...Ready Willingness to Share Credit for Success In response to concerns expressed by friends about the actions of some of his Cabinet members, Lincoln stated that the "path to success and ambition is broad enough for two" said Kearns Goodwin. When there was success, Lincoln shared the credit with all of those involved. Ready Willingness to Share Blame for Failure When mistakes were made by members of his Cabinet, Lincoln stood up for them said Kearns Goodwin. When contracts related to the war effort raised serious questions about a member of his administration, Lincoln spoke up and indicated that he and his entire Cabinet were to blame. Awareness of Own Weaknesses Kearns Goodwin noted that one of the weaknesses acknowledged by Lincoln was his tendency to give people too many chances and because he was aware, he was able to compensate for that weakness. As an example, she stated that George McClellan, Commander in Chief of the Union Army, refused to follow directives about the war effort. Lincoln eventually...
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...Jim Crow keeping company with the final chapter of the New Jim Crow, “The Fire this Time,” this section is devoted to the question of where we go from here. Michelle Alexander argues that we, as a nation, have reached a fork in the road. Likewise, here at the end of our journey with her book, we find ourselves at a critical point of decision. What is required of us at this moment in history, a time when millions are cycling in and out of our nation’s prisons and jails trapped in a parallel social universe in which discrimination is perfectly legal? How do we show care and concern for the children who are born into communities where the majority of men and growing numbers of women can expect to spend time behind bars? What must we do, now that we know that the usual justifications do not hold water, and that a human rights nightmare is occurring on our watch? The New Jim Crow begins and ends with the assertion that nothing short of a major social movement holds any hope of ending mass incarceration in the United States. If we were to return to the rates of incarceration we had in the 1970s—before the drug war and get tough movement gained steam—we would have to release four out of five people who are in prison today. More than a million people employed by the criminal...
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...Algeria “dirty war” in the 90s and the recent Libyan civil war, are a proof of how failed policies to address the topic of identity politics can be devastating. Identity politics must be a priority to our new democratic state. Forging a national identity that is inclusive and not exclusive is the appropriate way of dealing with social tension. The government needs to take a note of other countries’ experiences of identity crisis and fully understand the great potential of having a national identity that emphasizes on diversity and that’s representative of all the different groups in the society. A pragmatic approach needs to be followed to reach this goal while stressing the fact that we all belong to the same country and that we are united in diversity. The moment that our national portrait becomes a real reflection of who we are and appreciate our contributions .More and More people from the underrepresented marginalized groups will see themselves in this nation. And eventually, the radical fundamental waves will decline as fundamentalists will no longer feel threatened or excluded; they will become more integrated in the society...
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...in 1942 Initially, the outbreak of World War II did not bring about any large changes in the German economy. Germany had spent six years preparing for war, and a large portion of the economy was already devoted to military production. During the war, as Germany acquired new territories (either by direct annexation or by installing puppet governments in defeated countries), these new territories were forced to sell raw materials and agricultural products to German buyers at extremely low prices. Fiction as Reconstruction of History: Narratives of the Civil War in American Literature by Reinhard Isensee Even after more than 140 years the American Civil War continues to serve as a major source of inspiration for a plethora of literature in various genres. While only amounting to a brief period in American history in terms of years, this war has proved to be one of the central moments for defining the American nation since the second half of the nineteenth century. The facets of the Civil War, its protagonists, places, events, and political, social and cultural underpinnings seem to hold an ongoing fascination for both academic studies and fictional representations. Thus, it has been considered by many the most written-about war in the United States. The War That Never Goes Away: The Significance of the Civil War for the Cultural Imagination in the United States Despite the overwhelming body of academic work on the Civil War produced in the United States (and beyond)...
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...Biographical Background At 7:22 am on the morning of April 15, 1865 the sixteenth president of the United States of America took his last breath after being assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. Being the first president successfully assassinated in the United States of America would be enough to put Abraham Lincoln’s name in the history books, however his life is equally remarkable. Lincoln’s reputation as a strong leader has stood the test of time from his career as a politician and lawyer to the president who preserved the union during a crucial turning point in our nation’s history. Lincoln’s unquenchable thirst for education and self-improvement formed the foundation for the leader he later became (Austell, 2006). Lincoln’s stepmother, Sarah Bush Johnston, was the first person in his life that understood the importance of education and encouraged Lincoln in his educational efforts (Herndon & Weik, 1888). Lincoln’s quest for knowledge was a lifelong journey that continued throughout his career as a lawyer and a politician, and helped him to earn the trust and admiration of colleagues and friends (Alvy & Robbins, 2010). Lincoln’s first office for the federal government was as postmaster at New Salem followed by multiple terms in the Illinois state legislature. Over time Lincoln’s influence within the Illinois legislature grew, in large part due to his ability to draft bills and laws (Burlingame, 2008). It was during his first term in the Illinois legislature that Lincoln...
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...the most classic Civil War books ever, The Killer Angel. In The Killer Angel, Shaara portrays the perspectives of many soldiers who fought in the Civil War including those from both sides, the North and the South. Civil War soldiers fought for something more than just manhood, duty, government, and their country. They fought for and against slavery, which for most soldiers was their primary motivation beyond defending their home. Slavery for many was more than just an institution, it was the fabric of their economic society that provided the wealth and opportunity to the South. Without slavery the South could not operate and prosper which made it impossible for the notion of emancipation....
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...How American History Influenced The Movie Industry? The period of 1960’s is known as one of the most creative periods in the history of the Hollywood filmmaking. It was prominent due to usage of new narrative and style techniques in presenting changes in American values in the film industry at that time. The period of 60’s is known as a period of change, which was carrying an idea that the goal American society sets, can be successfully achieved. The most common topic in the movies of that period was America’s role in the World, as well as it’s controversial position. President of the US at that time, John Kennedy was promising that before the end of the decade men will step on the moon. He also lobbied for the civil right movement and the Civil Rights Act, which emphasized the end of the period of long segregation in the South. The latter finally gave the same amount of equality to Whites and Blacks. However, the decade ended with the Watts riots. All of these occasions summarized gave a clear sign that there was something wrong happening in America. The movies of 60’s were a way to respond to social movements, which were connected with the issues of civil rights, poverty, and feminism. Films were not only the representation of public view on the issues taking place in America, but also presented the favorable outcomes of values and institutions. Movies produced during the 60’s exposed the new figures to the audience. In addition, they presented the ways of thinking and suggested...
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...corpus has not been the most severe of civil liberties granted not to Americans only, but many other countries. The right of Habeas Corpus defends a prisoner. It gives a prisoner an opportunity to prove that their guaranteed rights to fair treatment in a trial was not given to them. The concept initially became a law in the 17th century in England when Catholics were considerate disloyal to the throne of King Charles II. It precedes the Magna Carta in 1215. It isn’t an original American concept. It became a law in the west when England parliament decreed the Habeas Corpus Act of 1679 (http://www.constitution.org). In 1861 right after the start of the American Civil War President Lincoln ordered a suspension of Habeas Corpus. It only applied to Maryland and parts of the Midwestern states. John Merryman, a Maryland secessionist, was capture by Union Troops. The Chief Justice and Supreme Court overlooked Lincoln’s order of suspension and demanded that the military bring Merryman before the court. Lincoln and the military then ignored their ruling. Chief Justice Taney governed Lincoln’s suspension unconstitutional. The first real act of Habeas Corpus comes from the passage of the Habeas Corpus Act of 1867 through 1915. At that time the court deprived Leo Frank of this right during a murder trial. Some other remarkable evolutions of this act during history are Lincoln's Suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus this was a historical moment for this right of the constitution. “Lincoln's...
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...History 477 (The Gilded Age) Associated professor of American studies at Yale University and author of the book called Barbarian virtues: the United States encounters foreign peoples at home and abroad, 1876-1917, Matthew Frye Jacobson, wrote about how Americans in the last part of the 19th century have actually formulated the values of being barbaric against immigrants and foreigners that are both found inside and outside the country. It is from this book that wide and open reflections can be done as to how America have been influenced enough to its formation of the immigration laws in the ways that they applied racial discriminations and superiority against other races. These attitudes of the 19th century America is considered to be the primary factors that led to the formation of the American laws regarding immigration and its country’s history. In fact, this can be the considered turning point of the American society as to how they have actually regarded themselves more powerful than the rest of the other races. This should hold true in the ways that America allowed immigrants to work in the country and thus leading to the economic boom of the country. This, in turn, allowed the creation of the Centennial Exhibition and political stability through immigrant children. Outside interaction of the Americans would apply the same concepts of the American superiority. In the discussion that follows, we consider the particular relations of the Americans to foreigners and how...
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...The Civil Rights Movement Sharon L. Jordan HUM410 Contemporary History Instructor: Lila Griffin-Brown October 16, 2011 African Americans’ efforts to stop the segregation of trains and streetcars, the organizations created to contest Jim Crow laws, and segregationists’ attempts to silence the protests all provide rich testimony to the spirit of agitation present even in this bleak time in American history (Kelley, 2010, p.5). The Civil Rights Movement was a struggle by African Americans in the mid-1950s to late 1960s to achieve civil rights equal to those of whites, including equal opportunity in employment, housing, and education, as well as the right to vote, the right of equal access to public facilities, and the right to be free of racial discrimination (Law, 2005). This movement sought to restore to African Americans the rights of citizenship guaranteed by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. The words civil rights often raise images of Martin Luther King Jr. delivering his soul-stirring “I Have a Dream” speech before the nation’s capital. "The practical cost of change for the nation up to this point has been cheap," Martin Luther King Jr. conceded “(LITWACK, 2009). Martin Luther King Jr., and other leaders of the movement anticipated, the movement provoked gains not only for African Americans but also for women, persons with disabilities, and many others. Organized efforts by an African American, W.E.B. Du Bois, who exhorted blacks to fight for the rights was...
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...According to Arundhati Roy, "There is no discussion taking place in the world today that is more crucial than the debate about strategies of resistance." There is no greater strategist in American history, no teacher more relevant to our post-election malaise, than Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. King was more than a moral visionary; he was a creative tactician. All of us-especially leaders of the peace movement-have much to learn from King's teachings on strategy and tactics. In the late 1950s a major change took place within the civil rights community, a shift from representative government to direct action democracy. When the young Black movement broke away from the confines of electoral politics, society began to change. Before 1960, the...
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...War on Poverty Begun officially in 1964, the War on Poverty was an ambitious governmental effort to address the problem of persistent poverty in the United States. Over the next decade, the federal government—in conjunction with state and local governments, nonprofit organizations, and grassroots groups—created a new institutional base for antipoverty and civil rights action and, in the process, highlighted growing racial and ideological tensions in American politics and society. Marked by moments of controversy and consensus, the War on Poverty defined a new era for American liberalism and added new layers to the American welfare state. Legislatively, the first two years were the most active. Between President Lyndon Johnson’s State of the Union address in 1964 and the liberal setbacks suffered in the congressional elections of 1966, the Johnson administration pushed through an unprecedented amount of antipoverty legislation. The Economic Opportunity Act (1964) provided the basis for the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), the Job Corps, Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), Upward Bound, Head Start, Legal Services, the Neighborhood Youth Corps, the Community Action Program (CAP), the college Work-Study program, Neighborhood Development Centers, small business loan programs, rural programs, migrant worker programs, remedial education projects, local health care centers, and others. The antipoverty effort, however, did not stop there. It encompassed a range of Great Society...
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...No, and again no: even if such a union were unimportant from an economic point of view; yes, even if it were harmful, it must nevertheless take place. One blood demands one Reich. Never will the German nation possess the moral right to engage in colonial politics until, at least, it embraces its own sons within a single state. Only when the Reich borders include the very last German, but can no longer guarantee his daily bread, will the moral right to acquire foreign soil arise from the distress of our own people. Their sword will become our plow, and from the tears of war the daily bread of future generations will grow. And so this little city on the border seems to me the symbol of a great mission. And in another respect as well, it looms as an admonition to the present day. More than a hundred years ago, this insignificant place had the distinction of being immortalized in the annals at least of German history, for it was the scene of a tragic catastrophe which gripped the entire German nation. At the time of our fatherland's deepest humiliation, Johannes Palm of Nuremberg, burgher, bookseller, uncompromising nationalist and French hater, died there for the Germany which he loved so passionately even in her misfortune. He had stubbornly refused to denounce his accomplices who were in fact his superiors. In thus he resembled Leo Schlageter. And like him, he was denounced to the French by a representative of his government An Augsburg police chief won this...
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...What in your view was the short-term significance of Martin Luther King to the Civil Rights Movement? Martin Luther King’s (MLK) short-term significance to the Civil Rights Movement (CRM) can be attributed to his non-violence and his unique relationships with the media and the President. These relationships played a key role in MLK’s and the CRM’s success. We should also not ignore the role played by global politics of the time. The circumstances were such that the CRM may have succeeded even without the assistance of MLK. In order to assess the short-term significance of King to the CRM, we must determine, was it MLK or rather the international situation that led to the successes of the Civil Rights Movement? Word Count – 502 MLK’s significance to the CRM stemmed from his use of non-violence as a tactic to achieve social change. Non-violence served as King’s ideology and methodology, and contributed to King’s significance. Non-violence being met with naked aggression and racism was showcased by the media and condemned by the government. Although several other civil rights leaders, such as Ralph Abernathy, possessed Christian credentials, MLK coupled these credentials with his non-violence and positive relationship with the media. In January 1960 a bomb was thrown on King’s porch and an armed mob gathered that was dispersed only by King’s insistence on calm. A white police officer on the scene remarked, “If it hadn’t been for that nigger preacher, we’d all be dead”. This quote...
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...The fall of the Soviet empire has presented various political and economic opportunities and threats to the world, for these reasons it’s considered one of the major events taking place since the Second World War. The Soviet fall besides various internal factors has been facilitated by US and Western counter parts to attempt to contain further Communism. The Truman doctrine was a US strategy to halt expansion of Soviet Union in the course of the Cold War. In this doctrine the then US President Harry S. Truman vowed to contain the spread of communism in the world particularly in Europe. This doctrine encouraged the US to back every country with both economic and military assistance if the Soviet Union or communism threats its stability. The aim of this paper is to review The Truman Doctrine was one of the significant historical approaches deployed between 1945 and 2008 that has had both negative and positive outcomes for the world. Historical Background In order to analyze the Truman doctrine and its different elements, it is necessary to consider the complex historical context in which it originated, and one that explains how a president such as Harry Truman, laid the foundations seated on the principles of the emerging American political realism after the Second World War (Bostdorff, 2008). The creation of international organizations like the UN itself and its Security Council, had brought hope back to the role, they were going to have to condition the behavior of the great...
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