President Nixon

Overall, was Nixon a positive or a negative for America?

While most people remember Nixon because of his involvement in the Watergate Scandal, he actually accomplished many tasks while in office. Nixon was able to relax the tension that the average American citizen felt due to the ongoing Cold War. He did this through establishing a relationship with China, a communist nation. Nixon even referred to China by its real name, a huge step, and also by visiting China. This was a big step because no U.S. president had ever been there before. Through this, Nixon was able to end the embargo that had been previously been in place between China and America. The third reason why Nixon was a positive influence on America is due to the SALT I talks that he had with the Soviet Union. This created a five year agreement that froze the Soviet’s production of ICBM's. While most people realized that they still had many other dangerous weapons, it settled many people’s nerves because it showed that America was able to create a positive relationship with the Soviets. Many people see Nixon's presidency as a negative effect on America, but they forget all the good that he created for America.

ERA

The equal rights amendment supported the right for everyone, including women, to have equal rights. This idea should be supported because it gives women the opportunity to have equal rights if they wanted to go about getting a job, or any other activity that did not have gender equality. Some people do not support the ERA because they do not want to change their ways or fear the draft, because if they are equal to men, then they assume they have to everything in the same ways aw men. However, if they think in this mindset, they deny certain women the rights to equality because of their own selfishness. Despite its apparent benefits, the ERA was not passed. So the question is: should it be revived today? In many ways, it is not necessary because other laws have created equal opportunities, like in the workplace, someone cannot be denied a position based solely on their gender. Also, discrimination because of gender is mostly due to social situations. So when these social prejudices on gender are eliminated, there is no need for an ERA to be revived and passed as a law.

Jackie Robinson & His Role in the Civil Rights Movement

Some people say that Jackie Robinson was the greatest civil rights figure in American history. Others disagree. Personally, I do not believe one man should take credit for the entire civil rights movement. However, Jackie Robinson played a major role. He was able to play baseball, a sport he was very talented in and he loved to play, without having to devote his entire life to the civil rights movement. Compared to Martin Luther King who devoted his life to equality between races, who faced punishments sucha s jail, Jackie seems to be less significant. Now I hope this doesn't seem like Robinson did not face his challenges too; he had to be silent when people were screaming at him, when people were insulting him to his face, and he could not fight back. When looking at the entire civil rights movement as a whole, I just could not rank Jackie Robinson as the sole, greatest civil rights figure when so many other individuals made their own very important mark on American history as well.

Destroying Cities in Time of War

Is it fair/justifiable to destroy cities/citizens during a time of war?
No. Citizens live within the cities. And citizens are not a part of the direct battlefield.

Destroying cities where citizens dwell, during a time of war, is of the equivalency of destroying an orphanage because you do not want a particular boy or boys to be reunites with his parents because he was of an advantage to you. The Germans bombed London so that their supply factories could not issue weapons to them. (Which can be compared to the previous analogy.) In the process, many non-militarily involved citizens were killed. This shows that it is NOT justifiable to destroy citizens to gain an advantage in times of war.

A Taste of Living through the Great Depression...

An Interview
Questions to Ask the Man of the House...

1. If you lost your job, how have you managed to support your family?

2. If houseless, what is life like in a Hooverville?

3. Did the crash of the stockmarket effect you directly? If not, how so indirectly?

4. Did any of the money you earn vanish quickly from putting it in your bank?

5. How does it feel to not be able to support your family sufficiently?

6. Depending on where you live, did the Dust Bowl ruin your farm or farm products you and your family consumes?

7. Does your wife have a job? Are you jealous?

8. Do you participate in any odd jobs? For low wages?

9. If you are in search for a job, are you competeing with anyone from a minority?

10. What is the one thing you miss the most that the Depression has taken away?

Rewritten Scene for the Simpson's Version of Prohibtion

When the mayor/ city official of Springfield announced that Prohibition had been in place for many years, it had just been forgotten, this aspect of the episode should have been changed. To make it more historically accurate, the city should have been outraged because the government just decided to make Prohibition a law. In the Simpson's, the amendment was rediscovered. Therefore, the law would then have been repealed after some time, rather than it have been already repealed, like in the episode. These slight changes to this scene would have made the episode more historically accurate.

Accuracy of the Simpson's Portrayal of Prohibition

In the 1920s, Prohibition played a major role in society. To portray the occurrences in this time era, the Simpson’s made an episode based on Prohibition in the 20s. For the most part, the episode was accurate, but a few aspects were inaccurate for comedic value. Public drunkenness was displayed in the episode and it was a problem in the US. This caused the government to put Prohibition into place. In the episode, they said Springfield had always had this law, and they had just rediscovered it; this was put in for comedy. Other aspects such as the creation of speakeasies, was a negative component of Prohibition, occurred in the 20s and in the Simpson’s episode. This led to the smuggling of alcohol, but in the episode, alcohol was also created in the basement. Also, the punishment for someone susupplying alcohol to a speakeasy was probably not to be flung across the town by a catapult, but it was added for comedic value in the episode.