Don't Want To Be An American Idiot

Most immigrants to the USA know more about our country than those who were born here! Sure you may know why we celebrate the 4th of July but can you pass the US Citizenship Test?

Evaluate this test. Is it fair? Too hard? Too easy?

If you were to write a question for the test what would you ask?

Is this test designed to exclude certain immigrants? How?

How were Chinese Immigrants excluded from our country over a century ago?

Industrial Revolution

When was the last time you made something with your own two hands? What was it? Describe the process.

If you wanted something prior to the Industrial Revolution could you just go to Walmart and buy it? How did you get it?

The Cost of War

As we have discussed in class the Civil War was the deadliest in American history costing hundreads of thousands of lives. It was also one of the first wars where the bodies of fallen soldiers were photographed. The following clips differ greatly in their depection of war and raise some interesting questions.

Would you have enlisted after seeing this video? Do you think this director was for or against the war? What music did the director choose for this scene? Why don't you see dead bodies?

How do your feelings about the cost of the war differ after watching this clip compared to the first? Should photographers been allowed to profit from the carnage of the war? How has TV, the internet, and media further changed perceptions of war today?

Born In the USA

This song was popular over 20 years ago when I was in High School. It became a patriotic anthem selling over 18 million copies. Read the lyrics for your self to learn how Bruce Springsteen really felt about being 'American.' What do you think it means to be American?

The More Things Change....

...the more they stay the same.

The Liberty League was an organization that tried to rally public opinion against Roosevelt's New Deal. Conservative Democrats who disapproved of Roosevelt's New Deal measures founded the group. In 1934, New York Governor Alfrred Smith joined forces with wealthy business executives, who provided most of the league's funds. The league published pamphlets and sponsored radio programs, arguing that the New Deal was destroying personal liberty and leading us towards communism.

Sound familiar? How do criticisms of FDR's New Deal plan compare to criticisms of 'ObamaCare?'

Al Capone: Untouchable

The Prohibition era gave rise to organized crime in America and a new type of criminal. No one represents this more than the original 'Original Gangster' Al Capone. He was considered a folk hero by some for standing up against an unpopular law, while others thought him a murderous and corrupt street thug. Watch the movie and then tell me what you think: Hero or Villain?

Schenck vs. US

The First Amendment of the constitution guarantees that each person has the right to free speech. But the Supreme Court has restricted free speech that includes obscenities, libel, slander, words that incite violence or words that pose a threat to the rights of individuals or national security. You do not have the right to yell 'fire' in a crowded theater, as Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes pointed out in Schenck v. United States (1919), when the "circumstances are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger."

Using this precedent, are Rush Limbaugh's comments protected under the 1st Amendment? Why or why not?