Industrialisation, Progressivism and Imperialism
Richard White- railroads symbolised modernity and large-coorperations supported Chinese immigrants
Paul A. Kramer Vanderbilt- racism was a tool of empire building ‘filipinos savages’
World War 1 and the 1920s
Lloyd E. Ambrosius- League of Nations offered framework for international relations but not an answer, pluralism prevented Wilson from achieving universal acceptance, interdependence among nations meant USA could not maintain traditional isolation from old world,
Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal
David M. Kennedy- New Deal did not achieve full economic recovery as unemployment still 17% and did not go below 14% until after WW2, also did not substantially redistribute national income
The United States and World War II
Steven Casey- WW2 domestic appeal because Pearl Harbour gave sense of national unity (even though there were problems like friendly fire, anxiety of Europe invasion, condolences letters, Wilson more neutral than Roosevelt) good war fought by greatest generation
Supported war but did not want t fight, George Gallup 1941 60% thought USA should help Britain even if meant fighting
The 1960s and Civil Rights
M. J Heale- youthful population with more people attending higher education, politics rooted in race and culture- right-wing movements, student activism, communists and feminists seen as psychologically impaired and only middle-aged liberals psychologically sound (in 1968 only 13% of students New Left)
The Nixon presidency and its aftermaths
Logavall & Craig- Nixon won nearly 61% of popular vote, third greatest percentage in history, Watergate was a desire to combat what was truly evil
Ronald Reagan and the 1980s
Beth A. Fischer- Soviets could not keep up pace with US military expenditures and technological advances, Reagans anti-communist and SDI military buildup meant Gorbachev could not improve relations with West
The Age of Anxiety (and fear?) 1945- 1960
Elaine May- conformist and anything other than normal sexual behaviour is irresponsible, immature and makes you weak, sexual deviants are security risks as people could be seduced by communists, 21 average age to marry and in the 50s people were having 3.2 kids compared to 2.4 in 30s
Glenn Altschuler- adolescents letting loose, reject authorisation and the rise of the teenager influenced yb consumerism (by end of 1957 78 Elvis items sold for $55 million
Walter Lefeber- USA unintentionally provoked conflict because Truman was insecure and uninformed and did not want to appear soft so took hardliners view
Vietnam
George C. Herring- war started from the dissolution of colonies and start of Cold War and communism and the domino theory was an integral part- rise of nationalism and weakness of European powers
