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This reader, designed to introduce students to controversies in American history, covers topics such as Industrial Revolution, Pearl Harbor, and the influence of the civil rights movement on race relations. This title is supported by Dushkin Online, a student Web site that provides study support tools and links to related Web sites.
Contents
PART 1. Reconstruction and the Industrial Revolution ISSUE 1. Was It Wrong to Impeach Andrew Johnson? YES: Irving Brant, from Impeachment: Trials and Errors NO: Harold M. Hyman, from A More Perfect Union: The Impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction on the Constitution Historian Irving Brant argues that President Andrew Johnson was the victim of partisan Republican politics and that the articles of impeachment passed by the House of Representatives violated the U.S. Constitution. Professor of history Harold M. Hyman contends that Congress's decision to impeach President Johnson was wholly justifiable on constitutional grounds in light of Johnson's repeated defiance of national law. ISSUE 2. Was John D. Rockefeller a "Robber Baron?" YES: Matthew Josephson, from The Robber Barons: The Great American Capitalists, 1861-1901 NO: Ralph W. Hidy and Muriel E. Hidy, from History of Standard Oil Company (New Jersey), vol. 1: Pioneering in Big Business, 1882-1911 Historian Matthew Josephson depicts John D. Rockefeller as an unconscionable manipulator who employed deception, bribery, and outright conspiracy to eliminate his competitors for control of the oil industry in the United States. Business historians Ralph W. Hidy and Muriel E. Hidy argue that Rockefeller and his associates were innovative representatives of corporate capitalism who brought stability to the often chaotic petroleum industry. ISSUE 3. Did the Industrial Revolution Disrupt the American Family? YES: Elaine Tyler May, from "The Pressure to Provide: Class, Consumerism, and Divorce in Urban America, 1880-1920", Journal of Social History NO: Jacquelyn Dowd Hall, Robert Korstad, and James Leloudis, from "Cotton Mill People: Work, Community, and Protest in the Textile South, 1880-1940", The American Historical Review Elaine Tyler May, a professor of American studies and history, argues that the Industrial Revolution in the United States, with its improved technology, increasing income, and emerging consumerism, led to higher rates of divorce because family wage earners failed to meet rising expectations for material accumulation. History professors Jacquelyn Dowd Hall, Robert Korstad, and James Leloudis contend that the cotton mill villages of the New South, rather than destroying family work patterns, fostered a labor system that permitted parents and children to work together as a traditional family unit. ISSUE 4. Was City Government in Late-Nineteenth-Century America a "Conspicuous Failure?" YES: Ernest S. Griffith, from A History of American City Government: The Conspicuous Failure, 1870-1900 NO: Jon C. Teaford, from The Unheralded Triumph: City Government in America, 1860-1900 Professor of political science and political economy Ernest S. Griffith (1896-1981) argues that the city governments that were controlled by the political bosses represented a betrayal of the public trust. Professor of history Jon C. Teaford argues that municipal governments in the late nineteenth century achieved remarkable success in dealing with the challenges presented by rapid urbanization. PART 2. The Response to Industrialism: Reform and War ISSUE 5. Did Yellow Journalism Cause the Spanish-American War? YES: W. A. Swanberg, from Citizen Hearst: A Biography of William Randolph Hearst NO: David Nasaw, from The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearst Journalist W. A. Swanberg argues that newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst used the sensational and exploitative stories in his widely circulated New York Journal to stir up public opinion and to force President William McKinley to wage a war against Spain to free Cuba. Historian David Nasaw maintains that even if Hearst had not gone into publishing, the United States would have entered the war for political, economic, and security reasons. ISSUE 6. Did Racial Segregation Improve the Status of African Americans? YES: Howard N. Rabinowitz, from "From Exclusion to Segregation: Southern Race Relations, 1865-1890", The Journal of American History NO: Leon F. Litwack, from Trouble in Mind: Black Southerners in the Age of Jim Crow Professor of history Howard N. Rabinowitz suggests that racial segregation represented an improvement in the lives of African Americans in that it provided access to a variety of public services and accommodations from which they otherwise would have been excluded in the late-nineteenth-century South. Professor of American history Leon F. Litwack argues that "the age of Jim Crow", wherein efforts by whites to deny African Americans equal protection of the laws or the privileges and immunities guaranteed other citizens seemingly knew no bounds, created a highly repressive environment for blacks. ISSUE 7. Was the Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s an Extremist Movement? YES: David H. Bennett, from The Party of Fear: From Nativist Movements to the New Right in American History NO: Stanley Coben, from Rebellion Against Victorianism: The Impetus for Cultural Change in 1920s America Professor of history David H. Bennett argues that the Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s was a traditional nativist organization supported mainly by fundamentalist Protestants who were opposed to the changing social and moral values associated with the Catholic and Jewish immigrants. Professor of history Stanley Coben asserts that local Klansmen were not a fringe group of fundamentalists but solid, middle-class citizens who were concerned about the decline in moral standards in their communities. ISSUE 8. Did the Women's Movement Die in the 1920s? YES: William L. O'Neill, from Everyone Was Brave: A History of Feminism in America NO: Anne Firor Scott, from The Southern Lady: From Pedestal to Politics, 1830-1930 Professor of history William L. O'Neill contends that the women's movement died following the success of the suffrage campaign because women were not united in support of many of the other issues that affected them and because the increasingly militant feminism of the Woman's Party alienated many supporters of women's rights. Anne Firor Scott, a professor emeritus of history, maintains that the suffrage victory produced a heightened interest in further social and political reform, which inspired southern women to pursue their goals throughout the 1920s. ISSUE 9. Was Information About the Attack on Pearl Harbor Deliberately Withheld From the American Commanders? YES: Robert A. Theobald, from The Final Secret of Pearl Harbor: The Washington Contribution to the Japanese Attack NO: Roberta Wohlstetter, from Pearl Harbor: Warning and Decision Retired rear admiral Robert A. Theobald argues that President Franklin D. Roosevelt deliberately withheld information from the commanders at Pearl Harbor in order to encourage the Japanese to make a surprise attack on the weak U.S. Pacific Fleet. Historian Roberta Wohlstetter contends that even though naval intelligence broke the Japanese code, conflicting signals and the lack of a central agency coordinating U.S. intelligence information made it impossible to predict the Pearl Harbor attack. PART 3. The Cold War and Beyond ISSUE 10. Did Communism Threaten America's Internal Security After World War II? YES: John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, from Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America NO: Richard M. Fried, from Nightmare in Red: The McCarthy Era in Perspective History professors John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr argue that army code-breakers during World War II's "Venona Project" uncovered a disturbing number of high-ranking U.S. government officials who seriously damaged American interests by passing sensitive information to the Soviet Union. Professor of history Richard M. Fried argues that the early 1950s were a "nightmare in red" during which American citizens had their First and Fifth Amendment rights suspended when a host of national and state investigating committees searched for Communists in government agencies, Hollywood, labor unions, foundations, universities, public schools, and even public libraries. ISSUE 11. Should President Truman Have Fired General MacArthur? YES: John S. Spanier, from "The Politics of the Korean War", in Phil Williams, Donald M. Goldstein, and Henry L. Andrews, Jr., eds., Security in Korea: War, Stalemate, and Negotiation NO: D. Clayton James with Anne Sharp Wells, from Refighting the Last War: Command and Crisis in Korea, 1950-1953 Professor of political science John S. Spanier argues that General Douglas MacArthur was fired because he publicly disagreed with the Truman administration's "Europe first" policy and its limited war strategy of containing communism in Korea. Biographer D. Clayton James and assistant editor Anne Sharp Wells argue that General MacArthur was relieved of duty because there was a lack of communication between the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the headstrong general, which led to a misperception over the appropriate strategy in fighting the Korean War. ISSUE 12. Was Dwight Eisenhower a Great President? YES: Stephen E. Ambrose, from Eisenhower: The President, vol. 2 NO: Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., from The Cycles of American History Professor of history Stephen E. Ambrose (1936-2002) maintains that Dwight D. Eisenhower was a greater president than his predecessors and successors because he balanced the budget, stopped inflation, and kept the peace. Professor of the humanities Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., argues that Eisenhower failed as a president because he refused to tackle the moral and environmental issues at home and because he established a foreign policy that relied on covert CIA activities and threats of nuclear arms. ISSUE 13. Did President Kennedy Effectively Manage the Cuban Missile Crisis? YES: Theodore C. Sorensen, from The Kennedy Legacy NO: Mark J. White, from The Cuban Missile Crisis Theodore C. Sorensen, President John F. Kennedy's special assistant, argues that Kennedy effectively managed the Cuban Missile Crisis via a "carefully balanced and precisely measured combination of defense, diplomacy, and dialogue". Assistant professor of history Mark J. White castigates Kennedy "for the excessive belligerence of his Cuban policies before the missile crisis while praising him for his generally adroit management of the crisis". ISSUE 14. Should America Remain a Nation of Immigrants? YES: Reed Ueda, from "The Permanently Unfinished Country", The World & I NO: Richard D. Lamm, from "Truth, Like Roses, Often Comes With Thorns", Vital Speeches of the Day Professor of history Reed Ueda maintains that the sheer magnitude and diversity of immigrants continually reshapes the American character, making America a "permanently unfinished country". Former Colorado governor Richard D. Lamm argues that immigration should be severely curtailed. He contends that the most recent immigrants are members of the underclass who are culturally unassimilable and who take jobs away from the poorest citizens in an already overpopulated America. ISSUE 15. Did President Reagan Win the Cold War? YES: John Lewis Gaddis, from The United States and the End of the Cold War: Implications, Reconsiderations, Provocations NO: Daniel Deudney and G. John Ikenberry, from "Who Won the Cold War?" Foreign Policy Professor of history John Lewis Gaddis argues that President Ronald Reagan combined a policy of militancy and operational pragmatism to bring about the most significant improvement in Soviet-American relations since the end of World War II. Professors of political science Daniel Deudney and G. John Ikenberry contend that the cold war ended only when Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev accepted Western liberal values and the need for global cooperation. ISSUE 16. Will History Consider William Jefferson Clinton a Reasonably Good Chief Executive? YES: Lars-Erik Nelson, from "Clinton and His Enemies", The New York Review of Books NO: James MacGregor Burns and Georgia J. Sorenson et al., from Dead Center: Clinton-Gore Leadership and the Perils of Moderation Journalist Lars-Erik Nelson (1941-2000) argues that President Bill Clinton is a sadly flawed human being but was a reasonably good president whose administration was a time of peace and plenty for Americans. Political scientists James MacGregor Burns and Georgia J. Sorenson et al. argue that Clinton will not rank among the near-great presidents because he was a transactional broker who lacked the ideological commitment to tackle the big issues facing American society. ISSUE 17. Is America Entering the Twenty-First Century in a Period of Decline? YES: Paul Kennedy, from "The Next American Century?" World Policy Journal NO: Gregg Easterbrook, from "America the O.K.", The New Republic Professor of history Paul Kennedy argues that Europe and China have the potential to equal or exceed the United States in economic power in 25 years. Gregg Easterbrook, senior editor of The New Republic, maintains that in terms of health, wealth, and moral values, life in the United States has never been better for the vast majority of Americans.
