US History Unit 2

Abstract
Our country, like every entity will grow and evolve with time. Even a single celled organism will grow and change through time. The United States Federal Government is no different. Throughout the history of the United States, the authority of the Federal Government as grown dramatically. Some may argue the necessity of this growth and some may even pursue a smaller Federal Government in their daily lives. This essay will explore four different periods of time that the Federal Government extended its authority.

The Cold War In black and white, grainy letters appear on screen that say, “Fallout, When and how to protect yourself from it”. In the background, beautiful snowflakes fall, representing the nuclear ash that falls after an atomic blast. The scene fades to white, then transitions into a blast, accompanied by a black plume of smoke that reaches the clouds (Defense, 1955). Images like this could sum up the fears and emotions after World War II; the beginning of the Cold War.
At the end of World War II, America was the most powerful country in the World. America’s intervention in the war effectively ended it. A major turning point of the war was the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This marked the end of the Japanese Empire and the beginning of a new age in the history of Planet Earth. It was the age of the Atomic Bomb. In 1965, American Theoretical Physicist Robert Oppenheimer was quoted on national television saying, “We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried. Most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita; Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and, to impress him, takes on his multi-armed form and says, 'Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.' I suppose we all thought that, one