American History Sample Assignment

1. The Reconstruction Period of the 1860/70s and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s

There were significant differences and similarities between the first and the second periods of reconstructions—both periods considered and planned to achieve a particular goal of its leaders. The first reconstruction period was meant to recollect American's broken pieces after the famous World War 2. The country was on the run to re-establish the state to become economically stable again (Faragher). The world wars had resulted in a massive death toll in the country; hence they needed to recollect and regenerate their psychological tenure.

The second reconstruction period was a revolutionary movement period. The period got characterized by the ambition of creating freedom for blacks in America. Various civil wars were organized in the fight to stop then slavery. Most of the leaders of these freedom movements were blacks. The first reconstruction period was collectively targeting the American people (Faragher). The second period was considering bridging the differences between the whites and the dark in terms of racial subjugations. The blacks were on the rise claiming their freedom and racial space in America.

2. The emergence of the counterculture, identity politics, and liberation movements

The issue of counterculture manifested early in the 1960s as a form of youth appeal concerning social status. The reason for the emergence of this movement was the youth’s ambition to reject the early socio-cultural norms of 1950s (Faragher). They were running away from their parental cultures such as the racial politics and the then government support on war in Vietnam. Counterculture had an adverse effect on African-Americans way of life and political point of view. It created a division in the country. On one side, it supported the ideologies of equality, happiness, freedom of speech, and general peace in the world. The other side showed that the movement was senseless, rebelling, sybaritic, non-patriotic, and assaulting the Americans' moral traditions.

Compared to the early 1950s movements, counterculture could relate to the conformists controlled by youths and the aged to advocate for their identical norms post-WWII. They struggle to adjust to the new employment criterion layout after the displacement of the First World War. On the other side, the populist and the progressives were also similar to this group based on leaders seeking the reformations (Faragher). These groups were headed by the median class individuals from the country. The populists were considered for their radicalisms in the field of farming, while the progressives advocated for political reforms in the country.

3. Examination of the American Political Parties in the 1990s: Great Depression

In 1929 during the crash of Wall Street, the period of the Great Depression emerged. The period was associated with inadequate marketing stock, profit reduction, low living standards, and lack of jobs. It can be traced up to the 1990s with different political reforms (Faragher). Commercial confidentiality was at a small peak. As a result, different variations occurred in line with the American's political concern. The remarkable parties of this period were the Democrats and the Republicans. Republican was formed from the state of Washington, but this period the democrats earned more of its voters.

The Democratic Party was following the policy of financial conservation, a strategy that was not accepted by various political associations. The liberals and the (WCF) Washington Commonwealth Federation challenged the democrats' policies in around 1930. The WCF gave the Washington state more powers over other countries in America. The problems that the Democrats were undergoing somehow pave the way for the Republican Party. The party was more famous in the state of Seattle through the leadership of Arthur Langlie (Faragher). Republicans were for the reduction of tax and promoting moral growth. The Democrats proved more significant when it re-emerged in the 1940s with new reformations and policies. Under the service years of Roosevelt, the party gained more power over other upcoming political associations.

4. The American foreign policies from the end of World War II to the 1990s

One of the significant post-WWII themes from American policies is the interventionism policy. The policy's main aim was the containment of the then growing communists in the world. The government of America involved in this fight through the funding of the countries from Europe. Their ambition was to participate actively in the UN and NATO. The Americans were responsible for providing monetary services to these countries, so the communist powers could not sweep them. The formation of the CIA- Central Intelligence Agency was meant to set up and implement the subject of foreign policy (Faragher). The CIA was to spy over the overall policies and provide the top-secret information from other nations. Those, as mentioned above, were intelligence factor, and the presidents elected its leaders under the supervision of the senate.

The other policy that was directed at culminating the emerging cold was the Détente. The détente was to ease the political tension and the relationship with other unions such as the SOVIETS. In 1969, through the Détente policy, the administration of Nixon formed a Warsaw Pact, which was to request of the interoperation of security matters with the European countries (Faragher). The country benefited from these policies and treaties in their developmental agendas.

Work Cited

Faragher, John Mack. Out of many: A history of the American people. Vol. 1. Prentice-Hall, 2001.

Monica Sone, Nisei Daughter (University of Washington Press, 2014), ISBN 9780295993553.