History concepts and applications

¶ … history of the United States has been one of the most interesting objects of study for analysts and scholars alike. This is largely due to the fact that the U.S. is in general considered to be the center of world politics, economics, cultural and social life. The purpose of this essay is to consider some examples which proved the above affirmation. They will deal with particular significant events that influenced the last fifty years in America.

The 1950s represented a difficult time in the history of the world. Every major country engaged in the Second World War was slowly and painfully recovering from the disasters the conflagration had produced. The United States and the Soviet Union however created what would be called the cold war. In this conflict situation, the Korean War in the early years of the 1950s represented an important moment in the American history.

The Korean war was to some extent an expected consequence of the post world war situation. It was the first sign of the confrontation between East and West outside Europe (Jenkins, 1997). The North Korean communists supported by the U.S.S.R. invaded the South supported by the Americans. In fact this attempt was part of the wider situation and balance of power present during the Cold War. The main goal of the Korean communists was to practically unite Korea under a communist rule (Kissinger, 1995). For the Russians, the goal of their intervention was to increase communist influence in Asia, while the U.S. had the precise opposite goal.

The most affected people of this war were indeed the victims of the fighting, from both Korean sides. At the same time however, taking into account the fact that the U.S. troops along with UN troops were also involved in the war, it can be said that the victims suffered the most.

The effects on the United States were limited because people were generally engaged in day-to-day businesses. However, the Korean War is also labeled as the Forgotten War (Korea, 2004) because it was soon replaced by other major events on the international scene. However, it is important for the understanding of the first events of the Cold War. At the end of the war, Korea did not unite; therefore the North Koreans did not meet their goal. However they did achieve a sense of notoriety and drew the attention on the domino phenomenon (Kissinger, 1995). The Korean War was the first war in a series of many in which the U.S. engaged troops to defend the territorial integrity of a far off country. This would prove an important experience, especially for the wars to come.

The 1960s was representative for the civil rights movement which culminated with the 1965 Voting Rights Act. It represented the result of decades of civil struggle for the right to vote by women and African-Americans in the American society (Bolick, 1995). Also the groups that made constant pressures on the legislative body to include the right to vote for every U.S. citizen, without consideration to any type of taxes were especially African-Americans, women, but also white males.

The issue of vote is essential for the U.S. This is why the population was deeply engaged ih the affair and was affected by the outcome. Although the right to vote was not without discrimination, there were a significant number of persons benefited. The event in itself had a positive and negative effect as well. The positive side relies in the fat that more people got to be involved in the democratic process. On the other hand, it help break loose certain racial behaviors which worsened the issue in the mixed communities.

The 1970s was a time of lots of political, cultural events. Politically speaking, the Cold War was at its peak, where as the cultural events were most often undervalued due to the conflict in Vietnam. However the manifestations against it gave rise to a new trend in thought and fashion. Young women and men would sit in for hours in the front of the White House pleading the president to stop the war in Vietnam. It is clear that the most affected were the soldiers but also their families they leave behind. The effects of the Vietnam war but most importantly of the manifestations taken place with this occasion pointed out that the American society developed to such an extent as to maintain the values and principles set forth in the Constitution.

The 1980s can be considered as a rather peaceful period of time. The most important event of the decade can be from the political world as well, more precisely the meeting between Ronald Reagan and Gorbachev in Geneva 1985. It was the "the first step on the road to transforming the entire system of international relations" (to the Geneva Summit, 2005). The artisans of the meeting were the two presidents who managed to break the deadlock existing between their countries for decades. The entire world ended up benefitting from this move because it eventually resulted in the breakdown of the Soviet Union and the liberation from communism. However only one of the two leaders achieved his goal; Reagan had met the U.S.S.R. leader in the attempt to eventually crash the U.S.S.R. which it happened. Gorbachev met the American leader in order to establish good relations with the U.S., but still keep his Union. However, this was not possible as the U.S.S.R. collapsed in 1991.