[Music] What's going down a push people? Today we're taking a look at the last 50% of the A push exam. We're covering periods 6 through 9, which goes from 1865 to the present day. And remember, you can't quit on a push, so keep on fighting to the bitter end. First period we're going to take a look at is period 6. It's about 13% of the exam and it begins in 1865 with the end of the Civil War. Couple things you better know about without a doubt is how the federal government played a very active role in Western expansion. And you could see that role of the federal government in Native American policy. There's a whole bunch of wars such as the San Creek massacre, the battle of Little Bigghorn in 1876, the last major Native American battle, the Battle of Wounded Knee in 1890. Keep in mind, most of these are really massacres. Not really fair to call them battles. The government's also going to play a role in its assimilation policy. You can see that with the DAW Severty Act, where Native Americans were forced to give up tribal ownership of land. Another area where the government plays a role is in economics. There's huge amounts of land grants and subsidies given to the railroad companies. And of course, the Homestead Act passed during the Civil War provides cheap land to anybody willing to live on it for 5 years. Another important idea in period 6 is the policy of lazair. This kind of government having a hands-off approach during the guilded age led to various social and political problems. And you could see those in economics where there's the growth of trust and monopolies. You have the lack of enforcement of laws that were passed during the time period such as the Interstate Commerce Act, which was designed to regulate the railroads, and the Sherman Antirust Act of 1890, which was designed to prevent and break up monopolies. Both of those had limited effectiveness during this guilded age. Socially, you have the rise of urban slums. poverty becomes a huge problem and this is oftentimes justified by those with money with the beliefs of social Darwinism, the survival of the fittest. The poor are poor because they are lazy and they deserve to be poor. You do see the rise of the settlement house movement in Chicago with Jane Adams and Hull House, but largely the government's going to ignore this problem through much of this time period. Political problems include the rise of political machines which were notoriously corrupt such as Tamonn Hall and Boss Tweed in New York and politics was very often a growing area of concern. And finally environmental you're going to have the destruction of natural resources most famously the buffalo and during this time you are going to see the growth of the conservationist movement for example with the Sierra Club. Make sure you know about the challenges facing both labor unions and farmers during the guilded age and how they attempted to address these challenges. We're going to start with labor unions. There were a lot of challenges facing workers. They had hostility from both corporations and the government. There was division amongst themselves between skilled and unskilled workers, immigrant versus nativeorn workers. And public opinion very often was against the unions. They were perceived as being radical. the responsive workers were to form unions. You have the Knights of Labor which focuses on both skilled and unskilled workers, the American Federation of Labor, which focuses mainly on skilled workers headed by Samuel Gumpers. And of course, there are going to be a series of strikes such as the Homestead strike in 1892 and the Pullman strike in 1894. Both of those are going to end in violence and defeat for labor unions. Farmers are also going to face their own share of challenges. There's going to be the dominance of the railroads, especially if you're a small farmer. And the mechanization that was happening really pushed a lot of farmers to the brink of poverty. They are also going to respond in a variety of ways. They're going to form organizations such as the Graange Movement. And later on, eventually in the 1890s, you're going to get the rise of a third party known as the Populist Party. They're going to call for reforms such as government regulation of the railroads. They want that interstate commerce commission to be used effectively. They want to enforce that. They also demand the free coinage of silver and income tax and they would like the direct election of senators. Another important thing to keep in mind is how various groups continued to face discrimination during this time period. For African-Americans, postreonstruction was miserable in the south. You get pie versus Ferguson, which legalizes Jim Crow laws. You have the widespread disenfranchisement. Does it matter about that 15th amendment literacy test, pole taxes, and other forms of denying the right to vote take place? For immigrants, this was a period of a rising nivism, especially towards Asian and Chinese immigrants on the West Coast. You get the Chinese Exclusion Act passed in 1883, and the new immigrants, those so-called new immigrants from southern and Eastern Europe, were often times the victims of rising nivist sentiment. Period 6 ends with the SpanishAmerican War in 1898, which is really a turning point in US foreign policy that we'll take a look at in just a moment, which leads us to period 7. Period 7 goes from 1890 to 1945. It's a big old period. It takes up 17% of the exam, and it really begins in 1890 because this is seen as the closing of the frontier according to Turner's frontier thesis. And of course, as already mentioned, it is the last of the major Native American wars with wounded knee. Some important concepts to keep in mind are the motives of US overseas expansion and examples of that expansion. There's a variety of reasons why the US is expanding during this time period. Not only is it the closing of the frontier, but you have economic motives, the desire for markets and raw materials, political motives, competing with Europe and Japan over in Asia and other parts of the globe. Ideological motives, this desire to spread democracy, Christianity, and of course, you have military motives articulated by people such as Alfred T. Mayan establishing naval bases around the world. Lots of examples during this time period of US expansion. You have the open door policy in China under President McKinley. The SpanishAmerican War is a huge turning point where the US acquires not only Cuba but Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. This leads to a brutal war between the US and the Philippines. A very controversial war where anti-imperialists condemn US foreign policy in the Philippines. You have the annexation of Hawaii, also under McKinley, and the Panama Canal being built under Theodore Roosevelt's rule. Another important concept in period 7 is the ways that the progressive movement sought to use the power of the government to improve society. There is a rejection of the lazair approach of the guilded age. You see this in economics with trustbusting. Roosevelt, Taff, and Wilson are all going to use the power of the Sherman Antitrust Act and other laws to break up powerful monopolies. You get the passage of the Meat Inspection Act, the Pure Food and Drug Act, all designed to protect the nation's food and medicine, and the Heepburn Act, which is passed to strengthen the interstate commerce commission. The progressives also focus on political reforms, really the effort to expand democracy. You can see this really with the Wisconsin idea, Robert Lafayette, with his reforms such as the recall, referendum, and initiative. These reforms spread across the country and eventually you get the 17th amendment, something that the populist party was calling for earlier in the decade which allows for the direct election of senators. Don't forget women are also playing a huge role in the progressive movement and they're fighting for various reforms but also for the 19th amendment which will be achieved at the end of World War I. And there were also various social reforms among some progressives such as advocates of temperance eventually will get a victory with the 18th amendment starting prohibition and child labor laws would be advocated by people such as Lewis Hines. No understanding of period 7 would be complete without knowing why the US eventually went from neutrality to fighting in World War I and how Woodro Wilson played a key role in the peace process. So how do we get mixed up in this war? While the sinking of neutral ships such as the Lucatania, the news of the Zimmerman telegram and Wilson's own idealism. He wanted to make the world safe for democracy, the war to end all wars, all contribute to US decision to enter World War I. In the post-war period, Wilson's going to play a key role. He's going to articulate a vision in his 14 points, which is largely rejected by the other Allied powers. He does get them to agree to the League of Nations, but his vision for the US involvement in the League of Nations is rejected by the US Senate. Make sure you know about the debate regarding the League of Nations. World War I also had an impact on the Homeront. You should know a couple of examples. So, let me give them to you. The Sedition Act greatly restricted civil liberties and it is upheld by the Shank case. There's a great migration of African-Americans to the north looking for economic opportunities. Also trying to get the heck out of that Jim Crow South, which causes increased racial tensions in northern cities. And really important, you see support increasing for the 18th and 19th amendments as a result of World War I. Make sure you know how the Roaring 20s was not only a decade of economic prosperity, but it was also a time of increased tension in American society. It's not just flappers and all that good stuff and jazz music. Some examples of tensions, you get the red scare pomemer raids to start off the decade. This fear of a communist revolution in the United States. You have the quota acts which are passed. The immigration quota act of 1924 in particular. These are designed to keep out those so-called new immigrants. The Sako and Benzetti trial reveals the nivism and the anti-radical feelings of the 20s. The Scopes trial reveals the tension between fundamentalists and more secular thinking and prohibition causes tension between rural and urban areas, religious and non-religious. You also have the increased racial tensions as a result of African-Americans moving to northern cities. But you have events such as the Harlem Renaissance instilling a new sense of racial pride. And finally, you get a group of authors who are condemning the conformity and feeling a bit disillusioned in this post-war era. So, know about these tensions that are right there below the surface throughout the 1920s. A big moment is the Great Depression and you should definitely pay attention to the ways the New Deal responded to the problems of the Great Depression under Franklin Roosevelt and change the role of the federal government by creating programs intended to provide relief, recovery, and reform. The New Deal is going to continue some of those reforms of the progressive era, but it's really responding to the problem of the Great Depression. Some examples of the impact Social Security passed in 1935 establishes the federal safety net for the American people, especially the elderly women with dependent children and the disabled. FDIC banking reform ensuring people's bank deposits, the Wagner Act, which boost labor unions by the federal government protecting their right to organize. And you get programs like the Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps providing public works projects for the unemployed. There were challenges to the New Deal. The Supreme Court ruled some programs unconstitutional, the NRA and the AAA. You had some people wanting to go further, such as Huey Long with his share our wealth program. And of course, Republicans and conservatives opposed the deficit spending and the increase of the federal government under Roosevelt's New Deal. Finally, in period 7, you should also know about efforts of the US to remain neutral prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. Just like before World War I, we tried to stay out of this war. Some examples of this can be seen in the Neutrality Acts, which forbid US from sending weapons or money to any country at war. The America First Committee wanted Roosevelt to stay out of war, kept a lot of pressure on him, limiting his help for the allies. cash carry and of course lend lease act. World War II is going to have a huge impact on the home front both good and bad. The Great Depression ends as a result of the mass mobilization of the economy for the war effort. The New Deal helps lessen the impact of the depression, but it is World War II which will actually end it. People of Mexican descent are going to have different experiences. is you're going to have the Brero program which is going to allow them to come in and work largely in agriculture, but you're going to see increased racial tension in places like Los Angeles during the Zootsuit riots. For Japanese Americans, they're going to suffer the ultimate injustice during World War II when Executive Order 90066 forcibly puts Japanese people and people of Japanese descent into an internment camps throughout the West Coast. This is upheld by the Fred Cororamatu Supreme Court case as necessary for national security. African-Americans have new opportunities in war factories, but there also is continued discrimination. You're going to see various civil rights organizations calling for the double victory campaign, victory against racism at home and fascism abroad. You will see race riots once again happening in northern cities. And as a result of threats by a Phillip, executive order 8802 is going to be passed and signed by Franklin Roosevelt banning discrimination in defense work. You're also going to see the growth of new civil rights organizations such as the Congress of Racial Equality continuing to put pressure on American society. And finally, in period 7, you should know the reasons why the Allies defeated the Axis power. And it's really the military and political cooperation of Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin, the big three, US war production, and new technologies such as sonar, and of course, the big one under the Manhattan Project, the atomic bomb. Period 7 ends with the end of World War II in 1945, and this is a major turning point in American history because we emerge from the war as a major superpower. I think it's appropriate at this time to celebrate. We are backto back World War Champs. And that leads us to period 8, 1945 to 1980. This bad boy is 15% of the exam. And it begins with the end of World War II. And the US is a superpower. But we got lots of problems during this time period. Make sure you know about the various methods the US used to try to contain communism. This is George Kennan's idea. We are throughout this period going to be in a cold war against the Soviet Union. Some examples of containment can be seen in the Truman doctrine. We're giving lots of money to Greece and Turkey. They both don't fall to the communists. The Marshall Plan, we give a bunch of money to Europe to rebuild. They don't fall to the communists. The joining of NATO, this is the first time we are in a permanent peaceime alliance. Forget George Washington's advice at this point. And of course, we're going to have ourselves involved in some wars in Korea and Vietnam. One's going to turn out okay, the other one not so much. Although this period is a time of a cold war, you should understand that the relationship between the US and the Soviets fluctuated between periods of confrontation and a taunt. And some examples of conflict can be seen in the Berlin blockade and the Berlin airlift in the late 1940s. Of course, the Korean War were shooting at people. That's a big conflict. and the Cuban missile crisis where the whole world nearly ends. Luckily, Kennedy and Krueief negotiate. Some examples of Daytona could be seen in the spirit of Geneva during President Eisenhower's administration. We start talking to the Soviet Union. Big Day tant moment happens with the Salt One treaty between the US and the Soviets under Nixon. And of course, Nixon becomes the first president to go to China in 1972. Sadly, you should also know about the ways the US supported undemocratic governments so long as they were non-communists. And you could see this really with the use of the CIA overthrowing democratically elected governments in both Iran and Guatemala in the 1950s. Dictatorships come to power in both countries. The US supports DM in South Vietnam under President Kennedy Eisenhower. He does not turn out so hot for us either. But as long as the governments were non-communist, we throw our support behind them. The Cold War also led to growing debates at home. You see debates over the proper balance between order and liberty. You have the rise of the House of American Activities Committee calling people before them, Joseph McCarthy and McCarthyism. You have a second red scare. And there were in fact some communists such as Alger and the Rosenbergs. But this leads to widespread paranoia and in many cases violations of people's civil liberties. There's growing debates over the appropriateness of the arms race and the space race. Remember Eisenhower's militaryindustrial complex where he warned the nation about the threat of too much military spending on domestic life. And remember when the Soviets launched Sputnik in 1957, America freaks out and we start escalating our federal money to education, especially math and science and also the creation of NASA. And the big debate is going to come with regard to the Vietnam War. You're going to see a growing anti-war movement, especially after the Ted offensive in 1968. News about the bombing of Cambodia and news of the Mi massacre. On the domestic front, civil rights activists used legal challenges, non-violence, and direct action to fight segregation and discrimination. Some examples of this can be seen in the Brown versus Board of Education decision in which segregation is ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 to 56, the Freedom Rides, and Freedom Summer are all examples of direct action and nonviolence in the civil rights struggle. You better know about the ways that the three branches of the government eventually played a role in advancing the cause of civil rights. Slowly but surely, the executive branch comes around when Truman desegregates the military in 1948. We saw the judicial branch doing its thing in 1954, Brown decision and the legislative branch under Lynden Johnson's Great Society passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 banning segregation and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In spite of this progress, there was intense resistance from Southerners and it slowed the pace of change. You can see this in the Southern Manifesto where over a 100 southern congressmen condemned the Supreme Court's Brown decision and when Governor Orville Fabas tried to block the Little Rock Nine from attending high school in Arkansas. As southern resistance continued and social and economic inequality remain, disputes arose over the different philosophies for change. Some within the civil rights movement began to question the non-violent approach and you get people like Stokeley Carmichael advocating the black power movement, Malcolm X with the Nation of Islam and the Black Panthers over in Oakland increasingly calling on African-Americans to arm themselves, black separatism and racial pride. Other groups were inspired by the civil rights movement and there was a growing awareness of inequalities in American society. You could see this in the Mexican-American community as people like Caesar Chavez begin to organize the LGBT movement with the Stonewall riots in 1969, the American Indian Movement forms in 1968 and various steps within the women's rights movement with the publication of the feminine mystique. The National Organization for Women is founded and Row versus Wade legalizes abortion. Another important thing to keep in mind is liberalism under the Great Society. Lyndon Baines Johnson continue to expand the power of the federal government. They're kind of continuing some of those reforms we saw during the progressive movement and the New Deal. You get a whole host of programs from the federal government such as Medicare, Medicaid, poverty programs such as Head Start, JobCore, the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Immigration Act of 1965, which ends quotas. All of these have varying degrees of success, but they're all under Lynden Johnson's Great Society. Even before and during the Great Society, you have the Warren Court led by Earl Warren. Those decisions expanded democracy and individual freedoms. So, you get some key court cases such as Griswald versus Connecticut, which legalizes birth control, Miranda versus Arizona, which provides protection for individuals accused of a crime. So if you're ever arrested, make sure they read you your Miranda rights. Make sure you also know how the Great Society, the Warren Court decisions, and growing counterculture movements such as the hippies and the sexual revolution led to a resurgence of a conservative movement. You see Barry Goldwater run in 1964 against Johnson. He loses, but he kind of really sparks this conservative movement. Nixon gets elected in 1968. And of course, the big daddy of the conservative movement, Ronald Reagan, gets elected in 1980. And that's exactly where period 8 ends, the election of Ronald Reagan, which leads us to our last period, period 9. It goes from 1980 with the election of Ronald Reagan, the rise of conservativism, and it goes all the way until today. This is about 5% of the exam. There will not be any essays exclusively on this time period, but it's always a good topic for synthesis. So, what are some key things to know about period 9? You should know about the reasons for the rise of the conservative movement. Belief in social and moral decay contributes to the rise of religious fundamentalists. They really mobilize around the issue of abortion and eventually gay marriage. There's a reduced public faith in the government's ability to solve social and economic problems. Remember throughout the 70s there was high inflation. You have the Watergate crisis although under Republican president and the growing deficit of New Deal and Great Society programs really start to call into question the effectiveness of the federal government. The conservatives under Reagan did achieve some political and economic victories but did not completely undo all government programs or social trends. What the heck does that mean? Well, here are some conservative wins. Reganomics. Reagan did manage to reduce taxes especially on the wealthy. This is part of his trickle down theory of economics and there was the deregulation of some industries. However, the size of the government grew under Reagan as programs that were very popular such as social security and Medicare continued to expand and abortion continued to be legal in spite of many Christian fundamentalists wanting to ban it. Another key part of this period is knowing about the rhetoric versus the reality of President Reagan's foreign policy. In terms of his rhetoric, Reagan was a hardcore anti-communist. He called the Soviets the evil empire. He rejected the policy of Daytona and there was a mass increase in defense spending under Reagan. Remember the Star Wars proposal. The reality was Reagan was homies with President Gorbachoff and this friendship eventually led to arms control agreements and the eventual end of the Soviet Union and thus the Cold War. In spite of the end of the cold war, it's important to know that the postcold war world led to new challenges for US foreign policy makers. On 911, you had the horrible terrorist attacks and this leads to a widespread war on terrorism which eventually leads to the war in Afghanistan. Under the Bush doctrine, there was a preemptive strike against Iraq due to concerns over support for terrorism and the supposed program of weapons of mass destruction under Saddam Hussein. Both those things didn't turn out very well. And with the war on terror, concerns over violations of civil liberties due to legislation such as the Patriot Act and government surveillance. And finally, make sure you know about the changes to American society since the 1970s. You have changing demographics as increasing numbers of people come from Latin America and Asia. Remember, the Immigration Act of 1965 opens up the gates to lots of new people. We're still debating this issue. Immigration reform, anybody? continue debate over the role of the federal government. You have the health care law, social security spending, and government surveillance. It's important to note the loss of manufacturing, jobs overseas, and with that rising income inequality in the United States. You had the Occupy Wall Street movement bringing attention to this issue and rising concerns about climate change, global warming, our energy policy, and oil consumption. And this is really a throwback to all the periods from John Mir Sierra Club to TR's conservation efforts during the progressive movement to Rachel Carson's silent spring in the 1960s which exposed the problem of pesticides to the passage of the Clean Air Act under the Great Society and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970 under Nixon. And wherever you are in the world, period 9 ends with the present, which is the day of your A push exam. If you want to get some more information about any of these topics, check out review videos we have in the description. We got a ton of them. And if the video helped you out, make sure you click like and you subscribe if you haven't already done so. Tell all your friends about the channel and post a comment answering this question. Which person in American history would you most like to go chill with for a week? Think about it and post it.