History; prakash & seema sahoo' : "there is something for everybody

The West after the Civil War
The west displayed aspects of the age, and a number of others, in heightened form. Many parts of the region had as large a percentage of foreign born residents as the populous eastern states. Nearly a third of all California were foreign born and as were over half the residents of Idaho and Arizona. There was, in short, no one West, no typical westerner. The economy was predominantly agricultural and industrial development was in the early stage.
Beginning in the mid-1850s a steady flow of Chinese migrated to the United States, about four or five thousand a year, until the negotiation of the Burlingame Treaty of 1868. The purpose of this treaty was to provide cheap labor for the railroad construction crews. After the railroads were completed and Chinese began to compete with native workers, a great cry of resentment went up on the west cost. Later Congress passed the law prohibiting all Chinese immigration for ten years; later legislation extended the ban indefinitely.

The Planes Indians
The survivors of the most of the eastern tribes were living peacefully in Indian Territory, what is now Oklahoma. By far the most important lived on the High Planes. From the Blackfeet of southwestern Canada and the Sioux of Minnesota and the Dakotas to the Cheyenne of Colorado and Wyoming and the Comanche of northern culture. All lived by hunting the bison, or buffalo. The buffalo provided the Indians with food, clothing, and even shelter. The buffalo was also an important symbol in Indian religion.
Gradually the Planes Indians began to fall under the sway of white power, by adapting the products of more technically advanced culture, such as cloth, metal tools, weapons, and cheap decorations. The most important thing they got from the whites was the horse.
In a familiar and tragic pattern, the majority of the western tribes greeted the first whites to enter their domains in a friendly fashion. Lewis and Clark and their companions crossed and re-crossed the entire region without a single clash with the Indians they encountered.
As the need arised to link the East with California, the government in Washington prepared the way. In 1851, Thomas Fitzpatrick, an experienced mountain man, founder of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, summoned a great "council" of the tribes. About 10,000 Indians, representing all the Planes tribes gathered at Horse creek, where Fitzpatrick persuaded each tribe to accept definite limits to its hunting grounds. In returns Indians were promised gifts and annual payments. This policy, known as "concentration" was designed to cut down on intertribal warfare and to enable the government to negotiate separately with each tribe. It was the classic strategy of divide and conquer.

The Destruction of tribal life
Building of transcontinental railroads was chiefly responsible for the buffalo destruction. An estimated 13 to 15 millions head had roamed the planes in the mid-1860s. Thousands of buffalo were butchered to feed laborers engaged in building railroad and thousands were died by the gun of sportsmen. The disappearance of the bison left Indians starving, homeless, and purposeless.
To accomplish the goal of changing 'wild' Indians to 'civilized' members of American society, Congress passed the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887. The tribal lands were to be split into individual allotments. Fund were approved for educating, training the Indians, and those who accepted allotments and "adopted the habits of civilized life" were to be granted United States citizenship. The Dawes Act had disastrous results in the long run. It shattered what was left of the Indians culture without enabling them to adapt to white ways. Many white men tricked many Indians into leasing their allotment for a pittance. About 86 millions of the 138 millions acres assigned lands passed into white hands.

Exploiting mineral wealth in the west
American had regarded the West as a limitless treasure. From the mid-1850s to the mid-1870s thousands of gold-crazed prospectors fanned out from British Columbia to Tucson in southern Arizona, from the eastern slopes of the Sierras to the Great Planes. Slowly the expectations faded in the light of reality, that is high prices, low yields, hardship, violence and deception. The boom collapsed and the towns died as quickly as they had risen.
The miners adopted the "get-rich-quick" philosophy and the idea of reserving any part of West for the future generation was ignored. West continued to yield gold and silver and big corporations produced nearly all of them, such as Homestake Mining. That was the culminating irony of the history of the mining frontier. Many stockholders of large corporations invested huge amount of money in mining blindly in hope of getting big returns.
Though marked by violence, fraud, greed and lost hopes, the gold rushes had valuable results. It helped the financial position of the United States during and after the Civil War. It also brought permanent settlers along with the prospectors such as farmers, cattlemen, storekeepers, teamsters, lawyers, and ministers. The mines speeded the political organizations of the West. Colorado, Nevada, Arizona, Idaho, and Montana became territories.

The land bonanza
Homestead Act of 1862 had ended the region of the speculator and the large landholder. Despite the law, speculator often managed to obtain large tracts. They hired men to stake out claims, falsely swear that they had fulfilled the conditions laid by the law for obtaining legal title, and then deed the land over to their employers.
Timber Culture Act of 1873, which permitted individuals to claim an additional 160 acres of they would agree to plant a quarter of it in trees within ten years.
The Timber and Stone Act of 1878, allowed anyone to acquire a quarter section of forestland for $2.50 an acre of it was "unfit for civilization".

Western Railroad building
Exploitation of land resources by private interests resulted from the government's policy of subsidizing western railroad. The Central Pacific and the Union Pacific were given government bonds from $16000 to $48000 for each miles of track laid, in addition to land grants. The two competed with each other for the subsides, the Central Pacific building eastward from Sacramento, the Union Pacific westward from Nebraska. They put huge crews to work and laying track. The Union Pacific employed Civil War veterans and Irish immigrants, the Central, Chinese immigrants. To speed up construction of the Summit Tunnel, the Central Pacific managers had a shaft cut down from above so that crews could work out the middle as well as in from each end.

The Cattle kingdom
For 20 years after the Civil War cattlemen and sheep raisers dominated huge areas of the High Plains, making millions of dollars by grazing their herds on lands they did not own. Industrial growth in the East had caused an increase in the urban population and the demand for the food. To make profit, cattlemen of southern Texas gathered all cattle and herd them to northward to the railroads, allowing them to feed along the way on the abundant grasses of the planes. Estimated 10 million cattle were driven north before the practice ended in the mid-1880s. The major cattle towns were Abilene, Wichita, Ellsworth, Dodge City and Caldwell. There were four main reasons behind the great cattle drive's failure. First was statewide liqueur probation, second was farmers grew their own cows, third was the advent of barbed wire bought about the disappearance of open, free range and converted the ranch county into the big-pasture county, the last reason was the spread of splenic fever spread among cattle.

Indian Wars
The government showed little interest in honoring agreement with Indians; often many agreements were modified, ignored and often broken. In 1864 a party of Colorado militia killed an estimated 450 Plane Indians of Cheyenne Community at Sand Creek. Chivington massacre was the foulest and most unjustified crime in the annals of America. In turn the Indians slaughters dozens of isolated white families, small parties, and fought many successful skirmishes against troops and militia.
In 1867 the government tried a new strategy called concentration. All the Planes Indians would be confined to two small reservations, one in the Black Hills of Dakota and the other in Oklahoma and forced to become farmers. When gold was discovered in the Black Hills Indian reservation, many miners had invaded the reserved area. The Sioux again went on the warpath by joining with non-treaty tribes to the West. The Government sent three columns of troops against them. George A. Custer was sent to locate and block Indian's escape route into the inaccessible Bighorn Mountains. Custer underestimated the numbers of Indians and decided to attack directly with his tiny force of 264 men. Later he found himself surrounded by 2500 Sioux Indians. He and all his men died on the field.
All these battles greatly heartened the Indians, but did not gain them their cause.

America's wars of Imperialism
After the Civil War, Americans were occupied with exploiting the West; they gave little thought to foreign affairs. Late nineteen-century Americans never ignored world affairs entirely. They had little direct concern for Europe, but their interest in Latin America was great.

The course of Empire in the Pacific
The Hawaiian Island was an important way station on route to China for American merchants. American influence in Hawaii increased steadily; the descendants of missionary families, most of them engaged in raising sugar, dominated the Hawaiian monarchy. In 1875 a reciprocity treaty admitted Hawaiian sugar to the United States free of duty in return for a promise to yield no territory to a foreign power. The McKinley Tariff Act imposed duty on sugar import, which affected Hawaiian sugar growers hard.
Following death of the King Kalakaua brought Queen Liliuaokalani, a determined nationalist to the throne. She head the movement called "Hawaii for the Hawaiians" and abolished the existing constitution under which the white minority had control. Then the residents of America with help of the United States minister, John Stevens and 150 marines, disposed Queen and set up a provisional government. The new government sent a delegation to Washington to seek a treaty of annexation. The president Cleveland disapproved of the way American troops had been used to overthrow the monarchy. The Hawaiian debate continued for four years and finally in July 1898, Congress annexed the islands by joint resolution.

The course of Empire in Latin America
The Monroe Doctrine had conditioned the American people to the idea of acting to protect national interest in the Western Hemisphere.
The borderland dispute between Venezuela and British had alarmed American supporter of the Monroe Doctrine. President Cleveland sent a near ultimatum to the British. The ultimatum was, by occupying the disputed territory; Britain was invading Venezuela and violating the Monroe Doctrine. The British ignored the United State's threatened war note for months until when Congress appointed a boundary commission. When Great Britain government saw the seriousness of the situation, they did not proceed a war with the United States over a remote patch of real estate. Britain agreed to arbitrate the boundary and the war scare subsided.

The Cuban Revolution
In 1896, General Valeriano Weyler became governor of Cuba and his assignment was occasioned by guerrilla warfare that Cuban nationalist rebels had been waging for almost a year. Wayler, a tough and ruthless soldier, began herding the rural population into wretched "re-concentration" camps to deprive the rebels of food and recruits.
When Cuban revolted against Spain in 1868, America developed considerable support on their behalf. Spain managed to pacify the rebels in 1878 by promising reforms. The change was very slow; slavery was not abolished until 1886. When American tariff act in 1894 increased rate on Cuban sugar by 40 percent it affected Cuban growers in American market. The resulting distress precipitated another revolt.
When riots broke out in Havana in January 1898, McKinley ordered the battleship Maine to Havana harbor to protect American citizens. On February 15, the Maine exploded and sank in Havana harbor along with the 260 of her crewmembers. Interventionists in the United States accused Spain of having destroyed the ship and clamored for war, however no one has ever discovered what actually happened. Finally on April president asked authority to use the armed forces "to secure a full and final termination of hostilities" in Cuba.

Spanish-American war
The Spanish-American War was fought to free Cuba, but the first action took place on the other side of the globe, in the Philippine Islands. Weeks earlier assistant Secretary of the Navy, Theodore Roosevelt had alerted United States Asiatic Squadron and put a standing order to move against the Spanish base at Manila if war declared. Upon the war declaration Asiatic Squadron base attacked Philippine with help of Filipino nationalist leader, Emilio Aguinaldo and took hold of Manila. No casualty from American side in the engagement.
America won the main war between Spain and America in Cuba mainly due to weakness of the Spanish armed forces, not due to power or efficiency of the American. When the war began, the American regular army consisted of about 28,000 men but that tiny force was bolstered by 200,000 volunteers before the war. Aggressive units like the regiment of "Rough Riders" raised by Theodore Roosevelt scrambled for space and supplies. They fought bravely during the war and heavily destroyed Spanish force. The War last about six months and finally Spain surrendered Santiago, Puerto Rico and Cuba to America.
They won the war, but more than 5000 Americans died as a result of the conflict. Fewer than 400 people died in combat but others died due to yellow fever, typhoid, malaria and from other diseases.
Initially America set up military government in the Cuba after the war, as there was no local strong leader capable of uniting Cuba. In the end the United States did withdraw from Cuba, after doing a great deal to modernize the sugar production, improve sanitary condition, establish schools and restore orderly administration.

The Philippine Insurrection
After winning the war, Americans dragged its feet in Philippines and thought Philippines was the gateway to the markets of the Far East. This attitude made Filipinos furious and a savage guerrilla war resulted under the Filipino nationalists Aguinaldo. 70,000 more Americans soldiers were sent to Philippines to crush the resistance. The four years of guerilla war conflict costs more than 50,000 Filipino lives, which was far more than in the Spanish-American war.
In 1900 McKinley sent a commission headed by William Taft, to establish a government in Philippines. Anti-imperialists claimed that it was unconstitutional to take over territories without consent of the local population.

The anit-imperialist
An important minority objected strongly to the United States acquisition of overseas possessions. The main reasons were cheaper foreign labor, racial and ethnic prejudices, and the crisis between Democrats and Republican Party on colonial policy.

The Great War (World War-I)
Woodrow Wilson
His approach to foreign relations was well intentioned and idealistic but somewhat confused. By profession he was a lawyer but he did not like to practice law and joined political science program at John Hokins University. Later he was elected as Governor of New Jersey and established himself very well. His main problem was, he was not able to clearly define and distinguish between like or dislike and principle. For example, he wanted to help the republics of Latin America achieve stable democratic government and improve the living condition of their people. At the same time imperialism was immoral in his eyes. Later he was elected as president of America twice (1912, 1916) and during his time he introduced the income tax, Keating-Owen Child Labor Act (child labor), Adamson Act (eight hour work schedule), Farm Loan Act (low-cost loans).
His foreign intervention was not very successful, missionary diplomacy in Mexico was one of them. Due to many changes in power in Mexico, Wilson was not able to keep America's support in an issue constantly. When Venustiano Carranza was the president of Mexico one of his general Pancho Villa, to get political attention, he killed 16-train passenger in northern Mexico. Wilson sent American troops to catch Villa in Mexico, however Villa proved impossible to catch. Mexican government voiced concerned over American troop's action in their country and finally Wilson recalled the American force back. The mission was unsuccessful.

Outbreak of the Great War
In the Austro-Hungarian provincial capital of Sarajevo, an ethnic conflict started and Serbian wanted to separate from Hungary. Serb was friendly to Russia. Within a month, following a complex serious of diplomatic challenges and responses, two great coalitions, the Triple Entente (Great Britain, France, and Russia) and Triple Allannes (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy) engaged in a brutal struggle that brought the World War.
Initially America stayed neutral due to many reasons. Some main reasons were, over the third of its population were European immigrants, America's involvement in the war could create internal stress as their sentimental ties bound them to the land of their ancestors. The other reasons were America was not prepared for the War, psychologically and economically, not able to decide which side to support and very little involvement in foreign affair.
Later America gradually involved in the war. Some reasons behind America's support to Triple Entente were, Britain cleverly exploited American prejudices by publishing exaggerated tales of German atrocities against Belgian civilian. Immense expansion of American trade with the Triple Entente, that was from $825 million in 1914 to over $3.2 billion in 1916.
Some reasons behind the United States involvement in the war were, when German's submarine U-20 sank the British liner Lusitania and nearly 1200 people died including 128 Americans. The catastrophe caused emotional reaction in the America. German's Sussex pledge, to stop sinking merchant ships without warning, calmed down the situation at that time but latter Germany renounce the Sussex pledge, which provoked the situation. The outbreak of the Russian (Bolshevik) revolution in March 1917 caused its armies collapsed and by December 1917 Russia was out of the War. That gave Germany more power and Triple Entente became weak, this prompted America to reconsider its role in the war.
America's entry into the Great War on April 1917 determined its outcome. American men and supplies helped contain the Germans' last drives and push them back to final defeat.

Mobilizing the Economy
After several false starts, Wilson placed the war task in the hands of the War Industries Board (WIB). The board was given power to allocate scarce materials, standardize production, fix prices, coordinate American and Allied purchasing. The antitrust laws were suspended and producers were encouraged. Government regulated the Railroad and raised wages and passenger rates. The problem of industrial mobilizing was the greatest. Mobilization required closed cooperation between business and the military. The problem of mobilizing agricultural resources was solved quickly and the United States increased food exports from 12.3 million tons to 18.6 million tons. Farmers, profited greatly and their income went up 30 percent between 1915 and 1918. Public responded patriotically. Boys scout planted vegetable on backyards, chefs devised new recipes to save on scarce items, mothers pressured their children to "Hooverize" their plates.
Over two-third of the cost of the war was met by borrowing. People were encouraged to invest in Liberty and Victory Loans. Government collected about $10.5 billion in taxes during the war. Income tax was raised more than 75 percent for the wealthiest people. A 65 percent excess-profit tax and a 25 percent inheritance tax were enacted.

Propaganda and Civil liberties
In April 1917, Wilson created the Committee on Public Information (CPI), which was headed by journalist George Creel. Soon 75,000 speakers were deluged the country with propaganda prepared by hundred of CPI writers. They pictured the war as a crusade for freedom and democracy, the Germans as a bestial people bent on world domination. Some school board outlawed the teaching of the German language; sauerkraut was renamed "liberty cabbage".
The Espionage Act of 1917, imposed fines of up to $10,000 and jail sentences ranging to 20 years on persons of aiding the enemy or obstructing recruiting and postmaster generals were authorized to ban the mail that seemed like treasonable or seditious.
In May 1918, Wilson approved the Sedition Act, which made "saying anything" to discourage the purchase of war bonds a crime. The law also made it illegal to "utter, print, write or publish any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language" about the government, the Constitution, or the army or navy.

Preparing for peace(The Paris Peace Conference)
The fighting ended on November 11,1918, but the shape of the postwar world remained to be determined. In a speech to Congress on January 1918, Wilson outlined a plan, known as the Fourteen Point, designed to make the world "fit and safe to live in". This plan stated the guarantee the freedom of the seas to all nations, in war as in peacetime. Tearing down barriers to international trade, provide for a drastic reduction of armaments, and establish a colonial system that would take proper account of the interests of the native people concerned. European boundaries to be redrawn so that no substantial group would have to live under a government not of its own choosing.
The Paris peace conference stated by Big Four, that is Great Britain, France, USA and Italy. The peace settlement failed to carry out the principle of self-determination. Premier Georges Clemenceau of France viewed Wilson cynically, saying that since mankind had been unable to keep God's Ten Commandments, it was unlikely to do better with Wilson's Fourteen Points. The victors forced Germany to accept responsibility for having caused the war and asked to pay $33 billion, which included all direct and indirect war costs. Wilson expected the League of Nations to make up for all the inadequacies of the Versailles Treaty. The league would arbitrate international disputes, act as a central body for registering treaties, and employ military and economic sanctions against aggressor nations.

The Senate, The League of nations and the election of 1920
While Wilson was busy with the League of Nations issues, he was not able to win public approval of his work. He had to win over many Republican to obtain the two third majorities for ratification. Republican put conditions such as they will only support the League only if American sovereignty were fully protected and if it was made clear that their party had played a major role in fashioning the final documents. In order to get enough public support in his work Wilson started addressing public meeting in full strength. On September 25, after an address in Colorado, he collapsed and had a severe stroke that partially paralyzed his left side. For two months he was cut off from affairs of state, leaving supporters of the league leaderless. Senate rejects Versailles Treaty and both parties forced to reconsider the treaty again, however both parties did not compromise on the issue.
In the 1920 election Wilson was not able to get support from Democratic leaders due to his enfeebled condition. Republican defeated Democratic in the election and later senate again rejected the Versailles Treaty. The defeat of the League was a tragedy both for Wilson, whose crusade for a world order based on peace and justice ended in failure, and for the world, which was condemned by the result to endure another, still more horrible and costly war.

World War II
Germany and Adolf Hitler
There was a dramatic change in emotions and government in the Germany after the world war one. German's tried to find out the reasons for their defeat. In order to pay the war cost to the winning side, German printed more currency, which brought increased inflation in Germany's economy. The inflation was so bad at one time that four trillion German dutch was equivalent to one US dollar.
People did not support Communist or Democratic government, so Socialism became popular. German Worker Party, they were conservative group, appointed a war veteran Hitler to spy for the party and later he became the leader of the party. Some of the things he promoted were that German's people are genetic superior people. In 1923 Hitler decided to take over the government by force and later sentenced for jail. While in the jail he wrote a book called 'Mein Kamph' in which he wrote about his party's believes and his philosophical view for the future government. The book was very successful and it made him and his party very popular. His group was later known as Nazis. The Nazis' vicious anti-Semitism had caused many Germany's Jewish citizens to seek refuge abroad.
In 1933, Hitler became the chancellor of the country and in that position he took charge of the country's economy. Later he stopped payment to the world war winning countries. German's economy started to get better and people started to support his party. In 1938, he took over Czechoslovakia and in 1939 he took over Poland on joint assault with Russia and they signed a non-aggression pact. This act provoked Great Britain and France to declare war against Germany but for about six months after the war declaration nobody fought the war "phony war". Later Hitler attacked and took over Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France within few months and he controlled nearly all of Western Europe. Italy entered the war against France, which provoked the America for the war. About 900 civilian boats were used by Great Britain to save French people who were trapped by the German. Spain joined Germany and offered to help Germany in the war. After the fall of France, Hitler attempted to bomb and starves the British into submission. America helped Britain in their desperate hour by providing arm and ammunition. Then Hitler sent troops to take over Russia. Russian president delivered a radio speech to get public attention and support for the coming war. Russian planed to slow down or to stop Germany so that they could prepare themselves for the war. Winter in Russia also slowed down German's advancement. In December 1941, finally Russia decided to attack German.

Japan and Pearl Harbor
Japanese-American relations had worsened steadily after Japan resumed its war on China in 1937. As they extended their control, the invaders systematically froze out American and other foreign business interests. In 1941 America and Japan started a joint talk, in an effort to resolve their differences. America demanded that Japan withdraw from China and promise not to attack the Dutch and French colonies in Southeast Asia. Japan accepted some terms in return for the removal of American trade restriction.
When Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, thereby removing the threat of Russian intervention in the Far East, Japan decided to occupy Indochina even at the risk of war with the United States. To immobilize the United States Pacific Fleet, they planned a surprise aerial raid on the Hawaiian naval base at Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941). Two battleships destroyed and six others damaged, 12 lesser vessels destroyed, 150 panes wrecked, over 2300 people killed and 1100 wounded from this attack.
Japan signed a mutual-assistance pact with Germany and Italy. On December 8, 1941 America declared war against Japan and on December 11, 1941 German declare war on the United States.

The war with German
The decision of the strategists was to concentrate first against the Germans. Japan's conquests were in remote and from the Allied point of view, relatively unimportant regions. If Russia would have surrendered, Hitler might have been able to invade Great Britain, thus making its position in Europe impregnable by depriving the United States of a base for a counterattack.
In July 1943, Russians slowly pushed the Germans back from the gates of Stalingrad; the Allies invaded Sicily from Africa. In September they advanced to the Italian mainland. Finally by June 1944, Mussolini was killed and his successor Marshal Pietro Badoglio, surrendered and Allies took over Italy clearing Germans from the country. By August American army erupted southward into Brilliany and veered east towards Paris, another Allied army invaded France from the Mediterranean. Belgium was cleared by British and Canadian units few days later and by mid-September the Allies were fighting on the edge of Germany itself. Although the two armies were roughly equal in size, the Allies had complete control of the air and 20 times more tanks. The pressure of advancing Russians on the eastern front made it difficult for the Germans to reinforce their troops in the west. The battle of the Bulge cost the United States 77,000 casualties, but it also exhausted the Germans' last reserves. In April 1945, American and Russian forces made contact at the Elbe River. A few days later, with Russians shells reducing his capital to rubble, Hitler, by then probably insane, took his own life in the Berlin air raid shelter. On May 8, 1945, German surrendered.

The war with Japan
The importance of the navy's aircraft carriers and battleships in the war was proved in the Battle of the Coral Sea. The Coral Sea lies northeast of Australia and the Solomon Islands. Japanese control over these waters would cut Australia off from Hawaii and thus from American aid. The battle was a victory for the Japanese. Both lost one aircraft carrier each. In the Midway Island war Japan lost four large carriers, 300 planes and America lost only one carrier (Yorktown). Thereafter the Pacific war favored towards America. America gradually secured Philippines, Solomon Island, Gilbert Island (Tarawa), Kwajelein, Guadalcanal, and Marianas Island one by one. The Japanese soldiers on these islands fought for every foot of ground and they had to be blasted and burned from tunnels and concrete pillboxes with hand grenades, flame-throwers, and dynamite. They almost never surrendered. Battle of the Philippine Sea (June 1944) and the Battle for Leyte Gulf (October 1944) completed destruction of Japan's sea power and reduced significantly its air force power. Finally America attacked Japan after taking over islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa in March and June 1945.

Atomic Bomb
In 1939, Roosevelt responded to Albert Einstein's warning and government-sponsored atomic research proceeded rapidly, especially after establishment of Manhattan Project in May 1943. First atomic bomb was tested in New Mexican desert, on July 16, 1945. Oppenheimer recalled the prophetic words of the Bhagavad Gita: "I am become death, the shatterer of worlds." President Truman after Roosevelt (died of a CVA) took decision of using atomic bomb against Japan. On August 6, 1945 America dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, killing about 78,000 persons and injuring more than 100,000. Three days later America dropped second atomic bomb on Nagasaki and on August 15 Japan surrendered. That ended the greatest war in the history.
The cost of the war was beyond calculation. About 7.5 million Russians died in battle, 3.5 million Germans, 1.2 million Japanese, 2.2 million Chinese, and 291,000 Americans. The total casualties were over 20 million people.

Post War
Declaration of the United Nations (January 1942) in which the Allies promised to eschew territorial aggrandizement after the war, to respect the right of all peoples to determine their own form of government, to work for free trade and international economic cooperation and to force the disarmament of the aggressor nations. The five permanent members of United Nations were the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, France and China.
Four major conferences were held to resolve the issues after the war, those were Teheran, Moscow, Yalta and Potsdam. In Moscow conference, it was decided to divide Germany into occupation zones. In Teheran conference plans for a new League of Nations was discussed. Russia did not support the idea of United Nations but argued for zones of influence. At the Yalta conference, the USA agreed to Soviet annexation of large sections of eastern Poland, in return America demanded for free elections be held in Poland. Stalin (Russia) agreed but election was never held. In Potsdam conference plans made for exacting reparations from Germany, and confirmed the division of the country into four zones to be occupied separately by America, Soviet, British, and French troops. Berlin had itself split into four sectors. Later Soviet Union took over three-fourth of Berlin and only one-fourth of Berlin was controlled by the USA. Eventually Germany divided into East and West Germany, Russia built a wall (Berlin Wall) to stop people from crossing East to West Germany.
America made the Containment policy and Truman Doctrine to suppress Communist domination in Europe and Asia. There polices were made to exert diplomatic influence, trade (economic) policy and use of military force if necessary to stop communism. As the Soviet Union extended its influence over the eastern half of the continent, the United States extended its influence over the western.
After Japan surrendered, its troops left China, but soon after civil war erupted in China. Nationalists under Chiang Kai-shek dominated the south and communists under Mao Tse-shek controlled the northern cities. Which was further complicated as America supported Chiang Kai-shek and Russia supported Mao Tse-shek.

The Korean War, (1950-1953)
After the World War-2, the province of Korea was taken from Japan and divided into the Democratic People's Republic, backed by the Soviet Union, and the Republic of Korea, backed by the United States and the UN. American strategists, while seeking to "contain" communism in the Far East, sent troops into battle with the backing of the UN. Nominally the Korean War was a struggle between the invaders (supported by China and Russia) and the United Nations. MacArther was placed in command and 16 nations supplied troops for UN army. More then 90 percent of the forces employed were American. At first the North Korea pushed them back rapidly up to the port of Pusan, at the southern tip of Korea. Then MacArther executed good battle strategies by attacking at the west cost of Inchon and then the battlefront had moved to north of Korea. General MacArther then proposed to attack China to protect the future security of the south. Truman authorized MacArther to advance up to Yalu River, the boundary between North Korea and China but to avoid war with China. MacArther then urged that he to be permitted to bomb China but Truman rejected the proposals on the ground that it would lead to a third world war. MacArther then attempted to rouse Congress and the public against the president by openly criticizing administration policy. Truman ordered him to be silent and when the general persisted, he removed him from command. In June 1951 the communists agreed to discuss an armistice in Korea and finally in July 1953, an armistice was signed.

The Communist issue in the USA
The frustrating Korean War highlighted the paradox that at the pinnacle of its power, the influence of the United States in world affairs was declining. Its monopoly of nuclear weapons had been lost. Both the republicans and Democratic charged Truman that he was "soft" on communists. In 1947, Truman established a Loyalty Review Board to check up on government employees. The disclosure in February 1950, that a British scientist, Klaus Fuchs and his American associates Harry Gold, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg had betrayed atomic secrets to the Russians heightened the fear of Russians spies. An obscure senator, Joseph McCarthy said in a speech that, "I have here in my hand a list of 205 names that were known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party". The State Department was infested with communists. McCarthy had no shred of evidence to back up his statements and to lie was his most effective weapon to gain public support. He accused Pentagon officials, international experts and army's involvement with communists. Later the Senate with President Eisenhower censured him in December 1954 and that completed the destruction of his influence.

War in Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh a nationalist rebels first went to the United States for political solution for their country Vietnam's independence from France. America denied to involve, in fear of spreading communism in Vietnam. When China recognized the rebels, they supplied them with arms. The Conflict in Vietnam had first come to American attention in 1954 when the communists captured Dien Bien Phu. France, Britain, Soviet Union, and China signed the agreement dividing Vietnam in to North and South Vietnam. President Eisenhower sent a handful of American military 'advisers' to South Vietnam to train their army.
Procommunist forces called Vietcong controlled large section of the country and got their supplies and strength from North Vietnam and indirectly from China and Soviet Union. In response more American money and military strength were sent to bolster Ngo Dinh Diem's regime. By the end of 1961, there were 3,200 American soldiers and by the time of Kennedy assassination in 1963, the American military presence had risen to more than 16,000. After Kennedy, president Johnson continued the increasing involvement of American forces in Vietnam. At the end of 1965, 184,00 Americans were in the field; by 1966, 385,000; by 1967, 485,000 and by middle of 1968 the number exceeded 538,000. Each increase was met by corresponding increases from other side.
The Americans were attacking the enemy directly; mounting "search and destroy mission" aimed at clearing the foe from villages and entire sections of the country. The war was not successful for America due to many reasons, first, lots of people making war decisions, not understanding the war for national movement, second, slavish commitment to Containment Doctrine, third, No clear battle plan, fourth, frustration from war and at last, lies by the government to public.
When Richard Nixon took office in January 1969, he proposed a phased withdrawal of all non-South Vietnamese troops, to be followed by an internationally supervised election in South Vietnam. The North Vietnamese rejected this scheme and insisted the United States withdraw its force unconditionally. Nixon could not compel the foe to negotiate meaningfully, yet every passing day added to the strength of antiwar sentiment. When he announced that military intelligence had indicated that the enemy was consolidating its "sanctuaries" in neutral Cambodia and that he was therefore dispatching thousands of American troops to destroy these bases. Nixon's announcement triggered many campus demonstrations. Students of Kent State University in Ohio, crashed with local police and caused damaged to property during protest. When the governor of Ohio called out National Guard, angry students showered the soldiers with stones. Four students were killed by opened fire of guardsmen. The almost universal condemnation of the invasion and of the way it had been planned shook Nixon hand. He backtracked; pulling American ground troops out of Cambodia quickly but did not change his Vietnam policy.
Nixon and his principal foreign adviser, Henry Kissinger, devised a bold and ingenious diplomatic offensive. Abandoning a lifetime of treating communism as a single worldwide conspiracy aimed at destroying capitalism that must be contained at all costs. In February 1972, Nixon and Kissinger flew to Beijing for the summit meeting. In the meeting Nixon agreed to support the admission of China to the United Nations and to develop economic and cultural exchanges with the Chinese in exchange China would stop helping North Vietnam. . In May 1972, they flew to Moscow for summit meeting with USSR and the meeting resulted in the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT). The two powers agreed to stop making nuclear ballistic missiles and to reduce the number of antiballistic missiles in their arsenals to 200, in exchange Russia would stop helping North Vietnam. Nixon also agreed to permit large sales of American grain to the Russians. Nixon and Kissinger called the new policy 'detente' a French term meaning 'the relaxation of tensions between government'.
Kissinger began negotiating seriously and by October the draft of a settlement prepared calling for a cease-fire, the return of American prisoners of war, and the withdrawal of United Sates forces from Vietnam. In January 1973 a settlement was finally reached. The North Vietnamese retained control of large sections of the South, they released American prisoners of war and the last American troops were pulled out of Vietnam. More than 57,000 Americans had died in the long war and over 300,000 more had wounded. The cost had reached a staggering $150 billion. (The only war lost by USA)
Later North Vietnam (1975) took over South Vietnam and both countries became united and the city Saigon renamed after Ho Chi Minh.

Collapse of USSR
Few main reasons behind collapse of communism and the USSR.
1. Economic problems
� Bad agricultural aspects due to cold weather
� Collective farming
� Huge spending on arms and ammunition
� Huge spending over foreign policy to keep communism in other countries.
2. Social pressure
� Food shortage in the country, people not able to feed self.
� Infantile mortality and life expectancy was dropped.
� Alcoholism
3. Pressure from eastern European countries (Soviet block countries)
� Countries such as Hungry, Poland, East Germany etc put lots of pressure on the USSR's economy. Mikhail S. Gorbachev became the Russian premier in March 1985 and he was more concerned about public opinion in the western democracies. He began to encourage political debate and criticism in the Soviet Union and he also stimulated the stagnant Russian economy by decentralizing administration and rewarding individual enterprise. Later he announced that the Soviet Union would not use force to keep communist governments in power in its East European satellites. Swiftly the people of Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Romania and East Germany moved toward more democratic forms of government.
In 1991, a civil war broke out in Yugoslavia as Croatia and Slovenia sought independent from the Serbian-dominated central government. This conflict soon became a religious war and in the Soviet Union, nationalist and anticommunist groups demanded more local control of their affairs. President Gorbachev opposed this breakup and prepared a treaty that would increase local autonomy and further privatize the Soviet economy. Before the treaty could be ratified, hard-line communists arrested Gorbachev. Boris Yeltsin, the anticommunist leader of the Russian Republic, defied the rebels and roused the people of Moscow. The Communist party was officially disbanded, and the Soviet Union itself was replaced by a federation of states, of which Russia, led by Yeltsin was the most important.

The Gulf War
Why America got involved in Gulf war?
1. After the Cold war was over America became most powerful in military and economically. America adopted the foreign policy of "status-quo" i.e. don't change anything around the world, just leave the things as they are. This would prevent any other country to develop and compete against America in future. When Iraq attacked Kuwait, that was a change in the world affair and it, also affected America's interest over oil.
2. For a long of period time, the relationship between Saudi Arab and America was not a dependable type. America is dependent on Saudi for oil but Saudi is not. In order to have some type of control over Saudi Arab, America took interest in controlling Iraq and also offer to build a military base in Saudi Arab to avoid any future threat from Iraq.
In August 1990, President Saddam Hussein of Iraq suddenly attacked on its tiny neighbor, the oil-rich sheikdom of Kuwait in hope of to get controls over 25% of world's total oil. His pretext was Kuwait's supposed draining off of oil from the Rumalia oil field, much of which lay on the Iraqi side of their border. Within a week Saddam formally annexed Kuwait and also massed troops along the border of neighboring Saudi Arabia. The Saudis and the Kuwaitis requested for help to the United States and other nations and within few days the UN applied trade sanction against Iraq. At the invitation of Saudi Arabia, the United States along with other countries began to move troops to Saudi bases. The army buildup deterred the Iraqis from invading Saudi Arabia; instead, Iraq concentrated their forces in strong defensive positions in Kuwait and southern Iraq. This led President Bush to increase the American forces in the area from 180,000 to more than 500,000. In late November 1990, the UN authorized the use of force if Saddam Hussein would not withdraw from Kuwait by January 15, 1991. Saddam flatly refused to do so. On January 17, the American unleashed an enormous air attack and it went on for a month. On February 23 Bush issued an ultimatum to Saddam, Pull out of Kuwait or face an invasion. When Saddam ignored the deadline, UN troops more than 200,000 attacked and between February 24 to 27 they retook Kuwait, killing tens of thousands of Iraqis. President Bush then ordered an end to the attack and Saddam agreed to UN terms that included paying reparations to Kuwait.

AMERICA AND ECONOMICS
When the Civil War began, the country's industrial output had not approach that of major European powers. By the end of the century the United States had become far and away the colossus among world manufacturers, dwarfing the production of Great Britain and Germany. The value of American manufactured products rose from $1.8 billion in 1859 to over $13 billion in 1899. American manufacturing flourished for many reasons, such as
� New natural resources were discovered and exploited steadily.
� European immigrants provided the additional labor needed by expanding industry.
� Rapid advance in basic science and technology.

Railroads: First Big Business
Railroads were important first as an industry in themselves. Fewer than 35000 miles of track existed at the end of Civil War. By 1900 the nation had 193,000 miles of track.

Iron (Steel) Industry
Ordinary cast iron contains large amount of carbon and other impurities; it was hard but brittle. Steel contains 1 or 2 percent carbon but combines the hardness of cast iron with the toughness of wrought iron. Steel was immensely superior to other kinds of iron. Henry Bessemer, an Englishman and William Kelly of Kentucky invented steel in the 1850. The manufacturing process called as Bessemer process.

Oil (Petroleum) Industry
The petroleum industry expanded more quickly than iron and steel. Edwin L. Drake drilled the first successful well in Pennsylvania in 1859. During the Civil War, production was 2 to 3 million barrels per year, which was increased to 50 million barrels per year by 1890. Before the invention of the gasoline engine and the automobile, the most important petroleum product was kerosene, which was burned in lamps.

Other Major Inventions and Technology (civil war to 1900)
� Alexander Graham Bell: Telephone (1876). By 1900 there were about 800,000 phone lines in the country, twice the total for all Europe.
� Thomas A. Edison: Multiple telegraph (four messages over a single line), electric light bulb, the storage battery, mimeograph, motion picture projector.
� Marconi: Wareless radio
� Christopher Sholes: Type writer
� Swift: Freight car refrigerator
� Berden: Condensed milk
� Charles, Duryea, Haynes, and Frank: Automobile (1895- 4 automobiles, 1917- 5 million automobiles)

Competition and Monopoly: The Railroads
J. Pierpont Morgan
Competition cut deeply into railroad profits, causing the lines to seek desperately to increase volume. The reducing rate was on a selective basis. The railroads gave rebates (secret reductions below the published rates) to large shippers in order to capture their business. The consequent reorganizations brought most of the big systems under the control of financiers, notably J. Pierpont Morgan. He started out as a banker, then he became a specialist in loaning money and later he became a big investor in the stock market. These reorganizations were called as "Morganizations". Representatives of the bankers consistently opposed rate wars, rebating, and other competitive practices and their influence was predominant. In effect, control of the railroad network became centralized, even though the companies maintained their separate existences and operated in a seemingly independent manner. When Morgan died in 1913, "Morgan men" dominated the boards of the New York Central.

Competition and Monopoly: Oil
John D. Rockefeller
The pattern of fierce competition leading to combination and monopoly was well illustrated by the history of the petroleum industry. The Standard Oil Company of Cleveland, funded in 1870 by John Rockefeller. Standard Oil emerged victorious from the competitive wars because Rockefeller and his associates were the toughest and most imaginative fighters. In addition to obtaining from the railroads a 10 percent rebate and drawbacks on its competitors' shipments, Standard Oil cut prices locally to force small independents to sell out or face ruin. The company employed spies to track down the customers of independents and offer them oil at bargain prices. Bribery was also a standard practice. By 1879 he controlled 90 percent of the nation's oil-refining capacity along with a network of oil pipeline and large reserves of petroleum in the ground. By 1892 John Rockefeller was worth over $800 million.

Competition and Monopoly: Steel
Andrew Carnegie
The iron and steel industry was also intensely competitive. The kingpin of the industry was Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie was born in Scotland and came to the United States in 1848 at the age of 12. His first job, as a bobbin boy in a cotton mill, bought him $1.20 a week, but his talents perfectly fitted the times and he rose rapidly: to Western Union messenger boy, to telegrapher, to private secretary, to railroad manager. By 1868 he had an income of $50,000 a year. At about that time he decided to specialize in the iron business. In 1875 he built the J. Edgar Thomson Steel Works company and employed chemists and other specialists to make steel from iron oxides that other manufacturers had discarded as waste. By 1890 the Carnegie Steel Company dominated the industry and he was the richest man in the world at that time. In 1909, he decided to retire and devote himself to philanthropic work. He donated $350 millions to sponsor libraries in all small communities all over the United States.

Labor Organizations
At the time of the Civil War only a small percentage of the American work force was organized, and most union members were cigarmakers, printers, carpenters and other skilled artisans, not factory hands.
The major factors that encouraged the formation of labor unions:
� Factory workers were working 10 to 14 hours of normal day of work.
� No weekend off
� Holidays without pay
� Low pay
The first successful labor organization, the Knights of Labor was established in 1869 by a group of Philadelphia garment worker headed by Urish S. Stephens. They welcomed all people including blacks, women and immigrants for the union member. They also supported many political objectives that had no connection with working conditions, such as currency reform. The eight-hour day work was one of their basic demands. Between 1882 and 1886 successful strikes by local "assemblies" against western railroads and Missouri Pacific, brought members by the thousands. In 1879 it had fewer than 10,000 members and by 1886 it soared beyond the 700,000 mark. In 1886 the movement for eight-hour day had gained wide support among workers, including those did not belong to unions. When a striker was killed in a fracas at the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company in Chicago, the anarchists called a protest meeting at Haymarket Square. Police intervened to break up the meeting. A bomb exploded by someone, whose identity was never established, killed 67 people and 7 policemen. No tie between the Knights and the bombing could establish, but the union suffered heavily. Its membership declined and soon it ceased to exist as a force in the labor movement.
The American Federation of Labor union established in 1886 and its principal leaders were Adolph Strasser and Samuel Gompers of the Cigarmakers Union. They concentrated on organizing skilled workers and fighting for "bread-and-butter" issues such as higher wages and shorter hours. Gompers paid great attention to building a strong organization of dues-paying members committed to unionism as a way of improving their lot. The chief weapon of the federation was the strike, which it used to win concessions from employers and to attract recruits. Unions with a total of about 150,000 members formed the federation in 1886 and by 1901, the membership passed the million marks.
In 1892, a violent strike was broke out at Andrew Carnegie's Homestead steel plant near Pittsburgh. The strike was precipitated by the decision of company officials to crush the union at all costs. The boss of Homestead Henry Frick made a decision to bring in strikebreakers and to employ Pinkerton detectives to protect them. During the course of strike an anarchist burst into Frick's office and attempted to assassinate him. That attack brought the public against the steelworkers and discredited the strikers. Later federal troops restore the order and the strike collapsed.
The most important strike of the period took place in 1894, when the workers at George Pullman's Palace Car factory walked out in protest against wage cuts. Pullman cars were used for the US mails and workers disturbing the mail service strikes. The railroad owners appealed to President Cleveland to send troops to preserve order. The troops restored the order and the strike was broken.
1902, a group of coal miners (West Virginia) went on strike for bad working condition. They were working 12 hours a day 6 days a week without any heath insurance or any other benefits, without any break periods during work, and with an annual income of $560. On their strike they demanded for 10% increase pay, 8 hours day work and recognition of their union. The owners refused to meet workers demands and that resulted in shutting down coal production. The average price of coal per ton was $5 before the strike was jumped to $30. In winter all major industries and school were started to close due unavailability of coal for heating purpose. When public started to suffer, they appealed to the President Theodore Roosevelt for intervention. When President asked for a negotiation the owners of coal miners refused to meet with the President. Then the President sent troops to seize the mine and the strike was over within few days. That was the first time the labor union own the strike with government support. Marxist Social Labor party was founded in 1877. The leading voice of this party was Daniel De Leon; editor of the party's weekly, "the people". They not only concentrated on change in workplace condition but also on change in economic system. They felt factory worker ought to own the factory. All the profits should be shared by all members of the factory workers not just by the owners (profit share). This party never enjoyed the full amount of support or attention as compared to other unions. The reasons were
� Anti-communism
� Moral issues
� Anarchism (All government are corrupted)
� Violence

The Government reacts to Big Business:
The Sherman Antitrust Act
Federal action came in 1890 with the passage of the Sherman Antitrust Act. This act was supposed to restore competition. If the businessmen joined together to "restrain" (monopolize) trade in a particular field, they should be punished and their deeds undone.

Postwar Society and culture: The Age of the Consumer
Henry Ford was the person most responsible for the growth of the automobile industries, a self-taught mechanic from Greenfield, Michigan. He was not a great inventor or one of the true automobile pioneers. He had two brilliant insights that was, get the prices down to the buying power and the importance of high wages in simulating output (and selling more automobiles). In 1908 he designed the Model T Ford, a simple, tough box on wheels. In a year he proved his point by selling 11,000 Model T's and by 1925 he was turning out more than 9,000 cars a day and the price of the Model T had been reduced to below $300. Ford's profits soared along with sales and he became a billionaire. He stood as a symbol of the wonders of the American system- he had given the nation a marvelous convenience at a low price, at the same time enriching himself and raising the living standards of his thousands of employees.
Unfortunately, Ford had the defects of his virtues in full measures. He paid high wages but refused to deal with any union and employed spies to investigate the private lives of his workers. When he discovered a worker driving any car but a Ford, he had him dismissed. He did not hesitate to speak out (in his newsletter), on subjects far outside his area of competence, from evils of drink and tobacco to medicine and international affairs.
Success made Ford stubborn. The Model T remained essentially unchanged for nearly 20 years. Other companies, notably General Motors, Chryslers were soon turning out better vehicles for very little more money. Customers, increasingly affluent and style conscious. Finally, in 1927, Ford shut down all operations for 18 months in order to retool for Model A. His competitors dominated the market share during that period and Ford never regained the dominant position he had held for so long.

Economic Problems(1920)
The American economic system of the 1920s had grave flaws. Certain industries did not share in the good times. The coal business suffered due to the petroleum business. By 1929, 200 corporations controlled nearly half the nation's corporate assets. One percent of all financial instituted controlled 46 percent of the nation's banking business. The weakest element in the economy was agriculture. Farm prices slumped and farmers' cost mounted. Despite the efforts of the farm bloc, the government did little to improve the situation. While most economic indicators reflected an unprecedented prosperity, the boom time rested on unstable foundations. The problem was mainly due to mal-distribution of resources. Some of stressful signs of great depression were
� Mal-distribution of resources
� More production and less buying power
� Lack of diversity in economy
� Low average income of American's family i.e. in 1925 average income per person in city was $870 and in country $223.
� International trade problems
� Too large share of the profits went to few people. High earning and low taxes permitted huge sums to pile up in the hands of individuals who did not invest the money productively.
� No regulation in stock market and default in credit system.
The Crash of 1929
In the spring of 1928, prices on the New York Stock Exchange, already at a historic high, began to surge ahead. The average return from stock was 30 percent. A mania for speculation swept the country, thousands of small investors put their savings in common stocks. On October 24 the stock price decreased for first time. J.P. Morgan, Jr. rivaled the efforts of his father in that earlier crisis. President Hoover assured the people the "the business of the country ... is on a sound and prosperous basis." But again on October 29, there was a major decline in stock, more than 16 millions shares were sold and prices plummeting.

Great Depression
The collapse of the stock market did not cause the depression; stocks rallied late in the year and business activity did not begin to decline significantly until the spring of 1930. The chronic problem of under-consumption operated to speed the downward spiral. Manufacturers closed their plants and laid off workers. The financial system cracked under the strain. More than 1,300 banks closed in 1930 and 3,700 more closed during the next two years. The national income fell from $80 billion to under $50 billion in the same brief period. Unemployment rose from 1 million to 13 million. To restore public confidence the president Hoover said the economy was basically healthy; the depression was only a minor downturn; prosperity was "just around the corner." Hoover's plans were failed to check the economic slide.
During the spring of 1932, thousands of Americans faced starvation. Thousands of tramps roamed the countryside begging and scavenging for food. Psychological depression also spread all over the America. People who had worked all their lives often became ashamed of themselves when they could not find a job. Children often caused strains in families, as less money available to supply children's needs. The depression also affected the families of the jobless many ways. It caused dramatic drop in the birthrate, the lowest in the American history (18.4 per thousand).

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1932 Election)
Democratic candidate Franklin Roosevelt nominated and elected as President after Hoover. He owed his nomination chiefly after success as governor. Under his administration, New York had led the nation in providing relief for the needy and had enacted an impressive program of old-age pensions, unemployment insurance, and conservation and public power projects.
Roosevelt was born in wealth and social status in Dutchess County, New York, in 1882. He was studied at Harvard, then went to Law College and later he joined Democratic Party. He had an attack of polio in 1921, which left him badly crippled in both legs. Despite his physically handicap-he could walk only few steps, and then only with the aid of steel braces and two canes, he was a marvelous campaigner.
Some administrative measures he took to recover country from great depression were (1933-1941):
� Economy Act: which reduced the salaries of federal employees by 15 percent and cut various veterans' benefits.
� Emergency bank Act: He declared nation wide bank holiday on March 5th to reorganize the banking corporation. To explain the complexities of the banking problem to the public, he delivered the first of his "fireside of chats" over a national radio network. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) were established.
� The National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA): The law gave workers the protection of minimum wage and maximum hours regulations. Minimum child labor age, fixed price for certain commodities, legalized union organization etc. established.
� The Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) 1933: compulsory restriction on production with government subsidies to growers of wheat, cotton, pork and other staple crops.
� The Tennessee Valley Authority Act (TVA): authorize to built dams, power plants, transmission lines, selling fertilizers and electricity to local and individuals. It improved the standard of living of millions of inhabitants of the valley.
� Work Program Administration (WPA): provides employment (building public works) to public to reduce unemployment.
� Social security Act

Postwar Economy
The demands for houses, automobiles, clothing etc increased. In 1944, GI Bill of Rights, passed which made subsidies available to veterans so that they could continue their education or to start new businesses. Cutting taxes and removing price control caused a period of rapid inflation of basic commodities. That led the demands for higher wages and a wave of strikes-nearly 5000 in 1946 alone. The trend towards early marriage and a large family, begun during the war, continue and indeed accelerated when the conflict ended (the baby boomers).

The Great Society
Franklin Roosevelt declared war on poverty and set out to create a "great society" in which poverty no longer existed.
� Civil Rights Act: outlawed discrimination by employers against blacks and women.
� Economic Opportunity Act of 1964
� Medicare Act 1965, compulsory hospital insurance for all persons over the age of 65.
� Medicaid: grants to the state to help pay the medical expenses of poor people.
� Elementary and Secondary Education Act
� Immigration Act of 1965: limits on immigrants to come to the USA.

AMERICA AND POLITICS
1800's
A succession of weak presidents presided over the White House. Congress dominated the government, critics called the Senate a "rich man's club". Democrats were separated from Republicans by geography, religious affiliation, ethnic background, and emotion than by economic issues. The fundamental division between Democrats and Republicans was sectional, a result of the Civil War.
After Andrew Johnson (1865), Ulysses Grant (1868 & 1872) elected as president. His most weakness as president was his failure to deal effectively with economic and social problems and his inability to cope with government corruption.

The Compromise of 1877
On February 26, the Democratic Party and Republic party worked out a great compromise during a dramatic meeting at the Wormley Hotel in Washington. The compromise was "democrats would allow republicans to rule in the White House but in exchange of that there would be no more civil right legislation would come out of federal government (republicans)." It wrote an end to Reconstruction and recognized a new regime in the South.
Rutherford Hayes (1876) saw himself mere as a caretaker than a leader, he believed that Congress should assume the main responsibility for solving national problems.
James Garfield (1880) was killed by an assassin's bullet four months after his inauguration. Political patronage proved to be Garfield's undoing. The Republican Party in 1880 was split into two factions, the "Stawarts" and the "Half-Breeds. "
Chester Arthur (1881) became president after Garfield's assassination. He handled patronage matters with restrain, and he gave support to the movement for civil service reform. In 1883 Congress passed the Pendleton Act, which opened a new era in government administration. The law made it illegal to force officeholders to make political contributions and empowered the president to expand the list of classified positions at his discretion.
Grover Cleveland (1884 & 1892) came after Arthur and he was very conservative. He vetoed special emergency relief fund ($10000) to assist Kansas people during natural disaster time. He also vetoed a popular bill to force reduction of the fares charged by the New York City elevated railway. He was a man who cared more for principle than the adulation of the multitude. He was reelected again by defeating Harrison in 1992.
Benjamin Harrison (1888) elected after Cleveland but he was too reserved to make a good politician. The Sherman Antitrust Act and the Silver Purchase Act were passed at his time. The Silver Purchase Act later favored inflation in the country.

The Populist Party Movement
The agricultural depression triggered a new out burst of farm radicalism, the Alliance movement. The farm groups entered local politics in the 1890 elections. The success in local politics encouraged Alliance leaders to create a new national party is Populist Party. In July Democratic convention William Jennings Bryan spoke for silver against gold and that speech favored him and he was nominated for president for Democratic Party. This action put tremendous pressure on the Populists. If they would have supported Bryan, they risked losing their party identity, if they nominated another candidate, they would ensure McKinley's election. Later they supported Bryan for president.
William McKinley (1896 & 1900) was elected in 1896 election. At the start of the election the Republicans seemed to have everything in their favor. But Bryan proved a formidable opponent. He traveled thousands of miles and made hundreds of speeches for his campaign. Incapable of competing with Bryan as sawyer of mass audiences, McKinley conducted a "front-porch campaign." On September 6, 1901 an anarchist named Leon Czolgosz shot President McKinley during a public reception at the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo (NYC).
Theodore Roosevelt (1901 & 1904) became president after McKinley. He was son of a well-to-do New York merchant of Dutch ancestry. He was graduated from Harvard in 1880 and studied law briefly at Columbia but did not obtain a degree. He had been a sickly child, plagued by asthma and poor eyesight. His domestic programs included conservation of natural resources, more power to the Interstate Commerce Commission, and the Newlands Act. By reviving the Sherman Act, settling the coal strike, and pushing moderate reforms through Congress, he ensured that he would be reelected president in 1904. The public acclaimed him as a fearless, imaginative, public-spirited leader. His action marked a major forward step in the evolution of the modern presidency.
William Taft (1908) became president of the USA after Roosevelt. He was intelligent, experienced and public spirited, he seemed ideally to carry out Roosevelt's policies. He was lacked in the physical and mental stamina required of a modern chief executive. Though not lazy, he weighted over 300 pounds and he liked to eat leisurely fashion, to idle away mornings on the golf course and to take afternoon nap.
In 1912, Woodrow Wilson (1916) became president of the United Sates. No one ever rose more suddenly or spectacularly in American politics than him.
Warren Harding's (1920) genial nature and lack of strong convictions made him attractive to many of the politicos after eight years of the headstrong Wilson. He coined the famous vulgarism normalcy as a substitute for the word normality "let's go back to normalcy" and committed numerous other blunders. He was often characterized by lazy and incompetent. He was hardworking and politically shrewd; his major weaknesses were indecisiveness and an unwillingness to offend. His worst scandal was Teapot Dome reserve in Wyoming. Private companies bribe government to obtain oil, which was preserved previously for navy's use for wartime.
Calvin Coolidge (1923, 1924) became president after Harding and he again re-elected in 1924 election. He soon became the darling of the conservatives. His idea of government was "less government is better." He was famous for "silent cal." He did not run second time for presidency but he never told anybody the reason behind that decision.
Herbert Hoover (1928) made admirable candidate in 1928. He was the intellectual leader, almost the philosopher of the New Era. He denied the Great Depression and his plans were failed to check the economic slide.
Franklin Roosevelt (1932, 1936, 1940, & 1944) was the most popular president and elected four times in American history. In April 1945, he died of a cerebral hemorrhage.
Harry Truman (1945, 1948) was born in Missouri, after his service in World War I; he opened a men's clothing store in Kansas City. The store failed in the postwar depression. In 1934 he was elected to the United States Senate. He was not aware of the atomic bomb project but he had to decide what to do with it during World War II. The moral soundness of Truman's decision has been debated ever since. Some of his programs were public housing scheme, aid to education, medical insurance, civil r ights guarantees, a higher minimum wage, border social security coverage and increased aid to agriculture.
Dwight Eisenhower (1952, 1956) planned to run his administration on sound business principles. He approved the extension of social security to an additional 10 million persons; created a new Department of Health, Education, Welfare and the St. Lawrence Seaway project. In 1955, he passed a highway construction act that eventually produced a 40,000-mile network of superhighways covering every state in the Union.
John F. Kennedy (1960) became president winning the presidential election. Republican Party candidate Nixon lost the election due to two main reasons. First, was his poor appearance in the television debates and other was his opposition to Chicago's votes count. Kennedy later found, under Eisenhower the Central Intelligent Agency (CIA) trained some 2000 people in Central America against Castro in Cuba to establish democratic rule. They were given American weapons, but no planes or warships were committed to the operation. As a result that operation was failed and Cuba became anti-America. Russia took advantage of it and built missile bases in Cuba. This created a big Soviet-American tension for a possible nuclear war. Later Soviet Union backed down from its plan and the crisis was over. Kennedy was shot by an assassin, Lee Oswald and died almost instantly.
Lyndon B. Johnson (1963, 1964) became president after Kennedy's death. During his time he escalated war in Vietnam. Government went on deficit due to social welfare and huge expenditure in war. His belief was government could remove poor and poverty. His views on poverty had two objectives that is, to give poor people opportunity to improve them and to provide direct assistance. Laws like Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, Medicare, Medicaid, Educational Act and Immigration Act of 1965 were passes during his time.
Richard M. Nixon (1968, 1972) considered the solution of Vietnam problem as his chief task. The Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT) was signed with Russia during his time to reduce nuclear missiles. Later Watergate scandal destroyed his administration and he announced his resignation on August 8, 1974.
Gerald R. Ford (1974) had been appointed as president rather than elected to that post. He displayed inconsistency and apparent incompetence in managing the economy.
Jimmy Carter (1976) had promised to fight inflation by reducing government spending and balancing the budget. Double-digit inflation, the oil and hostage crises were main incidents during his administration.
Ronald Reagan (1980, 1984) cutting tax was his first priority. His tax policy was based on what is known as supply-side economics. He claimed that tax cut would leave people with more money, which they would invest in productive ways rather than spending excess on consumer goods.
George Bush (1988) became the president after Reagan. During his time the end of the Cold War and the war in the Persian Gulf (Iraq) were the main incidents.
There were many reasons behind Bill Clinton's (1992, 1996) success in the election. First, his intention to effect changes in important issues as health insurance and government's budget deficits. Secondly, his command over English, and third was his apparent reasonableness, his willingness to reconcile differences. "Cooperation is better than conflict," he said on more then one occasion. Some his achievements are end of the ban on gays and lesbians in the armed forces "don't ask, don't tell", supported abortion right of women. Monica Lewinskiy case, Kosovo conflict, and air strike on Iraq are some main incidents during his administration.

Politics: Local, State, and National (Last quarter of nineteenth century)
City governments were influenced by the religious and ethnic character of the inhabitants and further complicated by the special problems such as rapid growth of urban life, the influx of European immigrants, the need to develop public utility systems and stop the crime and corruption. Most cities were filled with powerful political bosses and their organizations. People like "Big Tim" Sullivan of New York, Kenna of Chicago were typical of the breed. They performed many useful services for immigrants like finding jobs for new arrivals and distributed food and other help to all in bad times. The price of such aid- the bosses were not altruists- was unquestioning political support, which the bosses converted into cash.
The more visible and better-known city bosses played less socially justifiable roles than ward bosses. To get city contracts, suppliers were made to pad their bills and when paid for their work with funds from the city treasury, turn over the excess to the politicians. Operators of streetcar lines, gas and electricity companies and other public utilities were compelled to pay huge bribes to obtain favorable franchises.
The most notorious of the nineteenth-century city bosses was William Marcy Tweed, whose "Tweed Ring" extracted tens of millions of dollars from New York City during the brief period 1869 to 1871. A political cartoonist, Thomas Nast exposed him by publishing a cartoon in Harper's Weekly. In that cartoon he illustrated Tweed and his fellow vultures cower under the storm against them. Tweed offered Nast half millions dollar to stop the cartoon but Nash did not take the offer. Later Tweed was swiftly jailed.

AMERICA AND CIVIL RIGHTS
In the North, after a brief depression in 1861, its economy continued to flourish. Congress passed a number of economic measures to stimulate South's economy, such as Homestead Act of 1862.

Abraham Lincoln
He was born in Kentucky in 1809, at the age of 25 he won a seat in the Illinois legislature as a Whig. "If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong," expression later made him famous. In April 1865, he delivered an important speech on Reconstruction, urging compassion and open-mindedness. The "ten-percent plan" reflected Lincoln's lack of vindictiveness but also his political shrewdness. The plan was, when in any state a number equal to 10 percent of those voting in the 1860 election had taken loyalty oath; they could set up a state government. Such governments had to be republican in form, must recognize the "permanent freedom" of the slaves, and must provide for black education.

Andrew Johnson
Free homesteads, public education, and absolute social equality were his main objectives. By December 1865, all the southern states had organized governments, ratified the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery. Johnson recommended these new governments to the attention of Congress. Congress passed a bill expanding and extending the Freemen's Bureau, a branch of the War Department, which was established to care for refugees. Johnson vetoed this bill, arguing that it was an unconstitutional extension of military authority in peacetime. Congress then passed the Civil Rights Act, declaring specifically that blacks were citizens of the United States and denied the states the power to restrict their rights to testify in court, to make contracts for their labor, and to hold property. In other words, it put teeth in the Thirteenth Amendment. The president vetoed it but Congress re-passed it by two-thirds majority. The first time in American history a major piece of legislation become law over the veto of a president.

Thaddeus Stevens
A group of Radicals, headed by Stevens in the House and Ben Wade in the Senate agreed with their objectives and all Radicals distinguished between the "natural" God-given rights and social equality. "Equality," said Stevens "does not mean that a Negro shall sit in the same seat or eat at the same table with a white man. That is a matter of taste which every man must decide for himself."

The Fourteenth Amendment
In June 1866, Congress submitted to the states a new amendment to the constitution. The amendment first supplied a broad definition of American citizenship and the next section attempted to force the southern states to permit blacks to vote. "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United Sates; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law."

The Fifteenth Amendment
It forbade all the states to deny the vote to anyone "on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." By March 1870, it became part of the Constitute.

"Black Republican" Reconstruction
The real rulers of the "black Republican" government were white. The "scalawags", southerners willing to cooperate with Republicans because they accepted the results of the war even to the extent of appealing for the support of black voters. The "carpetbaggers", northerners who went to the South as idealists to help the freed slaves, as employees of the federal government, or more commonly as settlers hoping to improve themselves.

Blacks after Reconstruction
Minorities were treated with callousness and contempt in the postwar decades. Blacks were refused for equal accommodations or privileges by hotels, theaters, and other privately owned facilities. Finally, in Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896), the Court ruled that even in places of public accommodation, such as railroads and, by implication, school, segregation was legal as long as facilities of equal quality were provided. "If one race be inferior to the other socially, the Constitution of the United Sates cannot put them upon the same plane."
A national association for the black people "the NAACP" placed a banner outside their headquarters in New York City announcing " A man was lynched yesterday" every time a black person was discriminated.

Blacks during The New Deal (1933-1941) & World War II
Many of the early New Deal programs treated blacks as second class citizens. They were often paid at lower rate than whites under NRA codes. The shift of black votes from Republican to the Democratic Party during the New Deal years was one of the most significant political turnaround in American history.
Blacks in the armed forces were treated more fairly then they had been in World War I. They were given more responsible positions in the army and navy.

The "We Shall Overcome" Years
On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks boarded a bus on her way home from her job in Montgomery, Alabama. When the bus driver ordered her to give up her seat to a white passenger, she refused to do so. Later she was arrested and leaders of blacks organized a boycott, "don't ride the bus... Monday." Martin Luther King, Jr. a gifted speaker who was emerged as the leader of the boycott. He was able to promote non-violence in South to improve discrimination. Finally, after more than a year, the Supreme Court ruled that the segregation law was unconstitutional. This success encouraged blacks elsewhere in the South to band together against the caste system.
In February 1960, four black students in Greensboro, North Carolina sat down at a lunch counter and refused to leave when they were denied service. Their "sit-in" sparked a national movement and by the end of 1961 over 70,000 persons had participated in sit-ins.
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was funded by black college students to provide a focus for the sit-in movement and to conduct voter registration drive in the South.

WORK CITED
� Garraty, John A. The American Nation: A history of the United States.

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