...extend did the Tet offensive change the United States’ public perception and military plans regarding Vietnam?” The essay will compare and contrast how the United States reacts to Vietnam before and after the Tet Offensive, while also evaluating any other factors that might also had a role. Since the Tet Offensive is a series of events, the essay will analyze all effects since the start of the offensive through the end. Source 1: “Tet” section of “Vietnam: A history” by Stanley Karnow Stanley Karnow worked for Time, Life, the Washington Post, and NBC to cover Asia from 1959-1974. He started to write this secondary source book when he arrived in Vietnam on July 1959. The book serves to...
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...A Critique of Design in History by Victor Margolin The article Design in History by Victor Margolin discusses the issues between design and the broader subjects within the field of history. He argues that design should be considered of enough importance to be studied as its topic. Margolin also emphasises that the history of design is also significant in other areas of history. Margolin acknowledges the accomplishments of design historians including the wide variety of research that has been conducted and the “growing collection of academic publications.” (Margolin, 2009) However, he criticises the lack of generalisation to other components of history like the social aspects. “Yet despite these accomplishments, the community continues to operate within an intellectual framework that frequently isolates design from much of what other historians do.” (Margolin, 2009) He goes on to describe how subjects such as history of technology, engineering, material culture and many more may also be relevant but that design has failed to engage with these other topics. In the second part of the article, Margolin talks about the successes of technology historians who manage to link subjects of technology and invention to a wider range of other topics. He refers to a book American Genesis: A Century of Invention and Technological Enthusiasm, 1870-1970, by Thomas Hughes who described technological inventions in terms of “systems” rather than “individual objects.” According to Margolin, this...
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...David Hollinger’s collection of essays, “In the American Province” is a very well-executed unification of works (originally prepared for separate occasions) that successfully relates elites to broader audiences through Hollinger’s ability to involve his peers in an earnest and intelligent discourse. The essays are centered around the studies of intellectuals in modern America as well as the studies in historiography or the study of historical writing. While his writings gathered rave reviews, his perceptions were either accepted and applauded or challenged by his contemporaries. Hollinger’s personal belief lies in philosophy as the crux of intellectual history and he builds on his ideas through dialogue and arguments. Hence, through his penetrative writings, Hollinger reveals the vulnerability of intellectual history to obscure or ill-defined ideas....
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...6) How did two major conflicts, the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) and the Russo-Japanese War a decade later, influence Western perceptions of Japan and Asia? The Sino-Japanese War from 1894-1895 and the Russo-Japanese War a decade later were monumental events in the history of Asia and its ripples were felt in the Western world. In the Sino-Japanese War, the Western world witnessed the fruits of Meiji Japan’s modernization program, its modern military, routed the Chinese hitherto the dominant Asian power. Japan’s victory defeat of Russia became a significant milestone in modern history, marking the first major modern conflict where an Asian nation had defeated an European power. As such, this study seeks to present in detail the changes in Western perception towards Japan, as it became a modern military power and its image of the Asian people in the aftermath of both events. Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) The outcome of the Sino-Japanese War meant that Japan had successfully displaced Qing China as the dominant power in East Asia, marking a remarkable shift from millennia old power arrangements in the region centered on China. This turn of events did not escape Western observations and led to Japan being recognized as the dominant Asian power. According to the historian Sarah Paine, ‘Before the war, the most widespread Western image of Japan was undoubtedly provided by William S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, the famous operetta duo. The year 1885 marked the premiere of what...
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...The study of past human activities is paramount in understanding human nature as well as structure and cultures of various communities in the world. To many historians and individuals, history is one of the important assets that a country or a community can ever possess because it differentiates it from other communities or countries. Often, history provides an account of past events of a community or a country and can be very useful in predicting the future. According to historians, history should never be pursued for the sake of just collecting information and data to add more knowledge about the past, but rather it should be part of human being to be carried with them each and every single day. Despite the fact that most people believe that...
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...The ante-bellum years were among the most chaotic in American history—a time of significant changes that took place as the United States came of age. As the industrialized North and the agricultural South grew further apart, tensions between both sides grew until war was inevitable. The North and South both had drastic cultural and economic differences- historian Wyatt Brown believed the south had severe cultural differences compared to the ‘Yankee’ north, Owsley believed there was a clash of values and a clash of two economic systems while others believed the aggressive north was infringing on the rights of the south. However, Craven and Revisionists believe the differences between the north and south have been exaggerated and there was more uniting the north and south than dividing, such as the shared language, history and culture. Although, it has been argued that slavery was the underlying cause, which resulted in a bitter, fueled war. The north and south of ante-bellum America are commonly known as being vastly different, however historian Craven argued that there was more uniting the two sections than diving and he stated that war was not inevitable. Both sections shared a common language, history, culture, politics and transport and trade links. Most southerners, alike the Americans living in the north shared the pride in US achievements, the respect for property ownership and all the other components of the ‘American Dream’ therefore bringing both sections together. ...
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...Historian Angie Elbertha Debo once said that “Oklahoma is more than just another state. It is a lens in which the long rays of time are focused into the brightest of light. In its magnifying clarity, dim facets of the American character stand more clearly revealed. For in Oklahoma all the experiences that went into the making of the nation have been speeded up. Here all the American traits have been intensified. The one who can interpret Oklahoma can grasp the meaning of America in the modern world.” The history of Oklahoma is complex. To those with limited knowledge of its history, they may think it Debo’s most prominent work covered topics related to Native American and Oklahoma history. Due to heavy interest in her, many books and articles...
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...Between 1942 and 1946, more than 110,000 Japanese Americans were forcibly relocated to concentration camps after the Japanese launched the devastating attack on pearl harbor. Traditionalist historians argued that degree of threat posed posed by Japanese-American was completely unequivalent to the treatment they receive, whereas Revisionists states the opposite. The post-revisionist view, however synthesises both approaches, asserting that the Japanese-American was somewhat equivalent as they view the internment decision to be right, but think the interment conditions was too harsh. Most Orthodox historians would disagree that the degree of threat posed by Japanese Americans during the Second World War as equivalent to the treatment they...
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...Oliver Stone’s USA Wesley Kostovetsky 3070 Spring The History Behind Oliver Stone’s Success Oliver Stone is called by many a historian. Some call him a cinematic historian. Others call him a type of public historian. Oliver Stone likes to refer to himself strictly as a dramatist and in some cases a docu-dramatist. Whatever title chosen there is no doubt he has a made a huge impact through his films; though some may argue in a negative way. Oliver Stone has written and/or directed films about the Vietnam War, Kennedy’s assassination, Nixon’s presidency, Wall Street, the military dictatorship in El Salvador, and many other subjects. Stone’s expertise in film lay in what most “Hollywood executives prefer to avoid. Historical and political cinema is supposedly deadly at the box office.” Stone’s films are known to make audiences “uncomfortable” and cause “controversy”. Through four essays, including one written by Oliver Stone himself explains the reason why his films have made huge impacts and controversies; as well as, the differences between written history and history on film, and the life experiences leading to the creation of some his films and his connection to them. Since the beginning of his career Stone has been “viciously attacked” by critics about his films. The main argument by critics of history films is that they are too fictional for a number of reasons. Though containing “numerous authentic elements” and details the invention of scenes, dialogue, and...
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...This investigation will focus on the key motivations behind the internment of Japanese individuals camps after the end of World War II, and attempt to answer the question “To what extent was President Franklin D. Roosevelt responsible for Japanese internment during and after World War II?” Japanese internment was the forced removal of Japanese civilians, specifically in the Pacific Coast region, which arose when President Franklin D. Roosevelt passed Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942 in response to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, which occurred on December 7, 1941. In order to thoroughly explore this topic, the following subtopics will be considered: context of Pearl Harbor and how it had affected America’s perception of the Japanese...
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...This essay was submitted via Moodle - if you plagiarize it you will be caught The “invisible institution” refers to the religious experience of black slaves in the American South which grew out of their desire for meaningful Christian worship that reflected their own perception and interpretation of the gospel. It encompasses both the concealed religious practice of slaves as well as the public way in which slaves experienced religion. Furthermore “invisible institution” indicates the neglect by historians of the spiritual journey embarked upon by slaves in the American South; particularly the omission of slave’s own written and oral history of their religious experience. While the “invisible institution” includes an amalgamation of these two distinctive religious realties of slave life, the “invisible institution” is truly the privately organized religious practice of slaves where they could assert their own beliefs and be masters of their own faith. Evangelical worship services in the South were used to reinforce the concept of mastery; white ministers continually sermonized that in order to reach heaven, slaves must obey their masters and even black preachers regurgitated this notion for fear of what would happen if they did not. Resultantly, slaves yearned for genuine Christian preaching that connected to their own lives, thus they held clandestine prayer meetings of their own. Retribution was brutal for slaves who dared to arrange or attend these covert meetings...
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... BERNATH LECTURE The New International History of the Cold War: Three (Possible) Paradigms* The Cold War is not what it once was. Not only has the conflict itself been written about in the past tense for more than a decade, but historians’ certainties about the character of the conflict have also begun to blur. The concerns brought on by trends of the past decade – such trifles as globalization, weapons proliferation, and ethnic warfare – have made even old strategy buffs question the degree to which the Cold War ought to be put at the center of the history of the late twentieth century. In this article I will try to show how some people within our field are attempting to meet such queries by reconceptualizing the Cold War as part of contemporary international history. My emphasis will be on issues connecting the Cold War – defined as a political conflict between two power blocs – and some areas of investigation that in my opinion hold much promise for reformulating our views of that conflict, blithely summed up as ideology, technology, and the Third World. I have called this lecture “Three (Possible) Paradigms” not just to avoid making too presumptuous an impression on the audience but also to indicate that my use of the term “paradigm” is slightly different from the one most people have taken over from Thomas Kuhn’s work on scientific revolutions. In the history of science, a paradigm has come to mean a comprehensive explanation, a kind of scientific “level”...
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...History of Politics A Research Paper Presented to The class of Miss Rhoda Mae R. Navasquez Southern Cotabato Academy, Inc. In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Subject English IV by Jeison L. Omandam December 01, 2011 INTRODUCTION Political history is the description and analysis of significant political occasions, movements, thoughts, and leaders. Typically it is developed around the nation states. It is distinguished from but relevant to other areas of history such as economic history, social history, and military history. Usually, political history discusses events pertaining to nation-states and the political process in particular. As per Hegelian doctrine, Political History ‘is a perception of the state with a guiding force beyond the material benefits of its subjects: it meant that the state was the root factor of historical change’. This differs with one, for example, social history, which predominantly discusses the events and lifestyles of common folks, or people’s history, that is historical account from the view point of a lay person. A study of political history typically centers on a single nation and its political change and aggrandizement. A few historians highlight the ever increasing drift toward confined specialization in political history over the course of recent decades: ‘wherein a college professor in the 1940s resorted to identify himself as a “historian”, by the 1950s “American historian” was the designation.’ Political...
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...Essex and Beacon streets, it was met with overwhelming resemblance to a march completed 30 years prior by the pride of the abolitionist movement, the Massachusetts Fifty-fourth volunteer regiment – the first colored regiment in United States history. Interesting, survivors of the Massachusetts Fifty-fourth were present during the parade and unveiling August Saint-Gauden’s masterpiece sculpture. The parade followed the similar path They gathered on the corner of Boston Common in front of the State house to welcome a structure erected in honor of the selfless deeds performed by the young Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and his brave black comrades of the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment during their assault upon Fort Wagner, South Carolina in July of 1863. Massachusetts Governor Roger Wolcott reviewed the parade at the corner of Commonwealth Avenue and Dartmouth Street, after which the Governor and distinguished quests were escorted to the memorial. Upon reaching the monument,...
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...of a bearded man with a deep penetrating gaze and a visionary look. It is a name that probably rings a bell in the minds of many as a historical figure of the American Civil War. Some consider this great man a hero whilst others doubt the high regard and esteem with which he was held. Truth is however, that some do not have adequate information about this great man to be able to furnish a proper perception and opinion of the top tier soldier that Robert Lee was. It is in this regard that we seek to delve into the annals of recorded history and separate fact from hearsay putting the long running queries...
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