This popular classic text chronicles America's roller-coaster journey through the decades since World War II. Considering both the paradoxes and the possibilities of post-war America, Chafe portrays the significant cultural and political themes that have colored our country's past and present, including issues of race, class, gender, foreign policy, and economic and social reform. He examines such subjects as the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights movement, the origins and the end of the Cold War, the culture of the 1970s, the Reagan years, the Clinton presidency, and the events of September 11th and their aftermath. In this edition, Chafe provides an insightful assessment of Clinton's legacy as president, particularly in light of his impeachment, and an entirely new chapter that examines the impact of two of America's most pivotal events of the twenty-first century: the 2000 presidential election turmoil and the September 11th terrorist attacks. Chafe puts forth an excellent account of George W. Bush's first year as president and also covers his subsequent role as a world leader following his administration's declared war on terrorism. The completely revised epilogue and updated bibliographic essay offer a compelling and controversial final commentary on America's past and its future. Brilliantly written by a prize-winning historian, the fifth edition of The Unfinished Journey is an essential text for all students of recent American history.
The 'sit-ins' at a Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro launched the passive resistance phase of the civil rights revolution. This book tells the story of what happened in Greensboro; it also tells the story in microcosm of America's effort to come to grips with our most abiding national dilemma--racism.
Having written widely on civil rights and women's history, Chafe brings the themes of all his scholarship together in this book about the Clintons' "co-presidency," two people committed to both sex and race equality.
Chafe's analysis of changing social patterns is both solid and imaginative in the best sense....His book will certainly increase our understanding of where we are going--and why.""--Elizabeth Janeway ""Adopted as required reading - tremendously popular with students - provokes lively debates.""--John Rhinehart, Riverside Community College ""A trenchant analysis of the underlying social and economic changes of the past century....Particularly insightful in analyzing the ways in which racial and sexual inequality are both similar and fundamentally different.""--Alice S. Rossi, University of Ma.
When William Chafe's The American Woman was published in 1972, it was hailed as a breakthrough in the study of women in this century. Bella Abzug praised it as "a remarkable job of historical research," and Alice Kessler-Harris called it "an extraordinarily useful synthesis of material about 20th-century women." But much has happened in the last two decades--both in terms of scholarship, and in the lives of American women. With The Paradox of Change, Chafe builds on his classic work, taking full account of the events and scholarship of the last fifteen years, as he extends his analysis into the 1990s with the rise of feminism and the New Right. Chafe conveys all the subtleties of women's paradoxical position in the United States today, showing how women have gradually entered more fully into economic and political life, but without attaining complete social equality or economic justice. Despite the gains achieved by feminist activists during the 1970s and 1980s, the tensions continued to abound between public and private roles, and the gap separating ideals of equal opportunity from the reality of economic discrimination widened. Women may have gained some new rights in the last two decades, but the feminization of poverty has also soared, with women constituting 70% of the adult poor. Moreover, a resurgence of conservatism, symbolized by the triumph of Phyllis Schlafly's anti-ERA coalition, has cast in doubt even some of the new rights of women, such as reproductive freedom. Chafe captures these complexities and contradictions with a lively combination of representative anecdotes and archival research, all backed up by statistical studies. As in The American Woman, Chafe once again examines "woman's place" throughout the 20th century, but now with a more nuanced and inclusive approach. There are insightful portraits of the continuities of women's political activism from the Progressive era through the New Deal; of the contradictory gains and losses of the World War II years; and of the various kinds of feminism that emerged out of the tumult of the 1960s. Not least, there are narratives of all the significant struggles in which women have engaged during these last ninety years--for child care, for abortion rights, and for a chance to have both a family and a career. The Paradox of Change is a wide-ranging history of 20th-century women, thoroughly researched and incisively argued. Anyone who wants to learn more about how women have shaped, and been shaped by, modern America will have to read this book.
Summing up the experience of a whole generation of politicians, this book is an unforgettable saga of the triumph and tragedy of America's last liberal hero, Allard Lowenstein--a man desperately seeking peace in a world haunted by forbidden desires. Photos.
From William H. Chafe, the best-selling author of The Unfinished Journey, comes a new text that offers in-depth and enlightening coverage of the history of the United States in the twentieth century. The Rise and Fall of the American Century: The United States from 1890-2010 describes the rise--and potential fall--of the U.S., a nation more powerful, more wealthy, and more dominant than any in human history. It also acknowledges the persistent challenges the U.S. has faced and continues to face--inequalities of race, gender, and income that contradict its vision of itself as "a land of opportunity." Examining the evolution of the United States since 1890, The Rise and Fall of the American Century chronicles the varying mood of the country through its changing presidencies, from the rise of the metropolis and Teddy Roosevelt in the 1890s to the turbulent era of the Bush administration at the beginning of the twenty-first century. By analyzing the shifting moods and social and political upheavals (both at home and abroad) and the United States's reactions to these events, the book seeks to understand how the country both achieved its vision for itself in some ways but failed to realize it in others. Working in a political framework, Chafe also provides a strong balance of social and cultural history, touching on the African-American, Latino, and Asian communities, the west, and the changing status of women. The book's epilogue discusses important economic and political events through 2008, including the financial crisis and the 2008 Presidential Election.
Having written widely on civil rights and women's history, Chafe brings the themes of all his scholarship together in this book about the Clintons' "co-presidency," two people committed to both sex and race equality.
Chafe's analysis of changing social patterns is both solid and imaginative in the best sense ... His book will certainly increase our understanding of where we are going--and why."--Elizabeth Janeway "Adopted as required reading - tremendously popular with students - provokes lively debates."--John Rhinehart, Riverside Community College "A trenchant analysis of the underlying social and economic changes of the past century ... Particularly insightful in analyzing the ways in which racial and sexual inequality are both similar and fundamentally different."--Alice S. Rossi, University of Massachus.
When William Chafe's The American Woman was published in 1972, it was hailed as a breakthrough in the study of women in this century. Bella Abzug praised it as "a remarkable job of historical research," and Alice Kessler-Harris called it "an extraordinarily useful synthesis of material about 20th-century women." But much has happened in the last two decades--both in terms of scholarship, and in the lives of American women. With The Paradox of Change, Chafe builds on his classic work, taking full account of the events and scholarship of the last fifteen years, as he extends his analysis into the 1990s with the rise of feminism and the New Right. Chafe conveys all the subtleties of women's paradoxical position in the United States today, showing how women have gradually entered more fully into economic and political life, but without attaining complete social equality or economic justice. Despite the gains achieved by feminist activists during the 1970s and 1980s, the tensions continued to abound between public and private roles, and the gap separating ideals of equal opportunity from the reality of economic discrimination widened. Women may have gained some new rights in the last two decades, but the feminization of poverty has also soared, with women constituting 70% of the adult poor. Moreover, a resurgence of conservatism, symbolized by the triumph of Phyllis Schlafly's anti-ERA coalition, has cast in doubt even some of the new rights of women, such as reproductive freedom. Chafe captures these complexities and contradictions with a lively combination of representative anecdotes and archival research, all backed up by statistical studies. As in The American Woman, Chafe once again examines "woman's place" throughout the 20th century, but now with a more nuanced and inclusive approach. There are insightful portraits of the continuities of women's political activism from the Progressive era through the New Deal; of the contradictory gains and losses of the World War II years; and of the various kinds of feminism that emerged out of the tumult of the 1960s. Not least, there are narratives of all the significant struggles in which women have engaged during these last ninety years--for child care, for abortion rights, and for a chance to have both a family and a career. The Paradox of Change is a wide-ranging history of 20th-century women, thoroughly researched and incisively argued. Anyone who wants to learn more about how women have shaped, and been shaped by, modern America will have to read this book.
All-Black institutions and local community groups have been at the forefront of the freedom struggle since the beginning. Lifting the Chains is a history of the Black experience in America since the Civil War, told by one of our most distinguished historians of modern America, William H. Chafe. He argues that, despite the wishes and arguments of many whites to the contrary, the struggle for freedom has been carried out primarily by Black Americans, with only occasional assistance from whites. Chafe highlights the role of all-black institutions--especially the churches, lodges, local gangs, neighborhood women's groups, and the Black college clubs that gathered at local pool halls--that talked up the issues, examined different courses of action, and then put their lives on the line to make change happen. The book draws heavily on the tremendous oral history archives at Duke that Chafe founded and nurtured, much of which is previously unpublished. The archives are now a collection of more than 3,600 oral histories tracing the evolution of Black activism, managed under the auspices of the Duke Center for Documentary History. The project uncovered the degree to which Blacks never gave up the struggle against racism, even during the height of Jim Crow segregation from 1900 to 1950. Chafe draws on these valuable resources to build this definitive history of African American activism, a history that can and should inform Black Lives Matter and other contemporary social justice movements.
The 'sit-ins' at a Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro launched the passive resistance phase of the civil rights revolution. This book tells the story of what happened in Greensboro; it also tells the story in microcosm of America's effort to come to grips with our most abiding national dilemma--racism.
Preachers Dare is adapted from Will Willimon’s Lyman Beecher Lectures on Preaching at Yale and is inspired by a quote from the great theologian Karl Barth. In a world in which sermons too often become hackneyed conventional wisdom or tame common sense, preachers dare to speak about the God who speaks to us as Jesus Christ. Willimon draws upon his decades of preaching, as well as his many books on the practice of homiletics, to present a bold theology of preaching. This work emphasizes preaching as a distinctively theological endeavor that begins with and is enabled by God. God speaks, preachers dare to speak the speech of God, and the church dares to listen. By moving from the biblical text to the contemporary context, preachers dare to speak up for God so that God might speak today. With fresh biblical insights, creativity and pointed humor, Willimon gives today’s preachers and congregations encouragement to speak with the God who has so graciously and effusively spoken to us.
A political leader's decisions can determine the fate of a nation, but what determines how and why that leader makes certain choices? William H. Chafe, a distinguished historian of twentieth century America, examines eight of the most significant political leaders of the modern era in order to explore the relationship between their personal patterns of behavior and their political decision-making process. The result is a fascinating look at how personal lives and political fortunes have intersected to shape America over the past fifty years. One might expect our leaders to be healthy, wealthy, genteel, and happy. In fact, most of these individuals--from Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Martin Luther King, Jr., from John F. Kennedy to Bill Clinton--came from dysfunctional families, including three children of alcoholics; half grew up in poor or only marginally secure homes; most experienced discord in their marriages; and at least two displayed signs of mental instability. What links this extraordinarily diverse group is an intense ambition to succeed, and the drive to overcome adversity. Indeed, adversity offered a vehicle to develop the personal attributes that would define their careers and shape the way they exercised power. Chafe probes the influences that forged these men's lives, and profiles the distinctive personalities that molded their exercise of power in times of danger and strife. The history of the United States from the Depression into the new century cannot be understood without exploring the dynamic and critical relationship between personal history and political leadership that these eight life stories so poignantly reveal.
The Mississippi Freedom Vote in 1963 consisted of an integrated citizens' campaign for civil rights. With candidates Aaron Henry, a black pharmacist from Clarksdale for governor, and Reverend Ed King, a college chaplain from Vicksburg for lieutenant governor, the Freedom Vote ran a platform aimed at obtaining votes, justice, jobs, and education for blacks in the Magnolia State. Through speeches, photographs, media coverage, and campaign materials, William H. Lawson examines the rhetoric and methods of the Mississippi Freedom Vote. Lawson looks at the vote itself rather than the already much-studied events surrounding it, an emphasis new in scholarship. Even though the actual campaign was carried out from October 13 to November 4, the Freedom Vote's impact far transcended those few weeks in the fall. Campaign manager Bob Moses rightly calls the Freedom Vote "one of the most unique voting campaigns in American history." Lawson demonstrates that the Freedom Vote remains a key moment in the history of civil rights in Mississippi, one that grew out of a rich tradition of protest and direct action. Though the campaign is overshadowed by other major events in the arc of the civil rights movement, Lawson regards the Mississippi Freedom Vote as an early and crucial exercise of citizenship in a lineage of racial protest during the 1960s. While more attention has been paid to the March on Washington and the protests in Birmingham or to the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the Freedom Summer murders, this book yields a long-overdue, in-depth analysis of this crucial movement.
History is an account, either verbal or written, which describes past events, good or bad. In truth, most recorded history is a mostly false narrative of mostly unimportant occurrences which are the doings of czars, despots, and tyrants and their lackey soldiers. For the most part, right or wrong, history has always been written by the winners—of whatever contest. And therefore, since the ‘losers’ are irrelevant and meaningless, it may then take society many decades, or more, to finally learn that most things were done, not really as the supporters and academics had recorded them for posterity. History is more than just learning names, dates, and places. Real history is knowing why certain events happened at a certain given time in a particular certain place. And real history is admitting that the supposedly ‘greatest’ saviors of humanity were really mankind’s ‘greatest’ purveyors of human misery.
Looking out a second-story window of her family's quarters at the Pearl Harbor naval base on December 7, 1941, eleven-year-old Jackie Smith could see not only the Rising Sun insignias on the wings of attacking Japanese bombers, but the faces of the pilots inside. Most American children on the home front during the Second World War saw the enemy only in newsreels and the pages of Life Magazine, but from Pearl Harbor on, "the war"--with its blackouts, air raids, and government rationing--became a dramatic presence in all of their lives. Thirty million Americans relocated, 3,700,000 homemakers entered the labor force, sparking a national debate over working mothers and latchkey children, and millions of enlisted fathers and older brothers suddenly disappeared overseas or to far-off army bases. By the end of the war, 180,000 American children had lost their fathers. In "Daddy's Gone to War", William M. Tuttle, Jr., offers a fascinating and often poignant exploration of wartime America, and one of generation's odyssey from childhood to middle age. The voices of the home front children are vividly present in excerpts from the 2,500 letters Tuttle solicited from men and women across the country who are now in their fifties and sixties. From scrap-collection drives and Saturday matinees to the atomic bomb and V-J Day, here is the Second World War through the eyes of America's children. Women relive the frustration of always having to play nurses in neighborhood war games, and men remember being both afraid and eager to grow up and go to war themselves. (Not all were willing to wait. Tuttle tells of one twelve year old boy who strode into an Arizona recruiting office and declared, "I don't need my mother's consent...I'm a midget.") Former home front children recall as though it were yesterday the pain of saying good-bye, perhaps forever, to an enlisting father posted overseas and the sometimes equally unsettling experience of a long-absent father's return. A pioneering effort to reinvent the way we look at history and childhood, "Daddy's Gone to War" views the experiences of ordinary children through the lens of developmental psychology. Tuttle argues that the Second World War left an indelible imprint on the dreams and nightmares of an American generation, not only in childhood, but in adulthood as well. Drawing on his wide-ranging research, he makes the case that America's wartime belief in democracy and its rightful leadership of the Free World, as well as its assumptions about marriage and the family and the need to get ahead, remained largely unchallenged until the tumultuous years of the Kennedy assassination, Vietnam and Watergate. As the hopes and expectations of the home front children changed, so did their country's. In telling the story of a generation, Tuttle provides a vital missing piece of American cultural history.
Fulfills the standards: "Culture," "Individuals, Groups, and Institutions," "Power, Authority, and Governance," and "Science, Technology, and Society" from the National Council for the Social Studies Curriculum Standards for High School. Fulfills the standards: "Chronological Thinking," "Historical Comprehension," "Historical Analysis and Interpretation," and "Historical Research Capabilities" from the National History Education Standards for American History, Grades 5-12.
American Portraits is a two-volume collection of biographical profiles designed to supplement American History survey texts. Biography personalizes history in a unique and profound way for students, lending a sense of immediacy to the study of the past. All of the essays selected for this anthology profile the life of a given individual and explore how that person influenced and was influenced by broader historical forces. Introductions begin each "unit", placing the biographies in topical and chronological perspective. Supporting documents, headnotes, and discussion questions help students place the biographies in context.
Chafe's analysis of changing social patterns is both solid and imaginative in the best sense....His book will certainly increase our understanding of where we are going--and why.""--Elizabeth Janeway ""Adopted as required reading - tremendously popular with students - provokes lively debates.""--John Rhinehart, Riverside Community College ""A trenchant analysis of the underlying social and economic changes of the past century....Particularly insightful in analyzing the ways in which racial and sexual inequality are both similar and fundamentally different.""--Alice S. Rossi, University of Ma.
Serving as a comprehensive twentieth-century history text, this book offers coverage of social and cultural history, along with political and diplomatic coverage.
McGraw-Hill Humanities, Social Sciences & World Languages
Published Date
ISBN 10
0070379521
ISBN 13
9780070379527
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