Chapter Reading Questions
Discuss the different approaches of the federal government toward the Plains Indians
The different approaches that were taken towards the Plains Indians were (1) concentration, which is reducing the areas of land available to the Plains Indians. This would end with the Plains Indians living on reservations. (2) forced assimilation. The Plains Indians were forced to send their children to schools that indoctrinated them against their own heritage. This was done by forcing them to take the names of white people, punishing them for speaking their language, and making them dress and act like white children. They were also forced to convert to Christianity (3) the systematic killing of the buffalo. This was done in order to force the Plains Indians to become farmers instead of hunters as the white settlers felt that allowing the Plains Indians the ability to continue their hunting lifestyle was too dangerous to their interests
A freedom of contract allows people or groups to create contracts without restrictions from the government like competition law, minimum wage or price fixing. Freedom of contract is freeing because it allows the parties entering into a contract the freedom of choosing who they enter into a contract with. One way that freedom of contract puts a constraint on people is the minimum wage. Many Republicans want to do away with the minimum wage because they want to be able to pay what they think the worker is worth. Labor laws regarding the number of hours an employee can work is also a constriction as many employers believe that the government should have no say in how many hours a week they make their employees work.
Discuss the reasons why Americans were drawn to expansion in the late nineteenth century.
Americans felt that it was necessary to expand the country’s borders because it was the strongest nation in the world and had the right to take whatever it wanted, which is known as manifest destiny. Eventually expansion became about controlling the global economy and competition and the United States decided that they needed to get involved in the imperialism that was taking place around the world. So they used their Navy to gain the islands of Cuba, Hawaii, Philippines and Puerto Rico. When this occurred there was little opposition to America expanding into these islands because of their location. Just as with the Native Americans the United States justified its action under the guise of helping the indigenous people of the area, while taking what they felt was rightfully theirs.
What were the origins and goals of the “new feminism”?
New feminism was the idea that men and women were meant to be complements to each other rather than having one unequal status in the relationship. New Feminists believed that men and women both had different perspectives, roles, strengths and weaknesses. They wanted equality based on the idea that that while men and women were fundamentally different both of their contributions were equal and they deserved the same respect in society. New Feminists wanted a separation of biological and cultural roles. They wanted to be seen as more than just wives and mothers. New Feminists worked to spread the idea that women and men were equal and should have access to the same economic, legal, and social rights while acknowledging the differences in genders.
Discuss the reasons and the outcome of American intervention in Mexico
America got involved in Mexico partly because President Wilson did not care for the Mexican President Huerta because he saw him as a murderer because he had executed the members of the former government ran by Francisco Madero. Wilson felt that getting in involved in Mexico’s issues would result in Huerta being ousted from office. This worked and he was able to get Carranza, who he supported in as President of Mexico. Nevertheless, Wilson’s plan did not work out as he envisioned it. Mexico during this time was involved in a revolution and because of this many men appointed themselves generals. These “generals” would then create their own gangs and do basically what they wanted. Pancho Villa was one of these men and he decided to conduct several attacks on Texas and Wilson finally decided to act in 1916 by sending 10,000 men into Mexico to capture Villa, which failed. Soon the issue with Mexico was forgotten as the War in Europe escalated.
Explain Woodrow Wilson’s vision for peace after World War I.
Wilson’s vision of peace had the United States dominating the world stage after World War I as he felt that the country would be giving a decisive role and their agenda would dominate peace talks. This was outlined in his “Fourteen Points Plan” which promoted the idea of “peace without victory” which was based on the expansion of ideas rather than economic greed. The “Fourteen Points” argued that in order for the countries to live peacefully they must support freedom, independence and openness He wanted to create an organization that would work to create and restore a balance between the countries of the world. Basically he wanted to create an international security team whose job was to watch over the rights of the world’s citizens. This organization was the League of Nations.
What role did race play in the fundamentalist orientation of conservative Americans in the 1920s?
Race did not seem to play any role because most fundamentalist, conservative Americans in the 1920’s were primarily concerned with the spreading of traditional Christianity and ensuring that everyone they met would go to heaven. To them this was far more important than race. In regards to race in other sectors of society, all people who were foreign born or were not white were seen as a threat to the United States. This led to the formation of many hate groups the most notorious of which were the KKK. The KKK was not only anti-black, but they were against anyone who was not white, fundamental Christian. They were also against any change and disliked people who practiced a more liberal view of religion.
How did the Roosevelt administration design Social Security?
As a result of the Industrial Revolution people were living longer. Before the Industrial Revolution people were only living to around 40 years of age. However, by the 1900’s they were living a lot longer mostly due to new innovations in healthcare and sanitation. Due to the fact that more Americans were living into old age the country needed to implement a program that would assist them. Social Security was designed to provide economic security to those who could not work due to age, disability, unemployment or death. To provide the money for this taxpayers pay into a fund that is managed by the government. This fund is then used to help provide income to people who are unable to support themselves.
How did women’s lives change during World War II?
The lives of women changed because they were able to find opportunities that had not existed for them previously. This was due to their roles in society being expanded because they now had to take on their husband’s role while they were overseas at war. This included taking on more male oriented jobs because there were no men to do them. Women also held non-combat positions in the military. This situation was not unique to the women of the United States. All over the world women saw their roles and positions change. It was also during the war that the women’s suffrage began to heat up as more women realized that their ability to take on the role of men.
Explain why the United States developed and deployed the atomic bomb during World War II
The reason that America decided to drop a bomb on Japan was because Japan had bombed the US Naval base in Pearl Harbor. In the aftermath of this the United States invaded the mainland of Japan in order to try to force them into surrendering. When this did not work Truman put forth the “Postdam Doctrine” which called for the immediate surrender of Japan and all their troops. It also said that Japan would lose some of its territory as their lands would be returned to what they were in the summer of 1942. The Japanese government refused and were bombed. The bomb itself was created by Albert Einstein in an effort for America to improve its chances in the war. The idea was that if America went in strong then less people would die in the long run.
Explain the emergence of the Truman Doctrine.
The Truman Doctrine was meant to counter the views of Communist Russia from spreading across the world. Truman felt that this was necessary because the United States and the Soviet Union were the world’s two great superpowers after the war. He felt that by allowing the Soviet Union to spread their form of government throughout the world that the United States power and influence would be diminished. In the Doctrine he promised financial and military aide to Greece and Turkey who were occupied by Soviet troops. America also agreed to help out any country that was under attack by Communism. The Doctrine led to both the American foreign policy system that still governs the way threats are handled throughout the world and the implementation of NATO.
What distinguished President Eisenhower’s “Modern Republicanism” from his party’s policies in the past?
Eisenhower’s Modern Republicanism sought to balance personal freedom with government intervention. Traditional Republicans wanted to remove both Roosevelt’s New Deal and Truman’s Fair Deal legislation because they had both increased government intervention and spending. Eisenhower however, had a moderate view on the subject as he felt that it was beneficial to the country to keep some of the ideas in Roosevelt and Truman’s plans while still allowing freedom for the market and the individual. He created the minimum wage, expanded Social Security, created low income housing and implemented the Department of Health, Education and Welfare in order to make sure that the government played a role in the well-being of its citizens. He also created the interstate highway program and a modest spending program designed to keep government spending in check.
How did Lyndon B. Johnson make the Vietnam War his own?
When Johnson came into office upon the assassination of John F. Kennedy he had no choice but to go through with a number of plans and initiatives that were already put into place by Kennedy. This included combatting the Communists that had risen to power in Vietnam. Johnson decided almost immediately that Vietnam would become the country’s top priority and that the government would put forth a series tactics in order to put pressure on the Communist regime to leave Vietnam. When these tactics failed in their agenda and things became questionably worse in Vietnam Johnson decided that the United States needed to provide more economic and military support for Vietnam. He then had a military action implemented against Viet-Cong by Congress in order to send troops into Vietnam.
How did the U.S. economy end up suffering both from inflation and high unemployment?
During the 1970’s the US had both a high unemployment rate and a high inflation rate. While the country knew how to deal with the situations individually, the country had never experienced them at the same time. The cause of this was the fact that there had been a disruption in the supply of oil to the United States. The United States supported Israel in its war with Egypt, so the Arab countries stopped supplying the United States with oil. This caused the prices of oil to rise, which in turned made the prices of gasoline and other petroleum based products almost double, which caused inflation. As the prices of products rose people no longer bought them which caused companies to have to fire and lay off workers.
How did the United States get into the first Gulf War in 1991?
Since the end of the Second World War the Middle East had been an area of tension as there were near constant conflicts. The United States got involved in the first Gulf War because Iraq had invaded and annexed Kuwait. Iraq was further degrading their relationship with other Arab countries due to their violent behavior. Iraq then threatened to attack Israel with chemical weapons if there was any military force used by any nation against Iraq. Iraq then took issue with the actions of Kuwait and them not abiding by the quota the Iraq had placed on them. Iraq then moved 30,000 troops into the Kuwait border. America worried that Iraq would invade Saudi Arabia next and interfere with the oil supply decided to implement a coalition against Iraq.
Works Cited
Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty!: An American History. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. Print.
Lazenby, Bernardo. "Chapter 14. I Can Statements Discuss the Causes and Results of American Intervention in Mexico and the Caribbean. Explain the Causes of WWI and Why The. - Ppt Download." SlidePlayer - Upload and Share Your PowerPoint Presentations. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 July 2016.
