1940’s though the 1980’s APUSH HW
Chapter 36
1. The dropping of A-bombs could be justified by analyzing the need for it and what it caused. The attack was response on the attack on Pearl Harbor, which was a surprise military strike on Hawaii naval base, it was necessary as about 2000 American lives were lost in this tragedy. The Japanese were given warnings of the Atomic Bomb and asked to surrender, the dropping of A-bombs ended the war forcing the Japanese to surrender. In arguments against the nuclear attack it could be argued that since the league of Nations had stated that the use of the bomb was illegal, the US was breaking international law along with it also gave the US no military advantage as the bombs were dropped on densely populated areas not military bases. The dropping of A-bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was an extreme solution and not one that was decided upon easily, but I don’t believe it was necessary. It could be argued that the Japanese had already lost the war so the bombs were unnecessary, I would have waited for either Russia to join the war or wait until Japan surrendered.
2. As the US emerged from WWII as a clear world power, the United States became more respected due to new technologies such as atomic bombs. The Great Depression was over and industry was booming and women entered the workforce in record numbers. The great Migration occurred as African Americans migrated from the South to the North for more job opportunities and the era of Civil Rights began. As a world power the U.S. saw the horrors of the Holocaust and had collective guilt about having done nothing.
Chapter 37
1. Both the US and Soviet Union had a part in the start of the Cold war. The US developed and used their atomic bomb which threatened the USSR and created tensions that could have lead to a nuclear war. The USSR spread communism throughout Europe and other parts of the World which threatened US democracy. The Cold War was not inevitable as both the United States and the Soviet Union were focused on their political ideals and technological advancements. With the developments of the Vietnam war, the US would have let the French and South Vietnam fight its own battles. Similarly, the Soviet Union would have not interfered with the territories in Vietnam hence the War would not have escalated.
2. Following WWII, the Cold War began and pitted the US against red Russia, which began to make Americans at home worry if there was communism growing among them. This growth in popularity of McCarthyism and the suspicion and fear of communists and communist sympathizers produced this anti communist “witch hunt”. In the short term it quickly developed into simple opposition to any agents of social and cultural change, in the long term it led to the disillusionment many had with America’s promise of fair and open democracy for decades.
Chapter 38
1. Eisenhower criticized McCarthy’s approach to rooting out communist privately, but publicly he did not comment on McCarthy’s actions. Eisenhower did not like dealing with racial issues, but he could not avoid such matters after the Supreme Court ruled in 1954 in the case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. He had a constitutional responsibility to uphold the Supreme Court’s rulings, he did so in 1957, when mobs prevented the desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Eisenhower dispatched federal troops and explained that he had a solemn obligation to enforce the law. Eisenhower did not dismantle New Deal era social welfare programs, he proved to important in implanting programs to help the in need Americans.
2. The most significant domestic issue was the Brown v Board of Education as it was a declaration of state law that separating whites and blacks was unconstitutional. This was significant as it was used as the basis for many civil rights actions. For dealing with foreign issues the CIA was created to deal with covert action to avoid having to take public responsibility for controversial interventions in foreign issues. This was significant as an effective instrument to counter Communist expansion and to assist friendly governments.
Chapter 39
JFK and LBJ, despite differences in their popularity and length of term, were overall similar presidents. They had ideal goals to help out America. Both presidents enacted new reforms to help America, addressed civil rights, and were both caught up in foreign affairs. JFK and LBJ both sought new reforms. JFK’s program, the New Frontier didn’t really accomplish much at first because conservatives threatened to kill many of the reforms. LBJ on the other hand, reflected his program the “Great Society” after JFK’s New Frontier. Because of a sweeping Democratic win in Congress, LBJ was allowed to pass a lot of more reforms easily. JFK and LBJ also share similarities in their dealings with civil rights in that unlike their predecessors, they chose to confront the issue. JFK, slightly more hesitant than LBJ. Both presidents also suffered humiliation in foreign affairs. JFK’s anti-communist Bay of Pigs invasion by Cuban exiles drastically failed, although his popularity did increase after he announced his full responsibility for the attack. LBJ was condemned for his floundering actions in Vietnam, and the added tensions in North Korea. JFK started things off while LBJ picked up where JFK left off and completed them. In this aspect, I think that LBJ was a better president because he was able to remain calm and moved the nation forward even as he lacked the popular support that JFK had. I think that both were great presidents and did achieve many things and deserve to be ranked as two of the top 10 presidents due to their improvements for the country, especially regarding civil rights.
2. The main goals of Johnson’s Great Society was the elimination of poverty and racial injustice. He’d hoped to help the underprivileged break the poverty cycle by helping them develop job skills, further their education and find work. To do this, he created a Job Corps for 100,000 disadvantaged men. Half would work on conservation projects and the other half would receive education and skills training in special job training centers. Both the New Deal and the Great Society wanted to aid in the relief of the poor and unemployed along with recovery to pass sustainable environmental legislation
3. The resurgence of feminism across the United States in the 1960s ushered in a series of changes to the status quo that still have an impact today. In the media, and in women’s personal situations, 1960s feminists inspired unprecedented changes in the fabric of our society, changes with far-reaching economic, political, and cultural consequences. African Americans in the 1960’s were still treated as second-class citizens. Six years after the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision, only 49 southern school districts had desegregated, in the North black Americans suffered humiliation and discrimination. The 60’s were the age of the youth, as 70 million children from the post-war baby boom became teenagers and young adults. The movement away from the conservative fifties continued and eventually resulted in revolutionary ways of thinking. Hispanics in the 60’s made their fight for equality even more visible, modeling their actions on the successful African-American struggle for civil rights. workers. Latino and Hispanic activists also pushed educational institutions to include the contributions of Latinos and Hispanics in discussions of U.S. History. The 1960’s was a decade of change for women, altering the role of women in American society. More females than ever were entering the paid workforce, and this increased the dissatisfaction among women regarding huge gender disparities in pay and advancement and sexual harassment at the workplace. More and women began to use contraception which freed many women from unwanted pregnancy and gave them many more choices, and freedom, in their personal lives. Gays in the 1960’s did not experience a major gay rights movement as it remained small and relatively marginalized, towards the end of the 1960’s there was a rise in activism. Throughout the 60’s most medical institutions established that homosexuality was a mental illness which reflected the cultural bias against gays at this time.