I’m studying for my History class and need an explanation.
Primary Source Selections and Topics (the readings are available in the links below) Pick 1 of the 3 options below and write a 900 to 1100 page paper that answers the questions listed. Please include explanations and not just facts.
1. READ:
Hearings before the Committee on Immigration, United States Senate, 1921. Pages 223-231, “Statement of Hon. John C. Box, Representative in Congress from the Second District of Texas.” Background on this hearing: Background(2).pdf
http://archive.org/stream/emergencyimmigra00unitrich#page/222/mode/2up
AND ALSO READ: Immigration Act of 1924.pdf
AND ALSO VIEW THIS PHOTO: Shipment to Beet Fields in Colorado.jpg
AND ALSO READ on repatriation: Mae M. Ngai, Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America (Princeton University Press, 2004), pp. 71-75: Mae Ngai.pdf
Using the sources above as well as readings from your textbook, compose an essay in which you consider the following questions:
- Why did Congressman Box oppose Mexican workers being allowed into the United States? How do the Congressman’s statements regarding Mexican immigration reflect the nativist ideas of the early 1920s?
- In general, how does the Congressman characterize people from Mexico? On what basis does he make these assertions? Analysis: why do you think that he holds these views?
- How does the Immigration Act of 1924 relate to Congressman Box’s views? What is the significance of the manner in which the provisions and quotas are structured?
- See the photo above. What is the “shipment?” How does this photograph relate to the testimony by Congressman Box?
- How does the repatriation of people of Mexican heritage (including U.S. citizens) during the Great Depression also pertain to the views expressed by Congressman Box?
2. OR READ
Booker T. Washington, “The Road to African American Progress,” at:
Booker T. Washington.pdf
AND ALSO READ:
W. E. B. Du Bois, “The Souls of Black Folk,” Chapters 1 and 3 only, accessible online at the University library at:
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/elmhurst/reader.action?docID=4217985
Kimberly Fain “The Devastation of Black Wall Street,” in JSTOR Daily: Kimberly Fain.pdf
Using the sources above as well as readings from your textbook, compose an essay in which you consider the following questions:
- What were some of the methods Southern States used to evade the provisions of the 14th amendment? What both legal and “extra-legal” methods were used?
- Over the course of time, how did African Americans seek to assert their rights within the court of public opinion as well as the courts of law? What different strategies and rationales were proposed by Washington and Du Bois?
- By the turn of the century had conditions for African Americans changed significantly? Why did Washington promote accomodationism? Why did activists such as Du Bois reject his leadership and form the NAACP in 1911?
- What happened at Tulsa in 1921 and what does this indicate regarding the movement during that time frame?
- How does the material presented in these sources continue to resonate within the United States today?
3. OR READ:
Ronald Schaffer, The Home Front, OAH Magazine of History, Vol. 17, No. 1 World War I (Oct., 2002), pp. 20-24: Ronald Schaffer.pdf
AND ALSO READ:
Carol L. Byerly, Introduction, Fever of War: The Influenza Epidemic in the U.S. Army during World War I (New York: NYU Press, 2005) pp. 4-13:
Carol L. Byerly.pdf
AND ALSO BROWSE:
The Influenza Archive
https://www.influenzaarchive.org/
Using the sources above as well as readings from your textbook, compose an essay in which you consider the following questions:
- What were some of the drastic actions taken by the Woodrow Wilson administration regarding the World War I home front? Why did Wilson take these extreme measures?
- How did influenza affect the U.S. war effort? How did the pandemic impact cultural aspects of the United States?
- Review some of the personal stories within the Influenza Archive. How do these stories support (or not) the two secondary readings?
- What political and social issues in the United States resulted due to U.S. actions taken on the home front, participation in World War I, as well as from the influenza epidemic?
- How did the U.S. response to the Influenza Epidemic compare to recent events surrounding COVID-19?