American Issues

Pulitzer Prize winning historian Irwin Unger has been teaching American history for over forty years on both coasts. Born and largely educated in New York, he has lived in California, Virginia, and Washington State. He is married to Debi Unger and they have five children, now all safely past their college years. Professor Unger formerly taught at California State University at Long Beach, the University of California at Davis, and New York University. He is now professor emeritus at NYU.  Professor Unger’s professional interests have ranged widely within American history. He has written on Reconstruction, the Progressive Era, and on the 1960s. His first book, The Greenback Era, won a Pulitzer Prize in 1965. Since then he has written The Movement: The New Left and (with Debi Unger) The Vulnerable Years, Turning Point: 1968, The Best of Intentions (about the Great Society), LBJ: A Life, The Guggenheims, A Family History. He has just completed a book on the 1960s and he and Debi Unger are working on a biography of General George C. Marshall.

• Chapter 1   Reconstruction1. 1  Harsh Versus Lenient Victors Abraham Lincoln, Reconstruction Must Be Gradual and Careful (1865)Andrew Johnson, Amnesty Proclamation (1865)Thaddeus Stevens, We Must Have a Radical Reconstruction (1865)1.2   The White South Responds Mississippi Black Code (1865)James W. Hunnicutt, Johnson’s Policies Criticized (1866)White People Must Regain Control of Their States (1868)Organization and Principles of the Ku Klux Klan (1874)1.3   The Black Response Frederick Douglass, What the Black Man Wants (1865)The Ex-Slaves Should Have Land (1868)The Ex-Slaves Crave Education (1866)An Appeal for Protection from the KKK (1871)Chapter 2  Industrial Growth and the Last Frontier2.1   The Industrial Status Quo Defended Andrew Carnegie, Wealth (1889)Rutherford B. Hayes on Concentrated Wealth (1886)2.2    The Industrial WorkerReport on Illinois Sweatshops (1893)Emma Lazarus, The New Colossus (1886)2.3    Labor Unrest Preamble to the Constitution of the Knights of Labor (1889)Henry Demarest Lloyd, The Railroad Strike of 1877 (1881)2.4    The Cities Acclaimed Frederic C. Howe,The Hope of Democracy (1905)2.5    The Cities Deplored Charles Loring Brace, The Dangerous Classes of New York (1872)Songs of New YorkThe Bowery Sidewalks of New York2.6    City Government William L. Riordan, Strenuous Life of the Tammany District Leader (1905)Chapter 3  The Final Frontier3.1    Settling the Final Frontier Hamilton S. Wicks, The Great Race for Land (1889)3.2    Agrarian HardshipWashington Gladden, Embattled Farmers (1890)The Preamble of the Platform of the People’s Party (1892)3.3    The Buffalo DestroyedW. Skelton Glenn, The Destruction of the Plains Buffalo (1876–1877)3.4     Native Americans Sitting Bull Tells How He Defeated Custer (1877)Chester A. Arthur,The Indians Must Be Assimilated (1881)Chapter 4  Outward Thrust4.1     Racial Destiny Josiah Strong, Why the Anglo-Saxons Will Triumph (1885)4.2      Race and Power W.E.B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk (1903)4.3     Manhood and ImperialismTheodore Roosevelt, Manhood and Foreign Policy(1899)4.4      Trade and MarketsAlbert Beveridge, Why We Must Keep the Philippines (1900)4.5      The Anti-Imperialists Charles Eliot Norton on American Ideals (1899)Morrison I. Swift views Imperialism as a Threat to Liberty (1899) Chapter 5  The Progressive Impulse5.1     The Danger of Concentrated Wealth Theodore Roosevelt, Republican Anti-Trust (1912)Woodrow Wilson, Democratic Anti-Trust (1913)The “Monopolists” Respond:  John D. Rockefeller Defends Standard Oil (1899)5.2      Conservation and EfficiencyConservation Statement (1908)John Muir, Hetch Hetchy (1912)5.3      Social Justice ProgressivismJane Addams, Hull House, Chicago: An Effort toward Social Democracy (1892)The Social Creed of the Churches Statement Adopted by the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church (1908)Chapter 6   Race and Ethnicity6.1     The Great Migration: The Dark SideRay Stannard Baker, What Is a Lynching? A Study of Mob Justice, South and North (1905)Fannie Barrier Williams, Social Bonds in the “Black Belt” of Chicago: Negro Organizations and the New Spirit Pervading Them (1919)Chicago Commission on Race Relations: Causes of the Race Riot (1919)6.2     The Ku Klux Klan Statements from the Ku Klux Klan (1924)6.3      Black Americans Respond    W.E.B. Du Bois, What Black Americans Want (1905)Marcus Garvey, Black Pride (1923)6.4      The New Immigration and American TolerationMadison Grant, The Passing of the Great Race (1916)Mary Antin, The Promised Land (1912)Chapter 7  World War I7.1      The Submarine Dimension  William Jennings Bryan, Protesting Unrestricted U-Boat Warfare (1915)Gottlieb Von Jagow, The Germans Defend Their Submarine Policy (1915) 7.2       Voices for Intervention Ambassador James Bryce, British Report on German Atrocities in Belgium (1915)Robert Lansing, Germany Must Not Be Allowed to Win the War (1915)Robert Lansing, Lending the Allies Money (1915)7.3       Opponents of InterventionSocialist Party Convention: The Socialists Protest the War (1917)Robert La Follette, A Progressive Opposes the Declaration of War (1917)7.4       Making the World Safe for Democracy Wilson’s War Address (1917)Nativist Hysteria Challenges Democracy at Home (1925)7.5       Idealism and Disillusionment The Fourteen Points: Wilson’s Address to Congress (1918)The Defeat of the League of Nations (1920)Chapter 8   Women’s Issues, 1900–19408.1       Voting RightsCarrie Chapman Catt, Address to National American Women Suffrage Association (1902)8.2       The Right to Work Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Women and Economics (1898)8.3       Reproductive Rights Margaret Sanger, My Fight for Birth Control (1931) Let Us All Speak Our Minds (c. 1926)Chapter 9   The New Deal9.1       Roosevelt Explains His Policies Franklin D. Roosevelt,  The Only Thing We Have to Fear is Fear Itself (1933)Harry Hopkins and the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (1934)John Maynard Keyes Makes Public Recommendations (1934)9.2       The New Deal and the “Common Man”“Saint Roosevelt” (1934, 1936)9.3        Attack from the Right  Herbert Hoover, Government Must Not Limit Free Enterprise (1928)9.4        Thunder from the LeftThe Communist Party: The New Deal Means Fascism and War (1934)Chapter 10   World War II10.1      Isolationism Bennett Champ Clark, The Experience of the Last War Should Guide Us Today (1935)Robert Taft, Let Us Retain the Neutrality Acts (1939)10.2      Interventionists  Henry L. Stimson, Repeal the Arms Embargo (1936)10.3      America First Versus Aid to Britain James B. Conant, We Must Aid the Allies (1940)Burton K. Wheeler, Lend-Lease Will Lead to War(1941)10.4      Undeclared War  Franklin Delano Roosevelt, The German Menace (1941)10.5      A New American Internationalism Roosevelt’s “Four Freedoms” Speech (1941)Franklin Roosevelt, The Atlantic Charter (1941)Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)Chapter 11  The Cold War11.1      The Soviet Menace, The Truman Doctrine, The Marshall Plan, and Massive Retaliation Winston Churchill, The Iron Curtain (1946)X” [George Kennan], The Sources of Soviet Conduct (1947)Harry S Truman, Aid to Greece and Turkey (1947)George Marshall, We Must Help Europe Recover (1947)Secretary Dulles’ Strategy of Massive Retaliation (1954)11.2       A Military-Industrial Complex? Economic Aspects of the Cold War Paul M. Sweezy, The Marshall Plan, An Instrument of Peace?  (1949)Richard M. Nixon, What Freedom Means To Us: American People Are Peace-Loving People(1959)11.3      The Red ScareJoseph R. McCarthy, Why Communism Is Gaining (1950)McCarran Internal Security Act (1950)Millard Tydings Committee, McCarthy’s Charges Are False (1950)Chapter 12  The Civil Rights Revolution12.1      School Desegregation Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)John F. Kennedy, A Moral Imperative: Equality of Treatment (1963)White Citizens’ Councils, How Can We Educate Our Children? (1965)12.2      Christian Love versus Racial AngerSouthern Christian Leadership Conference, This is SCLC (1964)Songs of the Civil Rights Movement Keep Your Eyes on the PrizeWoke Up This Morning with My Mind Stayed on FreedomAin’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me AroundThis Little Light of MineStudent Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, We Want Black Power (1967)Chapter 13  The Great Society13.1      DefendersLyndon B. Johnson, The Great Society (1964)13.2      The Attack from the Right   Barry Goldwater, The Conscience of a Conservative (1960)13.3      The Attack from the Left  Students for a Democratic Society, The Port Huron Statement (1962) Pamphlet of Columbia University Students (1968)Chapter 14  The New Feminism14.1      The National Organization for Women’s Bill of RightsNational Organization for Women, Bill of Rights (1967)14.2       Radical Feminism Anne Koedt, Politics of the Ego: A Manifesto for New York Radical Feminists (1969)Radical Women (Organization), No More Miss America! (1968)14.3       The Counterattack Alice Skelsey, Mrs. Homemaker–Mrs. Wonderful: The New Myths from Women’s Lib (1972)Chapter 15  The Vietnam War15.1       The Hawk Position Dwight D. Eisenhower, The Domino Theory (1954)The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964)The “White Paper” (1965)15.2       The North Vietnamese Analyze American Intervention Le Duan, The North Vietnamese Analyze American Intervention (1965)15.3       The Antiwar Movement Strikes Back Vietnam Day Committee, Attention All Military Personnel (1965)Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee,The U.S. Government Has Deceived Us (1966)Declaration of Conscience against the War in Vietnam (1965)American Deserters’ Committee, Deserters’ Proclamation (1968)Chapter 16  Watergate16.1       The TapesRichard Nixon, The Smoking Gun (1972)16.2       Nixon Defends Himself Richard M. Nixon, I Did Not Know About Watergate (1973)16.3       The Vote for Impeachment House Judiciary Committee, Impeachment Articles (1974)16.4        Jimmy Carter:  Energy and the Crisis of ConfidenceJimmy Carter and the Crisis of Confidence (1979)Dick Cheney, We Must Increase Domestic Production from Known Sources of Oil (2001)Chapter 17  The Reagan Revolution and Conservative Ascendancy17.1       Ronald Reagan’s Boundless OptimismRonald Reagan’s Vision of Freedom (1988)17.2       The New Right Richard Viguerie, The New Right: We’re Ready to Lead (1980)Jude Wanniski, Taxes, Revenues, and the “Laffer Curve” (1978)17.3      The Liberals Hit Back Robert L. Heilbroner, The Demand for the Supply-Side (1982)Robert McAfee Brown, The Need for a Moral Minority (1982)Chapter 18 The War on Terror18.1       America’s Response to Terror  Address by George W. Bush, President of the United States (2001)Senate Joint Resolution 23 (2001)President George W. Bush, Combat Operations in Iraq Have Ended: THOSE IN DARKNESS MAY BE FREE (2003)Donald Rumsfeld, What We Learned from the War: TRANSFORMATION TAKES MONEY (2003)The 9/11 Commission Report:  Planning for War (2004)18.2       The Torture of PrisonersGeneral Protection of Prisoners of War (1949)Alberto Gonzales, Memorandum to President Bush on Treatment of Prisoners (2002)