Constructing the American Past: A Source Book of a People's History

by Gorn, Elliott J.; Roberts, Randy; Bilhartz, Terry D.

• ISBN13: 9780321002198
• ISBN10: 0321002199
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-11-01
• Publisher: Pearson College Div

Summary

Students get involved in discovering history for themselves when using Constructing the American Past. Readers evaluate primary sources and then develop informed interpretations of American History.

Table of Contents

Preface	xiii	(10)
Introduction Constructing the Past	xxiii
CHAPTER 1 Reconstruction and the Rise of the Ku Klux Klan	1	(20)
Historical Context	1	(2)
The Documents	3	(16)
1. Initiation Oath of the Knights of the White Camelia	4	(2)
2. Testimony of Victims of the Ku Klux Klan	6	(2)
3. Congressional Inquiry into Klan Activities	8	(4)
4. Hon. Job E. Stevenson of Ohio, Speech to the House of Representatives	12	(4)
5. Benjamin Bryant, From Experience of a Northern Man Among the Ku-Klux	16	(2)
6. W. H. Gannon, "How to Extirpate Ku-Kluxism from the South"	18	(1)
Questions	19	(1)
Defining Terms	19	(1)
Probing the Sources	20	(1)
Interpreting the Sources	20	(1)
Additional Reading	20	(1)
CHAPTER 2 The Great Strike of 1877	21	(18)
Historical Context	21	(4)
The Documents	25	(11)
1. "Fair Wages" by a Striker	25	(3)
2. "The Recent Strikes" by the President of the Pennsylvania Railroad	28	(2)
3. Allan Pinkerton, from Strikers, Communists, Tramps and Detectives	30	(2)
4. Samuel Gompers, "... A Declaration of Protest in the Name of American Manhood..."	32	(2)
5. Mary Harris "Mother" Jones, "The Great Uprising"	34	(1)
6. Henry Ward Beecher, "There Is No Rich Class and No Working Class Under the Law"	35	(1)
Questions	36	(1)
Defining Terms	36	(1)
Probing the Sources	36	(1)
Interpreting the Sources	36	(1)
Additional Reading	37	(2)
CHAPTER 3 When Cultures Collide: Wounded Knee	39	(24)
Historical Context	39	(3)
The Documents	42	(18)
1. Z. A. Parker, "The Ghost Dance Observed"	42	(2)
2. Letters from Reservations by United States Agents	44	(4)
3. "... No White People in the Other World ...", Selwyn's Interview with Kuwapi	48	(1)
4. "... Indians Armed to the Teeth..."	49	(1)
5. "...Defrauding Us of Vested Rights..."	50	(1)
6. Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1891	51	(1)
7. Three Letters by Military Leaders	52	(3)
8. Eyewitness Reports of Indians Interviewed by the Office of Indian Affairs	55	(2)
9. Government and Military Statements on Wounded Knee	57	(3)
Postscript	60	(1)
Questions	60	(1)
Defining Terms	60	(1)
Probing the Sources	61	(1)
Interpreting the Sources	61	(1)
Additional Reading	61	(2)
CHAPTER 4 New Americans: The Immigrants	63	(24)
Historical Context	63	(3)
The Documents	66	(19)
1. Jacob Riis, "Little Italy"	67	(1)
2. Rocco Corresca, "The Biography of a Bootblack"	68	(4)
3. Jacob Riis, "Chinatown"	72	(2)
4. Lee Chew, "The Biography of a Chinaman"	74	(6)
5. Jacob Riis, "Jewtown"	80	(1)
6. Rose Schneiderman, "A Cap Maker's Story"	81	(4)
Postscript	85	(1)
Questions	86	(1)
Defining Terms	86	(1)
Probing the Sources	86	(1)
Interpreting the Sources	86	(1)
Additional Reading	86	(1)
CHAPTER 5 Building an Empire: America and the Philippines	87	(24)
Historical Context	87	(3)
The Documents	90	(17)
1. Albert J. Beveridge, "The March of the Flag"	91	(2)
2. William Graham Sumner, "The Conquest of the United States by Spain"	93	(2)
3. Theodore Roosevelt, "The Strenuous Life"	95	(4)
4. Press Opposition to the War	99	(3)
5. Theodore Roosevelt, "National Duties"	102	(2)
6. Proceedings of the Congressional Committee on the Philippines	104	(3)
Postscript	107	(1)
Questions	108	(1)
Defining Terms	108	(1)
Probing the Sources	108	(1)
Interpreting the Sources	109	(1)
Additional Reading	109	(2)
CHAPTER 6 The Woman Rebel: Margaret Sanger and the Birth Control Movement	111	(22)
Historical Context	111	(2)
The Documents	113	(16)
1. Margaret Sanger, From The Woman Rebel	114	(1)
2. Anthony Comstock's Views on Birth Control	115	(3)
3. Margaret Sanger, From the Case for Birth Control	118	(2)
4. Michael P. Dowling, From Race-Suicide	120	(2)
5. Physicians' Statements about Birth Control	122	(2)
6. Debate between Margaret Sanger and Winter Russell	124	(5)
Postscript	129	(1)
Questions	130	(1)
Defining Terms	130	(1)
Probing the Sources	130	(1)
Interpreting the Sources	130	(1)
Additional Reading	131	(2)
CHAPTER 7 Selling the War: Recruitment Posters of World War I	133	(18)
Historical Context	133	(5)
The Documents	138	(12)
World War I Posters	139	(11)
Questions	150	(1)
Defining Terms	150	(1)
Probing the Sources	150	(1)
Interpreting the Sources	150	(1)
Additional Reading	150	(1)
CHAPTER 8 Science on Trial: Tennessee Versus John Thomas Scopes	151	(20)
Historical Context	151	(4)
The Documents	155	(14)
1. George William Hunter, From Civic Biology	156	(2)
2. Darrow Versus Bryan	158	(8)
3. H. L. Mencken, "In Memoriam: W. J. B."	166	(3)
Postscript	169	(1)
Questions	169	(1)
Defining Terms	169	(1)
Probing the Sources	169	(1)
Interpreting the Sources	170	(1)
Additional Reading	170	(1)
CHAPTER 9 Writing the Great Depression	171	(22)
Historical Context	171	(4)
The Documents	175	(15)
1. Americans Write to Their Leaders	175	(3)
2. Tom Kromer, From Waiting for Nothing	178	(4)
3. Meridel Le Sueur, "Women on the Breadlines"	182	(2)
4. Meridel Le Sueur, "I Was Marching"	184	(3)
5. Poems of the 1930s	187	(3)
Questions	190	(1)
Defining Terms	190	(1)
Probing the Sources	191	(1)
Interpreting the Sources	191	(1)
Additional Reading	191	(2)
CHAPTER 10 In Love and War: Exploring World War II through Family and Oral History	193	(28)
Historical Context	193	(2)
The Documents	195	(24)
1. The War Letters of Skipper and Joy Bilhartz	195	(20)
2. An Interview with Alfred John Sandberg, Jr.	215	(3)
3. Historical Statistics of the United States, 1940-1950	218	(1)
Postscript	219	(1)
Questions	219	(1)
Defining Terms	219	(1)
Probing the Sources	220	(1)
Interpreting the Sources	220	(1)
Additional Reading	220	(1)
CHAPTER 11 Setting the Temperature of the Cold War	221	(20)
Historical Context	221	(4)
The Documents	225	(13)
1. Henry L. Stimson, "On Active Service" and "Memorandum for the President"	225	(2)
2. George F. Kennan, The Long Telegram	227	(6)
3. Henry A. Wallace, Letter to President Truman	233	(5)
Questions	238	(1)
Defining Terms	238	(1)
Probing the Sources	238	(1)
Interpreting the Sources	239	(1)
Additional Reading	239	(2)
CHAPTER 12 The Civil Rights Movement: Freedom Summer, 1964	241	(26)
Historical Context	241	(3)
The Documents	244	(20)
1. Anne Moody, From Coming of Age in Mississippi	245	(3)
2. SNCC Pamphlet on Voting Rights	248	(2)
3. Prospectus for the Mississippi Freedom Summer	250	(1)
4. Robert Moses Memorandum	251	(1)
5. Reporting Freedom Summer	252	(9)
6. Howard Zinn, Journey to Understanding	261	(3)
Postscript	264	(1)
Questions	264	(1)
Defining Terms	264	(1)
Probing the Sources	265	(1)
Interpreting the Sources	265	(1)
Additional Reading	265	(2)
CHAPTER 13 My Lai	267	(22)
Historical Context	267	(3)
The Documents	270	(17)
1.-3. Initial Reports	270	(5)
4.-6. Treatment of Civilians and Prisoners	275	(2)
7.-12. My Lai	277	(10)
Questions	287	(1)
Defining Terms	287	(1)
Probing the Sources	288	(1)
Interpreting the Sources	288	(1)
Additional Reading	288	(1)
CHAPTER 14 HIV-AIDS	289	(26)
Historical Context	289	(3)
The Documents	292	(21)
1. Randy Shilts, From And the Band Played On	292	(5)
2. Everett Koop, "The Early Days of AIDS as I Remembered Them"	297	(3)
3. Abraham Verghese, From My Own Country: A Doctor's Story	300	(6)
4. Religious Responses	306	(3)
5. From the ACT UP / Golden Gate Web Site	309	(2)
6. Margaret Conners, "Unraveling the Epidemic among Poor Women in the United States"	311	(2)
Postscript	313	(1)
Questions	314	(1)
Defining Terms	314	(1)
Probing the Sources	314	(1)
Interpreting the Sources	314	(1)
Additional Reading	314	(1)
Credits	315	(4)
Index	319