The Persian Gulf War

The Persian Gulf War started in the 1990s when Saudi Arabia was invaded by the Iraqi military.  Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein thought that Saudi Arabia was siphoning oil from them, and invaded their territory because of this.  The Unites States moved troops into Saudi Arabia because of this invasion.  When the iraqi troops did not leave, the US military had to use force, which started the Persian Gulf War.  Most of the public did not know much about what was going on in this was because the military censored most of it.  So the public only knew what the government wanted them to know.

Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton was one of the US presidential candidates, and eventually the US president, during the 1990s.  Clinton was an attractive candidate to many people.  He never seemed to say the wrong thing about anything, and he was dynamic and fun.  He was also a very young presidential candidate, which made people like him more.  He also had a “war room,” which would help Clinton come up with solutions and strategies during his campaign.  The war room helped Clinton when he was accused of cheating on his wife for 12 years.  They tackled the allegations, and his campaign continue strong.

The 1960's

John F. Kennedy was appealing to many Americans during the 1960's campaign because he seemed to fulfill the American political process, but he also represented the new and glittering age.  Visuals played a major role in the 1960's elections because a film crew would follow Kennedy wherever he went, and this was the first time something like this had been organized in this way.  This helped Kennedy's campaign because people felt that they could relate to him more, and it gave people the chance to see the "real" Kennedy.  The 1960's was also a time with many civil rights movements.  There was a lot of discrimination against blacks.  Before the civil rights act, people weren't selling house to black Americans, and many black Americans were denied the right to vote.  This sparked a civil rights movement, and led to the civil rights act, which banned this kind of discrimination.  There was also the Black Panther Party, which wanted to equalize the racist police force.  The party would walk with rifles and observe the police to check their authority.  This had to be done because the all white police force had become very militant, and no one was watching if what they did was right or wrong.

The 1970s

In the 1970's there was a general feeling of distrust and discomfort with the government because of the very recent Watergate scandal and the high inflation and unemployment rate.  Jimmy carter became an attractive presidential candidate because he represented the traditional American values that other presidents did not.  He was also "one with the people," and brought then a feeling of hope for their country.  Carter's support eventually declined in the 1980's when Reagan became a candidate for presidency.  The 1970's was also considered the "me" decade where people became more selfish and worried about themselves rather than others or the country.  People went in their own direction, and the divorce rate shot up.  Many people were more cynical and had gotten tired of the American Dream

The Civil Rights Act of 1964

This act is a legislation that outlawed discrimination based on color, religion, or national origin.  I ended unequal voters right and segregation in schools and in the workplace and in public facilities.  At first this it was not enforced very strongly, especially in southern states.  Many people backlashed against the Civil Rights Act, and even police officers would not enforce it.  Over the years the act became stronger, and it became more enforced.  This was a huge step  in civil rights, because it was a final law that explicitly stopped discrimination.

The Watergate Scandal

Watergate

The watergate scandal was one that showed the lying and corrupt behaviors of the Nixon administration.  During Nixon’s presidency, a man got ahold of something called the pentagon papers, which revealed past deception under the Johnson administration.  It had nothing to do with Nixon’s presidency, but he felt that it would be a threat to the democracy, so he decided he needed to get rid of it somehow.  He decided that the best way to make the scandal go away was to make the man that released the papers look unstable.  To do this, he hired a team to break into his psychiatrist's office and steal his files, which would be released.  These men got caught, and Nixon went under some very elaborate schemes to try to hide his deception.  He even hid evidence from the police.  All of this eventually came out, which led to Nixon’s resignation, but it made people more suspicious of their government for the future.

Richard Nixon in Vietnam

Nixon served as president from 1969 to 1974, during the time of the Vietnam war.  Nixon’s strategy in the war was as the “peacemaker.”  He tried to find a way to keep North and South Vietnam at peace, while still keeping both countries stable and happy.  He also did not want to back out of South Vietnam, because they were not communist and were our ally.  It would have also looked bad to the United States if he pulled out of the war so early, because it would have been perceived as a loss to the United States.  He also had to enlarge the war into Cambodia in order to be able to get out of Vietnam.  This angered people because he promised that he would take troops out and lessen the war effort.

McCarthyism

McCarthyism is the act of making accusations of treason without any evidence.  It came about in the 1950s, when people were extremely scared of Communism.  Anti-Communist senator McCarthy gained popularity for his extreme anti-communist methods.  McCarthy would accuse people, especially other government officials, of having communist ties, which could ruin their lives even without viable proof.  Communist sympathizers were also a large target of McCarthyism, as well as people in the entertainment industry and educators.  Many people were put in jail on charges that had no evidence behind them.  These charges were eventually overturned when McCarthyism had its downfall in the late 1950s, but the damage was irreparable.

Muckraking Project Research

During the research for the muckraking project was when I learned the most about the inequalities many women in STEM, and women in other fields, face.  Men that work in jobs in the Silicon Valley made up to 73% more than women in 2012, based on their major.  This is very unfair, because people with the same qualifications are not being paid the same amount, most likely because of their gender.  This is what we are exploring in our Muckraking project.

Muckraking Project

Our group has decided to switch from a video to a website for our project about the inequalities women in STEM face.  We were having trouble recording some of the interviews, so we decided that it would be easier to put everything on a website.  The website is also more easily accessible, so more people can learn about this topic.  It also allows us to put more information out there, because more can be said in writing than can be said in a video.

The 1920s

The 1920's was an era full of innovation and money.  Wall street grew a lot during the 1920's, and the stock market became larger and larger.  This contributed to the rich atmosphere of the 1920's.  This wealth also helped promote urban culture, with more and more people moving into large cities.  There were many innovation during the 1920's that affected peoples lives, but three really stood out.  This included the light bulb, which extended the day, the car, this allowed people to live in a larger area and get around faster, and credit, which allowed people to buy stuff even when they didn't have the money to buy it.  Not everything was good in the 1920's, during this time there were 4 million members of the Ku Klux Klan.  This was because many people thought that anyone who was not a wasp was going against American ideals.  The KKK even seized political control in 7 states and over 200 people were lynched at their hands.

Muckraking Project

For our Muckraking project, we are focusing on women in STEM jobs.  We are going to talk about how women have less opportunities in STEM jobs than men do.  We are interviewing people we know who work in STEM, a student, and a teacher who teaches engineering to get their viewpoint on this.  One of our solutions to this problem is completely blind applications, so when you apply for a job, your employer would not know anything about you other than your age and qualifications.  This would help get around the unconscious bias that some employers may have.

Innocent vs Guilty Notes

Sako and Vanzetti were both immigrants that came to the US for a better life.  When they realized that the US was not what they thought it would be, they wanted change, and they joined a group of anarchists the help promote this change.  Anarchists were not against violence, and Sako and Vanzetti participated in bombings against high power officials.  In 1920, Sako and Vanzetti were arrested for murdering two men in South Braintree Massachusetts, and a smaller crime of robbing a payroll truck.  Vanzetti was the only one tried for the robbery of the payroll truck, but they were both tried for the larger crime of murdering two men in South Braintree, Massachusetts.  In the murder, two men approached a manager and guard at slater shoe factory, these men then open fired, killing the manager and guard.  They then escaped with the payroll money.  Vanzetti had already been tried for the payroll truck robbery, and was found guilty, so he was already perceived as a criminal.  The evidence against Vanzetti was that his behavior showed guilt, eyewitnesses placed him at the scene, and his weapon was the bank guard's.  The evidence against Sako was the same, eyewitnesses, behavior, and his weapon.  The problem with this was that none of their evidence had proof behind it, and some of it was even false.  There were 10 eyewitnesses that placed Sako at a different location, and the evidence about the guns was later found to be false (but this was not brought up during the trial).  Even with this questionable evidence, both Sako and Vanzetti were found guilty and sentenced to death.

Scopes Trial Simulation

The Scopes Trial occurred in 1925 in Tennessee.  The defendant, John Thomas Scopes, was charged with violating Tennessee's Butler act, which made it illegal to teach evolution in any state funded school.  The trial helped bring a lot of publicity to the issue of evolution in schools.  In our simulation we are doing something similar to this, except two legal teams are arguing whether state funded science classes should be allowed to teach intelligent design or not.  In this simulation, we have the legal teams, who are the lawyers, the witnesses, and the jurors.  There are two legal teams, for and against intelligent design, who question the witnesses.  The witnesses have to learn their part and prepare for being questioned.  And the jurors deliberate at the end and decide whose side they agree with.

Theodore Roosevelt and his Progressive Actions

Theodore Roosevelt was the US president from 1901 to 1909.  During his time as president, Roosevelt made many reforms that were progressive.  Roosevelt believed that certain businesses and trusts were too large, and that they were hurting the economy.  He especially disliked JP Morgan, because he was too rich and controlled all of the railroads, so Roosevelt tried to break up the monopoly that Morgan had.  This outraged Morgan, but Roosevelt did not quit, because he felt that Morgan still had too much power.  Roosevelt also helped miners when they went on strike.  He sent troops into the mines to take them away from the owners, so the miners could go back to work.  Eventually, the miners got some of what they wanted from the strike, which included a 10% pay increase an 9 hour work days.

John D. Rockefeller

John D. Rockefeller was born on July 8, 1839 to a very poor family.  His father was a con man, and did not earn very much, or even any, money.  Rockefeller was very embarrassed of his father and vowed to never be like him.  In 1853 he moved from New York to Cleveland to start a business.  He decided to focus his business on refining oil, and he opened his first refinery in 1853.  This refinery soon became the largest and most efficient in the country, which he called Standard Oil.  By the 1890s Standard oil was making millions from kerosene, a product of refining oil.  The invention of cars, planes, and ships also helped his business because they all ran on oil.  Rockefeller had so much power that when other refineries tried to compete with him, he would either force them to join with him, or run them out of business.  He wanted to be the only refinery, and at the peak of his power, he controlled 1/3 of the oil cells in the U.S.  Rockefeller did use some of his power to help people, by giving his money back to society, especially schools.  Rockefeller even established the Rockefeller institute.  His power did not last forever, though, because Roosevelt eventually broke up standard oil into 32 different companies to get rid of his monopoly on the market.

The First Ammendment

The First Amendment outlines that there should be a separation of church and state.  One of the reasons that this amendment came about was due to the Baptists and the Anglican church.  During the 1770's, the Baptists came to Virginia to spread their beliefs by preaching.  The Baptists started to draw people away from the Anglican church, which threatened their power and influence.  To prevent this from happening, they required preachers to get a license to preach in the colony.  The problem with this was that the government, which was all Anglican, would only give these licenses to Anglican preachers.  Many Baptists preachers still preached without licenses, which got them thrown in jail.  One Baptist man that got put in jail was John Moore, and he decided to do something about the unfair law.  In October 1776, he brought a petition to the Virginia assembly demanding for the right to preach without persecution, but they needed an advocate to go to court to make their case.  Their advocate was Thomas Jefferson.  Jefferson proposed that church and state should be separate.  He dafter a bill stating this, and the bill eventually got passed in January 1786.  This is essentially where the first amendment came from.