- Historical Eras > Postwar America (1946-1975) (x)
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A Cartoonist Explains the Vietnam War
Despite Nixon's campaign promises to end the war, his first term in office saw an expansion rather than a reduction of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. By 1970 the reasons for this involvement had become increasingly unclear.
A Cartoonist Spoofs Anti-Communist Crusaders
This 1949 Herb Block cartoon highlights the dangers to civil liberty and intellectual freedoms many Americans saw posed by overzealous and anti-Communist crusaders in the early years of the Cold War. Such fears were not unfounded: during the postwar [...]
"Chopping Block"
This political cartoon by Tom Darcy portrays the divisive impact of the Vietnam war on American society. According to public opinion polls taken in May 1970, when this cartoon was published, 64% of Americans thought the U.S. had made a mistake [...]
An American GI Opposes the War in Vietnam
In this letter to a close friend back in the United States, Douglas McCormac, a sergeant in the Special Forces, describes the economic corruption spreading through war-torn Vietnam.
Martin Luther King Speaks Out Against Injustice
These two letters from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., composed four years apart, provide insight into the evolution of King's struggle against injustice. In the excerpt from "Letter from Birmingham Jail," written following King's arrest at a peaceful [...]
African-American Women Threaten a Bus Boycott in Montgomery
This letter from the Women's Political Council to the Mayor of Montgomery, Alabama, threatens a bus boycott by the city's African Americans if demands for fair treatment are not met.
A US Marine Writes a Letter Home from Vietnam
In September 1968, Captain Rodney R. Chastant, from Mobile, Alabama, extended his 13-month tour of duty in Vietnam with Marine Air Group 13, 1st Marine Air Wing, Da Nang. He was killed 22 October. He was 25 years old. David is his brother.
A Soldier in Vietnam Reacts to the Assassination of Martin Luther King
In this letter home from Vietnam Sergeant. Phillip Woodall writes his father about the recent assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Comparing King's death with that of his platoon leader, an African-American lieutenant who died in battle, Woodall [...]
The Members of Delta Company Write to President Nixon
This letter to President Nixon was written by the members of Company D, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry, 196th Light Infantry Brigade of the U.S. Army to complain about what they saw as an unfair burden of combat duty that they and other infantrymen [...]
A Sorority Sister Volunteers for the Peace Corps
Before launching the Peace Corps by executive order on March 1, 1961, President Kennedy already had received over 25,000 letters from American volunteers. Their offers came in response to a campaign speech Kennedy delivered on the campus of the [...]