Assignment task: Based on your reading of previous chapters and watching previous lessons, one broad theme you should have seen is that, from 1877 to 1932, the Republican Party was the stronger of the two parties, and apart from the Progressive Era, American voters tended to favor a limited role for the federal government. Beginning in 1932, voters began voting for more Democratic candidates and supporting a larger role for the federal government, such as a permanent standing army and national security infrastructure, and economic security programs like those of the New Deal and Great Society. But starting in 1963, with the election of Richard Nixon, continuing with the 1976 election of Jimmy Carter as an outsider, and certainly culminating with the 12 years of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, the United States entered an era in which the federal government was increasingly scrutinized and limited in certain areas, even as it expanded in other areas that aligned with conservative priorities.
Today, our politics seems hopelessly divided between Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals. Are we still in a conservative era? Or are Americans again becoming more liberal/progressive? Write for 15 minutes, a minimum of 250 words, about what you think a historian would want and need to know. (Yes I will run a program to count words!) Think of your journal entry as a "primary source document" that will be uncovered in 150 years. Make sure you USE your readings and videos to help you write SPECIFICS in your entry.