Chapter 7

Original posts should be at least 200 words in length.  Replies should be at least 150 words in length.

The American Revolution was the first modern war for liberation. The Oxford English Dictionary defines the  term revolution as follows:  “A forcible overthrow of a government or social order in favor of a new system.”  The same source defines the term revolutionary as follows: “Involving or causing a complete or dramatic change.” Based on the latter definition-

Defend or negate the following statement:

Within in the context of its era (1754-1788), the American Revolution was revolutionary.

Example Thread:

I defend the statement: Dwight D Eisenhower was a great President. He is described as the least experienced and most popular president;  kept the peace in various countries to avoid war and intervened albeit reluctantly in the Civil Rights Movement. He was a classic “organizational man”, this was exemplified in his cabinet that was dominated business leaders (Eisenhower Republicanism). By funding nuclear weapons programs and increasing the production along with covert operations by Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) he was able to project an imminent threat of war to Communist countries without actually sending troops. Coincidently, he staged a coup of two foreign leaders, by having Mossadeq of Iran removed and replaced with his successor Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the U.S. government provided $ 45 million in aid to deter Iran from Soviet influence and the possibility of being shut out business and oil. He repeated the same action with Guatemalan president Jacobo Arbenz Guzman, persuading him to resign (McGerr et al., 2018, p. 790).  By using the CIA instead of the full-scale military he was better able to project U.S. influence and its threat of global armageddon to prevent war ( Eisenhower’s Use of Covert Action to Accomplish U.S. Aims). In keeping with aspects of “containment”, he did his best to avoid confrontation, when the Hungarians revolted, Eisenhower refused to send troops. The U.S. allies Britain, France, and Israel decided to move in on Egypt, as a result the U.S. hit allies w/ economic sanctions, he believed their movement into Egypt left the door open for Soviets to enter the Middle East, and via Congress vowed to protect any Middle Eastern nation against a communist threat. “During the Civil Rights Movement, President Eisenhower was in fact criticized for not being more proactive in the movement, but his Civil Rights Act of 1957 was the first step in enfranchising those who had not been participants in the political process, by creating a societal change, starting at the institutional level” (The Other America). He was not a believer in racial equality but realized the riots, boycotts, and protests were being aired around the world, and in order to compete with the Soviet Union, the United States “could not afford racial inequality at home” (McGerr et al., 2018, p. 800). As president, he also advocated for a better education system, in 1958 the passing of the National Defense Education Act, was put into place to improve instruction on science, math, and foreign languages. Although it was to counter and compete against the Soviet Union’s system, it did provide citizens new schools, offered loans, and fellowship to students. President Eisenhower may have been the “middle of the road” president he was able to continue portions of the containment policy as well participate in the changes occurring in our society through the civil rights movement.  Comment by Owner: Video title citation; paraphrased material; punctuation follows the parenthetical citation. Comment by Owner: Textbook citation for paraphrased material; punctuation follows parenthetical citation. Comment by Owner: Additional video citation; Comment by Owner: Additional video citation; direct quotation. Comment by Owner: Additional citation from textbook; direct quote. Comment by Owner: 472 words; exceeds minimum length requirement of 200 words.

Example Reply:

Good Evening George,  Comment by Owner: Reply indicates to whom the reply was directed.

I defend your statement; President Eisenhower was a ‘middle of the road’ president. But his intervention into foreign policy kept the U.S. out of war. By using the CIA in covert operations he was able to remove possible communist threats by dictatorships in third world countries. He also worked to shape the public image American culture, and in 1953 created the United States Information Agency, where 76 countries worked cohesively to promote the exchange of visitors with other nations (McGerr et al., 2018, p. 791). He tried to strengthen relations with the Soviet Union and worked toward “peaceful coexistence” and even proposed the “Atoms for Peace” plan to explore nonmilitary uses for nuclear materials. At home he struggled with the Civil Rights Movement, he was more reluctant to involve himself but knew that as the President of the United States, he could not afford to perpetuate racial inequality at home, since we advocated for Democracy around the world. He places his support behind the Civil Rights Act of 1957, with the world watching his “government was being defied in Little Rock and humiliated around the world” (McGerr et al., 2018, p. 799). He sent the Army’s 101st Airborne to protect the nine African American students that were attending the integrated Central High School, a very big move on his part. He also advocated for increasing the education program, the National Defense Education Act, it may have been initiated despite the Soviet Union, but it led to funding of new schools, loans, and fellowships for students. In our competition with the Soviets, it lead to NASA being created Comment by Owner: Citation for textbook derived material; paraphrased material. Comment by Owner: Citation from textbook; direct quote. Comment by Owner: 270 word length including salutation. This exceeds the minimum length requirement: 150 words.