Historical Change in the 20th-Century United States

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Connecting Literature to Historical Context

In his book “Breakfast of Champions”, Vonnegut explores the problem of the neglect of the individuals by the government selfishly pursuing its global interests. The author states that the problem that bothers him the most is the treatment of people as if they were expendable just like tissues. Vonnegut is outraged by this dynamics and decides to write about life treating each character as valuable. This work of literature reflects the domestic and foreign policies of the United States. Domestically, it enforced strict censorship and prohibited dissent disrespectfully sending to jails anyone who would look suspicious under the paranoid perspective of the Red Scare driven the majority. In the international arena, the country battled communism exposing smaller and weaker states to devastation and dooming hundreds of thousands of people to sufferings and death (War in Vietnam, Korean War)

Understanding Historical Change in the United States

Economy

The period of the Great Depression brought down the American economy. It put the population in debt, diminished the income of industries, slowed down the stock market, and impoverished the agricultural sector. The rates of unemployment skyrocketed. The lands were devastated by droughts. Environmental impact occurred. The country’s effort to defeat the problem resulted in failure. In comparison, the costs of the World War II led to some economic challenges; however, all the resources were thrown to support the front. The overall unification in the support of the foreign policy still led to social conflicts (anti-semitism, racial discrimination, insensitivity to the refugees).

Culture

During the Cold War, the situation in the world became extremely tense. The domestic dynamics within the United States reflected the growing tension in the international arena. The Cold War in the US is associated with a phenomenon known as “the second Red Scare”. It resulted in the increased alertness within the country as to the influence of communism. As a result, all individuals suspected in the support of this movement were exposed to random searches, interrogations, and, in some cases, incarceration. In other words, the majority supported the foreign policy of the USA. Those expressing dissent (or suspected in disagreements with the majority) were punished. Dissent was not tolerated as it was perceived as treason and disloyalty to the state.

International relations

The Cold War turned the two massive states and former allies in the World War II – the USSR and the USA, into enemies. The actions of the USSR as to the expansion to Eastern Europe alerted the USA and resulted in international tension affecting the rest of the world. In response, the US launched a series of programs helping the anti-communists in Western Europe and Asia. All actions of the USA and the UN attempted to weaken the spreading influence of communism. For instance, in Korea, the UN assisted the Southern forces to oppose their Northern rivals. The Korean War supported by the two major forces (the USA and the USSR) has torn the country apart. The actions of the US reflected their determination to oppose the USSR everywhere and at any time and cost, even if the destinies of smaller states were at stake.

Politics

In terms of the political views the supporters of “right” and “left” perspectives could be divided into conservatives and liberals accordingly. The two sides disagreed about a number of major political and social decisions. The Right was characterized by more radical opinions, while the Left showed more tolerance. The key areas of disagreement included social equality, Great Society Programs, Church Committee, the outcome of Vietnam War, and the American foreign policy and the participation in the Cold War namely. The conservatism of the Right was seen in their strict and old-fashioned views (the oppression of women and racial minorities, for instance). The liberalism of the Left was visible due to their milder and open-minded approach to the most critical issues (the criticism of the aggressive foreign policy and the corrupt leaders).

Society

In the middle of the 20^th century the African American population of the United States faced multiple challenges. One of them was legal segregation of people based on their skin color. Another critical issue was discrimination that resulted in the limitation of the African American population in housing, job, and education opportunities. The oppressed population responded to these challenges with a series of protests. For instance, Greensboro “sit-ins” expressed the dissatisfaction by the segregation in public places such as diners. Freedom bus rides included both black and white citizens and were meant to promote the civil right movements. As a result, the disagreeing citizens clashed with the protesters while the Supreme Court prohibited the segregation in public places.

Government programs

During the Great Depression the economic situation in the USA demonstrated a significant slowdown. One of the examples of the programs criticized by the American nation was the “new deal” offered by Roosevelt. The program was designed to address the problems of poverty and stagnation. For example, the program called NIRA served to group the companies into industries with fixed standards for prices and wages. This decision was opposed by the conservatives as they believed this was the path towards socialism. The left has its own criticism of the new deal which resulted in the clash between the two powers.

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