Sunday, April 22, 2012
Testing Week - No homework
There will be no homework this week because of our annual testing. However, if you have missing assignments you may complete them for half credit - which is far better than a zero! Get your rest and be ready to test tomorrow!
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Homework 6, Due April 20, 2012
Of all the modern presidents none has captured the imagination of the US and world quite like John Kennedy. He was the first of his generation to be elected as president - the World War II generation, sometimes called the "greatest generation". Later Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, and Bush Sr would be elected from that generation, an unprecedented accomplishment that is unlikely to be equalled in the future.
Kennedy was to face several challenges upon assuming the presidency. The Cold War was in full gear and its effects were causing concern about nuclear war and increased commitment to Vietnam, among other things. Twice the US came to the brink of all-out war with the Soviet Union, and both events centered on the island of Cuba. In 1959, a year before Kennedy's election, Fidel Castro overthrew the Cuban government and assumed dictatorial powers. Amazingly, today, more than 50 years later, Castro is still in power, though his younger brother Raul governs the country.
As Castro came to power the Cuban army and many business elites of the country fled to the US - 30,000 of them were given citizenship in a single day, in fact, and their political and cultural influence is still powerful today, especially in parts of Florida. These Cuban-Americans despise Castro and were intent on staging a counter-revolution based in the US to regain control of their home country. This and other events caused the new Cuban government to reach out to the Soviets for support, which of course the communists were more than happy to supply. Ironically, the US CIA had actually assisted Castro in his revolution in order to get rid of the corrupt regime of Cuban President Batista. Almost accidentally a new communist country came into existence only 90 miles from the shores of south Florida - not a pleasing prospect for the US during the Cold War!
The first major confrontation came with the Bay of Pigs invasion, in which US-assisted Cuban-Americans invaded Cuba with disastrous results. The second was the "Cuban Missile Crisis" in which the US discovered that the Soviets were placing powerful inter-continental ballistic missiles - nuclear bombs - in Cuba, and they were going to be capable of destroying any US city. The world watched and waited as the Soviet ships bearing the missiles were intercepted by US naval vessels and a stand-off occurred. For thirteen days, no one knew if nuclear war would occur.
On both of these occasions many of Kennedy's advisors urged him to attack Cuba and use the nuclear capabilities of our armed forces. Instead, Kennedy chose to listen to a group of young advisors, many of them in their 20s and 30s, most important being his younger brother Robert (whom he'd appointed to be his Attourny General), and their advice kept the US from precipitating Word War III. I'd like you to chose one of these events and analyze Kennedy's abilities as president. Was he a good leader? Did he make the correct choice given what he knew at the time? Should he have acted differently?
For information about the Bay of Pigs Invasion, go to http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/JFK+in+History/JFK+and+the+Bay+of+Pigs.htm
For information about the Cuban Missile Crisis, go to http://www.jfklibrary.org/jfkl/cmc/cmc_intro.html
If there are other events in Kennedy's administration that you'd prefer to research, you may begin at the Kennedy Presidential Library homepage: http://www.jfklibrary.org/
Kennedy was to face several challenges upon assuming the presidency. The Cold War was in full gear and its effects were causing concern about nuclear war and increased commitment to Vietnam, among other things. Twice the US came to the brink of all-out war with the Soviet Union, and both events centered on the island of Cuba. In 1959, a year before Kennedy's election, Fidel Castro overthrew the Cuban government and assumed dictatorial powers. Amazingly, today, more than 50 years later, Castro is still in power, though his younger brother Raul governs the country.
As Castro came to power the Cuban army and many business elites of the country fled to the US - 30,000 of them were given citizenship in a single day, in fact, and their political and cultural influence is still powerful today, especially in parts of Florida. These Cuban-Americans despise Castro and were intent on staging a counter-revolution based in the US to regain control of their home country. This and other events caused the new Cuban government to reach out to the Soviets for support, which of course the communists were more than happy to supply. Ironically, the US CIA had actually assisted Castro in his revolution in order to get rid of the corrupt regime of Cuban President Batista. Almost accidentally a new communist country came into existence only 90 miles from the shores of south Florida - not a pleasing prospect for the US during the Cold War!
The first major confrontation came with the Bay of Pigs invasion, in which US-assisted Cuban-Americans invaded Cuba with disastrous results. The second was the "Cuban Missile Crisis" in which the US discovered that the Soviets were placing powerful inter-continental ballistic missiles - nuclear bombs - in Cuba, and they were going to be capable of destroying any US city. The world watched and waited as the Soviet ships bearing the missiles were intercepted by US naval vessels and a stand-off occurred. For thirteen days, no one knew if nuclear war would occur.
On both of these occasions many of Kennedy's advisors urged him to attack Cuba and use the nuclear capabilities of our armed forces. Instead, Kennedy chose to listen to a group of young advisors, many of them in their 20s and 30s, most important being his younger brother Robert (whom he'd appointed to be his Attourny General), and their advice kept the US from precipitating Word War III. I'd like you to chose one of these events and analyze Kennedy's abilities as president. Was he a good leader? Did he make the correct choice given what he knew at the time? Should he have acted differently?
For information about the Bay of Pigs Invasion, go to http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/JFK+in+History/JFK+and+the+Bay+of+Pigs.htm
For information about the Cuban Missile Crisis, go to http://www.jfklibrary.org/jfkl/cmc/cmc_intro.html
If there are other events in Kennedy's administration that you'd prefer to research, you may begin at the Kennedy Presidential Library homepage: http://www.jfklibrary.org/
Monday, April 9, 2012
Homework 5, Due April 13, 2012
As you know, this week we begin our study of the Vietnam War. As we will discuss in class, the Vietnam War has been the most controversial event in American history, and the controversy lives on. As I researched this assignment, my original plans had to change. Here's why: as opposed to the Civil War and the World Wars, there are very few notable web sites devoted to Vietnam. I had hoped to give you some exposure to the "reaction at home" but the websites that covered the anger and bitterness all contained objectionable material. It occurs to me that most of you have seen Vietnam portrayed or at least referenced in books, movies, and TV shows. Because it is still fresh in our nation's mind, the war is still a source of emotional debate. So, rather than sending you to do research, this week I'd like to ask a series of questions:
1. Was Vietnam worth it? The years, the tens of thousands of lives, the fortune that was spent?
2. Did the US lose the War in Vietnam? Our enemies didn't defeat us in the field of battle, yet we left and our allies were destroyed. What does this question mean for Americans today?
3. Could another "Vietnam" occur again? Would Americans be willing to sacrifice as much, regardless of the cause? (For perspective, remember that by the late 1960s about 500 American soldiers were dying every week in Vietnam).
4. How did this happen? Should the US policy (Truman Doctrine) have been different?
I look forward to your answers. Please remember that the requirements for this assignment are a minimum of 200 words, and at least two responses to the posts of others (responses must total 150 words minimum). Thanks and God bless!
1. Was Vietnam worth it? The years, the tens of thousands of lives, the fortune that was spent?
2. Did the US lose the War in Vietnam? Our enemies didn't defeat us in the field of battle, yet we left and our allies were destroyed. What does this question mean for Americans today?
3. Could another "Vietnam" occur again? Would Americans be willing to sacrifice as much, regardless of the cause? (For perspective, remember that by the late 1960s about 500 American soldiers were dying every week in Vietnam).
4. How did this happen? Should the US policy (Truman Doctrine) have been different?
I look forward to your answers. Please remember that the requirements for this assignment are a minimum of 200 words, and at least two responses to the posts of others (responses must total 150 words minimum). Thanks and God bless!
Make Up Assignment, Due April 13, 2012
To make up for a missing or late assignment, follow the link http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade60.html to research special topics in the 1960s. Choose a minimum of 3 special topics to research and write an essay of at least 350 words (since there will be no requirement to reply to the essays of others).
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