1964 LBJ Political Commerical

1) This commercial only aired once, but it sent a powerful message...what was that message?
2) Who won the 1964 presidential election?
3) How is this commercial similar to, and different from, political commercials you have seen?
4) Can you think of accusations of extremism that are part of the world today?

The Cold War . . . Play "Fling the Teacher!"

Test your Cold War knowledge with this "Millionaire"-style online game. Click here to begin!

Letter from a Birmingham Jail (excerpts), 1963

LETTER FROM A 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. 

1) Why was King in jail?

2) Who was King responding to?

3) What points was he trying to make?

4) What do you think . . . were his methods the right way to go about making change in society?

Lunch Counter Sit-In 1960

1) Why are there so many people at this lunch counter?
2) What is the relationship between the people standing and the people sitting?
3) What did the protestors on each side hope to accomplish?
4) What was the outcome of these events?
5) Were the lunch counter sit-ins more in tune with MLK, Jr. or with Malcolm X?

Martin Luther King, Jr. "I Have a Dream" Full Version

1) What were the goals and strategies of the Civil Rights Movement led by MLK, Jr.?
2) Have those goals been achieved yet?
3) Were MLK, Jr.'s strategies the best way to achieve the goals of the Civil Rights Movement?

Malcolm X and Black Nationalism

1) What were the aims of Black Nationalism?
2) Compare these aims to those of Martin Luther King, Jr.
3) Who was right?

Ruby Bridges

1) Why were the federal marshalls walking Ruby out of school?
2) Why were people so afraid of this little girl . . . was it the briefcase? . . . the patent leather shoes? . . . the poodle skirt? . . . or something deeper?
3) Does this type of fear still exist in the USA today? . . . in your school?

"Are You Now or Have You Ever Been...." Dalton Trumbo vs. HUAC

1) Who is on the far right of the dais of the HUAC members asking questions of Trumbo? . . . oops, he got cut off . . . it's Richard Nixon, of course! What's he doing there?
2) Why does the committee bang the gavel and get annoyed with Trumbo?
3) Should Trumbo and the other Hollywood Ten have gone to jail for contempt of Congress?

McCarthy Goes Too Far . . . "Have you no sense of decency...?"

1) What is McCarthy alleging in this hearing?
2) How does McCarthy's adversary, Welch, respond to McCarthy's accusations?
3) Why do you think McCarthy was so popular in the early 1950s?
4) Was McCarthy right . . . did/do we need to root communists out of government?

The Truman Doctrine

1) What is the point of the Truman Doctrine?
2) For what two specific countries is Truman requesting aid?

YOUR QUARTER 3 COMPREHENSIVE TEST IS . . .

Next Thursday (3/25)!  Look over all of your tests (unit tests, Q1 Comprehensive Test,  S1 Final exam) and the Chapter 37 and Chapter 38 quizzes.  There will be 80 MC questions out of 70 points possible covering the whole year so far . . . good luck!

Document A -- Secretary of War Stimson

1) Where did Stimson feel the strength of the Japanese lay in the summer of 1945?
2) What fears did Stimson have about the Japanese government?
3) What did Stimson feel was the likely outcome of the war if the atomic bomb were not used?
4) What is the main message Stimson was trying to put forward regarding the use of the bomb?

5) How is Stimson's message similar to and different from the messages in the other 3 Documents?

Documents B and C -- General H.H. Arnold and General Eisenhower

1) What is the conclusion Arnold came to about the condition of Japan before the use of the atomic bomb?
2) Did Eisenhower agree or disagree with Arnold's assessment of the condition of Japan?
3) What was the point Eisenhower was trying to make about why it was or was not necessary to use the atomic bomb?

Document H -- Harry S Truman, radio address

1) How did Truman justify the use of the atomic bomb against the Japanese?
2) Why was he giving this address?
3) What were his stated goals in using the weapon?

Waiting for the Signal From Home . . .

1) What is a "5th Column?"
2) Who or what is the character with the telescope looking at or for?
3) What can you infer about the cartoonist's feelings toward the people represented in this cartoon?

4) What connections can you make between this cartoon and circumstances in the USA today?

What This Country Needs Is a Good Mental Insecticide

1) Who is squirting insecticide into people's heads?
2) What is he removing from them?
3) Why is the line so long?
4) What do you think is the point the cartoonist is trying to make relative to World War II?

Remember...One More Lollipop and Then You All Go Home!

1) What is an "appeaser?" Does the term have a positive or negative connotation?
2) Who is the cartoonist referring to as "the appeaser?"
3) What are the lollipops the appeaser is offering?  What specific pre-World War II events is the cartoonist referencing?

DON'T MISS THE AP TEST SIGNUP DATE...March 12!

Now. . . World War II!

Enjoy this animated map to get you in the mood!

John Maynard Keynes and the Great Depression

1) WWJD about the Great Depression?
2) WWJMKD (John Maynard Keynes of course!) about the Great Depression?  Check out this link to read a little bit about the man!

“The engine which drives enterprise is not thrift, but profit.”

"Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone.”
“It is better that a man should tyrannize over his bank balance than over his fellow citizens.” 
John Maynard Keynes

Unemployment Map Animated (Recent Years)

Check out the animated unemployment map from the last couple of years...now imagine unemployment 2.5 times higher . . . that was 1932!  (Unemployment in the USA for Jan. 2010 is 9.7%; it is 11.1% in Illinois.)  What would you do to solve this problem?

Deficit Spending

1) How do the government deficits of the 1930s during the Great Depression compare to the government deficits of the 1920s? 

2) How do they compare to the deficits of the 1940s?

3) New Deal programs did not end the Great Depression, but World War II did...what can you infer about the effectiveness of government spending in ending the Great Depression...did the government spend too much, the right amount, or not enough?

New Deal or No Deal #2

1) Is this cartoonist for or against the New Deal?
2) How can you tell?
3) What New Deal program is the cartoonist focusing on, and what is he specifically saying about that program?

New Deal or No Deal #1

1) Is this cartoonist for or against the New Deal?
2) How can you tell?
3) What New Deal program is the cartoonist focusing on, and what is he specifically saying about that program?

Planned Economy?

1) How does the cartoonist feel about solutions to the Great Depression offered by the government?

2) What can you infer about what the cartoonist fears will happen to the USA based on how the government is trying to address the Great Depression?

Unemployment

1) In what year did unemployment begin to skyrocket?
2) How should Hoover have addressed the issue of massive unemployment?

Business Failures

1) Business failures began to rise in what years?

2) What were some of the causes of the rise in business failures in those years?

3) What were some of the effects of the rise in business failures?

 

Hooverville Kids

1) How do these children feel about President Hoover's handling of the Great Depression? 
2) If you had been living in a "Hooverville" during the Great Depression, how would you have felt about it?  Why?

Herbert Hoover After the Crash?

What is the cartoonist trying to say about Hoover's response to the economic problems of Wall Street?