Qt. 3 Exam Essays

Essay # 1

    Ending the Cold War was a good thing.  It was a sign that the confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union was coming to an end.  Also it was a telling who had the better government, communism was taken down by Ronald Reagan.  He was able to do something that the other presidents before him could not do.
    To end the Cold War Ronald Reagan boosted our military, he made sure everyone would know that we were not to be messed with.  The conservative republican president spent money on something that was vital to our Nations success from the beginning, our armed forces.  We as a country had a very strong national defense so this made the Soviet Union back down.
    In the above paragraph I stated that Reagan did this and that to end the war, though this is not all that ended the war.  The Soviet Union had troops in Afghanistan, the cost of having them in this country was not that cheap.  They were being effected by the spoils of war.  The economy factor of the Cold War is where America wins and the Union loses because they could not afford it.

Reagan Video ? Answers

1. What are the problems America faces?

 Unemplyment, taxes for the people that work.  Getting out of the Nations debt.  Government is the problem.

 

2. What are Reagan's solutions? 

Over time we the people will overcome the problems.

 

3. What makes Regan effective here?
He is laughing and joking around.

 

4. What does this reveal about Regan? (Consider the saying: "Wit has truth in it.")
This reveals that Reagans personality is good, and that he used to be a democrat.

 

5. What policy decisions might Reagan make according to this?

He might make policies that involve keeping peace with other nations, but in doing so he wants them to know that we are strong and will kick ass if he needs to.  We are confident as a country.

 

6.  How did this event effect Reagan's role with the American public?

It made them want him more as president

 

7.  Who is the audience for this speech?

The people, the young people.

 

8.  What is the argument Reagan makes here?

Communism should not be tolereated and that it is evil.

 

9.  What do you think Reagan's agenda is in this speech?
That communism is no good as a government.

 

10.  What is the message here?
With Reagan as president there will be a new start to America.

 

11.  How does the ad use Carter?
Carters term was a bad time for America.

 

12.  What does the ad suggest about the character/morals of the country?

That they were not very good but he knows that it can be turned around.

 

13.  What is the criticism of Communism being offered here?
With communism you have no freedom. You can't make your own choices.

 

14.  Do you think this was an effective speech?

Yes he did a good job persuading.

 

15.  Who is the audience for this broadcast?
The public, he wants to make people think it is a good idea to attack.

16.  What do you think the American people thought of this action and Reagan's explanation of it?
I think they liked Reagan's explanation.  They wanted to stand up and be strong.

17.  What was the foreign response, do you think?
I think they didn't like it very much but they learned their lesson.

 

All in the Family video

In this video Archie gets mugged. They asked him who did it and he said surprisingly it was a white guy, not a black one. Also at the end he makes a remark about the police man that comes to his door, he calls him a flatfoot or something like that.

Nixon Watergate Scandal

What was the watergate scandal all about?

 

    Watergate is a term used to describe the scandals that took place between 1972 and 1974.  Watergate is now used to describe the following:

-political burglary

-bribery

-extortion

-phonetapping

-conspiracy

-obstruction of justice

-destruction of evidence

-tax fraud

-illegal use of government agencies such as the CIA and the FBI

-illegal campaign contributions

-use of public money for private purposes.

 

 

Nixon's watergate scandal was about him ordering his team to go into the Democratic party's establishment and vandalized it.  His team went in and broke stuff, stole stuff and also tapped the place so that Nixon could know what they were talking about.  The scandals began with the arrest of five men for breaking and entering into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Office complex in Washington, D.C. on June 17, 1972.  Nixon and his staff conspired to cover up the break-in as early as six days after it occurred.  After two years of mounting evidence against the President and his staff, which included former staff members testifying against them in a Senate investigation, it was revealed that Nixon had a tape recording system in his offices and that he had recorded many conversations.  Nixon later resigned from his Presidency.

Book Portfolio Q2

Josh Braley
Period 1
Viles

Flags Of Our Fathers

"Flags of Our Fathers" by James Bradley is a book about James Bradley digging up information on the Battle of Iwo Jima. James is John Bradley's son. His father was one of the six flag raisers at Iwo Jima, but his dad never talked about the war so this made James curious. After the death of his seventy year old father he begins to go through some of his old man's stuff and discovers letters and documents and picture from the battle. He starts going through the things and decides he wants to learn more about his father and the other 5 men. The theme of this book is, you can be a hero and not be alive.

In this book, John Bradley, the father of James, only said one thing about the battle of Iwo Jima. He told his son that the real hero's of Iwo Jima were the ones left on the island. The two men that died over there and were left there are the hero's. Three other men died but were brought back to the United States and nominated hero's. John Bradley survived the battle and died of natural causes and he was named a hero. The two men that died and were left did not get the recognition they deserved.
Today in life this theme relates to many people who are dead or not even real people. Superman is a fictional character but he is a hero, he inspires young people to do good things and not to grow up to be bank robbers or criminals. The six men that went to the battle of Iwo Jima and raised that American Flag did not always want to grow up and go into the military, they all had regular lives like all young men. Little did they know that most of them were going to die in a battle against the Japanese.
The battle of Iwo Jima is said to be one of the most famous moments in the U.S. Military. The men went into this battle knowing that they were out numbered, out of position and that most of them were probably going to die. The Japanese were ready, as soon as the troops landed on the beach they underwent immense machine gun fire and still somehow made it to the highest peak on the island and raised the flag. It was incredible feat and will never be forgotten.

LBJ Law Review

LBJ Major Legislative Accomplishment

Josh Braley
Gun Control Act of 1968

The Gun Control Act of 1968 was a federal law that controls the United States gun industry and the gun owners. This made it so you, the gun buyer, could not purchase a firearm without having a background check. They did this to make sure a psycho or a terrorist couldn't get a gun and go crazy kill everyone. You weren't able to get a firearm if you had convicted any big crime, if you're a fugitive, illegal alien, or if you had been dishonorably discharged from the military.

The Gun Control Act of 1968 was a smart move. It has probably prevented many murders from then to now. I think that under some circumstances if a person had been convicted of a crime then they might be able to get pardoned and purchase a firearm. It is also good that it doesn't allow you to trade and make your own deals with importers, only licensed dealers can sell, this is a good thing.

Essays 1-3 Exam 1960s

Josh Braley

12/19/08

period 1

Essay # 1

    Technology is changing rapidly now, there's television, Internet, radio, and cell phones.  If something happens then minutes later everyone can know about it.  When the Twin Towers were hit, it was on the news fast, not everyone really knew what was going on but it gave people an idea of what was happening.  Before you had to wait to know something, but now when anything happens someone is online blogging.

    In the 50'sand 60's television was coming around, and color too.  It brought out some very gross and disturbing images that really changed peoples outlook on things.  They had the Buddhist monk guy that lit himself on fire and just sat there calm until he died, this was caught on camera.  Murder of Emmit Till was broadcasted, and his mother wanted everyone to see that her son had been  brutally murdered so she had an open casket.  When J.F.K. was shot and killed a man got it on video, this changed history, because we can now view it and see what happened that day.  With being able to see events it makes them more real, we tend to care more about something that we can see rather than just reading it from paper.

 

 

Essay # 2

    Martin Luther King was a non violent civil rights movement leader.  He believed that the violence was not helping African Americans get equal rights.  He wanted to do it through religion and loving each other and not by hurting.  King used events like the bombing of the church where the young black girls were killed.  He was a very good public speaker and knew how to persuade people without using violence.

    Huey Newton was a very violent civil rights activists.  Newton talked about killing police officers, though he called them pigs.  His goals were to kill everyone that opposed the Black Panthers.  He said very graphic nasty things.  Some hated him, but some loved him.  Compared to Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, Huey Newton was the most violent by far.
    Malcolm X was an African American that changed his name to, "Malcolm X."  He was a violent man but also a very sensible man.  Unlike Newton he thought before he spoke, and didn't say crazy, wild, unorthodox things.  His words were wise, they came from the heart and they were used in a way to persuade people.  X got people to think the way that he thought, therefore he got them to do the things that he did.  He was a combination of King and Newton together.

Essay # 3

    The early competition between the United States and the Soviet Union was the space race.  It started out being a race to see who could get something into outer space first.  The U.S. was about to get to an early lead until out shuttle failed, and then the Union got up there.  The states and the union went back in forth for a good time, then The United States were the first on the moon.  The first people on the moon came from the U.S. and this kind of sealed the deal that the U.S. was way in the lead.

    There was also the cold war.  This was not actually a war but more of just a confrontation.  It was kind of like a, "Mines bigger than yours" deal.  It was how many nuclear weapons do you have, 5? Well we have 10.  This went back and forth for a good chunk of time as well.  It never got to the stages where the bombs were set on one another.  What ended it was when the U.S. set off a baby nuclear bomb just to test it, and it did more damage then thought, this scared both sides and things quieted down.
    To sum it all up the United States and the Soviet Union were the big dogs, so to speak, in the world and they both wanted to be "the big dog."  The two countries had different outlooks on everything so this obviously made for clashing of heads.  The relationship between the two was not friendly.