Sem2.HW9

Historical Investigation rough draft of Part B:

According to Women, Work, and the Japanese Economic Miracle: The Case of the Cotton Textile Industry, 1945-1975, Japan’s economy has changed positively and affected Japanese women during the 1950s. Cotton factories allowed Japanese women to work in the industry, which were fit for women that wanted short-term employment. Female workers soon became the core label force when they were allowed to work in factories. The change in economy caused the amount of people who started to get an education and the amount of job-offers to increase (Macnaughtan).

Being allowed to work raised the level of women, from being housewives to workers in the cotton industry, but not all of the women in Japan wanted to work (Macnaughtan, Diggs). Confucianism, a widely practiced religion in Japan, put women at a lower level. During the 1950s, Japan and the United States believed that housewives has an important role to a family and society. Most Japanese prefer to follow the traditional ideas, where men go out and earn money while the women stay at home. Japan believed that the family is essential for a stable society, showing the importance of housewives (Diggs).

A Japanese woman is the one in charge at home and has no need to have other responsibilities outside of the house (Diggs). Some women feel their talents should be used somewhere else and not for domestic life, but some people (junior high students) didn’t finish school and started to work (Diggs, Macnaughtan).

From 1950 to 1970, the number of junior high students that left school to go to work was around 48 percent. In the mid-1960s, more males were going to senior high school than females, but by the late 1960s, the amount of males and females going to senior high school was the same. Many high school graduates worked in non-agricultural parts of the economy. Because of the core labor force, the requirements for education were changed. During the postwar period, education requirements became nine years instead of five years (Macnaughtan).

HW8

“Non-violent resistance to injustice was a good strategy for southern civil rights leaders.”

In the 1960s, African American students and protesters boycotted Woolworth’s drugstore in Greensboro. After this boycott, other stores were also boycotted. It caused many businesses to lose customers and tension, but didn't cause violence between the blacks and the whites.

The enrollment of James Meredith at University of Mississippi caused the white students to become very angry. On Sunday, September 30, 1962, white students burned cars and destroyed property. Two men were shot and killed on the same night. The ways to resist injustice cause more violence.

HW7

1. Japanese women lives have changed positively during the 1950s. There was work in cotton factories which gave jobs to women that desired short-term employment. Women could have more education and there were also more job offers that allowed women to work.
   
   
2. Japanese women lives didn't change positively during the 1950s. According to Nancy Brown Diggs, "the typical Japanese woman, in contrast, feels that since she is in full charge of the home, she has no need to seek further responsibility in the outside world," which a Japanese woman might think of.
   

Citations:

1. Macnaughtan, H. (2004). Women, work, and the japanese economic miracle: The case
   of the cotton textile industry, 1945-1975.
   
   
2. Diggs, N. B. (1998). Steel butterflies: Japanese women and the american experience.

Sem2.HW6

Question: "America's poor, in the mid 20th century, were mostly responsible for their own problems."

In the 1800s, people who were below the poverty line couldn't earn enough money from their low income to live a decent life. Even though the government knew about it, they didn't take action until 1949 to give $2,000 per year for families that were in poverty.

The Housing Act of 1949 passed by Congress was to provide decent homes for those in poverty. This act was later abandoned because it caused more people to lose their homes. The "projects" where they were building new homes became slums.

The coal mining industry declined after World War II and the demand for coal dropped. many workers that worked in the industry lost their jobs as miners. This caused more than two million people left Appalachia.

Sem2.HW5

40.2
Question: "How real was the threat of Communist spies within the USA?"

All government officials had to sign loyalty oaths so the government would be more at ease, worrying less that there were Communist spies who are government workers. Those that didn't want to sign the oath were fired from their jobs. This action didn't seem logical or righteous.

The Rosenburg Trial (1951) was a big threat to the Americans. Klaus Fuchs admitted he had given information to the Soviet Union about the atomic bomb. Further investigation led to the Rosenbergs. The two brothers were then executed in 1953.

40.3
Question: "Is it fair to say that the anxiety caused in the US due to Nuclear threat, was useful and 'healthy'?"

The Federal Civil Defense Administration helped the Americans prepare for a nuclear attack. There were warning sirens carried out every week. This was done for the Americans to practice if there was a nuclear attack. Students also practiced at school, to hide under desks if there was a nuclear attack.

Some Americans built fallout shelters in their backyards that a family could hide in for protection of an atomic explosion. This strategy was useful because it could help the Americans prepare and secure themselves, knowing there is a safe to hide if an atomic bomb drops in their city.

Sem2.HW4

Question: How does the CIA's activities in Iran show that the US behaves undemocratically, in its foreign policy?

The CIA bribed government officials in Iran to overthrow the democratic leader Mossadeq. Since a democratic leader was elected in Iran, the US should be glad about the election. Insead, the US helps Britain get back their oil company that was nationalized by Mossadeq.

The CIA trying to overthrow the Iranish government shows that the US behaves undemocratically because they had bribed many people so that they would help them. If the American citizens knew about this, they might think that the government was trying to control other countries.

Sem2.HW3

39.4
Question: How convincing was America's attempts to influence other parts of the world to side with them in the Cold War?

The USIA (1953) wasn't convincing because the Soviets and Eastern European leaders tried to isolate their citizens from Western news by banning the radio programs. They jammed the signals with loud sounds so that their citizens couldn't hear the news.

The CIA (1950s) helped influence affairs in foreign countries and support foreign policies. This attempt was convincing because they helped countries like Guatemala, Iran, and the Dominican Republic from becoming communist countries. Another convert of the CIA was the U-2 flight.

Foreign aid to Egypt wasn't convincing because the leader of Egypt built trading ties with communist nations. The US and the British withdrew their offers to help Egypt, which almost caused France, Israel, and Britain to go to war with Egypt and the Soviets, but the US stopped the crisis.

39.5
Question: How wise were America's decisions to produce advanced weapons during the Cold War's first 20 years?

America's decision to produce advanced weapons weren't wise because the arms race that started between the US and the Soviets cause the creation of deadly weapons. If the US didn't panic of the news that the Soviets also created atomic bombs, the arms race may not have happened.

America's decision on Brinkmanship (1950s) was a wise decision. The US was able to use the atomic bomb as a threat to the Chinese, saying they would drop an atomic bomb if they attacked Quemoy or Matsu. Since only the US and the Soviets had an atomic bomb, China backed off.

The Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) was a wise decision because it prevented the Cold War from turning hot. Either side would respond to a nuclear attack by launching its own missiles. It made both superpowers step back from all-out war.