Nixon vs. Humphrey vs. Wallace

Thanks to the miracle of the internet, young people today can watch the awful television commercials of the 50's, 60's, and 70's--including the campaign commercials. Lucky you! Please take a look at a one or two of the 1968 presidential campaign commercials I link here:

• Humphrey commercial
• George Wallace commercial
• Robert Kennedy commercial
• Nixon commercial
  
• Nixon commercial

What was the main theme of the commercial/commercials you watched? What issues were the candidates using to try to sway voters? Did the commercial/commercials seem to you at all likely to be effective?

Watts Riots

The advent of television had a major affect on the way Americans viewed their nation and the political issues confronting America. Please watch this video clip of the 1965 Watts riots. What would your own reaction have been after seeing clips like this on the evening news? Remember that the riots broke out just days after the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a supplement to the earlier Civil Rights Act of 1964. Do you think this is just a coincidence, or do you see a possible connection?

Primary Source Films: Why We Fight and Atomic Cafe

One of the best ways to get a "feel" for the different periods of recent U.S. history is to look at the films produced during these periods.  Frank Capra's Why We Fight series is a particularly good source for understanding both America's pre-war isolation and the transformation of the United States into the mightiest military machine in all history.

A good source for certain aspects of the following Cold War period is the Atomic Cafe documentary. 

Please watch portions of either one (or both) of these documentaries.  Comment here on your impressions: what did you get from watching the films that you might not have understood from just reading or listening to a lecture?

The Scopes Trial

While Inherit the Wind is a fine play, it does take many liberties in the way it depicts the events of the Scopes trial.  Reading through portions of the actual Scopes trial transcript give a bit better picture of what actually took place at the trial, particularly giving a more accurate picture of the role played by William Jennings Bryan.  Choose any portion of the transcript that looks interesting to you and comment on the proceedings.  Note how and why different people might interpret this trial very differently.  You might find the debate over prayer or Bryan's (undelivered) closing remarks particularly interesting.

The Eugenics Movement

If you want to improve a country, perhaps one way would be to improve the people who live in that country. Some among the "progressives" hit on a novel way to bring about such improvement: breed better people. The attempt to improve the genetic heritage of America (and to hasten the evolution of the species) led to what's called the eugenics movement. Please read through the Wikipedia summary of the eugenics movement. What do you see here that suggests that there is a dark side to the progressive movement?

Philippine-American War (1899-1902)

While the 1900 contest between Bryan vs. McKinley was taking place, America was bogged down attempting to end an insurrection in the Philippines. Glance through this Philippine-American War site and choose one incident from this war that seems to you worth addressing in a presidential campaign either on the pro-war or anti-war side. 

Carnegie--The Gospel of Wealth

People who make themselves wealthy sometimes make others better off as well, and it's possible to view the Mellon, Rockefeller, and Stanford types much more positively than I suggested in lecture.  With Andrew Carnegie especially, it's easy to view him more positively than I do.  Please read through Carnegie's Gospel of Wealth. How does reading this affect your general impression of Carnegie?  Does it make you more sympathetic or not?