http://www.c-span.org/video/?294914-1/president-truman-speech-bombing-hiroshima

This is a link to President Truman’s speech after dropping the atomic bomb. He states, “We shall destroy their docks, their factories, and their communications. Let there be no mistake, we shall completely destroy Japan’s power to make war.” America had mixed signals after the bomb was dropped. Many were elated that no more soldiers would lose their life, however, others were heart broken that some of their family members have just been bombed.

Last week, Professor Blum gave us the idea to Tweet at him about the “economic affluence inequality throughout history”. In my opinion, what’s the most shocking isn’t the gender pay discrepancy throughout our past, rather it’s the present pay difference between men and women by state in the U.S.

The gender pay gap in the United States as of 2013 showed that the smallest wage gap (by state/congressional district) was in Washington D.C., where women make 91 cents to the dollar of what men make. The largest wage gap was in Louisiana, where women make only 66 cents to the dollar of what men make .

(Since I don’t have a Twitter, I used my friend’s account to spread the word.)

The sixties were a time of great change that came with the want to deviate from the social norm. It was a time that could be described as “hedonistic,” but it was also a great counter-cultural era that promoted individualism and denounced conformity. The war in Vietnam only heightened the want for peace and neither the conservatives nor the liberals were ready to admit they were wrong. I personally believe that the want to be a unique individual still exists with us today, and as a fan of the counterculture, I would like to think that the influence of the sixties remains with us in some aspects.

Vanessa Rodriguez

Section 1, Group 3

I am going to write my essay on the Vietnam War and how the media influenced the hippie movement and all of the songs based off of the war that emerged during that time. I was looking through Major Problems and in chapter 14 I was able to find a passage of a song by Country Joe and the Fish called “I Feel Like I’m Fixin To Die”. It is a war protest song in which Joe McDonald is berating the government for sending thousands of young men to fight and die in their war. There were several songs like these which were a direct reaction to the Vietnam war.

I recently came across this twitter page called “Lost in History.” It posts photos from all different time periods and I find myself learning something new every time they post something. I think it’s amazing how Twitter is a relatively new invention but it can be combined with history from over 100 years ago. This account has 3.4 million followers, which goes to show that people still find history interesting even when it is taught outside of a classroom setting. Some of the pictures I included from this account are a guide to men’s hairstyling in the 1950’s, an advertisement for a computer costing $6000 in the 1980’s, and a rare U.S. banknote with a Native American on it. (Christine O’Donnell Section 1 Group 2)