The Twentieth Century

It's time for our last blog, and I want to take this opportunity to thank you guys for some great work this year. I've enjoyed learning together, please stay in touch after school ends.

This blog entry covers all of the fourth-quarter content, so from the 1920s to the 1980s. As per usual, the following links are only suggestions; you are highly encouraged to select a topic which corresponds to your theme.

Immigration

Back-to-back laws in 1921 and 1924 greatly restricted immigration. Explorations of their effect has largely focused on the Holocaust. In 1939, the United States turned back 907 Jewish refugees aboard the St. Louis; some 254 died during the Holocaust. This episode is covered by our first link. The second link describes the adoption of our current immigration system in 1965.

https://www.the-american-interest.com/2017/01/28/the-refugee-ban-and-the-holocaust/

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/10/immigration-act-1965/408409/

Exceptionalism

It's during this period that the term exceptionalism was first applied to the United States, by Joseph Stalin. Our first link discusses this preliminary, critical, context. But Americans came to wear the label proudly, none more so than President Ronald Reagan. His exceptionalist vision is discussed in our second link.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/03/how-joseph-stalin-invented-american-exceptionalism/254534/

http://blog.heartland.org/2017/02/ronald-reagans-american-exceptionalism/

Freedom

In 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt proposed four freedoms. While some (speech and religion) were familiar, others (from want and fear) were not. Our first link tells you the story. The second discusses Freedom Rides, which protested segregation in bus terminals. Finally, a third link introduces you to the Free Speech Movement at the University of California, Berkeley.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/07/roosevelt-four-freedoms-119728

http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/freedom-rides

http://www.npr.org/2014/10/05/353849567/when-political-speech-was-banned-at-berkeley

Race

The Civil Rights Movement successfully established legal equality for African Americans, but did that translate economically? Our first link finds out. The next two article probe changes in America's racial makeup,

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/01/19/civil-rights-act-progress/4641967/

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/22/us/hispanics-now-largest-minority-census-shows.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/19/us/asians-surpass-hispanics-as-biggest-immigrant-wave.html

Democracy

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 finally ensured democracy for southern African Americans. Our first link describes its passage, as well as subsequent revisions. In 1971, the voting age was reduced to 18. Our second article tells the story.

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/29/magazine/voting-rights-act-dream-undone.html?_r=0

https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-07-01/old-enough-to-fight-old-enough-to-vote-the-26th-amendments-mixed-legacy

The American Dream

This term was coined in 1931 by writer James Truslow Adams. Our first link describes the background. By the 1950s, the American dream had become suburban. The second article explains how, using a famous example.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2015/04/16/what-man-behind-american-dream-really-meant/uni438RcM82Y3QDnkwRz5H/story.html

http://ushistoryscene.com/article/levittown/