American History
Order Instructions:
Based upon your reading of the selected primary documents and incorporating such secondary sources as your textbook, answer the following 4 questions. Provide specific examples from these documents that support your arguments.
1. What perceptions of “others” are reflected attending Miss Columbia’s School House (Document 1)? How does Aguinaldo’s criticism of America’s policies towards the Philippines (Document 2) echo the 1894 political cartoon? What do these two documents suggest about the way America perceived conquered peoples and the likelihood that they would ever be fit for American citizenship and its liberties?
2. What relationship does President Eisenhower draw between events in the modern Civil Rights Movement and the goals of the US in waging the Cold War (Document 3)? How does the Alcatraz Proclamation (Document 4) and “The Soiling of Old Glory” photograph (Document 5) reflect the increasing radicalization of the Civil Rights Movement by the 1970s as well as the violent responses it could produce within Anglo American communities? Based upon Eisenhower’s speech, how do you believe he would respond to Documents 4 and 5 in the context of the Cold War?
3. According to President Reagan (Document 6), what does “having a positive view of American history” mean and what values does the country stand for? What should modern Americans think of their country’s past in regards to race relations according to Senator Obama (Document 7)? Do you agree with these documents arguments about America’s past? Why or why not?
4. Based upon your reading of these documents, to what extent do you believe America’s past continues to influence American society and modern debates about inequality? Does our past and efforts to confront and resolve issues of inequality empower us with a moral authority to dictate world affairs today? Why or why not?
SAMPLE ANSWER
What perceptions of “others” are reflected attending Miss Columbia’s School House (Document 1)? How does Aguinaldo’s criticism of America’s policies towards the Philippines (Document 2) echo the 1894 political cartoon? What do these two documents suggest about the way America perceived conquered peoples and the likelihood that they would ever be fit for American citizenship and its liberties?
Americans have a superior view of themselves. To them, their way of life is superior to all others. For everybody else, the opportunity to be American is to be cherished above all. The view projected to everybody else is that America is the land of opportunity where everything is possible if only to the brave who are willing to apply themselves accordingly (Aguinaldo, 1899).
Unfortunately, this is far from the truth. America is a disorganized society which expends considerable energy trying to create a semblance of order (Aguinaldo, 1899). To America, it views are superior to all others. When there is competition between two views, the Americans will push for their view disregarding any other view that may be there and which they do not view as adding value to the American view.
Americans view everybody else in need of their help in developing. Thus to America, all have to put away their personalities and identities and take up that which the Americans define them by (Aguinaldo, 1899). However, despite the low opinion that America holds of its conquered people, the conquest does offer the best chance at development – as defined by America.
American views itself as a mother to the conquered who need her love and guidance to develop to their best potential. This makes her the only source of knowledge and her standards and definitions become the law to all. Dissenting views are tolerated if they do not conflict the overall American view. When in conflict, America employs all her power and might to push through her view (Aguinaldo, 1899). Despite its clear and obvious flaws the American way still offers better prospects than the others.
What relationship does President Eisenhower draw between events in the modern Civil Rights Movement and the goals of the US in waging the Cold War (Document 3)? How does the Alcatraz Proclamation (Document 4) and “The Soiling of Old Glory” photograph (Document 5) reflect the increasing radicalization of the Civil Rights Movement by the 1970s as well as the violent responses it could produce within Anglo American communities? Based upon Eisenhower’s speech, how do you believe he would respond to Documents 4 and 5 in the context of the Cold War?
The modern Civil Rights Movement championed the implementation of goals that would spread out the enjoyment of a better life to many – especially those who previously did not. Where as in the cold war the desire was for the populations living under communism to taste, have access and enjoy capitalism – the superior economic system, the Civil Rights Movement fought to have the blacks enjoy equal rights as everybody else – democracy (Eisehower, 1957).
After trying passive demand of addressing historical injustices and making right the wrongs perpetuated on a race, the civil right movement decided if they could not get what they were demanding for in peace, they could as well take it be force. Increasing, the civil rights movement gravitated towards the use of violence – albeit minimal at the start, as a way of eliciting response from oppressors (Strange & Loo, 2001). Even though in some instances the Civil Rights Movement could have been accused of going overboard with their tactics, the value importance of what was being fought for especially among those fighting for it, was very higher – higher than a reasonable citizen would probably assign to it.
President Eisenhower would have responded by directing the implementation of all the civil rights with immediate effect. President Eisenhower all through his presidency distinguished himself as a defender of the civil rights of all population (Strange & Loo, 2001). In the context of the cold war, the president would have worked extra hard to ensure that all that the capitalist economy prides itself with as being different from the communists actually work and is beneficial to the practitioners.
According to President Reagan (Document 6), what does “having a positive view of American history” mean and what values does the country stand for? What should modern Americans think of their country’s past in regards to race relations according to Senator Obama (Document 7)? Do you agree with these documents arguments about America’s past? Why or why not?
Having a positive view of American history is according to President Reagan making a deliberate effort of focusing only on the positive in the American narrative (Reagan, 1983). It means choosing to view America as a nation that has moral values that it espouses and practices. This meaning is best captured in the case of citizens who came together with a view to establishing a program focusing of girls in view of the significant and worrying increase in illegitimate births and abortions. This is especially aggravated by the fact that the majority of these girls are below the legal consent age – they are actually minors.
Despite this honorable endeavor, by dispensing advice and birth control drugs and devices to minors without consent from their parents is a violation of the rights of a parent (Reagan, 1983). The parents need to know what their children are being taught. After all, they are the ones who have to bear the consequences’ of the choices made by their children.
As a country, it does have values that are largely pro-life. It is the view of the county that is as much there is a significant increase in the number of illegal abortions and unwanted births, advice on and access to birth control drugs and devices to underage girls can only be allowed with the express authority of the parents.
According to Senator Obama, modern American need to ashamed and proud of the past interactions with regards to race relations (Obama, 2008). It is the senators’ view, which the past shows where the society failed in its obligations to the minorities in society. Conversely, the nation managed to overcome deep racial difference to emerge a strong nation where each has an equal opportunity at success if they apply themselves.
It is true America’s past has some very rotten and unpalatable instance Obama, B (2008). However it is this history that is also shackled with instance of success that offers the present generation grounding when dealing with race relations.
Based upon your reading of these documents, to what extent do you believe America’s past continues to influence American society and modern debates about inequality? Does our past and efforts to confront and resolve issues of inequality empower us with a moral authority to dictate world affairs today? Why or why not?
It is clear that the American past does influence the American society view of inequality presently. When debating inequality, the American society draws great lessons from the past to dictate how it reacts to different stimuli within the environment. Despite monument’s failure in race relations within America in the past, the country has made significant investment in improving race relations.
The past failures act as constant reminders of the country of the price to be paid for not putting in place strategies that address race issues. The lessons learnt on race relations are the basis for the current interaction in the race debate.
Whereas it could be argued that America’s past record with regards to inequality make it as guilty as everybody else, the lessons learnt and strategies developed and employed to ensure discrimination is eradicated could make America a contributor to the global standard on morality. American despite its poor equality past has emerged as an important case study when learning how to deal with world affairs in the present world. In today’s world, America does indeed stand in power to offer direction with regards to moral authority to dictate world affairs.
References
Aguinaldo, E (1899) Emilio Aguinaldo Criticizes American Imperialism in the Philippines, Reading the American Past: Selected Historical Documents, Vol. 2, pp. 96-99
Eisehower (1957) Eisenhower and the Little Rock Crisis, accessed 11th December 2014 from http://www.c-span.org/video/?15186-1/eisenhower-speech-little-rock
Nutter, K. B (2010) The Soiling of Old Glory: The Story of a Photograph that Shocked America, The Journal of Popular Culture, Vol. 43, No. 3, pp. 659-660
Obama, B (2008) A More Perfect Union, accessed 11th December 2014 from http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/03/18/text-of-obamas-speech-a-more-perfect-union/
Reagan, R (1983) Evil Empire Speech, accessed 11th December 2014 from http://millercenter.org/president/speeches/speech-3409
Strange, C & Loo, T (2001) Holding the Rock: The ‘Indianization’ of Alcatraz Island, 1969 The Public Historian, Vol. 23, No. 1, pp. 55-74
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