Reconstruction After the Civil War

Click here.

Waiting for Superman

Click here

How a Bill REALLY becomes a law...

Click here.

Articles of Confederation Notes

click here

Civil Rights Prezi

Click Here

The Fog of War Video - Extra Credit

1. Who is Robert S. McNamara and why is he in particular such a controversial figure? How do his thinking, policies and leadership style compare or contrast with current leaders?

2. What happened during the Vietnam War? How many Americans and Vietnamese died in it? Why was it so controversial that it created one of the greatest anti-government protest movements in American history? Why does it remain controversial today?

3. Is it ever morally legitimate for citizens to criticize and protest a war undertaken by their country, if they believe it to be unjust, such as was the case with the Vietnam War? Is it legitimate for soldiers to criticize their countries policies and practices based on what they have experienced? What are the reasons for/against supporting freedom of speech and protest even during times of war? What are the dangers of not allowing protest vs. the dangers of allowing it?

4. What does McNamara mean by empathizing with the enemy? Should one empathize with one’s enemy in order to better handle him/them? Do we still continue and/or need to continue to construct and stereotype our opponents as enemies? How is that true in national and in international politics? Is it appropriate to see fellow citizens as enemies in a type of political and cultural warfare? How do we view are international enemies today? How much of this portrayal is reality and how much is it a simplification or stereotyping of their motives and characters? 

5. What are the "eleven lessons" and what do they mean? Do they provide a good way of thinking about war? Why or why not? What are the lessons to be learned from McNamara's discussions of the Second World War, being President of Ford, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam War? 

6.  Do and should morals have a place in war? What does McNamara means by “proportionality" and does proportionality matter or only whether you win or lose the war? 

7. McNamara says about his role in the Second World War: LeMay said, “If we’d lost the war, we’d all have been prosecuted as war criminals.” And I think he’s right. He, and I’d say I, were behaving as war criminals. LeMay recognized that what he was doing would be thought immoral if his side had lost. But what makes it immoral if you lose and not immoral if you win? What do you think of McNamara's statement and question here? Why do you agree or disagree? 

8. One of the controversies of the Vietnam War was the draft. Why was it such a controversy such that people even raise it as an issue today? If there is a draft, should it apply equally to all or should some groups and individuals be exempt? Should there be a draft to encourage all citizens to serve or should it only occur under special circumstances or never at all? Why or why not? 

9. What are the similarities and differences between the Vietnam and Second Iraq War, if any? How do the actions of the Johnson administration compare with those of the Bush administration? What was the Tonkin Gulf Incident and Tonkin Gulf Resolution? How do they compare with the build-up to the Second Iraq War and the resolution to authorize the use of force? Is it legitimate to authorize the use of force but criticize how it was implemented? Why or why not?

10. What is the legacy of Robert McNamara? Should he be considered a war criminal, a bungler of the Vietnam War, or as someone who honorably served his country to the best of his abilities?

Chicano - Documentary

Part 1- click here- (1 hour)

Part 2 - click here (14 mins)

Part 3 - Click here (14 mins)

Part 4 - Click here.  (14 mins)

Part 5 - Click here (14 mins)

Part 6 - Click here (14 mins)

Part 7 - click here (1 hour)