The best place on the web to find hints, tips, and other cool stuff to help you analyze historical documents, political cartoons, and quotes for your DBQs and more!
1) Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to discuss the required post about the USA of now versus 1911 AND to choose ONE of the optional posts labeled A-D. For the USA post, comment there. For the posts labeled A-D, comment on the post that you choose.
2) This will be worth 20 points total (10 points each), and will be due by 11:59pm on May 4, 2012 (yes, that's Prom Day!) . . . if your posts are time-stamped anywhere near that time, I will know that: a) you (like me) are boycotting Prom (again), b) Prom is NOT going well, and/or c) you are a true history nerd . . . Good luck!
"Forget the Monica Lewinski debacle. She's irrelevant. Clinton was a disaster for liberals and Democrats because he was a closet Republican and was a major cause of the wealth and income gap that exists today between the rich and middle- and low-income Americans. Voters now identify his economic policies that benefitted investors and the wealthy at the expense of workers . . . ." (Source: http://www.kellysite.net/modrep.html)
a. Was Clinton a closet Republican? Explain. b. Provide ONE specific factual statistic to support your answer to (a). c. Include the proper citation (web address is okay) of the source of your statistic in (a). d. Explain how your specific factual statistic supports your answer to (a). e. MAKE SURE YOUR STATISTIC is UNIQUE...NO TWO STUDENTS MAY HAVE THE SAME STAT...FIRST IN WINS! f. Most Importantly . . . put your first name, last initial, and class period on your comment so you get credit!
Ronald Reagan is considered by some to be one of the greatest USA presidents ever; he is considered by others to have caused great harm to the USA and the Republican Party. In 2010, there was a proposal in Congress to replace US Grant on the $50 bill with Reagan. a. Where do you stand...did Ronald Reagan help the USA so much that he deserves to be on the $50 bill, or did he harm the country so irreparably that he does not deserve to be on the $50 bill? Explain. b. Provide ONE specific factual statistic to support your answer to (a). c. Include the proper citation (web address is okay) of the source of your statistic in (a). d. MAKE SURE YOUR STATISTIC is UNIQUE...NO TWO STUDENTS MAY HAVE THE SAME STAT...FIRST IN WINS! e. Most Importantly . . . put your first name, last initial, and class period on your comment so you get credit!
The Equal Rights Amendment was passed by Congress in 1972 but never ratified by the required 38 states (only 35 states voted for it by the time the deadline for ratification passed in 1982). It was reintroduced in the House of Representatives on July 21, 2009 (but went nowhere). The amendment said, in its entirety, the following: Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex. Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification. a. Do we need an Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution? Explain. b. Provide ONE specific factual statistic to support your answer to (a). c. Include the proper citation (web address is okay) of the source of your statistic in (a). d. MAKE SURE YOUR STATISTIC is UNIQUE...NO TWO STUDENTS MAY HAVE THE SAME STAT...FIRST IN WINS! e. Most Importantly . . . put your first name, last initial, and class period on your comment so you get credit!
Richard Milhous Nixon, as president, did some amazing things...amazingly good and amazingly bad . . . a. Should history be kind to Nixon and elevate him to the level he deserves, or will history be unkind to Nixon and dump him on the ash heap of history where he belongs? Explain. b. Provide ONE specific factual statistic to support your answer to (a). c. Include the proper citation (web address is okay) of the source of your statistic in (a). d. MAKE SURE YOUR STATISTIC is UNIQUE...NO TWO STUDENTS MAY HAVE THE SAME STAT...FIRST IN WINS! e. Most Importantly . . . put your first name, last name, and class period on your comment so you get credit!
In the struggle for African-American civil rights and equality in the USA, there were two main philosophies/strategies employed: one philosophy/strategy was exemplified by people such as Rosa Parks, SNCC (early), the Freedom Riders, and Martin Luther King, Jr. . . . passive, non-violent resistance ("turn the other cheek"); the other philosophy/strategy was exemplified by people such as Malcolm X, SNCC (later), and the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense ("an eye for an eye"). These philosophies/strategies were also employed by many other people of the USA (and world) seeking equality and civil rights, including women, Chicanos, Asian-Americans, Native Americans, and many more.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Famous Letter:
LETTER FROM BIRMINGHAM JAIL (excerpts)
April 16, 1963
MY DEAR FELLOW CLERGYMEN:
While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling my present activities "unwise and untimely". . . .
I think I should indicate why I am here In Birmingham, since you have been influenced by the view which argues against "outsiders coming in". . . .
Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial "outside agitator" idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds. . . .
You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. But your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations. I am sure that none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple with underlying causes. It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city's white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative. . . .
We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct-action campaign that was "well timed" in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. . . .
You speak of our activity in Birmingham as extreme. At first I was rather disappointed that fellow clergymen would see my nonviolent efforts as those of an extremist. I began thinking about the fact that I stand in the middle of two opposing forces in the Negro community. One is a force of complacency, made up in part of Negroes who, as a result of long years of oppression, are so drained of self-respect and a sense of "somebodiness" that they have adjusted to segregation. . . . The other force is one of bitterness and hatred, and it comes perilously close to advocating violence. It is expressed in the various black nationalist groups that are springing up across the nation, the largest and best-known being Elijah Muhammad's Muslim movement. . . .
I wish you had commended the Negro sit-inners and demonstrators of Birmingham for their sublime courage, their willingness to suffer and their amazing discipline in the midst of great provocation. One day the South will recognize its real heroes. . . . One day the South will know that when these disinherited children of God sat down at lunch counters, they were in reality standing up for what is best in the American dream and for the most sacred values in our Judaeo-Christian heritage, thereby bringing our nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in their formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. . . .
Yours for the cause of Peace and Brotherhood,
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Malcolm X's Famous Speech:
The Ballot or the Bullet (excerpts)
by Malcolm X
April 3, 1964
Cleveland, Ohio
. . . Black people are fed up with the dillydallying, pussyfooting, compromising approach that we've been using toward getting our freedom. We want freedom now, but we're not going to get it saying "We Shall Overcome." We've got to fight until we overcome. . . .
Our gospel is black nationalism. We're not trying to threaten the existence of any organization, but we're spreading the gospel of black nationalism. . . . Join any organization that has a gospel that's for the uplift of the black man. And when you get into it and see them pussyfooting or compromising, pull out of it because that's not black nationalism. We'll find another one.
And in this manner, the organizations will increase in number and in quantity and in quality, and by August, it is then our intention to have a black nationalist convention which will consist of delegates from all over the country who are interested in the political, economic and social philosophy of black nationalism. . . . We want to hear new ideas and new solutions and new answers. And at that time, if we see fit then to form a black nationalist party, we'll form a black nationalist party. If it's necessary to form a black nationalist army, we'll form a black nationalist army. It'll be the ballot or the bullet. It'll be liberty or it'll be death. . . .
. . . Last but not least, I must say this concerning the great controversy over rifles and shotguns. The only thing that I've ever said is that in areas where the government has proven itself either unwilling or unable to defend the lives and the property of Negroes, it's time for Negroes to defend themselves. Article number two of the constitutional amendments provides you and me the right to own a rifle or a shotgun. It is constitutionally legal to own a shotgun or a rifle. This doesn't mean you're going to get a rifle and form battalions and go out looking for white folks, although you'd be within your rights -- I mean, you'd be justified; but that would be illegal and we don't do anything illegal. If the white man doesn't want the black man buying rifles and shotguns, then let the government do its job. . . .
. . . No, if you never see me another time in your life, if I die in the morning, I'll die saying one thing: the ballot or the bullet, the ballot or the bullet. . . .
Try an MLK, Jr. video clip to get you in the mood:
Or, maybe a clip from Malcolm:
. . . and now for your homework questions (10 points, due by 11:59pm on 4/20/12, first name, last initial, class period) . . . 1) which man do you think had a more effective strategy in the struggle for African-American civil rights and equality? 2) what specific historical evidence or specific evidence from today do you have to support your answer to Q1? 3) if you had been around in the late 1950s/early 1960s, which strategy would you have supported and why? (create a plausible persona for yourself and then answer this question -- are you: male or female? age? location? race/ethnicity? occupation? etc.)
. . . oh, by the way . . . your Ch. 37-39 MC Test (~65-70 points) is Wednesday 4/18/12, and your DBQ (the last one ever in this class is Friday 4/20/12) . . . be sad . . . be very , very sad :-(
View this 1964 presidential campaign ad from the Lyndon Johnson campaign. This political ad apparently only ran on TV one time, but was very effective in helping to paint Johnson's opponent, Barry Goldwater, as an extremist.
Your homework (10 points) is to comment to this blog post (first name, last initial, class period) with the following by 11:59pm on Friday 4/13/12: 1) discuss (that means with explanation) whether you feel this ad is: A. effective, and B. fair
2) discuss (that means with explanation) your feelings about negative political campaign ads in general
3) find another presidential (or congressional or state or foreign) political attack ad on YouTube that really gets to you (good or bad, funny or sad) and A. describe the ad (what year, what candidates, what issues), B. explain why it got to you, and C. give the YouTube URL so that others might enjoy it, at least from a non-school computer:(
Just to get you in the mood for your homework (see previous post below!) . . .
This first clip is a BBC documentary on the Hollywood Ten (HUAC vs. Hollywood Ten hearings footage begins at around 1:20).
This second clip is an edited exchange between legal counsel for the army Joseph Welch and Senator Joe McCarthy (R-Wisconsin) on June 9, 1954 during the height of the Second Red Scare.
This is credited by many as the moment where McCarthy began to lose his power and influence, as the hearings were broadcast on TV (this was day 30 of the hearings), and people got to see how McCarthy behaved while accusing Fred Fisher, one the young lawyer's at Welch's law firm, of being a part of the National Lawyer's Guild (a group J. Edgar Hoover had sought to label as a communist-front group) while Fisher had been in law school . . . enjoy (it starts getting good around the 2:30 minute mark).
"Forget the Monica Lewinski debacle. She's irrelevant. Clinton was a disaster for liberals and Democrats because he was a closet Republican and was a major cause of the wealth and income gap that exists today between the rich and middle- and low-income Americans. Voters now identify his economic policies that benefitted investors and the wealthy at the expense of workers . . . ." (Source: http://www.kellysite.net/modrep.html)
