IB History of the Americas Historians

Historians for IB History of the Americas: Paper 2 Topics 10 and 12; Paper 3 Topics 15, 16, and 17

Arthur Schlesinger

Arthur Schlesinger

The Cold War began because the West was always right and USSR was the aggressor in Eastern Europe

William Appleman Williams

The US was responsible for Cold War because Americans did not want to lose markets in Europe to communism

Martin McCauley

Both the US and the USSR shared responsibility for the Cold War because of mutual misunderstandings

Bruce Cumings

The Korean War was because of Communist aggression

Michael Duckbill and Michael Hopkins

The Korean War conflict began because the US was motivated by anti-communism and containment

Robert Wood

The Korean War conflict began because the US was motivated by economic imperialism

John Lewis Gaddis

The Korea conflict was a response to communist challenges to collective security and the UN’s viability after WWII

Gordon Chang

The Korea conflict was just a continuation of the Chinese Civil War

William Stueck

Canada’s entrance into Korea may have kept the US from going too far and starting WWIII

James Matray

Korea was the turning point in the Cold War because of more money being put into defense

James Patterson

Truman expanded and militarized American foreign policy

Bernard Bailey

US only had 6% of the world population in the 1950s but consumed 33% of the world’s economic output during Truman’s administration

G. Pope Atkins

The US’s containment strategies positively affected Latin America as they had increased alliances with the US

Mark J. Stern

The Point IV Technical Assistance Program was positive for Latin America as the US recognized the need for development in Latin America

John Lewis Gaddis

Latin America was positively affected by the US’s containment policy as they received more military aid

Larz Schaultz

The US’s alliances became stronger with Latin America in the US’s containment policies through the promotion of democratic values

Joseph Jockel

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) was the first time during peace that a foreign country had some control of Canadian military (Eisenhower administration)

Fred I. Greenstein

Used the phrase “hidden-hand presidency” to highlight Eisenhower’s presidency because he was not actively addressing issues in the US

David Greenberg

Criticized Eisenhower’s foreign policies of overthrowing Guatemala’s government because it was a democratically elected government, contradicting the US’s views of democracy.

Edwin Williamson

Communism was not really a motivating factor in Latin America until Fidel Castro and Cuba

Tulio Halperin Donghi

Communist parties were actually really important in the 1930s throughout Latin America

Nick Cullather

The US used these power moves to oust Arbenz in Guatemala:

• Used Organization of American States (OAS) to isolate Guatemala diplomatically

• Created artificial economic crisis in Guatemala

• Cultivated dissidents within Catholic Church, military, oligarchy, and students

• Funded and equipped exile invasion force in Honduras

• New methods of propaganda used (posters/radio shows to create panic)

Bernard Bailyn

The New Frontier was more “rhetoric than substance” (JFK)

Walter LaFaber

The Alliance for Progress “miserably failed” (JFK)

Hugh Brogan

The Alliance for Progress was a propaganda triumph

Edwin Williamson (2)

The Alliance for Progress was an attempt to put democratic values on Latin America

Christine Keiner

Carter’s commitment to preserving energy led to his success in stimulating the economy through the maintenance of the Panama Canal

Mary Gwin

Jimmy Carter was not successful in implementing the health policy that was a part of his campaign through not securing national health insurance

George Herring

The US got involved in Vietnam because it had no choice to contain Communist aggression

Gabriel Kolko

Markets and Raw materials in SE Asia motivated American interest in Vietnam

David Anderson

There were many reasons for the US’s involvement in Vietnam (economics, domestic politics, international strategy, and “cultural arrogance)

David Halberstam

Involvement in Vietnam continues/escalated due to the Quagmire theory (US slowly and increasingly were trapped in Vietnam due to ignorance, overconfidence, and credibility)

Leslie Gelb and Richard Betts

The involvement in Vietnam continued/escalated due to the Stalemate Theory (fight an un-winnable war just to avoid being seen as defeated)

Richard Gott

Nationalism was more significant than socialism because of Jose Marti’s previous work in the country (Cuba)

Walter LaFaber (2)

The CIA could not find any communists in the Dominican Republic so LBJ ordered the FBI to “find me some Communists in the Dominican Republic”

Arthur Meier Schlesinger Jr.

Used the phrase “imperial presidency” to describe Nixon’s presidency (meaning abuse of power)

Rick Perlstein

The extreme loss in Nixon’s popularity from Watergate led to him resigning from his presidency

Joseph W. Esherick

When the Red Army left Central China, information was spread to “support the Red Army coming north to oppose Japan”

Lingzhen Wang

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) passed a resolution that helped women be recruited into peasant organizations

Denise Baden

Castro’s charisma led to his takeover

Salim Lamrani

Women had a higher status and more rights in Cuba due to Castro’s takeover through the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC)

Jason Tockman

The leftward trend in Latin American countries reflects the failure to address the dire social and economic problems of the world’s most unequal region in the past two decades (indigenous peoples)

Bradley G. Shreve

The National Indian Youth Council (NIYC) fish-ins represent the first example of intertribal direct action and the beginning of the Red Power Movement

Paula Marks

As more court decisions came in for the Native Americans in the US, the more activism occurred