Week 14 Reflection: Vietnam War

The Vietnam War

pic:https://www.historynet.com/vietnam-war

The Vietnam war started in 1955. Vietnam was the longest war in American history. Between 1945 and 1954, the Vietnamese waged an anti-colonial war against France, which received $2.6 billion in financial support from the United States.  Over 2 million Vietnamese and over 185,000 American’s died in this war. Even today, many Americans still ask whether the American effort in Vietnam was the right thing to do. Vietnam wanted independence from France after world war two. Ho Chi Minh was the leader in North Vietnam. The United States did not like Ho chi Minh because he was a communist. The United States of America wanted to have access the certain materials in Vietnam, so they supported the leader of the south of Vietnam. The leader of the south of Vietnam was Ngo Dinh Diem. Ngo Dinh Diem was a very brutal dictator. The United States of America was not aware of Ngo Dinh Diem's actions at first. When Ngo Dinh Diem's actions were made public the U.S. had no choice but to step in and try to stop him. President Johnson Campaigned against sending more troops into the Vietnam war. President Johnson believed in the domino theory. The Republicans wanted to pursue the war in Vietnam at the time.  The war went on for so long that an anti-war movement was formed. The anti-war movement was made up of Americans who opposed the US supporting a dictatorship in the name of anti-communism. A lot of college students were involved in these protests. People who did support the war thought that communism had to be stopped no matter the cost to people's lives. The next President Richard Nixon advocated for Vietnam and withdrew American troops from Vietnam. From 1968 to 1973, efforts were made to end the war. In January 1973, an agreement was reached and United States prisoners of war were released. In April 1975, South Vietnam surrendered to North Vietnam. Vietnam was whole again. 

Week 13 Reflection: Black Freedom Movement

Black Freedom Movement

 

During the 1950’s and 1960’s Black People didn’t have the freedom that they should have had. During this time Black people had to deal with segregation, Legal discrimination, Inequality,and etc. During the 1950’s people were already familiar with protesting, but the Black freedom movement brought non-violent protesting to the table. In order to make people more aware of the movement TV broadcasting played a big part. Bus Boycotts became very popular during this time. Martin Luther King Jr. was a civil rights leader in the movement. Martin Luther King jr. changed the history of black people. Martin Luther King Jr. Was a big part of the civil rights act(1964) and Voting rights act(1965). A lot of people followed MLK jr. movements and his way of thinking. The three organizations that made a great impact during this time were Congress on Racial equality, Student nonviolent coordinating Committee, and Southern Christian leadership conference. “Black Power” was very popular during this time. Black people just wanted the same rights and respect as everyone else. Birmingham Children’s Campaign was non-violent protest/demonstrations. They were trying to desegregate Birmingham. When the campaign started a lot of kids and people were arrested. The movement leaders trained the kids in non-violent tactics, but those tactics didn’t work. Police beat the kids and sprayed them with water hoses. Birmingham city leaders agreed to desegregate the businesses after all those kids were harmed. Birmingham board of education tried to expelled the in kid involved in the campaign, but it didn’t last. The march on Washington was one of the biggest event in the black freedom movement. Over 200,000 people marched that day. Everyone marched in front of the Lincoln Memorial as Martin Luther King Jr. gave his most memorable speech.




Pic- https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/civil-rights-act/civil-rights-era.html 

Week 12 Reflection: 1950’s America

1950s America 

                                             Pic: https://www.almanacnews.com/news/2014/09/05/portrait-of-a-nation

 The 1950s was right after World War 2. The men came back from world war 2 and the women were running the factories and doing the jobs while the men were at war. The economy got better during this time. During this time the suburbs came to be known. Suburbanization is when a community was filled of white single-home families with “white picket fences”. People of color didn’t stay in the suburbs during this time, they moved to the city. Suburbanization made the racial lines more divided in America. 7 million whites left the cities for the suburbs while 3 million African Americans moved into they city. The urban city was looked at as crime infested community by the whites in the suburbs. America encouraged citizens  to consume because it was good for the nation and its economy . The suburbs are characterized by: conformity in Architecture, Race , Income (people of like incomes lived in the same neighborhoods) ,and family structure (single parents or both parent families). The African Americans that lived in the city tend to be people of low-class during this time.40,000 miles of highway were built in the 1950s to link suburbs and cities and to promote the use of automobiles. The economy was still increasing with the white population moving out of the cities and buying new houses. The city wasn’t bad until the white population moved out and since the African Americans were not making as much money, they went into poverty. The poverty during this time created welfare. Welfare was government aid for families that were considered low-class. Welfare made it possible for the low class families to be able to survive and feed their family. This time period was good for the economy if you had money but for the low class this time can be looked at as a downfall.

Week 11 Reflection: The US and World War 2

The US and World War 2

pic:https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/world-war-ii-and-popular-culture 

World War 2 was seen as a global war. Japan wanted to be the leader of all of East Asia. The United States lost a lot during this war. World War 2 cost the United States a million causalities and close to 400,000 deaths. September 1, 1939, is when World War 2 started because Germany invaded Poland. The United States and its Allies invaded Sicily in July 1943 and this made Italy surrender in September. Germany didn’t surrender until May 1945. The United States entered the war following a surprise attack by Japan on the U.S. Pacific fleet in Hawaii. The war ended with Depression and unemployment decreased. The United States always wanted to come out on top. the federal government started the secret $2 billion Manhattan Project, so the United States could build a bomb before anyone else.  On July 16, 1945, is when the first atomic bomb exploded from the Manhattan Project. During the war, African Americans and Mexican Americans founded new opportunities and jobs in the industry. President Truman's administration thought that the bombs ended wars quickly and avoid costly invasion and the loss of thousands of American lives. Some critics say that the war might have ended even without the atomic bombings. The attack on Pearl Harbor in a major event in history. Women had more freedom during this time. Women were able to work rather than just stay home with the kids. A lot of the men were gone to war so the women had to provide for themselves. The Slogan “we can do it” became very popular during this time. After the war, the women didn’t have the same freedom since men were back home. The “GI Bill” was a law that provided a range of benefits for returning World War II veterans. The law was a big help for veterans and their families. The Bill helped with College tuition, living expenses, low-cost mortgages, low-interest business loans, one year of unemployment compensation.

Week 10 Reflection: The Great Depression and The New Deal

The Great Depression and the New deal

Pic:https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/dustbowl-great-depression/

      The Great Depression all started when the stock market crashed in 1929. Stock prices fell and a lot of people lost their savings. Everything that is going on with the coronavirus another depression could be in the near future. During the depression, a good amount of businesses closed and the was a surge in the amount of unemployment.  During this time people had come used to a new normal and really adjust how they were living. This depression affected everyone in the world, not just in America. The trading with other countries as affected. An unexpected response to the Great Depression was fascism and militarism. Every country responded to how they felt was best for them but some people took advantage of the Great Depression. Joseph Stalin took advantage of the Great Depression, Stalin found a way to take power and put a planned economy in place. Millions of people died during his time of power. This Great Depression changed American politics and economics. Millions of people were homeless during this time and lived in shacks. By 1932 over 12 million people were unemployed. An interesting thing is that during this time divorce rates fell, people couldn’t afford to divorce or live in separate households. This depression brought some families together in a sense. The New Deal was Franklin Roosevelt's solution to the Great Depression. The New Deal increased the power of the executive branch. There were three “R’s” at the center of the New Deal. The relief was to help with unemployment and people of poverty. Reform was to help change and reform the economy and social injustices that occurred due to the Great Depression. We have the social security act and federal deposit insurance commission because if the New Deal. Recovery was to set temporary programs in place to help restart the economy. The end of the Great Depression ended due to World War 2.    

Week 6 Reflection- US Imperialism and World War 1

                                                                                        Pic:https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i


Throughout history, we have seen the United States expand its territory over other countries, which are known as US territories. The way the US expands its territory is called Imperialism. The Spanish American was started because of imperialism, Cuba wanted independence and the US got involved. Imperialism as caused a lot of wars throughout history. People joined World War 1 for the power you could say. The United States tried to be neutral at first but then they didn't want to be left out. 

Pic: https://france-amerique.com/en/les-volontaires-americains-dans-la-premiere-guerre-mondiale/

Week 4 Reflection: Native Americans and the West

Native Americans And The West 

The Great American Desert also known as the great plains was a home to a lot of Native Americans. A lot of things that happening during this time cause the Americans to move westward causing an expansion. After 30 years of war, a lot of the Indians that lived in the great plains were forced to live on reservations and made their own way of living away from everyone else. The westward expansion caused colonization. Colonization caused some violence because people were taking over other people's homes. The government started colonization, they wanted white people to have the land that was occupied by the Indians. The government viewed native American people as nomads. This caused a lot of resistance from the Indians. After some years of rebellion, a treaty came into place but not all of the Indians accepted this treaty and that cause a dynamic shift between some native Americans.

pic:https://www.legendsofamerica.com/native-americans/