week 4 5 and 6 discussions

Part 1: Post a Response
Various reform groups with various causes developed in the US in the late 1800s and early 1900s; these are loosely called “Progressives” as they aimed to use government policies or science to improve and advance society. Also, this period was a time when the US started as a major player in international conflicts—first in the “Spanish American War and then in World War I. There were deep isolationist sentiments about such overseas entanglements, and President Wilson first has one position and then the other.

Choose and discuss (in a full paragraph or two) one of the following two topics related to the late 1800s and early 1900s.

1. In the Progressive Era (roughly 1890–1920), multiple groups advocated for reforms in various aspects of government, society, and the economy. Discuss here the “muckrakers” and Taylor’s “scientific management”.

• Explain briefly the approach and aim of the “muckrakers” and that of F. W. Taylor.
• Compare their approaches and describe your feelings about them, and relate some modern situation that reminds you of one of these approaches and reform causes.
• Identify the source(s) where you read about the reform cause.

1. From the text, Wilson did not maintain his own campaign slogan (“He kept us out of war”).

• Explain with some specifics why Wilson became pro-war. Describe your own feelings on that issue when you look back at it, and whether he was right to change.
• Briefly, identify a similar international consideration today—or of the last 20 years, and what lesson might be drawn from the example in Wilson’s time.
• Identify the source(s) where you read about Wilson.

 

 

 

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Week 5 Chapters 21 - 22

After the end of World War I, overall economic growth exploded in the US in the early 1920s, but then there was a severe economic breakdown with the Great Depression of 1929-1939.

Choose and discuss (in a full paragraph or two) one of the following two topics related to the 1920s and1930s.

1. The textbook highlights the significant emergence of new cultural trends due to improved technology (radio, movies, photography) and the spread of books & magazines (writers) in the “roaring” 1920s as well as in the 1930s, and also to new movements like the Harlem Renaissance, consumerism, and new “norms” for women.

• Consider the new technology of radio and photography. With specific examples from the 1920s, discuss how these new technologies helped one of the movements and trends above.
• Explain whether you think this helped to develop a more unified national culture or more individuality, and identify a similar example today with technology helping a trend or movement.
• Identify the source(s) where you read about the trend of the 1920s.

1. The Great Depression (1929-1939) was one of the most devastating economic downturns that America has ever experienced. Determine whether you believe that the federal responses to the Great Depression by President Franklin Roosevelt encouraged real economic growth and confidence or whether the arguments by critics of the day were accurate that it made the Depression last longer.

• Identify your position and support it with at least two specific examples of New Deal responses.
• Provide a rationale for your response.
• From this historical experience, identify any lessons for today for handling or avoiding severe economic downturns in the U.S. economy.
• Identify the source(s) where you read about the New Deal responses.

 

 

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Week 6 Discussion

 

By the late 1930s, the US was still dealing with the Great Depression, and conflict was intensifying between powers in Europe and between Japan and its neighbors in Asia. At first, isolationist sentiments prevailed, but eventually the US entered the conflict. Besides developments of the overseas conflict, the next few years of a “war economy” had an enormous impact on the nature of work and the workforce that left a lasting legacy.

Choose and discuss one of the following two topics related to the American experiences in World War II:

1. Focusing on American opinions and events of the late 1930s and early 1940s, discuss isolationist views and why those changed.
   • Identify two isolationist arguments for staying out of World War II.
   • Describe the events that led us into war despite the isolationist views. What lessons can be drawn from this experience for our modern day concerns about war and when to engage in it.
   • Identify the source(s) where you read about the New Deal responses.
2. In the period 1940-1945, the US would go into a “war economy” that dramatically impacted the American economy and society.
   • Give two examples of changes during the “war economy” period
   • Describe the impact on US society and work during the war years
   • Taking the long term view, explain ways our society is different due to the wartime experiences.
   • Identify the source(s) where you read these changes during World War II.