430: Paper #1

U.S. History 430: From the second world war to the high tide of liberalism

Write a 750- to 1,000-word essay on one of the following themes:

• • The myth of the Good War

  • The origins of the Cold War

  • The culture of postwar America

  • Liberalism's high tide--1964-1966 (or cracks in the liberal consensus)

  • The Red Scare

  • Nixon, Franklins and Orthogonians

Develop an analytical question about one of these themes. Your paper will be an attempt to support an answer to that question. A good question will be arguable (there is no obvious definitive answer) and answerable with the evidence from the readings in the course up to now.

Types of historical questions:

What happened?

• Who was responsible?

• What was the motive/role/strategy of one or more of the historical actors?

• What caused or influenced something and how? (Influence more doable)

• What was the impact of something? (time frame may be too long or out of our scope, as, say a question about the impact of the War on Poverty)

How or what did people think about something?

• What was their ideology?

• What were their values?

• What was the weltanschauung or mentalité?

What does an event tell us about the times? How does it fit into the historical context?

What is the historical significance of my topic?

What larger theme does it help to illuminate?

Make sure the paper has a heading with your name, format, and a word count. Number your pages.