Assignment Name: Web Field Trip: Military Industrial Complex
Title: Military Industrial Complex
Introduction: World War II and then the Cold War increased the annual budget of the United States dramatically in the two decades from 1940 to 1960. During this period, the United States went from a reluctant participant in Western European culture to the military protector of Western Europe. The increase in the money spent on the military had enormous implications not only for the role of the United States in geopolitics, but also for the viability of democratic institutions within the United States. As members of congress became increasingly beholden to military contractors who supplied jobs in their congressional districts, the nature of politics in the United States changed significantly. In 1960, republican president Dwight Eisenhower called attention to what he originally labeled the military-industrial-congressional complex, a phrase that he later shortened to simply the military industrial complex.
Instructions: Answer the following questions in the fields below.
1. Why was Eisenhower a particularly well informed person on this subject?
2. How did Eisenhower feel about the escalating costs of warfare?
3. What were the implications of leaving this issue alone?
Assignment Name: The Port Huron Statement of the Students for a Democratic Society (1962)
Title: The Port Huron Statement of the Students for a Democratic Society (1962)
Introduction: The Port Huron statement was issued by a meeting of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) convention in Port Huron, Michigan, held on June 11-15, 1962. Largely written by Tom Hayden, the statement proclaims that young people are breaking away from the conservatism bred by the Cold War, frightened by the prospect of nuclear war, and alienated from American society by the falsehoods they have been told. The statement lays out the ways the New Left movement will create a grass-roots "participatory democracy," able to reconnect the public with American politics.
Instructions: After reading the introduction and the primary source provided, answer the questions below.
1. What does the statement say about African Americans and civil rights?
2. What concerns are raised about poverty in the United States?
3. What economic changes are called for?
4. What are the key components of participatory democracy?
5. Why are the demands of the Port Huron Statement considered on the liberal/left end of the political spectrum?