- Cold War
The cold war started in the late 1940s after the world had just recovered from World War II. This began in 1946 when the United Nations created an Atomic Energy Commission to control the use of weapons of mass destruction. The United States proposed a policy to form Atomic Development Authority that sought to control the use of nuclear weapons which changed the American history and led to cold war. The Soviet Union felt that the US would use this opportunity to have a monopoly of control of the atomic bomb. On its part, the Soviet Union called for the universal nuclear disarmament of nations with nuclear weapons. However, the United Nations failed to adopt either of these proposals. In July of the same year, the United States carried a nuclear test that led to bad blood between the two countries.
Formation of NATO in 1949 complicated the situation with USSR feeling that the alliance of these countries was to defend member interests. In 1960, the US plane was shot down while spying in the Russia airspace. It is also during this decade that the United States made attempts to overthrow the Cuban leader Fidel Castro who was believed to be the leader of communism in Cuba. The major event was, however, the assassination of J.F Kennedy with fingers pointing to communists as the main suspects. In 1965, U.S sent its troops to the Soviet Union. In 1970, the U.S invaded Cambodia which saw the start of Vietnam War. In 1980, the U.S boycotted Olympic Games held in Russia protesting the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet government. Change of leadership in the Soviet Union in 1985 led to an end of the cold war when Mikhail Gorbachev took power and changed the foreign policy which culminated in the signing of a charter to bring this war to an end in 1990.
- Origin and History of Vietnam War
The invasion of Vietnam by Japan triggered the Vietnam War in 1940. In the May of 1945 Vietnam leader, Ho Chi Minh declared that Vietnam had become a democratic but France regained its grip and continued controlling Vietnam. Japan surrendered its forces. The U.S pledged $15 million in military support to France in 1954, however, France failed to win the battle. In response to U. S support to France, China provided military and logistical assistant to Vietnam.
In 1963 President Ngo Dinh was executed during a coup and Vietnam attacked U.S vessels in international waters. This was met with U.S bombing the North of Vietnam in 1965 and ground troops invaded the country later in 1965 and in 1967. By 1968 the U.S was able to capture major cities and America declared a political victory. By 1969 the U. S had taken control of major cities and President Nixon approved further bombing without the consent of the American congress
The Lai massacre by the American troops led to an uproar among the American public. This led to arrest of Calley the military commander at the time. In 1970 Nixon announced his intention to send troops in Cambodia which was met by stiff opposition countrywide. U.S signed a treaty with South Vietnam in 1961 that led to the American military support to South Vietnam. This led to the formation of a joined command led by the U.S military that eventually led to increased support where the U.S military began air strikes in on Northern Vietnam mostly controlled by the communists. U.S commitment to this cause led to increased military presence (Palmer Jr, 2014).
The movement against racial discrimination in the early 1950s took the center stage with Dr. Martin Luther King being very vocal and championing for rights of all regardless of their color or race. This movement pushed the government to abandon its stand on white privileges. During the 1950s, there were significant gains and the African won their case in the Supreme courts that led to non-violent protests. This was followed by the state ensuring that there were no schools for the white and those for the blacks. An example is the case of Brown v. Board of Education on May 17, 1954; “separate but equal” where the high court ruled that schools are inherently unequal. This ruling was a milestone as the blacks were allowed to attend schools attended by the whites. It made school segregation an offense.
Another civil right was the feminist movement fought against workplace inequality. Women were denied access to better jobs and were paid less than their male counterparts. This led to an uprising in the 1960s and 1970s with women fighting to be given an equal opportunity in places of work. These movements made into the TV screens with women championing for their rights and place in the society. An example is the “Cagney & Lacey” show that staged female partners in a leading role. This show touched on a number of cultural issues such as leadership, color, rape, alcoholism, AIDs and racial discrimination in the administration of justice.
In the 1980s there was advancement and backlash for women’s movement. Women especially the blacks continued with the fight for recognition in the society and we met by backlash following 1970s feminist movements. However, they remained resilient and rose up to occasion to fight for their rights. Examples are Alice Walker and Toni Morrison who won prizes for their literary works in 1983 and 1986 and got recognition for their efforts.
- America’s economic History
1950 economy was not doing very badly; however, it remained relatively stagnant with no major growth. Nixon, the then president came up with a 17 point plan that created a sense of patriotism and most problems of the decade got a solution by 1960. By 1961 the economy was growing very fast especially in the telecommunication sector. The then president J.F Kennedy came up with policies to encourage economic growth. It is during this time that space exploration also gained a lot of momentum. Organization of Petroleum Exporting countries priced the energy very high straining the economy of the U.S. This decade also saw a rise in the level of unemployment. Vietnam war was another major activity that dragged the economy until the resignation of President Nixon in 1975.
The country experienced recession especially in the early 1980s that led to bankruptcy. The agricultural sector was also adversely affected. By mid-1980s the situation was brought under control. The government through President Reagan advocated for tax reduction which encouraged people to work hard. However, due to military spending, the government ended up with high debts to service. In 1990, the economy grew steadily with job creation, reduced rates of inflation. The country’s agricultural sector was also doing well and the country experienced major growth.
- Impact of television on the history of the United States
The 1960s and 1970s television were dominated by news and events surrounding feminist movement in U.S and Europe. Major broadcasters featured shows depicting the liberalized woman in America and Europe. One of these popular shows is “Cagney & Lacey”. These shows sought to dispel the notion that women were inferior and prove that they could find satisfaction in what they chose to do rather than let the society dictates for them. In the 1980s had much content that revolved around making lives of viewers much better. This included news and reports that focused on health and wellbeing of viewers.
From the 1990s the TV stations turned away from health and family matters and focused on news that captured the eyes of viewers. These included investigative shows. This is also the decade that featured the story of Clinton and Lewinsky. The industry also saw entrants of many broadcasters. Sporting events also dominated the screens with Olympics, football world cup and commonwealth games being some of the major highlights. In 2000, the American Election was a major highlight; however, this was overshadowed by the 9/11 bombing of the world trade center. The whole of that decade was dominated with terrorism news and radicalization. The invasion of Afghanistan by the U.S military to fight Taliban dominated the newsrooms from 2001 to 2010.
The Cold War was an ongoing political rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union
References
Palmer Jr, G. B. (2014). The 25-Year War: America’s Military Role in Vietnam. University Press of Kentucky
Kaiser, S. R. (2016). Deans of Women and the Feminist Movement by Kelly C. Sartorius (review). Journal of College Student Development, 57(3), 340-342.
Graham, H. D. (Ed.). (2010). Civil rights in the United States. Penn State Press.
American history
1. Discuss when, why and how the Cold War began. Then cite at least one factor that perpetuated the Cold War in each decade from the 1950s-1980s and discuss how the item you selected affected America at home as well. Last, discuss when and why the Cold War ended.
2. Discuss the origins of the Vietnam War, the course of the war over thirty years from the 1940s to the 1970s, and the wars’ impact on the United States, both at home and in terms of foreign policy.
3. Write an essay on the civil rights movement since 1953 in which you discuss the major factors that have contributed to its success and its major gains. Be sure to discuss more than one group and to cite examples from each decade of the 1950s through the 1990s.
4. Discuss the reasons for America’s economic growth or decline in each decade from the 1950s through the 1990s. Then explain how various presidents have dealt with economic problems and why they succeeded or failed.
5. Write an essay about the impact of television on the history of the United States over the past fifty years in which you describe in detail at least one historical event of national importance from each decade of the 1950s through the 1990s that was affected by TV. These are discussion questions please write about 1/2 a page to a page for each question answering exactly what the question is asking, this is going to help me study for a test. Astute Scholars can give an indepth analysis of such historical and political event.
