America Firsthand : Volume Two: Readings from Reconstruction to the Present

by Robert D. Marcus; David Burner; Anthony Marcus

• ISBN13: 9780312446727
• ISBN10: 0312446721
• Edition: 7th
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2006-02-13
• Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin's

Summary

One of the most widely adopted primary source U.S. history readers,America Firsthandpresents history in the words of the people who made it, inviting and provoking students to think critically about the past. The seventh edition continues to bring the past to life with more visual and textual sources that increase diversity, represent current scholarship, and engage students.

Author Biography

ROBERT D. MARCUS, late of the State University of New York College at Brockport, wrote on late-nineteenth-century American politics as well as on the United States in the 1960s. He developed materials for collaborative learning techniques and edited several dozen books for Brandywine Press.

DAVID BURNER, professor of history at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, has written two books on John F. Kennedy as well as books on Herbert Hoover, the 1960s, and the Democratic Party in the 1920s, including a number of textbooks. Burner has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and is currently writing a treatise on the administration of George W. Bush.

ANTHONY MARCUS teaches at the University of Melbourne, Australia. He has taught at the City University of New York, the State University of New York, and Hofstra University and served as dean at St. John's University and at the American University in Dubai. He has published numerous books and articles on American history and Afro-American life and culture. His most recent book covers the life and work of radical editor George Breitman.

Table of Contents

Preface	v
Studying and Writing History	ix
PART ONE After the Civil War: New South and New West	1	(48)
Points of View: Dilemmas of Reconstruction (1865-1877)
1. AFRICAN AMERICANS DURING RECONSTRUCTION	2	(6)
Felix Haywood et al.
In interviews conducted in the 1930's, Felix Haywood and other former slaves tell about their lives immediately following the Civil War.
2. WHITE SOUTHERNERS' REACTIONS TO RECONSTRUCTION	8	(42)
Caleb G. Forshey and the Reverend James Sinclair
Testimony by Caleb Forshey and the Reverend James Sinclair before a joint congressional committee shows reactions of Southern whites to Reconstruction policies.
FOR CRITICAL THINKING	16	(1)
3. THE MURDER OF JIM WILLIAMS	17	(10)
Rosy Williams et al.
Testimony of Rosy Williams, John Caldwell, and Dr. James R. Bratton describes the 1871 hanging of Jim Williams by the Ku Klux Klan in Yorkville, South Carolina.
4. VENGEANCE AGAINST "LONG HAIR"	27	(6)
She Walks with Her Shawl and One Bull
Lakota and Cheyenne Indians remember the Little Big Horn encounter of 1876 in which more than four thousand warriors defeated Custer and his regiment in southern Montana.
5. WORK UNDER SHARECROPPER AND LABOR CONTRACTS	33	(4)
Grimes Family and Swindell Brothers
Grimes family and Swindell Brothers contracts provide examples of new economic arrangements from Reconstruction through the 1880's.
6. SCHOOL DAYS OF AN INDIAN GIRL	37	(8)
Zitkala-SA (Gertrude Simmons Bonnin)
A South Dakotan Sioux recalls her experiences at a boarding school for Native American children in the 1880's and later at college.
7. WESTERN MIGRATION	45	(4)
Illustrations from the Popular Press
Two illustrations from popular magazines show migrants moving West, presenting visually the notion of "manifest destiny."
PART TWO The Gilded Age: Industrial Growth and Crisis	49	(50)
Points of View: Industrialism and Progress (1882)
8. THE DECLINE OF THE INDEPENDENT CRAFTSMAN	50	(8)
Joseph T. Finnerty
Joseph T. Finnerty, a brass worker, criticizes the growing scale of industry before a Senate Committee.
9. WORKERS PROSPER AS INDUSTRY GROWS	58	(9)
William Steinway
The piano manufacturer William Steinway defends industrial growth before a Senate committee.
FOR CRITICAL THINKING	67	(2)
10. GEORGE RICE LOSES OUT TO STANDARD OIL	69	(1)
George Rice
In 1898, George Rice exposes the business practices of Standard Oil, a trust that destroyed his refining business.
11. HONEST AND DISHONEST GRAFT	76	(1)
George Washington Plunkitt
The Tammany Hall politician George Washington Plunkitt reflects on the meaning of political corruption during the Gilded Age in a selection from 1905.
12. ANTILYNCHING CAMPAIGN IN TENNESSEE	84	(1)
Ida B. Wells-Barnett
Ida B. Wells-Barnett, an African American journalist, remembers the 1892 lynching of three Memphis friends who owned a grocery store in her community.
13. THE STRUGGLES OF AN ENTREPRENEUR	90	(1)
James Kyner
An enterprising and hardworking entrepreneur describes his struggles during the severe depression of the mid-1890's.
14. THE GREAT PULLMAN STRIKE OF 1894	96	(1)
Illustration by G.W. Peters
An illustration from the July 28, 1894 edition of Harper's Weekly captures the intensity of feeling between the strikers and the federal troops protecting the trains during the great Pullman Strike of 1894.
PART THREE An Age of Reform: Responses to Industrial America	99	(50)
Points of View: The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire (1911)
15. CONDITIONS AT THE TRIANGLE SHIRTWAIST COMPANY	100	(12)
Pauline Newman et al.
Pauline Newman and four other women describe the fire that broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company and the hazardous safety conditions that led to it.
16. A FIRE TRAP	105	(6)
William Gunn Shepherd
A special morning edition of the New York World, March 26, 1911, recounts the tragedy in which over 140 people died.
FOR CRITICAL THINKING	111	(1)
17. A BINTEL BRIEF	112	(1)
Abraham Cahan
Letters to the Jewish Daily Forward and Abraham Cahan's answers reflect the concerns of new immigrants adjusting to American life in the early 1900's.
18. CONDITIONS AT THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE	119	(1)
Upton Sinclair
An excerpt from Upton Sinclair's book The Jungle, published in 1906, graphically describes unsanitary practices in the meat-packing industry.
19. LETTERS FROM THE GREAT MIGRATION	127	(1)
Emmett J. Scott et al.
Letters from 1916 and 1917 document the "great migration" of African Americans looking for new opportunities in Northern cities.
20. THE TRIAL OF KATE RICHARDS O'HARE	131	(1)
Kate Richards O'Hare et al.
The socialite Kate Richards O'Hare is found guilty in a North Dakota court in 1917 of disrupting recruitment for World War I.
VISUAL PORTFOLIO: Urban Industrial America	139	(10)
PART FOUR A New Society: Between the Wars	149	(56)
Points of View: The Scopes Trial (1925)
21. IN DEFENSE OF THE BIBLE	150	(11)
William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow
William Jennings Bryan testifies against the theory of evolution during the famous Tennessee "monkey trial."
22. TENNESSEE'S DILEMMA	157	(3)
Joseph Wood Krutch
The critic Joseph Wood Krutch reflects on the issues of political leadership, citizenship, and education raised by the Scopes trial.
FOR CRITICAL THINKING	160	(1)
23. THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE	161	(1)
Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes evokes Harlem in the 1920's.
24. MY FIGHT FOR BIRTH CONTROL	171	(1)
Margaret Sanger
Margaret Sanger recounts a tragic incident that inspired her renowned crusade to offer contraceptive information to women in the 1920's.
25. DOWN AND OUT IN THE GREAT DEPRESSION	178	(1)
Anonymous
Ordinary citizens describe their plight in anonymous letters to Franklin D. and Eleanor Roosevelt and to various government officials in the 1930's.
26. THE SIT-DOWN STRIKES	186	(1)
Henry Kraus
The 1936 "Battle of Bull's Run" became a legendary moment in the American labor movement.
VISUAL PORTFOLIO: Advertising in the 1920's	193	(12)
PART FIVE "The American Century": War, Affluence, and Uncertainty	205	(56)
Points of View: Building and Using an Atomic Bomb (1942-1945)
27. TO BUILD AN ATOMIC BOMB	206	(19)
J. Robert Oppenheimer
J. Robert Oppenheimer recounts the drive to recruit almost four thousand scientists for the Manhattan Project and speaks about the reaction to the success of the project.
28. TO USE AN ATOMIC BOMB	215	(8)
Paul Tibbets and George Weller
Paul Tibbets, pilot of the Enola Gay, describes dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in an interview, and George Weller recounts what he saw as one of the first journalists on the scene after Nagasaki was bombed in 1945.
FOR CRITICAL THINKING	223	(2)
29. ROSIE THE RIVETER	225	(1)
Fanny Christina Hill
Fanny Christina Hill, an African American, remembers her employment in defense work during World War II.
30. MEMORIES OF THE INTERNMENT CAMP	232	(1)
Ben Yorita and Philip Hayasaka
Ben Yorita and Philip Hayasaka, Japanese Americans, recall their lives at a "relocation center" during World War II.
31. THE BATAAN DEATH MARCH	239	(1)
Blair Robinett et al.
Private First Class Blair Robinett and fellow soldiers relate gruesome details of survival and death during this infamous World War II event.
32. BLACKLIST: POST—WORLD WAR II RED SCARE	247	(1)
Ring Lardner Jr.
Hollywood screenwriter Ring Lardner. Jr. describes entertainment industry blacklisting during the McCarthy era.
33. "MUMMY, WHAT HAPPENS TO US IF THE BOMB DROPS?"	257	(1)
Civil Defense Poster
A civil defense poster illustrates the types of propaganda that the U.S. government distributed to civilians to prepare them for the threat of nuclear warfare.
PART SIX Contested Boundaries: Moral Dilemmas at Home and Abroad	261	(60)
Points of View: The My Lai Incident (1968-1970)
34. DISBELIEF AND CORROBORATION	262	(17)
Ronald L. Ridenhour et al.
A letter from a former infantryman asks for an investigation of the My Lai Massacre, and testimony and army reports examine the slaughter.
35. COVER-UP AND OUTCOME	269	(9)
General Westmoreland, President Nixon et al.
More testimony and expert reports coupled with reflections by General William Westmoreland and President Richard Nixon shed light on how the incident happened and why public reaction was so explosive.
FOR CRITICAL THINKING	278	(1)
36. PROTESTING MISS AMERICA 1968	279	(1)
Carol Hanisch
Carol Hanisch, feminist and member of New York Radical Women, recalls her involvement in the protest against the Miss America Pageant of 1968.
37. MISSISSIPPI FREEDOM SUMMER	285	(1)
Student Workers
Participants in the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer project document their experiences and emotions in letters home.
38. AN AMERICAN HOSTAGE IN TEHRAN	294	(1)
Barry Rosen
The press attaché for the American embassy in Iran tells of the 1979 storming of the embassy by Islamic students and the beginning of his long ordeal.
39. BORDER CROSSINGS	301	(1)
Ramón Pérez et al.
Five undocumented Mexican workers and two "Coyotes" recount their reasons for entering this country illegally and the challenges they faced in doing so during interviews conducted in the 1980's.
VISUAL PORTFOLIO: A Decade of Protest	311	(10)
PART SEVEN: New World Order? Angry Realignments after the Cold War	321
Points of View: A Public Debate between Somalis in Lewiston, Maine, and Their Mayor (October 1, 2002—January 29, 2003)
40. THE LETTER THAT SPARKED THE DEBATE AND SUPPORTERS OF IT	323	(10)
Mayor Laurier T. Raymond et al.
Mayor Laurier T. Raymond of Lewiston, Maine's controversial October 1, 2002 letter asking Somali refugees to stop coming to his beleaguered city and letters to the editor in support of his action.
41. LETTERS IN SUPPORT OF THE SOMALI COMMUNITY	327	(5)
Elders of the Somali Community et al.
The response from a council of Somali elders to Mayor Raymond's letter, along with some of the letters written to the local paper in support of the Somalis.
FOR CRITICAL THINKING	332	(1)
42. DAUGHTER OF AMERICA	333	(1)
Shams Alwujude
An Arab-American woman offers her perspective on growing up Muslim in America.
43. RODNEY KING AND THE LOS ANGELES RIOTS	340	(1)
Stan Chambers
The veteran reporter Stan chambers recounts first reactions to the videotaped beating of Rodney King in 1991 and his views from a helicopter of the Los Angeles riots a year later.
44. HOMOPHOBIA IN THE HEARTLAND	345	(1)
Dennis W. Shepard
Matthew Shepard's father addresses the men who killed his son in 1998 and the court that found them guilty.
45. SEPTEMBER 11 AND THE AFTERMATH	351	(1)
Kimberly Morales and Amber Amundson
A student watches the towers burn on September 11, and a woman urges a peaceful response from the government in the aftermath of the terror attacks.
46. THE ABU GHRAIB PRISON ABUSE SCANDAL	356	(1)
Amateur Photographs
Two of the many photographs showing prisoner abuse committed by U.S. soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison that became public in the spring of 2004, sparking outrage and renewing debate over the U.S. role in Iraq.