Posted: March 12th, 2024

Discuss at least three social or political movements from 1865 to 2000

PART A: Write answers to both of the following (be specific in your answers).
1) Use at least four terms from the syllabus (on Canvas) to discuss how race became a major
criterion for citizenship in the United States. Analyze these terms to discuss the legal problems
and implications that these changes posed.
2) Use at least four terms from the syllabus (on Canvas) to discuss the role of economic theory
and national security concerns in shaping Cold War ideals about the home, family, and gender
roles, and Civil Rights.
PART B: Choose two questions below and write essays in response (be specific in your answers).
1) Discuss at least three social or political movements from 1865 to 2000. Describe the key
historical events within the movements, the major goals and leaders of the movements, and
the strategies used for protest and dissent. Using some of the primary source documents on
Canvas and other material we have covered in this course, evaluate which strategies were
most effective based on which movements achieved some, most, or all of their objectives, and
the personal costs or effects on those involved. Then use this information to discuss what
strategies you would be willing to personally support or adopt for a goal that you might wish
to achieve in society, and describe how the strategy you choose would address or mitigate
potential backlash from those who might disagree.
2) Read the quote below (from lecture 13 on the New Deal):
“…the methods adopted since the World War with the purpose of achieving a greater temperance
by the forcing of Prohibition have been accompanied in most parts of the country by complete
and tragic failure. I need not point out to you that general encouragement of lawlessness has
resulted; that corruption, hypocrisy, crime and disorder have emerged, and that instead of
restricting, we have extended the spread of intemperance. This failure has come for this very
good reason: we have depended too largely upon the power of governmental action instead of
recognizing that the authority of the home and that of the churches in these matters is the
fundamental force on which we must build…But the President has at last learned what the facts
have shown these many years—that laws opposed by majority sentiments ‘create resentment
which undermines enforcement and in the end produces degeneration and crime.’”
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Campaign Speech, New Jersey, August 27, 1932
Use the passing of the 18th amendment and then its repeal through the 21st amendment, and the
above excerpt from FDR’s campaign speech to evaluate the role of the federal government in
passing legislation regarding matters of public health or benefit. Do you think FDR was correct?
What did FDR mean when he talked about “recognizing the authority of the home and that of the
churches…”? How did he invoke, with this phrase, popularly held notions regarding the
“homestead,” land ownership, and individual rights and responsibilities in this statement coming
from the 19th century? How should a government balance the rights and needs of minority
members of a nation, society, or community with broad public concerns? How does that relate to
one law or policy that you would support (meaning you would be in the majority on the issue)
and one law or policy that you would oppose (meaning you would be in the minority on the
issue) on the basis of your individual needs, concerns, or rights?
3) Consider and compare the elections of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), a
Democrat, and President Ronald Reagan, a Republican: How did economic recession and protest
movements create conditions for political change that brought these presidents and their parties
into power? How did FDR and Reagan leverage these concerns and discontent in their political
messaging as a way to strengthen their campaigns and attract voters? Is that happening in
elections today, and if so, provide specific examples. What is the “silent majority” and what is its
role in U.S. presidential elections? Based on the historical events that shaped FDR’s and
Reagan’s paths to the presidency (not based on the current election polls and statistics or current
presidential campaigns, etc. but just taking FDR and Reagan as examples, and based on current
economic and social movements and concerns), predict which candidate could win the 2020
presidential election.

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