Economic Catastrophe in the United States

Requirements: Write a 5-7 page paper. The paper should be typed and double-spaced. Your paper should have 12-point font, Times New Roman, and 1-inch margins on all sides. This paper should answer the following question:

Question: Choose just ONE of the three questions to answer:

(1) The Great Depression (1929-1945) was the worst economic catastrophe to hit the United States. There is a great debate as to the root cause of the Great Depression which arguably began with the Stock Market Crash in October 1929. Find at least three causes given by historians and/or economists for the Great Depression. What arguments are given for each of these three causes? Evaluate each of these causes you selected. Which of the three causes was the strongest in your view for explaining why the Depression happened? Why? Give specific reasons and examples to make your case. (For the italics question, there is no right or wrong answer. I am curious as to how you justify any answer you come up with.)

(2) “In times of war the law falls silent.” This is a famous quote by a Roman statesman named Cicero. Examine America domestically during its major war years of the 20th century (World War One, World War Two, Korean War, and the Vietnam War). What civil liberty controversies (i.e. free speech infringements, free press infringements, or freedom of religion infringements) occurred on the home front during these major conflicts America was involved in? Be specific with each controversy. How were these controversies challenged in federal courts and what was the outcome of those cases? Find at least FOUR controversies that occurred in the war years of the 20th century. Was the US government justified in any of the four controversies you discovered? Why or why not? (For the italics question, there is no right or wrong answer. I am curious as to how you justify any answer you come up with.)

(3) After the Geneva Accords in 1954, it was becoming more evident that the United States was gaining interest in the conflict taking place between North and South Vietnam. Examine the key events on the ground in Vietnam between 1954 and 1964 (the year of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution). What key events helped propel the United States to become militarily involved? Be specific about what happened during each event. Was military intervention by the United States in Vietnam inevitable after the collapse of the Geneva Accords? Why or why not? (For the italics question, there is no right or wrong answer. I am curious as to how you justify any answer you come up with.)

Citations: For this paper, I am requiring you to do a little research. You need at least THREE SOURCES for this paper. You cannot use the textbook as a source. Also, you cannot consult any internet source unless it is a journal article from jstor.org. Otherwise, consult books and journal articles from any library in the area. At the very end of your 5-7 page paper, insert a bibliography to indicate the sources you used. The bibliography does NOT count towards the 5- 7 page requirement for the paper. If you are borrowing a thought or reference from a source in the body of your paper, you need to include a citation. For this paper, you may use parenthetical citation (Author’s name, Title, page number).

Example:

George Washington deployed the Fabian tactic during the Revolutionary War (John Tyler, Battle Formations of the American Revolution, 367).

• Bibliographic citation format for a book with a single author:

Author’s last name, Author’s first name. Title. City of Publication: Publishing Company, Year of Copyright.

Example:

Smith, John. FDR: The Legacy. Boston: Harvard University Press, 2006.

• Bibliographic citation format for an article in a journal:

Author’s last name, Author’s first name. “Journal article title.” Journal Title. Volume number (Publication Year): page number range for the article.

Example:

Smith, John. “New Deal.” Journal of American History. 2 (2009): 113-117.

• Bibliographic citation format for a book with more than one author:

Author’s last name, Author’s first name and Author #2 first name Author #2 last name. [proceed as normal for a book citation].

Example:

Frost, Peter and John Smith. World War Two. Boston: Harvard University Press, 2006.

Format: You MUST include a title page at the beginning, which should have your name, a title for your paper, and your class and section number. As mentioned above, you MUST include a bibliography at the end of your 5-7 page paper. Your title page and bibliography do NOT count to the 5-7 page requirement for your paper. Watch your spelling and grammar. Do NOT include contractions [i.e. don’t, can’t, wasn’t, etc.]. Do NOT use first person [i.e. “I”, “me”, “us”, “we”, “myself”, etc.]. I do take off 1 point for each contraction or first person pronoun I see in a paper.