Harriman Beepat
Prof. B Murdaco
POL 166
December 12th
2013
Assignment Due 12/10:
Choose a passage from Wilson, or Roosevelt, write out the passage and interpret
it and explain why you chose this passage.
“Of
course, this was intended to be a government of free citizens and of equal
opportunity, but how are we going to make it such?”
Wilson abhorred big government, and spoke about the formation of a transparent
and uncomplicated bureaucracy. Furthermore, he reiterated that various administrations
are made up of freely elected members of society and that opportunities should
be equitable. In his “Meaning of Democracy” speech, Woodrow Wilson’s stressed that
elected officials and public servants are mandated to ensure that members of
society are accorded freedom and a higher standard of living. The main premise
of his speech was how to achieve his stated objectives and equal opportunity, whilst
remaining true to the ideals of democracy? My choice of this quotation, arose
from the fact that President Wilson in his speech, truly reflect his belief in
Democracy, equality, and freedom, and though these ideals are admirable, it is
sadly lacking in our society today.
Go
to the link for the Great Depression. Choose a passage from this website and
write it out and interpret it and explain why you chose this passage.
“As the details of the Japanese raids upon
Hawaii, Midway, Wake and Guam blared from American radios, incredulity turned
to anger at what President Roosevelt called "a day that will live in
infamy." On December 8, Congress declared a state of war with Japan; three
days later Germany and Italy declared war on the United States.”
War in any form is disastrous for any society. But war is big business
and as in the case of the Depression in the 1930’s in this country, it saved
this us from certain collapse. I and many of my generation can only read about
this trying time in our country’s history. The Great Depression was not only
hard on everyone, but it seems as if the government at that time was unsure of
the steps needed to be taken to alleviate this total collapse of society. Was
it not for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, America would have lingered
longer in this situation. Even though the administration of President Roosevelt
was slowly making gains in lowering unemployment, the entrance of this country
into WWII, vastly increase employment, especially in the war efforts. I choose
this passage, as this past week was the 72nd anniversary of the attack on Pearl
Harbor, and it was foremost on my mind.
Also
choose a picture or painting and explain the content of piece and how it
relates to class.
During the Great Depression, which
began in 1929 and lasted approximately a decade, shantytowns appeared across
the United States as unemployed people lost or were evicted from their homes.
When the government failed to provide relief, the sitting president at that
time, Herbert Hoover (1874-1964), was blamed for the intolerable economic and
social conditions. This resulted in shantytowns that cropped up across the
nation, which became known as “Hoovervilles.” This term was coined
by Charles Michelson, the publicity chief of the Democratic National Committee.
Hooverville was first used in 1930 when The New York Times published an
article about a shantytown in Chicago, Illinois. This term caught on quickly and was soon
used throughout the country. The
highly unpopular Hoover was defeated in the 1932 presidential election by
Franklin Roosevelt (1882-1945), whose New Deal recovery programs, together with
the war efforts of World War II, eventually helped lift the United States out
of the Depression. I choose this picture about squatters, because not long ago, we almost went through a similar situation with the collapse of the housing bubble, and the Obama administration took similar steps to alleviate us from certain collapse.
