American History Homework Twelve Answers - Student Ten

Katie B

1\. The word protagonist refers to the person or side pressing for justice, or the ‘good guys’. In our eyes, in the Cold War the protagonist was The United States. The antagonist, or the ‘bad guys’, was the Soviet Union. It lasted from 1945 until 1991.

Excellent answer, and good discussion of the precise meaning of "protagonist"!

2\. The Korean War and the Vietnam War. I think that while we did a good thing by fighting communism in the Korean War, we should not have been satisfied to leave it as it was with a division of Korea. If we had pressed for a united Korea once again then there probably wouldn’t be a need to keep soldiers stationed there, when we are stretched so thin already. I think our acceptance of the outcome of the Vietnam War wasn’t really anything the public could have changed. They were happy to have the few sons, fathers and husbands home that were still living. All of the bad choices were made at the executive level. We definitely should not have accepted the terrible choices made by Nixon and Johnson, but after the fact, there was nothing we could do, and in the end our men were just getting killed with virtually no effect on saving South Vietnam.

Superb analysis. Could use as a model answer. (By the way, grammatically it should be "few sons, fathers and husbands home WHO were still living")

3\. As unoriginal as it is, what impressed me the most was the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Though it was started by Rosa Parks, it was observed by all blacks in Montgomery. It must’ve been especially hard for children and older people who were used to riding the bus to instead walk wherever they needed to go. I can’t imagine having to boycott such a central part of my everyday life, to show people that they couldn’t treat me like the dirt beneath their feet. I’m most impressed by the kids my age and younger that stood up against the heinously cruel treatment they received from whites just because of the color of their skin.

Terrific.

4\. One of the two things Johnson is best known for is starting the Vietnam War. He’s so well known for this because it was one of the most historically significant things he did. He caused conflict in Vietnam and then threw it wildly out of proportion to elicit support for his presidential campaign. One specific example of his responsibility is his presentation of a fraudulent report on a Vietnamese attack on Americans to Congress.

Excellent answer.

5\. What I liked best about the 80th Congress was the Taft-Hartley Act. This was important because it greatly decreased the power of the unions that were destroying the economy with their unreasonable demands and strikes. This act gave workers the right to not join the union, where before they were forced to and then had to go with whatever damage was done to their career and paycheck via the union.

Superb, may use this as a model answer! The Taft-Hartley Act was immensely important in saving the economy and protecting the real rights of workers.

6\. I think in that time period there are too many important people to name. Take any one of them out of the mix and the result would’ve been thrown wildly from what it is today. I think Douglas MacArthur was very important because of his outstanding victories in Korea. Nixon and Johnson were important because perhaps if we’d had better presidents we would’ve won the Vietnam War and saved thousands of lives. Phyllis Schlafly was important because without her we possibly would have been unable to stop ERA, which would’ve been a terrible injury to our country. Earl Warren was important because of his extreme rulings in many cases from prayer in school to criminal cases. Finally, Rosa Parks was important because she took one of the most substantial stands against racial discrimination and set an example to be followed by hundreds of blacks.

Superb analysis, with a good survey of several individuals. Thanks for the reference to my mom!

7\. The term used was The Warren Court, referring to Chief Justice Earl Warren. This was a very activist court, in one instance when it ruled in defense of criminals in trial by providing them with a lawyer, even at taxpayer expense.

Correct.

Perfect answers! 70/70. Congratulations!!!--aschlafly 20:18, 13 December 2008 (EST)