Farewell and good luck

Remember that (theoretically) this blog will survive virtually forever, and that people doing Google and other searches will read your work months and even years from now -- and you should be very proud, because your Blog Entries and Comments are generally comprehensive, thoughtful and perceptive.

Thank you all for a terrific class!

****REMINDER**** Blog Comments!

Don't forget your Blog Comments! Make sure you have written a total of SIX (6) Comments for all the Blog Entries by Wednesday at noon.

And be sure to follow all the directions for these comments, and support your opinions with a specific example or quote from one of our sources.

Also, don't worry about reading Chapter 31! Just finish up with Chapter 30 and the readings in Constructing the American Past.

Final Exam Format and Scope

As we discussed, this exam will combine an objective portion with an essay question. The objective portion will resemble the midterm and include identifications, fill-in-the-blanks, matching, and chronologies.

The questions will cover the period between 1941 and 1988, and will focus on important events, people, concepts, and legislation discussed in the textbook and our lectures. As you already know, your class outlines should be especially helpful in identifying key facts from our lectures, and the textbook provides useful chronologies and overviews. The outlines from tonight and for our final class meeting tomorrow have all been posted on the Course Outlines page.

The essay question will be cumulative and will ask you to consider the important topics, themes, people, events, concepts, social movements, legislation, etc. of the different historical eras we have studied and present your own conclusions and interpretations. A successful essay will demonstrate a solid knowledge of historical facts and a clear understanding of their significance and skillfully weave them together in a coherent and persuasive narrative.

Final Team Standings

Congrats on another good game, teams! I hope you found them useful -- I have enjoyed them.

Bull Moose Party 65 Cumulative 260 THE WINNAH! WAY TO GO!!!

Team Connery 55 Cumulative 225 A valiant effort!! Great job!!!

The Arsenal of Democracy

Megan
Response #8

1. “99 Ways to Share the Meat” This bulletin was distributed during WWII to stress that food consumption should be moderated. The reduction of meat consumption by everyday citizens helped America because then there was more to feed the troops. This struck me as being stereotypical to ask the "home front" which consisted of mostly women to obtain because the big, tough men needed the meat to fight the enemy. However, after the war, it was a noticeably male-centered society where no one would blink an eye at this poster. The poster also suggests that minimizing meat intake was a patriotic act, for it was good for the nation. The bottom tagline reads "Share and share alike is the American Way."

2. “A Children’s Charter in Wartime” · Why would children become important in this conflict? Children were an important aspect of WWII on the home front because they were the ones who would later be responsible for the US as one of the most powerful nations on earth. It was in the nation's best interest to keep the children healthy (as to not tie up funds in children's medical costs) - ready to grow up to be a productive member of society. Children's welfare was so integral that the Commission goes so far as to saying that it was our "wartime responsibility" to safeguard the nation's children (A Children's Charter in Wartime, Pg 1). The U.S. government's goal was not only to protect freedom overseas but keep our nation's democracy secure for the future. The belief was that if America's children were healthy and strong, America's future was healthy and strong. It does make sense.

3. "A War Job in Your Own Home"
Through simple human psychology, the U.S. government motivates housewives to save cooking fats. The bulletin suggests that housewives in particular are urgently needed in a crucial war effort. Their task is both a "vital" and special one. This creates women who feel that they are valuable, needed and appreciated members of society. They are participating in the war, helping their loved ones on the front lines. When women were recognized as beneficial and essential to the war, it made women happy and supportive. Another motivating tactic is to play upon ideas of civic duty and nationalism. If you do this action, you are a good, patriotic American. The bulletin makes the task seem like it is an absolutely crucial one for the war effort. In reality, the conserving of fats was probably low on the list of ways to win the war. But, more important than conserving cooking fats was boosting the morale on the home front --which was what this bulletin did.

4. “Indian’s in the War”
This document served as positive P.R. for America’s relations with the Native Americans. It honored their dead, told stories of their heroism and sacrifice. This created a feeling of community – the Native Americans as an important, valued part of the United States. The document hoped to convey to the Native Americans that the U.S. government recognized them as a strong, respected people. Again, the government uses psychological tactics in public relations to gain support for war efforts. The language used to describe the Native Americans was kind of ignorant. They were spoken of as if they were strange, exotic people who were assimilating to society from their barbaric history. They were praised for their action the way a parent praises a young child who performed a remedial task correctly for the first time. Their culture struck the reporters, such as Ernie Pyle, as primitive. He comments on two brothers who do not share the same family surname, “I guess that’s the Navajo custom, though I never knew it before” (Pg 12). They are described as “these people” – not “us” but “them.” I think it’s worthy of noting because it shows Americans unchanged cultural prejudices. The The ceremonial dances were portrayed in a circus-like, barbaric ritual to the “great gods of the sky.” This seemed to distract their fellow soldiers. The language barrier is mentioned as whites are frustrated that they do not understand what the Native Americans say. Pyle writes that the secret orders were given in Navajo and since “practically nobody in the world understands Navajo except another Navajo” his Indian friend had to translate it. The women were barely mentioned except that they were the wives of fallen soldiers.

5. “Labor Goes to War”
The purpose of the document was to rally the mass factory and industry workers of the American public to rally behind the war. It did this not by asking but by telling them, reminding them of their pledge to the country (even though this never did exist) of “full cooperation and participation.” The labor targeted is the low to middle class unskilled and skilled labor, primarily in urban areas. This meant poor whites, African-Americans and immigrants. Since the men were at war, women and children were actively working in industry. The document conveyed that their sacrifice (enduring bad working conditions, not striking & boycotting industry) was holding the seams of American democracy together. It tells labor that they are not only important but just as important as the soldiers fighting on the frontlines. Dissent was not a possibility for labor –they were that their jobs, unfulfilled would lead to dire consequences. The message is clear. The Special Assistant to the President signs off, “Labor will never fail the cause of freedom.” The target audience was one that valued the freedoms that America granted to them. The document pushes the importance of their cooperation as crucial to the survival of these freedoms they cherish, that their grandparents immigrated to America to give them.

Civil Rights

Megan
Response #10

We Shall Overcome: African Americans and the Second Reconstruction, 1945 - 1965

1. Music of the Civil Rights Movement

The music reveals that the Civil Movement wenergizedzed and hopeful of what the future held. African Americans were no longer letting themselves be disrespected -- they were taking a stand for thedignityity. And there was nothing that anyone could do to change that. They sung about the hate and violence they endured like in the song "In the Mississippi River" which was written as a result of the discovery of the bodies of civil rights leaders in the Mississippi River. But no matter how bad it got, they held on and 'kept their eyes on the prize.'

Back since the days of slaverAfricancAmericansans have been rooted in their religious faiths. The people found solace in their belief in what the Scriptures told them about salvation in heaven. Religion was so important to the slaves that they would go to church even though when they returned they would be beaten for it. African American churches were the focal point of their communities. "We Shall Overcome" is an example of how religious spirituals carried on generation after generation from the days of slavery. Originally the song was sang by slaves tired from a long day working on the fields (History of We Shall OvercomeReligiousous overtones were not hidden. They were spoken clearly and proudly as in "Woke Up This Morning with My Mind on Freedom," the refrain echoes "Hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah."

They sang the religious spirituals calling on God to help them in the faces of those who persecuted them. As a result, the songs functioned in forcing those persecuting them to reflect and possibly recognize injustice. It posed the question, 'If these people were on the side of God then whose side am I on?" That questiresonatedded heavily in the minds of Americans.

The songs functioned in the civil rights movement in uniting it. It was non-combative and impossible to ignore. The songs of the people were loud, proud, and powerful. They were instrumental in boosting weary spirits.


The strong role of the federal government supporting the supreme court rulings was a crucial to the Civil Rights. But their intervention did not come naturally. It took Arkansas Governer George C. Wallace to test the power of State government in overriding civil rights rulings for the federal government to act.

In terms of getting the federal government to intervene, the support of the public was necessaryarticlertical mentions television reporters and journalists presence at these conflicts. Their reporting the violent conflicts helped gain that public support for the civil rights movement.

"I don't see how President Johnson can send troops to Vietnam - I don't see
how he can send troops to the Congo - I don't see how he can send troops to
Africa and can't end troops to Selma, Ala.," Martin Luther
King said.
3. Malcolm X

The Nation of Islam advocated nationalism and racial seperatism. This clip resonates these beliefs -- Malcom X calls for strong black unity and respect for themselves, their people and their history. His beliefs evolved farther left anradical than calthan the Nation of Islam and he eventually left the Nation. Outspoken, he preached self-defense and liberation of blacks -- both of which by any means necessary. This starkly contrasted to the non-violent beliefs of Martin Luther King Jr. who advocated peaceful resistance. Both civil rights leaders were inspired by leaders of the Middle East -- Malcom X had Elijah Mohammed and King had Ghandi. Both meintelligentllegent men deeply rooted in good morals. In the audio of Malcom X, the leader condemns alcohol, prostitution, gambling and organized crime. Both King and Malcom X feel these evils of society are tearing the black community apart. They both want the white community to be shocked and awaken themselves to the injustices in America. They both are eminent speakers -- when they spoke, they were heard loud and clear. Their voices inspired people to act.

The Sleeping Giant Awakes: Mexican Americans, 1962 - 1975

Cesar Chevez and Dolores Huerta co-founded the United Farm Workers of America that began as an organization that functioned to get workers unemployment insurance and quickly formed into a union of farm workers. The UFW became very powerful and launched boycotts and strikes that were instrumental in advancing the interests of farm workers.

Previously, Mexican-Americans rarely voted for a number of reasons. For one, the process of voter registration were particularly difficult for Spanish-speaking workers. Secondly, the American political system was not properly explained so the workers remained ignorant to the importance of their lost vote. But with the Crystal City election, Mexican-Americans attracted the attention of America when they emerged as the "Sleeping Giant" of American politics. This group of Mexican-Americans in Crystal City, TX developed into the Raza Unita Party, the first time a third-party in US politics had formed on ethnic lines.

Interestingly enough, Jrez Angel Gutierrez, a Mexican-American leader in Crystal City, TX attended law school at Southern Methodist University.

The Mexican-American movement was shaped by the non-violent beliefs championed by Martin Luther King Jr. and Ghandi. Chavez fasted to draw media attention. They used boycotts, strikes, and sit-ins like the African-American movement. But, like the African-American movement, the Mexican-American movement was not free from violent conflicts. The National Labor Relations Act was a direct result of the violence directed towards their efforts.

500 Years of Surviving in a Land that Once was Ours: Native American Movement

The Indian Movement, unlike the African American movement used takeovers to gain media attention. One of the more well-known takeovers is that of the takeover of Alcatraz Island. The differences in the way it was reported varies. Some saw the stand on Alcatraz as criminal treachery against the US government. The Indians were proud that they took a stand for their land that was taken from them -- asking the government to grant them juristiction over it.


Wounded Knee:

The native Americans are described in savage, barbaric wording. Their cultural differences are viewed as silly, unimportant. They were clearly looked down upon by the whites, even in 1973, almost 100 years after the initial 1890 massacre. It showed that not much has changed in terms of prejudice in America and that the Native American movement still had lots of ground to cover.

The Cold War

Megan W.
Response #9

1.) Why are these important speeches and events in the origins and course of what came to be called the “Cold War?”

Truman Doctrine, 12 March 1947
The Truman Doctrine authorized US support to (anti-communist nations) Germany and Greece. The Truman Doctrine gave precedent to justify support to any country the American government considered to be threatened by communist (USSR) expansionism. This policy was called the Containment Policy.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), 4 April 1949
According to this article in the Dallas Morning News published the day before NATO was official, NATO was a “grande alliance between the non-Communist Western World…. to pool their defenses against Russia.” This event is significant in the climate of the Cold War because it further advances the playing ground between the US and USSR. In response, the USSR and Western Germany formed a similar agreement called the Warsaw Pact.

Marshall Plan, 3 April 1948
The mission of the Marshall Plan was to help rebuild the Allied nations in Europe. This included Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Demark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. The US hoped that their support would result in repelling communist expansion. It worked.

The “Iron Curtain” is a phrase that Churchill spoke in his significant 1946 speech in the heartland that refers to as the boundary line which separated Europe into two divided areas of political power. It was heard loud and clear. His words resonate in the minds of Americans, “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.” There is now a concrete ‘wrong side of the tracks’ to Americans and the Allies. The significance of this is that the tensions and divisions with the Soviet Union were clearly articulated by the President of the United States. The speech led to a rallied the opposition (throughout America and Europe) to USSR expansion worldwide. This really unified anti-communist countries together and resulted in a powerful force to be reckoned with.

"The Domino Theory"

The significance of Eisenhower’s own words (1954) describing what he thought would happen if Communism expanded stirred the American psyche. This alarmist response, in line with similar responses that led to the Red Scare, rallied support for this foreign policy theory – that if one country came under Communist power then more would naturally follow in sequence like dominos. Later on, this same idea was applied to the United States role in Vietnam. The image of dominos falling one after another was frightening to any Democracy-loving citizen of the world and fostered mass support for the ideas of containment (i.e. Truman Doctrine).

2-3.) Why was it called a “cold” war? Where were the battlefields of the Cold War, and how was it fought between about 1946 and 1963? Provide specific examples.

Walter Lippmann coined the term cold war in 1947 in his book that outlined how the USSR and the allies’ post-WW2 years had led to a climate of war without actual military warfare. Instead of direct military action, the was between the US and USSR was more of an arms (including nuclear) race that climaxed with the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 which was as direct a confrontation that the war produced. Although there were no military battles, the governments of US and USSR were clearly in a wartime mode – alliances developed, propaganda spread, and espionage flourished. It was more of a psychological war than one of brute physical force like those in the past (WWI, Spanish-American, et.) involving military battle.

The Cold War was a power-battle between America and the USSR and was fought in a variety of ways. Since the combat never came to physical blows, the most important battles are not as obvious as those in WWI and WWII seen in mass bloodshed and revolution.

Unlike most races, there is an intended goal in an arms race other than be in front of the competition – no matter what. The arms race began as a struggle for military domination between the US and USSR. In order to out-do the other nation, the nations would constantly try to surpass the other in military strength, strategic colonization, technology and weaponry.

Struggle over military dominance is clear in the crisis in Berlin, Germany in 1948-1949 when the USSR blocked West Berlin, later dividing into East and West Berlin.

The Korean War (1950-1953) displayed how the Cold War played out in global conflicts. The USA saw the war in Korea as evidence for their reasons to take action against communism. It was the domino theory in action. The American involvement is regarded by the US as a police action (Roosevelt Corollary) rather than war. With the Korean War came increased technology in fighter jets, radar and infa-red driven by the race between Americans and Soviets.

The nuclear arms race that escaladed between the two nations caused the most impact to everyday American life. People dealt with the threats of the Cold War in daily life – safety procedures and bomb shelters were common. The threat of nuclear war was a historical first that the Cold War presented. When the Russians announced they had nuclear weapons, Americans – frightened and panicked, rallied stronger than ever to win the battle between the US and USSR.

And to win battle, the constant one-upmanship between the two nations applied to everything – colonization, education, military, space exploration, economy, to name a few. The Russians launched Sputnik, the first satellite, and Americans were really angry that they had won the “Space Race.” NASA was pushed as well as strong math and science education.


4. How did this war abroad affect domestic events and policies, and vice versa? Provide specific examples.

The Cold War dictated how the US and USSR operated – especially their foreign affairs. The policy of containment remained the foreign policy of the US against Soviet expansion after Churchill declared that “an iron curtain has descended across the [European] continent.” The Truman Doctrine (1947) pledged the United States to the containment of communism. The Marshall Plan (1947) helped support the Allies in Europe to re-build after WWII. The help was not for good will but in the interest of suppressing Soviet imperialism.

The policy of containment led to the development of military alliances: the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (1950). In response to NATO, the USSR collaborated within months to form the Warsaw Pact, which included East Germany.

Domestically, the Psychological Strategy Board was created for the purpose of creating anti-Communist propaganda campaigns in 1951. The next year, the Immigration and Nationality Act tightened immigration and barred homosexuals from the United States. This is an example of the anti-communist paranoia spreading to other avenues of dissent.

Idaho WWII prison camp controversy flares

Idaho WWII prison camp controversy flares
By CHRISTOPHER SMITH, Associated Press Writer Fri Jun 23, 3:07 PM ET

HUNT, Idaho - The National Park Service wants Congress to remove the word "internment" from the name of a national park commemorating a World War II prison camp for Japanese-Americans.

In a management plan for the Minidoka Internment National Monument finalized this week, the Park Service says the term legally means imprisonment of civilian enemy aliens during wartime and does not accurately reflect the government's forced relocation of thousands of U.S. citizens of Japanese descent.

The agency wants the name changed to Minidoka National Historic Site, which would match with the only similar prison camp under its protection, California's Manzanar National Historic Site.

[snip]

Some felt "internment" did not accurately describe what happened there, while others wanted to emphasize the injustice by changing the name to "Minidoka Concentration Camp National Historic Site," King said.

James Azumano, leader of the internees' association, said his group plans to discuss the name during a pilgrimage there next month.

"It is a real dilemma and a constant challenge: How politically correct do you want to be over what at the time was a civil rights atrocity?" said Azumano, of Salem, Ore. "It's a struggle with terminology that continues today. What are you going to call Guantanamo 50 years from now?"

At its peak in 1943, the Minidoka camp became one of the largest cities in Idaho, housing 9,397 people, primarily from Seattle and Portland, Ore. It closed Oct. 28, 1945, and was dismantled. The 73-acre park was created in early 2001 by President Clinton.

All Web Assignments have been posted

Your next set of Blog Comments should follow the same format as the previous comments.

• Comments #1 & 2: For each of your other classmates' Blog Entries, identify an argument or opinion with which you agree or disagree, and explain why, and support your own argument with an example from either the Web Assignments or other evidence we have reviewed, being sure to properly cite your source.

The first 2 of the three final Web Assignments, #9 & #10, have been posted

A bit out of order for now, as I will post #8 later.

Please let me know immediately if you have any trouble accessing any of the documents, images, video clips, audio files, or music files.

Read each assignment and all the questions carefully, and respond completely to all questions asked.

All Blog Entries must be completed no later than 6:00 p.m. Monday, June 26. All Comments must be completed no later than 12:00 p.m., Wednesday, June 28.

Good luck and as always, I look forward to reading your entries.

Was J. Edgar Hoover a cross-dresser?

Well, Lucas, as I told you, I didn't think that story was true, and the credible evidence seems to indicate that he was not. But read these for yourself and see what you think.

7-15-02
Did J. Edgar Hoover Really Wear Dresses?
By Ronald Kessler

"Mr. Kessler is the author of a new book on the FBI, The Bureau: The Secret History of the FBI, available from Amazon.com.

In 1993, Anthony Summers, in his book Official and Confidential: The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover, claimed that Hoover did not pursue organized crime because the Mafia had blackmail material on him. In support of that, Summers quoted Susan L. Rosenstiel, a former wife of Lewis S. Rosenstiel, chairman of Schenley Industries Inc., as saying that in 1958, she was at a party at the Plaza Hotel where Hoover engaged in cross-dressing in front of her then-husband and Roy Cohn, former counsel to Senator Joe McCarthy.

[snip of a couple of lurid tales]

It was episodes such as these, Summers declared, that the Mafia held over Hoover's head. "Mafia bosses obtained information about Hoover's sex life and used it for decades to keep the FBI at bay," the jacket of the book says. "Without this, the Mafia as we know it might never have gained its hold on America."

Rosenstiel, a former bootlegger during Prohibition, was well-acquainted with Mafia figures such as Frank Costello, originally Francesco Castiglia. He was also friends with Hoover, having endowed the J. Edgar Hoover Foundation in 1965 with $1 million. But Susan was Summers's primary source for the cross-dressing story, and she was not exactly a credible witness. In fact, she served time at Riker's Island for perjuring herself in a 1971 case.

[snip]

While there was always speculation about Hoover and Tolson, there were never any rumors about Hoover cross-dressing. Oliver "Buck" Revell, a former associate director of the FBI, noted that if the Mafia had had anything on Hoover, it would have been picked up in wiretaps mounted against organized crime after Appalachin. There was never a hint of such a claim, Revell said.

Hoover was more familiar to Americans than most presidents. The director of the FBI simply could not have engaged in such activity at the Plaza, with a number of witnesses present, without having it leak out. The cross-dressing allegations were as credible as McCarthy's claim that there were 205 known Communists in the State Department, yet the press widely circulated the claim without further investigation. That Hoover was a cross-dresser is now largely presumed to be fact even by sophisticated people.

Ronald Kessler, "Did J. Edgar Hoover Really Wear Dresses?" History News Network, 15 July 2002, http://hnn.us/articles/814.html (21 June 2006).

From a site called The Straight Dope:

"But as a matter of fact, the alleged transvestitism of John Edgar Hoover, director of the FBI from 1924 until his death in 1972, has never been established, and reputable historians say it's an urban legend. The story probably got its start because of much more plausible rumors that J. Edgar was gay. He and his right-hand man, Clyde Tolson, were constant companions for more than 40 years, even vacationing together, and both remained lifelong bachelors. (Hoover lived with his mom until she died in 1938.)"

"Was J. Edgar Hoover a cross-dresser?" The Straight Dope, 6 Dec 2002, http://www.straightdope.com/columns/021206.html (21 June 2006).

This one reminded me of the New Deal "striking baby"

SOURCES: Micah Wright, "The Propaganda Remix Project," http://homepage.mac.com/leperous/PhotoAlbum1.html (21 June 2006); LC-USZC2-939, WPA Federal Art Project, circa 1936-38, "By the People, For the People: Posters from the WPA, 1936-1943," http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaposters/wpahome.html (21 June 2006).

These also strike me as especially interesting and provocative...what do you all think?

SOURCE: Micah Wright, "The Propaganda Remix Project," http://homepage.mac.com/leperous/PhotoAlbum1.html (21 June 2006)

Visions & Collisions - 21st Century

I came across The Propaganda Remix Project while researching for Web assignment #6. The Propaganda Remix Project is artist Micah Wright's rendition of WWI propaganda posters "with political commentary to deliver a scabrous take on the State of the Union."

Although I do not share all of Wright's views on politics, I believe that the collisions of these visions is necessary in order for democracy to thrive. I do respect both his freedom of speech and clear artistic talent.