A History of Our Time Readings on Postwar America

by Chafe, William H.; Sitkoff, Harvard; Bailey, Beth

• ISBN13: 9780199763641
• ISBN10: 019976364X
• Edition: 8th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-11-30
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This popular and comprehensive anthology presents cogent, provocative articles from differing political perspectives on major issues in postwar America. In addition to selections by leading historians, the editors have assembled first-person accounts of various issues by those who havecontributed to the shaping of America's rich history, including Bill Clinton, Joseph McCarthy, Anne Moody, Robin Morgan, and Phyllis Schlafly. Providing a balance of diverse political viewpoints, the documents include the voices of men and women of African American, European American, AsianAmerican, and Latino/as descent. The seventh edition of A History of Our Time has been extensively revised to incorporate new documents and the most up-to-date articles, which examine such contemporary issues as the Iraq war, political polarization, the new economy, marriage, and the red state/blue state divide. The editors havealso added and deleted articles on earlier events in response to changing historiographical trends. New documents cover a broader range of history, addressing not only political issues, but also social, economic, and technological concerns. With lively and enlightening introductions to each sectionand headnotes that provide a context for the articles, A History of Our Time helps students make sense of the past sixty years of America's sometimes tumultuous but always fascinating history.

Author Biography

William H. Chafe is Alice Mary Baldwin Professor of History, former Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and Vice-Provost of Undergraduate Education at Duke University. Harvard Sitkoff is Professor of History at the University of New Hampshire, Emeritus. Beth Bailey is Professor of History at Temple University.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xiii
America Becomes a World Power	p. 1
World War II and the Destruction of the Old Order	p. 5
The Necessity for Containment (1946)	p. 13
HUAC Investigates Hollywood (1947)	p. 18
The Internal Communist Menace (1950)	p. 26
The Venona Project and Atomic Espionage	p. 29
A Frightening Message for a Thanksgiving Issue (1958): Editors of Good Housekeeping	p. 38
President Eisenhower's Farewell Address (1961)	p. 41
The Cuban Missile Crisis: President Kennedy's Address to the Nation (1962)	p. 46
The Politics and Culture of the Affluent Society	p. 53
The Luckiest Generation	p. 55
Trends in Postwar American Culture and Society	p. 61
The Myers Move to Levittown	p. 64
The Port Huron Statement (1962): Students for a Democratic Society	p. 66
The Sharon Statement (1960): Young Americans for Freedom	p. 71
Inaugural Address (1961)	p. 73
"The Great Society": Remarks at the University of Michigan (1964)	p. 77
Lyndon B. Johnson and American Liberalism	p. 81
Civil Rights and Racial Justice	p. 93
Brown v. Board of Education (1954): Supreme Court of the United States	p. 96
Declaration of Constitutional Principles: The Southern Manifesto (1956): Signed by 101 Members of the U.S. Congress	p. 100
We Shall Overcome 1965	p. 103
A Lunch-Counter Sit-in in Jackson, Mississippi (1968)	p. 113
What We Want, What We Believe (1966)	p. 117
Chicano!	p. 121
Proclamation (1969): Indians of All Tribes	p. 128
The Vietnam War	p. 133
Peace without Conquest (1965)	p. 136
We Were Soldiers Once... and Young	p. 141
March on Washington: The War Must Be Stopped (1965): Students for a Democratic Society	p. 149
Vietnam Veterans against the War (1971)	p. 151
Who Fought the War	p. 155
Letter to the Draftboard (1969)	p. 158
In Retrospect	p. 162
The Genuine Lessons of the Vietnam War	p. 166
Rebellion and Counterculture	p. 171
Trip without a Ticket (1968): The Diggers	p. 173
You Don't Need a Weatherman to Know Which Way the Wind Blows (1969)	p. 178
Bringing the War Home	p. 182
New Buffalo: Journals from a Taos Commune (1971)	p. 188
The Intoxicated State/Illegal Nation	p. 195
Struggles Over Gender and Sexual Liberation	p. 209
The Creation of a Feminist Consciousness	p. 212
Statement of Purpose (1966): The National Organization for Women	p. 218
No More Miss America (1968): Robin Morgan and New York Radical Women	p. 223
!Soy Chicana Primero! (1971)	p. 226
What's Wrong with "Equal Rights" for Women? (1972)	p. 230
Roe v. Wade (1973)	p. 238
Gay Is Good (1970)	p. 242
Sexual Revolution(s)	p. 246
Age of Uncertainty	p. 261
The Forgotten American (1969)	p. 263
Watergate	p. 273
Taken Hostage	p. 283
The "Crisis of Confidence" Speech: President Carter's Address to the Nation (1979)	p. 293
Misery Index	p. 298
A New Era of Conservatism	p. 299
The Politics of Anger, 1963-1968	p. 301
Piety and Property: Conservatism and Right-Wing Movements in the Twentieth Century	p. 316
The Religious Right and the New Republican Party	p. 329
America's Right Turn	p. 336
"The Second American Revolution": President Reagan's State of the Union Address (1985)	p. 341
The Republican Contract with America (1994)	p. 346
The United States and the World in the Post-Cold War Era	p. 349
From the Persian Gulf War to Iraq and Afghanistan: Confronting the Post-Cold War World	p. 353
9/11	p. 369
The "Axis of Evil" Speech: President Bush's State of the Union Address (2002)	p. 378
Image of the United States (2005): Pew Global Attitudes Project	p. 381
"Why the World Is Flat": Interview with Thomas Friedman	p. 390
Top Ten Reasons to Oppose the World Trade Organization (2004): Global Exchange	p. 396
The Changing Shape of American Society	p. 401
A More Perfect Union (2008)	p. 403
9 Principles, 12 Values (2009): Glenn Beck, The 9.12 Project	p. 413
Our Gigantic Experiment with Planet Earth	p. 415
The New Immigration: United States Census Bureau	p. 419
Great Expectations (2004): Stephanie Coontz	p. 425
The American People in the Early Twenty-first Century	p. 428
Suggestions for Further Reading	p. 431
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.