ensure the security of the nation against future aggression. Significant advances in science and medicine made it possible to treat and prevent deadly and crippling diseases. Life expectancy and quality of life with such discoveries as the polio vaccine. Major technological developments since 1945 include (discovery of penicillin, manufacture of atomic bombs, supersonic airplanes, the transistor, long-playing records (LP'S), reflecting telescope, launched guided missiles, separation of plutonium, nuclear-powered submarines).
Identify and describe the political, social religious, economic and geographic factors that led to the formation of distinct regional and sectional identities and cultures.
Regionalism can be defined as the political division of an area into partially autonomous regions or to loyalty to the interests of a particular region. Sectionalism is generally defined as excessive devotion to local interests and customs. Religious interests, economic life and geography began to be understood as definitive of particular regions. The northeast tended toward industrial development. The south tended to rely upon agriculture. The west was an area of untamed open spaces where people settled and practiced agriculture and animal husbandry. Each of these regions came to be defined, at least to some extent, on the basis of the way people made their living and the economic and social institutions that supported them. In the industrialized north, the factory system tended to create a division between the tycoons of business and industry and the poor industrial workers. The south was characterized by cities that were centers of social and commercial life. The agriculture that supported the region was practiced on "plantations" that were owned by the wealthy and worked by slaves or indentured servants. The west was a vast expanse to be explored and tamed. Life on a western ranch was drastically different from either life in the industrial north or the agricultural south. The challenges of each region were also distinctly different. The role of children in the economy was different; the role of women was different; the importance of trade was different. Religion was called upon to support each unique regional style. The regional differences between North and SOuth came to a head over the issue of slavery. The rise of the abolitionist movement in the North, the publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin, and the issues of trade and efforts by the national government to control trade for regions coalesced around the issue of slavery in a nation that was founded on the principle of the inalienable right of every person to be free. As the South defended its lifestyle and its economy at the right of the states to self-determine, the North became stronger in its criticism of slavery, resulting in a growing sectionalism. As the nation extended its boarders into the lands west of the Mississippi, thousands of settlers streamed into this part of the country. They brought with them ideas and concepts and adapted them to the development of the unique characteristics of the religion. Equality for everyone, as stated in the Declaration of Independence, did not apply to minority groups, African-Americans,women, native peoples. Voting rights and the right of the public to hold office were restricted in varying degrees in each state. All of these factors decidedly affected the political, economic and social life of the country on slavery.
Compare and contrast the strengths and weaknesses of the Union and Confederacy.
South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union and the first shots of the war were fired at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. Both sides quickly prepared for war. The North had in its favor: a larger population, superiority in finance, transportation infrastructure, manufacturing, agricultural and natural resources. The North had in its favor; a larger population, superiority in resources. The North possessed most of the national gold, and controlled about 92% of all industries and almost all known supplies of copper, coal, iron and various other minerals. Since most of the nation's railroads were in the North and mid-West, men and supplies could be moved wherever needed. Food could be transported from the farms of the from farms of the mid-West to workers in the East and to soldiers on the battlefields. Trade with nations overseas could go on as usual due to Union control of the Navy and merchant fleet. The Northern states numbered 24 and included western (California and Oregon) and border (Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, Missouri and West Virginia) state. Eleven southern state that included South Carolina, Georgian Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas made up the Confederacy. Although outnumbered in population, the South was completely confident of victory. The Confederacy knew all they had do was fight a defensive war. The idea was to force the Union to commit to invade an are the size of Western Europe bog down the invaders until the Union would tire of the struggle and give up. Another advantage of the South was that a number of its best officers were graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and had years of army experience. Some had even exercised varying degrees of command in the Indian wars and the war with Mexico. Southerners were conditioned to living outdoors and were more familiar with horses and firearms than many men from the northeastern cities. Since cotton was such an important crop, Southerners felt that Britain and France would help the Confederacy because their textile mills were so dependent on raw cotton. The South had specific reasons and goals for fighting the war, more so than the North. The major aims for the Confederacy never wavered: to win independence, to govern themselves as they wished, and to preserve slavey. The Union was paramount. Only a few extremely fanatical abolitionists looked for war as a way to end slavery, however by the war's end, more northerners had come to believe that freeing the slaves was just as important as the restoration of the union.
Describe and analyze the physical, social, political and economic impact of the war on combatants, civilians, communities, states and the nation
The Civil War too more American lives than any other war in history, the South lost one-third of its soldiers in a battle compared to about one-sixth for the north. More than half of the total deaths were caused by disease and the horrendous conditions of field hospitals. Both sections paid a tremendous economic price but the South suffered more severely from direct damages. The effects of the Civil War were tremendous. It changed the methods of waging war and has been called the first modern war. It introduced weapons and tactics that were used extensively in wars of the late 1800's and army 1900s. Civil War solders were the first to fight in trenches, first to fight a unified command, first to wage a defense called "major cordon defense", a strategy of advance on all fronts. They were also the first to use repeating and breech loading weapons. Observation balloons were first used in the war in addition to submarines, ironclad ships and mines. Telegraphy and railroads were put to use first in the Civil War. It was considered a modern war because of the vast destruction and was a total war, involving the use of all resources of the opposing sides. By executive proclamation and constitutional amendment, slavery was ended. Sectionalism especially in the are of politics, remained strong for another 100 years but not to the degree nor with the violence as existed before 1861. The North's victory established that no state has the right to end of leave the Union. Lincoln never proposed to punish the South. He was most concerned with restoring the South to the Union in a program that was flexible and practical rather than rigid and unbending. His plans consisted of two major steps (1. All Southerners who took an oath of allegiance to the Union promising to accept all federal laws and proclamations dealing with slavery would receive a full pardon. The only ones executed from this were men who had resigned from the civil and military positions in the federal government to serve in the confederacy. Those who were part of the Confederate government, those in the Confederate army above the rank of lieutenant and Confederate who were guilty of mistreating prisoners of war and African-Americans. 2. A state would be able to write a new constitution, elect new officials and return to the Union equal to all other states on certain conditions: a minimum number of persons (at least 10% of those who were qualified voters in their states before secession from the Union who had voted in the 1860 elections must take an oath of allegiance). Congressional Radicals, such as Charles Summner in the Senate, considered the Southern States as complete political organizations and were now in the same positions as any unorganized territory and should be treated as such.Radical House leader Thaddeus Stevens considered the Confederate States, not as territories, but as conquered provinces and felt they should be treated that way. President Johnson refused to work with Congressional moderates, insisting on having his own way. As a result, the Radicals gained control of both houses of Congress and when President Johnson opposed their harsh measures, the House of Representatives impeached him and the Senate came within one vote of two-thirds majority needed to convict him.
Analyze the political, economic and geographic significance of the Panama Canal, the "Open Door" policy with China, Theodore Roosevelt's "Big Stick" Diplomacy, William Howard Taft's "Dollar" Diplomacy, and Woodrow Wilson's Moral Diplomacy.
Until the middle of the nineteenth century, American foreign policy and expansionism was essentially restricted to North America. America had shown no interest in establishing colonies in other lands. Specifically, the U.S. had stayed out of the rush to claim African territories. The variety of imperialism of imperialism that found expression under the administrations of McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt was not precisely comparable to the imperialistic goals of European nations. There was a type of idealism in American foreign policy that sought to use military power in territories and other lands only in the interest of human rights and to spread democratic principles. Much of the concern and involvement in Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean, was to link the two coasts of the nation and protect the American economy from European encroachment. The French began construction of the Panama Canal in 1880. The effort collapsed and the U.S. completed the Panama Canal in 1914. The Canal was an enormous task of complex engineering. The significance of the Canal is that it connects the Gulf of Panama in the Pacific Ocean. It eliminated the need for ships to sail around the tip of South America effectively reducing the sailing distance from New York to San Francisco by 8,000 miles (over half of the distance) and reducing shipping time and cost. The U.S. helped Panama win independence from Colombia in exchange for control of the Panama Canal Zone. A large investment was made in eliminating disease from the area, particularly yellow fever and malaria. After WWII, control of the Canal became an issue of contention between the U.S. and Panama. Negotiations toward a settlement began in 1977 that began the process of handing the Canal over to Panama. On December 31, 1999, control of the Canal was handed over to the Panama Canal Authority. The Open Door Policy refers to maintaining equal and industrial rights for the people of all countries in a particularly territory. The Open Door policy generally refers to China U.S. relations and was first suggested by the U.S. around the time of the Opium War (1829-1842). The essential purpose of the policy was to permit equal access to trade for all nations while protecting the integrity of the Chinese empire. This policy was in effect from about 1900 until the end of WWII. After the war, China was recognized as a sovereign state. When the Communist Party came to power in China, the policy was rejected until the late 1970's when China began to re-adopt a policy of encouraging foreign trade. Big Stick Diplomacy was a term adopted from an African proverb that meant "speak softly and carry a big stick." It described President Theodore Roosevelt's policy of the U.S. assumption of international police power in the Western Hemisphere to safeguard American economic interests in Latin America. The policy led to the expansion of the U.S. Navy and greater involvement in world affairs. Dollar Diplomacy describes U.S. efforts under President Taft to extend foreign policy goals into Latin American and East Asia via economic power. The designation derives from Taft's claim that U.S. interests in Latin America had policy in terms of protecting the Panama Canal. The practice of dollar diplomacy was from time to time anything but peaceful, particularly in Nicaragua when revolts or revolutions occurred, the U.S. sent troops to resolve the situation. Immediately upon resolution, bankers were sent in to loan money to the new regimes. The policy persisted until the election of Woodrow Wilson in 1913. Wilson repudiated the dollar diplomacy approach to forming policy witching weeks of his inauguration. His Moral Diplomacy became the model for American foreign policy. Wilson envisioned a federation of democratic nations as the foundation stones of world stability. Wilson promoted the power of free trade and international commerce as the key to a strong economy and engagement in world markets as a means of acquiring a voice in word events. This approach to foreign policy was based on three elements: a combat-ready military to meet the needs of the nation, promotion of democracy abroad, and economic growth through international trade.
Describe and evaluate the significance of changes in international migration patterns and their impact on society and the economy.
Until the middle of the twentieth century, voluntary migrations to America were primarily European. The United Nations crated the International Refugee Organization in 1946 In the next three years this organization relocated over a million European refugees. The impact of the Cold War on migration patterns was significant. American policies toward immigration became more open to political escapees from communist countries and the number of immigrants from third-world nation's increased dramatically. The end of the Cold War marked a shift in migration patterns. South to north migrations began to dominated global migration. U.S. immigration policy was carefully aligned with foreign policy. President Truman introduced the Displaced Persons Act in 1948 that facilitated the admission of more than 400,000 persons from Europe. During the 1950s, the immigration policy became restrictive. The McCarran-Walter Immigration Nationality Act of 1952 established a quota system that was clearly anti-Asian. The number of refugees from Eastern Europe far exceeded these quotas. Presidents Truman and Eisenhower urged extension of the quotas, and in time they were abandoned. Refugees from communist Europe were admitted under the President's Escapee Program of 1952 and the Refugee Relief Act of 1953. Asian immigration policies did not change after WWII.
Map an analyze the expansion of the U.S. boarders and the settlement of the West, and describe how geographic features influenced this expansion.
Westward expansion occurred for a number of reasons, the most important was economic. Cotton had become most important to most of the people who lived in the South. Cotton had become most important to most of the people who lived in the South. The effects of the industrial Revolution, which began in England, were being felt in the United States. With the invention of the power-driven machines, the demand for cotton fiber greatly increased because yarn was needed in spinning and weaving. Eli Whitney's cotton gin made the separation of the seeds from the cotton much more efficient. This, in turn, increased the demand and more farmers became involved in the raising and selling of cotton. The innovations and developments of better methods of long-distance transportation moved the Cotten in greater quantities to textile mills in England as well as the areas of New England and Middle Atlantic States. As prices increaced along with demand, southern farmers cleared more land to grow cotton. People moved west. They settled the areas and began to farm the fertile soil. This, in turn, demanded increased need for a large supply of cheap labor. The system of slavery expanded, both in numbers and in the movement to lands "west" of the South. Cotton farmers and slave owners were not the only ones headed west. Many others joined in the migration-trappers, miners, merchants, ranchers and others who sought their fortune. The Lewis and Clark expedition stimulated the westward push. Fur companies hired men, known as "Mountain Men", to search for pelts to supply the market and meet the demands of the East and Europe. These men, in their own ways, explored and discovered the many passes and trails that would eventually be used by settlers in their treks west. The California Gold Rush also had a large influence on the movement west. The availability of cheap land and the expectation of great prompted thousands, including immigrants, to travel across the Mississippi River and settle the Great Plains and California. The primary focuses of the new western economy were farming, mining and ranching. Both migration and the economy were facilitated by the expansion of the railroad and the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869. There were also religious reasons for the westward expansion. Missionaries who traveled west with fur traders encouraged settlement. By the 1840's, the population increases in the Oregon territory were about a thousand people a year. People of many different religions and cultures as well as Southerners with slaves made their way west for political reasons.
Of the thirteen English colonies, the greatest degree of religious toleration was found in:
A) Maryland B*) Rhode Island C) Pennsylvania D) Delaware
The year 1619 was a memorable year for the colony of Virginia. Three important events occurred resulting in lasting effects on US history. Which one of the following is not one of the events?
A) Twenty African slaves arrived B*) The London Company granted the colony charter making it independent C) The colonists were given the right by the London Company to govern themselves through representative government in the Virginia House of Burgesses D) The London Company sent to the colony 60 women who were quickly married, establishing families and stability in the colony. In the year 1619, the Southern colony of Virginia had an eventful year including the arrival of twenty African slaves, the right to self-governance through representative government in the Virginia House of Burgesses (their own legislative body), and the arrival of sixty women sent to marry and establish families in the colony. The London Company did not, however grant the colony a charter in 1619.
Analyze the evolution of American Indian policy up to the Civil War.
During the American Revolution the British competed for the allegiance of Native Americans east of the Mississippi River. Many Native Americans sided with the British in the hope of stopping the expansion of the American colonies into the lands they occupied. By the terms of the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary War, a large amount of land occupied and claimed by American Indians was ceded to the United States. During the nineteenth century the nation expanded westward. This expansion and settlement of new territory forced the Native Americans to continue to move further west. The Native Americans were gradually giving up their homesteads, sacred sites and burial grounds of their ancestors. Some of the American Indians chose to move west. Many, however were relocated by force. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 authorized the government to negotiate treaties with Native Americans to provide land west of the Mississippi River in exchange for lands east of the river. This policy resulted in the relocation of more than 100,000 Native Americans. Many of the native chiefs were forced to sign the treaties. One of the worst examples of "Removal" was the Treaty of New Echota. This treaty was signed by a faction of the Cherokees rather than the actual leaders of the tribe. When the leaders attempted to remain on their ancestral lands, the treaty was enforced by President Martin Van Buren. The removal of the Cherokee's came to be known as the "Trail of Tears" and resulted in the deaths of more than 4,000 Cherokees, mostly due to disease. The next paste of the government's policy toward Native Americans was to purchase their land in treaties in order to continue national expansion. This created tension with the states and settlers. Migration and settlement were not easy. As settlers moved west they encountered Native American tribes who insisted on their natural rights to lands their ancestors had lived on for generations. Resentment of the encroachment of new settlers was particularly strong among the tribes that had been ordered to relocated to "Indian Country" prior to 1860.
Describe the geography, economic life, and culture of California's American Indian peoples, as well as their relationship with the environment.
Geographically California can be understood in terms of four primary sections: the coast, the mountains, the Central Valley, and the deserts. California offers a wide variety of habitats and many species of plants and animals, as well as climates. As a result, there was great cultural diversity among the early people of California. These differences included housing, dress kingship system, political organizations and religious beliefs and practices. Each culture has its own story of creation, but most anthropologists believe that early native population was descended from ancient people who crossed the Bering Land Bridge that once connected Asia and North America. There is no certainty about when the first people reached California, but there is widespread belief that Native Americans lived in that region for 15,000 years before first European explorers visited the California coast. Most California Native Americans subsisted by hunting and gathering, but they also managed the natural resources. Tribes pruned plants and trees, culled animal populations, and periodically burned ground-cover to enrich earth. The Cahuilla dug wells in the deserts and created pools by building up the sand around wells. They cultivated melons, squash, beans and corn. The Yuma's, who lived near the lower Colorado River, planted corn, pumpkins and beans in the mud after the annual floods of the river. The primary food for most tribes was the acorn. Hunters had access to deer, antelope, elk, sheep and bears. Fish were plentiful in lakes, rivers, streams and ocean. The number of tribes, cultures and languages of the early Native Californians was vast. There were seven groups of languages: Penutian, Hokan, Utian, Yukian, Algic, Uto-Aztecan and Na-Dene. More than 100 tribes have been identified and they have been further subdivided into tribekets or groups of villages. It is believed that there were as many as 500 of these tribelets. Due to the great diversity of the native communities, the state is generally divided into six culture areas. The Southern Culture Area was home to some of the most populous tribes. Some of these communities has as many as 2,000 residents. The Kumeyaay migrated each year as plants in their territory ripened. The Cahuilla hunted with bows and arrow, nets, traps or by throwing sticks at small animals. The women gathered nuts and fruits. They also planted corn, squash, beans and melons when there was sufficient water. The Tongva tribe had a structured society that was divided into distinct classes. The villages of the Chumash sometimes included as many as 2,000 people and generally included a storehouse, sweat-house, cemetery, ceremonial enclosure and playing field. The Chumash were skilled fisherman and navigators who made canoes and porpoises and traveled between the coast and the many islands off shore. They also produced spectacular colorful rock paintings. The Central Culture Area included about 60% of all of the Native people of California. The climate was mild and hunting and gathering was not easy. Their tools and weapons were unsophisticated, but their basketry was quite advanced. These groups were organized into tribelets and small villages. The people of the villages were territorial and forbid trespassing. However, clashes between tribes were minor. The Youkuts were hunters and gatherers as well as fisherman. They are notable for the development of hunting strategies such as wearing animal disguises and building traps for quail. The Miwok groups were spread over a large area and constructed dwellings differently in these areas that ranged from earth covered homes that were partly underground to thatched huts, to bark slab structures. Each of the tablets. Was autonomous. The Pom, actually several groups of native people, were particularly known for their basketry. The Northwestern Culture Area was notable for tribes that valued material wealth. The possession of certain prized items determined social status. Political leadership belonged to the wealthiest. The Yurok lived along the Klamath River in Permanente villages of distinctive dwellings built of split planks. Their proximity to the redwood forests provided the wood which was made into numerous household items and dugout canoes. The Hupa lived near the trinity River. Wealth determined social rank. They subsisted primarily on salmon and acorns. Their religion included the "world-renewal rituals" of the White Deerskin and Jumping Dances. The Shasta lived in the mountain area of northwestern California. They settled in river valleys or at the mouths of rivers. In the villages, individual families owned hunting and fishing grounds, tobacco plots and oak trees. They traded with their neighbors. The Northeastern Culture Area was sparsely settled. Some of the tribes in this area occupied lands and lived much like tribes in other areas. Other tribes, however lived more desolate areas subsisted on small game and gathered seeds and roots. The Achuamawi lived along the Pit River. They dug pits to trap deer and other animals. Deer skins were used to make caps, capes, belts, moccasins, leggings, skirts and quivers. They had elaborate puberty rituals for girls, extreme mourning rites and respected Shamans. About half of their shamans were women. The Atsugewi lived in rugged valleys and barren plains. They valued and respected hard work. They fished with baskets and nets, hunted small game in groups and individually hunted large game. Which they shared with the community. They set aside every sixth day for rest and held an annual celebration to which they invited people of neighboring villages. The Great Basic Culture Area included the areas along the current eastern border and the eastern deserts of the southern part of the state. Food and water are scarce in this area. The Tubatuabal lived in the southern foothills of the Sierra Nevada. They were divided into three groups, each spoke a different dialect. These tribes were led by a headman (Timisoara) who was elected for life by a council of elders. His function was primarily dispute resolution and representation of the tribe when dealing with other groups. They subsisted by hunting, fishing and gathering. The Owens Valley Paiute lived in an area that migrate frequently to seek food and water. The men hunted and the women gathered. This group was notable for its development of system agriculture that utilized communal labor. They built dams and ditches to irrigate wild plants. The Colorado River Culture Area was on the western edge of the Southwest Culture Area. These Native Americans hunted and gathered and grew beans, corn and pumpkins. They considered themselves more unified than the tribes that divided themselves into tribelets. They traveled extensively outside their own regions. The people of this area include the Quechuan (Yuma), the Halchidhoma and the Mohave
Assess American foreign policy in the aftermath of World War II, using geographic, political and economic perspectives.
The American isolationist mood was given a schooling and lasting blow in 1941 with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Declaring itself "the arsenal of democracy", it entered the Second World War and emerged not only victorious, but also as the strongest power on Earth. At the end of the Second World War, the United States perceived its greatest threat to be the expansion of Communism. To that end, it devoted a large share of its foreign policy, diplomacy, and both economic and military might to combat it. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the Soviet Union emerged as the second strongest power on Earth. The United States embarked on a policy known as Containment. It's purpose was to stop communism from spreading. The Marshall Plan and the "Truman Doctrine" were implemented to assist in this policy. The Marshall Plan sent economic aid to Europe after the war. The Truman Doctrine offered military aid to countries, such as Greece, that were in danger of communist upheaval. This led to the ear known as the Cold War in which the United States took the lead along with the Western European nations against the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc countries. It was also at this time that the United States joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or NATO, an organization formed in 1949 for the purpose of opposing communist aggression. The United Nations was formed in 1945 to replace the defunct League of Nations to ensure world peace. In the 1950's, the United States implemented the Eisenhower Doctrine to maintain peace in a troubled Middle East. The possession of nuclear weapons by the United States quickly led to the development of similar weapons by other nations and massive fear of the effects of the use of these weapons, including radiation poisoning and nuclear winter. The United States became involved in a number of world conflicts. Each had at the core the struggle against communist expansion. Among these were the Korean War (1950-1953), the Vietnam War (1965-1975), and the various continuing entanglements in Central America, South America, and the Middle East. By the early 1970's, under Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, the United States and its allies embarked on a policy that came to be known as Detente. This policy's goal was to ease tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union. By the early 1980's, the U.S. embarked on what some saw as a renewal of the Cold War. The U.S. became more involved in trying to prevent communist insurgency in Central America and expanded its armed forces and the development of space-based weapon systems. As this occurred, the Soviet Union found itself unable to compete. In 1989 the breakdown of the Communist Bloc began, with the collapse occurring in early 1990's.