“Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability,

but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must

straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man
can't ride you unless your back is bent. ”
–Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The struggle to end three centuries of racial

abuse and hatred led to changes in our
nation and the hope that one day we really
would be “all created equal.” Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr., and Rosa Parks were two
of the great leaders who fought for change.

Equal rights for women

led to equal pay for
equal work, as well as equal
opportunities on the playing fields.
Here, Mia Hamm heads a ball—a
scene made possible by Title Nine
legislation in 1972, calling for equal
athletic opportunities for women.

186
 The terrorist attacks on September 11, CH A PT E R 12
2001, changed the way we live, as well
as our place in the global community.

We have survived global warfare

and worked tirelessly for the
triumph of human rights over
prejudice and hate.
As we leave our imprint on a new
century, let us do so by honoring the
sacrifices of many extraordinary people
and never forgetting the struggles they
endured to make our nation great.

G L O B A L L E A D E R S H I P

BUILDING A
BETTER WORLD 1 9 6 4 - P R E S E N T

Technology has led us to explore new

frontiers, some beyond our solar system,
and to stay connected to our world in
exciting new ways.

187

DESEGREGATING
THE ARMED
FORCES
After years of fighting and
dying for their country, often in
ill-equipped units with sub-
standard equipment, a great
change finally took place for
African Americans in the military.
On July 26, 1948, President
Truman announced that he was
desegregating the armed forces.
During the Korean War, soldiers
of all races began serving side by
side. By 1953 most army units
were integrated.
Words to Know

Aspiration (ah-spi-ray-shun)
A cherished desire or hope.

Passive Resistance
Using peaceful, nonviolent ways to
get attention and achieve change,
188
such as sit-ins.
Changing patterns in American society at the end of World
War II changed the way most Americans lived and worked.
The Civil Rights movement resulted in legislation that ensured
constitutional rights to all citizens regardless of race.
There could be no denying the enormous sacrifices African
Americans made during two world wars and the Cold War
years. So why were they still treated so poorly?
A New Fight
for Civil Rights
A BITTER HOMECOMING
What did returning African American war veterans come home
to? Not parades! Instead, they returned to discrimination, dashed
dreams, and endless frustration.
African Americans had aspirations for their families—good jobs,
good schools, and equal opportunities in life. It was bitterly unfair
to be sent off to separate “colored” restrooms and drinking
fountains, or excluded from “white” restaurants, motels, or parks.
NO MORE “SEPARATE BUT EQUAL”
As long as segregation existed, there could be no equality. There
was growing opposition to Plessy v. Ferguson—the Supreme
Court decision that made segregation legal in America. Segregated
schools were one of the worst problems, so in the late 1940s a
group of South Carolina parents went to the school board to
complain. There were over 6,500 African American students in
their county and less than 2,400 white students, yet there were 30
school buses for the white students and not one bus for the black
children. Some African American children were walking nine miles
just to get to school! When black parents asked for some school
buses, they were rudely turned down. They asked the NAACP to
help. Other black parents—not only in South Carolina but also in
Virginia, Delaware, Kansas, and Washington, D.C.—also went to the
NAACP, which brought in a group of talented civil rights lawyers to
argue that the Fourteenth Amendment needed a change.
Segregation had been banned in the armed forces.
Jackie Robinson had integrated baseball.
Now it was time to
change the schools. In
1954, the Supreme Court
handed down a hugely
important ruling in a
case called Brown v.
Board of Education. Thurgood Marshall
at the Supreme Court

1. THE NAACP
Whenever something unfair
happened, the National
Association for the
Advancement of Colored
People made sure the world
found out. They expanded
their operations and hired
lawyers to fight inequalities
using the court systems and
existing laws.
Sugar and ketchup were
poured on protesters’ heads.
4. SIT DOWN,
STAND UP
African Americans held countless
protests and demonstrations.
They staged sit-ins at segregated
lunch counters and led marches.
“Freedom Riders,” both black
and white, came from all over
the country in 1961 to help
desegregate interstate bus travel.
6. CIVIL RIGHTS
ACT OF 1964
Finally! This important federal
law banned racial segregation
in public schools, at work, and
in facilities that served the
general public, such as parks
and beaches as well as
restaurants and motels.
Civil Rights legislation led to increased educational, economic, and political
opportunities for African Americans. It also helped another group that faced
discrimination…women of every race.
2. SCHOOL DESEGREGATION
Brown v. Board of Education was a major
Supreme Court decision that ruled that children
of all races should be allowed to go to school
together. But when court orders came to
desegregate schools, violence broke out in some
places, so black children were sometimes
accompanied by federal marshals or the
National Guard.
SEVEN IMPORTANT EVENTS
Civil Rights
Milestones
3. ROSA PARKS
After a white bus driver
ordered Mrs. Parks to give a
white man her seat in 1955,
she refused and was arrested.
In protest, the black
community organized the
Montgomery, Alabama, bus Mrs. Parks was
boycott. For more than a taken to jail and
year, black riders refused to fingerprinted.
take a bus, and the bus
company lost a lot of money.
The boycott ended when the U.S. Supreme Court
ruled that the buses must be desegregated.
5. “I HAVE A DREAM”
For many years Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., led hundreds of
marches and gave countless speeches. He was arrested. His
house was bombed. He received death threats. But he was
committed to nonviolent protest so he used passive
resistance and never behaved in an angry way. In August
of 1963, Dr. King spoke on the steps of the Lincoln
Memorial before a crowd of more than 250,000 people.
To this day his words still echo…“I have a dream!”
7. VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965
Southern states tried to fight African American
voter registration with literacy tests, poll taxes,
and sometimes, violence. This law made
obstacles like those tests illegal, and put
federal officials in charge of seeing that
efforts at keeping blacks from voting were no
longer permitted.
189
The murders of three civil rights
workers and years of enslavement
were evoked in this “Go vote” poster.
 The Civil Rights movement resulted in legislation that ensured
constitutional rights to all citizens regardless of race.

Almost one hundred years after the Civil War, America was still
a nation divided—between the haves and the have-nots, and
between black and white. Would things ever change?

Building the
Great Society
Lyndon Baines
Johnson became
president after
the tragic shooting death of John F.
Kennedy. Thanks to the voting laws he
pushed for, African American voter
registrations in the South soared from
less than 10 percent in 1964 to more
than 60 percent four years later.
AN ONGOING STRUGGLE
The 15th Amendment had promised that people could vote
regardless of their race. But ninety years later, people of color
in much of the Deep South were still being turned away from
the polls. Some were killed just for trying to register to vote.
President Lyndon Johnson hoped to change that and to end
all racial discrimination in America. He said, “Today,
Americans of all races stand side by side in Berlin and
Vietnam. They died side by side in Korea. Surely they can
work and eat and travel side by side in their own country.”
PROBLEM-SOLVERS
President Johnson had big plans to fix some of the many
problems that ailed America in the 1960s. In his first year as
president he secured passage of two major laws that helped
move America toward what, by May 1964, he was calling the
“Great Society.” The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the
centerpiece of modern civil rights legislation. He also pushed
for the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964— a key piece of a
sweeping “War on Poverty.” Other laws went far beyond either
race or poverty to touch all Americans. “Every American,”

The Right
Johnson promised, “will benefit” from the Great Society.

LIVE FREE OR DIE TRYING

to Vote The 1964 murders of James Chaney, Andrew

Goodman, and Michael Schwerner shocked the
nation. The three had been in Mississippi during
what became known as “Freedom Summer”—
“What was the point of being working to help African Americans register to
scared? The only thing they could do vote—when they disappeared. Their fate? The
to me was kill me and it seemed like three men had been killed by the KKK. News of
they’d been trying to do that a little their deaths caused a huge stir.
bit at a time, ever since I could
remember.” So wrote Fannie Lou Fannie Lou Hamer devoted
Hamer, just one of the many fifteen years of her life to
people who struggled, suffered, getting black men and women
and eventually succeeded in registered to vote in the South.
making the promise of the Great She was beaten and sent to jail
Society’s Voting Rights Act of for trying, but she would not
give up.
190
1965 a reality.

BETTER HEALTH, BETTER
EDUCATION, GREATER DIGNITY
A wave of new laws addressed the problems of
the 1960s. The Social Security Act of 1965 created
Medicare, a health care system for older
Americans. A companion measure, part of the War
on Poverty, was Medicaid, which offered medical
care for poor people. A good education is the
foundation of a better life, so Project Head Start
began helping youngsters from poor families
prepare for kindergarten. Upward Bound helped
minority and low-income students prepare to go to
college. The Great Society went in many directions.
Congress created Volunteers in Service to
America (VISTA), a program at home similar to
the Peace Corps abroad. But there was still more.
Sesame Street was a by-
product of the efforts of the
Great Society. Puppeteer
Kevin Clash is shown here
with his pal, Elmo.
IN HIS OWN WORDS
Lyndon Baines Johnson in his first State of the Union message,
January 1964
“Let this session of Congress be known as the session which
did more for civil rights than the last hundred sessions
combined; …as the session which declared all-out war on
human poverty and unemployment in these United States; as
the session which finally recognized the health needs of all
our older citizens; as the session which reformed our tangled
transportation and transit policies; as the session which
achieved the most effective, efficient foreign aid program
ever; and as the session which helped to build more homes,
more schools, more libraries, and more hospitals than any
single session of Congress in the history of our Republic.
All this and more can and must be done.”
MEET BIG BIRD, KERMIT, AND ELMO
Congress also created the National Endowment for
the Humanities, the Corporation for Public Broad-
casting, and National Public Radio. On public
television, young Americans soon laughed and
learned to read with shows like Sesame Street, which
resulted from Great Society programs.

SAFER CARS AND JOBS, CLEANER AIR AND WATER

A 1966 law put seat belts in Americans’ cars. Other new laws created the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which made
workplaces safer. These big changes in American policy continued on long
past Johnson’s presidency. Most still exist. Johnson’s successor, Richard
Nixon, built upon the changes and in 1970 Congress created the
Environmental Protection Agency. Today, there is a lot of debate about
whether or not government is “too big.” Should the government try to fix
everything that is wrong?

THE LEGACY OF THE

GREAT SOCIETY
In 2008, a little more than 40 years
after passage of the Civil Rights Act of
1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965,
the nation elected an African American,
Barack Obama, to the White House.
The signature legislation that
Obama sought as president—
universal health care—was built
upon the Medicare and Medicaid
In 1968 Shirley Chisholm became the first programs of Lyndon Johnson’s
black woman to be elected to Congress. Great Society, which in turn
Four years later she made a serious bid for was inspired by the
the presidency. She championed women’s Progressive Movement
rights, an area where discrimination was
191
and the New Deal.
also a major issue.
Women activists were inspired by the
achievements of the Civil Rights movement
and took action to gain equality for
themselves, particularly in the workplace.
Today women fly fighter jets and run
nations, but in the 1950s and 1960s
things were very different. Being a
housewife was often the only job
married women were permitted to have.
THE WEAKER SEX?
Do you remember World War II’s Rosie the Riveter, the
proud, strong woman who could weld a fighter plane and still
take care of her family? By the 1950s that powerful woman had
been replaced by an apron-clad, vacuum cleaner wielding
housewife whose only job was to pamper her husband and
keep her house spotlessly clean.
Where were the women who had gone to jail for the right to
vote, tended the wounded in battle, or flown solo around the

Women’s world? Many women loved being homemakers, but others read
about the Civil Rights struggle and felt inspired. Many women
felt trapped by their housebound lives, and for those women

Rights WORKPLACE DISADVANTAGES

who needed to work—for example, widows—the situation was
even worse.

When women needed to look for work outside the home, their only choices
were in the “Help Wanted, Female” ads which offered low-paying jobs for
secretaries, salesgirls, or waitresses. A woman doing the same job as a man
often got paid 40 percent less. Some companies kept women from getting
promotions with rules like the one at Colgate-Palmolive that said women could
not lift anything heavier than 35 pounds (less than the young children or
heavy bags of groceries that women often carried around).
“NOW” IS THE TIME
In 1966 a group of women got together and decided to fight
this discrimination. They called their group NOW—the
National Organization for Women. Raising people’s
awareness of the problems that are unique to
women is a focus of NOW’s work. NOW is still
fighting against discrimination in hiring
practices, pay inequality, and domestic
violence against women. It is also
making it a priority to get women into IN HER OWN WORDS
elected office in order to gain a voice Gloria Steinem, a pioneer of women’s rights, testified before
in government. Congress in 1970. The previous day the senators had seen a
slide show about the inferiority of women:
“ The truth is that all our problems stem from the same sex-
based myths. Let me list a few…
Man's hunting activities are forever being pointed to as
tribal proof of superiority. But while he was hunting,
women built houses, tilled the fields, developed animal
husbandry, and perfected language. However, I don't want
to prove the superiority of one sex to another. That would
only be repeating a male mistake.”

Today’s women can fly fighter jets if they choose to.

192
Gloria Steinem was THE FIGHT FOR AN EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT
one of the most famous A working woman in the 1960s earned about 60 cents for every dollar a man
“women’s libbers.”
earned doing the same job. Experienced women often trained men for a job, only to
see the men promoted, while they remained stuck in the same lower position. It was
bitterly unfair, so in the 1960s groups such as NOW began working for an Equal
Rights Amendment, which said “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied
or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”
The Equal Rights Amendment was passed by both houses of Congress and on
March 22, 1972, the proposed 27th Amendment to the Constitution was sent to
the states to be ratified. If 38 states
agreed, it would become law. Thirty RATIFICATION OF
five said yes, but anti-ERA organizers THE E.R.A.
went on the defensive, insisting the
new law would mean that women would
have to use men’s restrooms, that women
would be sent to the front lines of war
against their will, and that the American
family would be destroyed. Their scare
tactics worked and the
Phyllis Schlafly
amendment never became law.
fought against
But the issue of equality for Ratified
the ERA.
women would not go away. Did not ratify

TITLE NINE: A NEW GOAL

Watching the U.S. women’s soccer team win a gold
medal at the Olympics or a women’s NCAA college
basketball game, it is hard to imagine a time when
women did not play sports. It is hard to believe that, fifty
years ago, women had few athletic opportunities.
Schoolboys got to play basketball and baseball, while
girls usually jumped rope. That changed in 1972 with the
passage of a new bill. It became known as Title Nine, and
it forced colleges that got federal funding to give women
equal opportunities. The law states that equal amounts
of money and facilities must be given to both men’s and
women’s sports programs. It in turn has given women
many powerful, inspiring role models.

LOOKING BACK, LOOKING FORWARD

Despite the fact that the Equal Rights Amendment was
not ratified, it cast a spotlight on the issue of women’s
rights and equal opportunities in the workplace, creating
new options and a chance for advancement for women in
business and public service. Today women are
performing brain surgery, flying in space, and running
big companies, but on average, a woman still makes
about 80 cents for every dollar that a man earns. Equal
rights? Not just yet! 193
 Individual citizens have influenced America scientifically,
culturally, academically, and economically.
GREAT MINDS
J. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER:
PHYSICIST
As the scientific director of the
Manhattan Project, which gave the U.S.
Science
its first nuclear weapons, Oppenheimer was
conflicted by his work. He is sometimes called the
“Father of the Atomic Bomb,” but it was a title he
did not want. At war’s end Oppenheimer became
an advisor to the United States Atomic Energy
Commission and worked to stop the nuclear arms
race with the Soviet Union.
Appalled by the escalation
of nuclear weaponry, he
returned to teaching
physics. With sadness, he
would quote a Hindu
scripture that said, “Now I
am become Death, the
destroyer of worlds.”
1904-1967
Inspiring Americans
What makes America great? The genius of its people! These eight men and women are just a small
sampling of the ingenuity and brilliance of our nation’s people.
HENRY LOUIS GATES: HISTORIAN
A groundbreaking educator, this Harvard professor
has devoted his life to both African and African
American studies, but he dreams of a day when
professors of all colors will teach black culture. As
Gates said, “It can't be real as a subject if you have
to look like the subject to be an expert in the
subject." Gates is also a critic, writer, editor, and
television host who produced a series about
genealogy—the study of people’s
“roots” and the surprising ways
we are connected.
GREAT TEACHERS
Born 1950
194
Academics
1904-1950
CHARLES DREW:
DOCTOR
A person who loses too
much blood will die. Dr.
Charles Drew, an African American
doctor, developed a better way to store the
plasma portion of blood with the creation of
the first blood bank. His work helped save
millions of lives. Dr. Drew started the American
Red Cross Blood Bank, but during World War II
he was told to keep “white” blood separate
from blood drawn from African Americans. A
man of great integrity, he resigned in protest.
He went on to become the first black surgeon
on the American Board of Surgery.
MAYA ANGELOU: WRITER
She has lived a life that can best be described
as “eventful,” rising above a traumatic childhood
event and many difficult times. Angelou worked
as a cook, a streetcar conductor, a dancer, and in
other odd jobs. She gathered her experiences and
began writing searing poems and amazing stories.
Today she is a world famous poet, teacher,
author, actress, civil-rights activist, producer, and
director. Her book I Know Why the Caged Bird
Sings has become a classic. The haunting refrain
of a poem in the book tells us,
“The caged bird sings with
fearful trill of the things
unknown but longed for still…”
Born 1928
 The Guggenheim, 1959
FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT: ARCHITECT
It isn’t surprising that a child whose favorite toy was a
set of building blocks would create a radical new style.
Wright’s shapes played with geometry in new ways. The
result? Amazing buildings, such as Fallingwater,
a home inspired by his
love of nature, and
New York City’s
Guggenheim Museum.
GREAT ARTISTS
Wright also designed

Culture interior spaces,

creating furniture,
carpets, and even
1867-1954 stained glass windows.
MARTHA GRAHAM: DANCER
She has been hailed as the “Dancer of the Century” and a “national treasure.”
Graham created a whole new style of dance—movements that were jagged,
angular, and full of emotion. She created 181 ballets but went beyond just
dance steps. She worked with brilliant composers such as Aaron Copland and 1894-1991
modern artists who created amazing stage sets and costumes. Today her
vision lives on with the
world-famous Martha GREAT VISIONARIES
Graham Dance Company.

Economics
BILL GATES: COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY
The “richest man in America” got his start messing around
in his high school computer lab, at a time when computers
were difficult to use. He dropped out of college to work on
something brand new—small personal computers (PCs).
Using a PC was complicated, so Gates helped create a system
that made it easier. He sold the system to IBM and got a
Born 1955
percentage of the profit for every copy of the program sold.
His company, Microsoft, went on to make billions of dollars.
Gates has given much of it to support health and education.
RAY KROC: FRANCHISER
An order for seven milkshake machines from a tiny hamburger
stand in California intrigued Ray Kroc, a 52-year-old salesman, so he
went for a visit. He found the McDonald brothers, selling burgers,
fries, and shakes made in assembly-line fashion. Fascinated, Kroc
knew they had a great idea, so he made a deal to sell their methods
to others. He built a copy of “McDonald’s” in a Chicago suburb,
and after working out dozens of problems, he began selling
franchises—everything needed to run a business—all across the
country. Kroc began investing in real estate to go with his
1902-1984
franchises—a move that made him $500 million and a legend.

195
 After the war, Americans turned their energies to the development
of peacetime technologies.
New technologies in communication, entertainment, and business
have dramatically affected American life.

Faster, higher, cheaper, better!

The pace of change in our lives in the
last decades has been astonishing.

INDUSTRIES BENEFITING FROM
Techno-Age
Once upon a time, people got their news long
after the event happened. An evening’s
entertainment was a book. Traveling cross-
country took weeks. And sharing gossip with a

New
friend across town had to wait for days.

All that changed with new technology. Scientists

Technologies
and engineers put the knowledge gained from
research during World War II and the Cold War toward
changing the way the world worked—making life
easier, safer, and bringing us closer together.
AIRLINE INDUSTRY
The Wright Brothers’ crude airplanes have given
way to powerful jet aircraft that can take us
across an ocean in a matter of hours.

AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY
All those Model Ts coming off Ford’s assembly
line needed good roads to drive on. Today the
Interstate Highway System unites our country.

ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY
Edison’s first motion picture and recorded sound
machines have led to 3-D movies, high-definition
TV, and 24-hour news.

COMPUTER INDUSTRY/INTERNET
Early experiments with electricity paved the way
for high-speed data processing and a
revolution in how we work, shop, learn, SPACE
and live.
EXPLORATION
SATELLITE SYSTEMS The Cold War’s “Space
Bell’s simple telephone and early Race” brought many new
experiments with radio have brought us technologies together to
pagers, cell phones, and satellite television. lead us to explore planets
196 beyond our own.
Between the end of World War II
and the present, the world has been
marked by an increase in
globalization and interdependence.
HOW NEW TECHNOLOGIES CHANGED OUR LIVES
We live in remarkable times. Technology has changed the way we do
just about everything. Think back to the way we lived at the end of the
Civil War. How did people travel across the country or hear the news of
Lincoln’s assassination? How did we communicate with one another?
Now think about your life today. If you want to visit a friend across the
country, you can hop on a jet and be there in a few hours. You can visit
the Great Wall of China or do business in London, England. Since the end
of World War II, there has been a huge increase in domestic and
international travel for business and pleasure, and every day more than
three million people board flights to destinations all over the globe.

“HELLO? CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?”
An even more remarkable achievement has come in the world of
communication. In 1865 a person with urgent news could send an
expensive telegram to someone far away. Today you can send a
text message in split seconds. You can chat with someone in Africa
from your computer. We can stay in touch with one another 24/7!
TURN UP THE AIR-CONDITIONING
Back in 1865 there were certain areas of the country that were
difficult to live in. Frigid, cold winters or dangerously hot
temperatures made settlement almost impossible in many parts of
the U.S. Technology has changed that. The inventions of central
heating and air-conditioning have made living in Alaska in January
and the desert Southwest in July more bearable. This in turn has
encouraged population growth in these once-forbidding regions. In
the future new energy sources such as wind and solar power will
lower energy costs in these challenging climates.
CHANGING OUR NATIONAL CHARACTER
Perhaps one of the few downsides to the growth of technology
has come at the expense of our regional identities. Back in 1865 a
person in Virginia probably would not know what songs people in
California were humming or have the chance to eat fresh salmon
from Oregon. Today—from coast to coast—we all see the same
movies, watch the same national TV shows, listen to the same
satellite radio programs, surf the same websites, and play the same
computer games.
Many local “mom and pop shops” have given way to national
chains, and a shopping mall in Florida looks just about the same as
a mall in Texas. The little quirks and charming mannerisms that
made each region unique are fading away.
The last 150 years have seen extraordinary changes, and our
lives have changed dramatically as a result. What do you think the
coming decades will bring? What part will YOU play?
Words to Know

Globalization
(glow-bull-is-a-shun)
The linking of nations around the world
through trade, information, technologies,
and communication.
OUR GLOBAL WORLD
Technology has drawn us closer together
with other countries around the world.
Globalization has changed our lives and
helped to integrate many different
societies. We do business all around the
world, which has led us to better
understand the customs of other nations
such as China, India, and Brazil. It has
helped heal the wounds of former wars by
turning old enemies into new allies.
Technology has given us dependable
communication links with our global
partners. Faster air travel and ever-quicker
telecommunications, including the
Internet, make globalization work.
This Kenyan
coffee grower is
picking beans to
ship to the U.S.
Globalization brings us a wide variety of
international goods and services, which in
turn helps the world’s developing nations
lift their people out of crushing poverty.
Sadly, a downside of the global economy
has been the outsourcing of American jobs
to countries with lower standards of living
and lower salary levels, but our nation’s
leaders are working on new solutions.
197
American foreign policy, immigration
policies, energy policies, and
environmental policies affect people
both in the United States and in other
countries.
Our
Place
in a
Changing
World
We live in complex and often
difficult times and there are many
challenges that lie ahead. The
decisions we make and the actions
we take will shape planet Earth for
generations to come.
Twin towers of glowing light mark
the site of the World Trade Center
on the anniversaries of the bombings
after the 9/11 tragedy.
198
America changed dramatically in the hours and
days after the horrific terrorist attacks of September
11, 2001. New York City’s World Trade Center was in
ruins and Washington’s Pentagon was heavily
damaged. United Flight 93 burned in a Pennsylvania
field. Thousands lost their lives. Our nation grieved
deeply, then banded together with displays of
patriotism and national pride that sent a clear
message: “Our American spirit will not be destroyed.”
THE THREAT OF TERROR
Especially since September 11, terrorist activities
have once again made the world seem a very scary
place. Much of that threat comes out of the Middle
East, a region that is home to more than half of the
world’s oil reserves. A great deal of the oil that we
use every day comes from there. To complicate
matters, the region is the birthplace of three of the
world’s great religions.
Resolving conflicts within the region—conflicts
both ancient and new—has proven very difficult.
Americans have found themselves fighting long wars
in both Iraq and Afghanistan, in West Asia. But with
the help of all the peace-loving nations of the world,
peace can be achieved.
THE WORLD OF NATIONS
Ever-changing relationships with all the nations of
the world will help us build new partnerships. Years
ago, Germany, Japan, and China were our enemies,
but now but now we trade peacefully with all three
nations.
A CHALLENGE FOR YOU
Other big issues—immigration, health,
conservation, dependence on foreign oil—need
solutions. These are challenges for your
generation to solve!
 American Indian American Indian

THE NEW FACE OF IMMIGRATION

Unless you are an American Indian, at one point, your
ancestors were immigrants to our country. Perhaps you are an
immigrant. Bridges, railroads, highways—our nation was built
by immigrants. Authors, musicians, filmmakers—our nation HOW AMERICA WILL
was entertained by immigrants. Scientists, soldiers, doctors, and engineers—our nation CHANGE BY 2030
was protected by immigrants. Our country was formed by the sweat and blood of people
from other lands who were drawn to America by the promise of freedom and opportunity.
Latinos and Asian Americans in recent years have been the biggest immigrant groups
in our country. Some critics say immigrants are a strain on our national economy, but in
fact, almost 20 percent of the new businesses in our country are started by immigrants
and account for 80 percent of the new jobs available every year. The
problem is that more people want to come to the United
States than are allowed by law. We must control their Do you remember the Berlin Wall?
numbers because we need to have enough schools, More than 20 years after it was torn
hospitals, jobs, and housing to accommodate them. down, some Americans think a 1,950
The biggest challenges of the coming years will be the mile-long fence along the border of
Mexico and the U.S. is the best way to
development of new, fair immigration policies, so that the
stop illegal immigration.
next generation of Albert Einsteins will not be turned
away (Einstein emigrated from Germany).
THREE WAYS TO PROTECT OUR
Stopping
pandemics begins
with clean hands.
Global
Environment
We must develop new energy policies to protect our most precious
resource—our planet. A good start would be:
OUR WORLD’S HEALTH 1.CONSERVATION
A person with a contagious disease can The Earth’s surface is 71 percent water but very, very little of that water
get on an airplane on one continent and, is drinkable. Diseases carried in polluted water are a major killer across
during the flight, infect an entire planeload the globe, and here in the United States many states are also facing
of people who then spread it to another shortages. Conservation policies will safeguard water.
continent. This is how a public health crisis 2. PROTECTION POLICIES
begins. Global pandemics—epidemics that Teddy Roosevelt had the right idea when he greatly expanded our
spread over a wide geographic area—cause National Parks System to protect portions of our nation. Chopping
much misery. The development of vaccines down forests, overfishing, and the hunting of endangered species
has helped stop or control several terrible harm us all.
diseases such as polio and smallpox across 3. DEALING WITH CLIMATE CHANGE
the globe. We can do the same with When an ice cap starts to melt in the Arctic or Antarctic,
emerging diseases using early detection it affects everyone. Droughts that
and swift response. If we use all of destroy precious farmlands, floods from
technology’s tools and our global weather changes, and
connections, we can inform people of the other natural
disasters are a
199
risks and save thousands of lives.
warning for us to take action.
 A Better World Timeline

1896 The Supreme Court in 1948 Harry Truman orders the 1953 By the end of the Korean
Plessy v. Ferguson establishes the U.S. armed forces to desegregate. War, most army units are
rule of “separate but equal.” integrated.

1954 The Supreme Court strikes 1955 Rosa Parks refuses to give 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King,
down segregated schools in Brown her bus seat to a white man. The Jr., makes his famous “I Have a
v. Board of Education. Montgomery Bus Boycott results. Dream” speech to a crowd of over
a quarter of a million people.

1964 Dr. King shakes hands 1965 The Voting Rights Act 1966 The National
with President Johnson, who has further supports the Civil Rights Organization for Women, inspired
just signed the Civil Rights Act of Act with special protection at the by the Civil Rights movement, is
1964 into law. polls. formed to end gender inequality.

1972 The Equal Rights 1972 Title Nine requires that all 2001 The World Trade Center
Amendment is approved by federally funded programs be bombing ushers in a new era of
Congress—but is not ratified. made gender-equal. global terror.
200
 Explore and Review
Use page 188–189 to answer questions 1–3.
1. What policies and programs expanded educational and employment opportunities for minorities?
2. What were some effects of segregation on American society and the impact of Plessy v. Ferguson?
3. Copy and complete
the chart by describing
the African American Civil Rights Milestones Milestone Description
struggle for equality for Brown v. Board of Education
each civil rights Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
milestone or person
Rosa Parks
listed.
Organized protests
NAACP
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Voting Rights Act of 1965

Use pages 192–193 to answer questions 4 and 5 in complete sentences.

4. How were women disadvantaged in the workplace?
5. What actions were taken to improve conditions for women?
Use pages 194–195 to answer question 6.
6. Explain how each citizen listed below influenced America scientifically, culturally, academically, or
economically.
• Charles Drew • Henry Louis Gates
• J. Robert Oppenheimer • Maya Angelou
• Frank Lloyd Wright • Bill Gates
• Martha Graham • Ray Kroc
Use pages 196–197 to answer questions 7–10 in complete sentences.
7. What six industries benefitted the most from new technologies?
8. List three ways new technology impacted American life.
9. How have new technologies in communication, entertainment, and business affected American life?
10. How has globalization impacted American life?
Use pages 196–197 to answer question 11.
11. Copy and complete the chart by describing how each of America’s policies has affected people in both
the United States and in other countries.

Foreign Policy Immigration Policy Environmental/ Other Policies

Health Policy
• • • •

• • • •

• •

Apply Your Learning

• Today’s global economy is vastly different from the isolationism of America after World War I. What are
some advantages of globalization versus isolationism? What are some disadvantages?
• Women of every race, and African Americans of both genders, have struggled for generations to attain
equality in America. Have we attained it? Are we a truly equal society? Explain your thoughts.
• Technological advances have changed every aspect of American life. Respond to the following quote by
comedian Carrie P. Snow: “Technology…brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back
with the other.” What does Snow mean? Do you think she was serious or comedic in this quote? What are the 201
positives and negatives to technology?