June 3

Blog #130 – When Was America Great?

Our current president campaigned on the slogan, Make America Great Again.  It made me wonder, as an historian and almost-30 year teacher of history, what time period do you think he meant that America should go back to?  So, I ask you, as competent, well-versed APUSH students who have studied almost all of American history, when was America great?

Image result for make america great again

The times when America was great, in my opinion, was when America has lived up to its highest ideals like equality, liberty, rule of law (where the law applies to all, rich or poor, weak or powerful), self-government, individualism, freedom of opportunity, diversity of opinions and cultures, and individual rights.  We have lived up to these highest ideals and qualities at different times in our history, but we have also failed at several times to come close to those values.  This has been when we have denied opportunities and freedoms to individuals based upon their ethnicity or race, when we have turned our back on the world, or placed the interests of the rich and powerful over the best interests of the common good.

If you’re like me, you may have a hard time narrowing it down to one specific time period.  I’m thinking of several, but I won’t reveal my answers until you guys are done w/ this blog.

 

Please answer the following questions: 

  1. Give me a time period when you think America was great.  It doesn’t have to be the latest or the best (but it could be), a time in which you think America lived up to its highest ideals and values.  Explain in detail why you think this event or time period makes America great.
  2. Provide an instance where in American history we have not lived up to our highest, most cherished ideals.  Explain in detail why you think we fell short, and if possible, how could we have done things differently?
  3. Since the president didn’t think we were great back in 2016 when he ran for president, why do you think he thought we were not great then (in essence, what made America not great)?  Or, if you disagree with the president, why was America great then?  Explain with specific examples.  (I realize that he has changed his slogan for the 2020 election to Keep America Great, so one thing to think about is what did he do since becoming elected to make America great again in his mind).

Due Monday, June 8 by midnight.  400 words minimum for your total answer.  

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Posted June 3, 2020 by geoffwickersham in category Blogs

47 thoughts on “Blog #130 – When Was America Great?

  1. sophia chung

    1.Give me a time period when you think America was great. It doesn’t have to be the latest or the best (but it could be), a time in which you think America lived up to its highest ideals and values. Explain in detail why you think this event or time period makes America great.
    Based on my life time and the information I have reviewed about America’s history I feel that America’s peak was in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. Technology was just starting to become popular, but not to the point where everybody was obsessive of social media and Netflix. I think that from the 1990s-2000s America was creating a new era for itself and modernizing with new, and more efficient ways of doing things. Although some could argue that we have the same ideals in today’s society, I think that our pandemic, riots, and economic recession are all taking a huge toll on America to the point that our politics and society are falling apart.
    2. Provide an instance where in American history we have not lived up to our highest, most cherished ideals. Explain in detail why you think we fell short, and if possible, how could we have done things differently?
    Again, going with a more recent event, I feel that the Great Depression era was one of the worst times for American history. We were in a huge economic depression putting many people out of jobs, homes etc. Plus on top of every economic issue the Great Depression was sandwiched in between the two world wars. I feel that it would be generous to say that the Great Depression was a hard and struggling time for Americans. Luckily, the two new deal plans were passed which evidently turned America around and set it on track for a new era of America. I think we did everything we could in the time of the Depression, everybody was struggling and it was very hard to create change with everything going on.
    3. Since the president didn’t think we were great back in 2016 when he ran for president, why do you think he thought we were not great then (in essence, what made America not great)? Or, if you disagree with the president, why was America great then? Explain with specific examples. (I realize that he has changed his slogan for the 2020 election to Keep America Great, so one thing to think about is what he has done since becoming elected to make America great again in his mind).
    In every social media post, and “relatable tik tok” they mention how 2016 was the best year ever (especially summer 2016). Saying there were no worries and everybody just hung out and had fun. And I agree with all of this besides that fact that in 2016 there were murdering clowns chasing kids, and that became a joke. But in 2016 society seemed so different even though it is only 4 years in the past. 2016 definitely wasn’t bad, and I don’t understand what the president wanted to change because ever since he was elected everything seemed to change in every aspect. Now his slogan is to keep America great, obviously implying not to make any juristic changes to our political, social, and economical aspects of everyday life but I think it needs to be the opposite. Today “the Great America” is generously falling apart. With pandemics, riots, and all around disasters we need to make changes. Issues of police brutality have occurred in both Obama’s and Bush’s presidency and they managed to take the issues and unite the country, while Trump is neglecting equal and fair action and rather letting riots destroy American cities. We need a change in our government, and one that can unite us as a country to make us stronger rather than one that uses social media to mock its followers.

  2. Drew Weider

    It’s hard to pinpoint when America was great because great is a very broad term. My definition of great is similar to Mr. Wickershams, which is living up to our ideals, rule of law, individualism, diversity, access to rights, freedom of opportunity, and I’ll also include overall strength and prosperity. Based on what I know about American history and my own life experiences, I’d say that the period right before 9/11 is when America was great. The defining aspect of this period, in my opinion, is a vacuum of power in the world that was solely occupied by America. The Soviet Union no longer existed, and China wasn’t as much of an industrial superpower as it is today. This led to America focusing on domestic issues and economic prosperity. Also, the internet became increasingly popular. From what I’ve heard, race relations were better in the period before 9/11 than any time before it, and that time period isn’t particularly known for racism. Also, islamophobia wasn’t as much of a thing either because the war on terror hadn’t begun yet. The biggest setback for equal rights in my opinion at that time was Bill Clinton’s failure to let open homosexuals into the military and having the don’t ask don’t tell policy. Pretty much the entire time leading up to the Civil War was America showing how it didn’t live up to its ideals. There was a ton of polarization and sectionalism, not to mention the huge issue of slavery, which is the biggest setback for America being great. Also, during the entire 1850’s I don’t think there was a good president. They are all completely forgettable, and were complacent in allowing the south to succeed, especially James Buchanan. To reform this era and make it better, it would take a lot. I don’t know though, because it seems that the civil war was inevitable. I think Trump said “Make America Great Again” because the president was Obama. He was incredibly critical of his policies in general, and he probably thought the country was turning radically left. I disagree with him however, because I think that election year was pretty good. I saw someone already comment on this, but the summer of 2016 was just awesome. It’s a pretty common belief with young people that the summer of 2016 was great, and I think was great because of the culture of the time. There was really good music, good TV like stranger things, the olympics, and the pokemon go phase. All of this combined to a good year.

  3. anwen jones

    1.) I believe that the 1960s were the beginning of the best times in America. The Hippie movement took place, people began to realize that the government could do better, there was hope for the chance of any form of equality for minorities, and it had one of the most important strides in the Civil Rights movement. Firstly, the Hippie movement largely advocated for peace and equality. Hippies would gather in peaceful protests to share their anti-war ideals, and to protest the government’s endless violence. They also would advocate for equality, whether it be for sexuality or skin color. Secondly, more American citizens began to become more aware of how our government worked and began paying more attention to foreign affairs, less afraid to voice their opinions on how the government should change. Thirdly, the Stonewall Riot gave hope to members of the LGBT+, giving them a tiny glimpse of how future members may have more rights because of the riot, so they fought for a brighter future. Finally, the Civil Rights Movement made a lot of memorable moments during this time. In the 60s alone, there was the Albany movement, Civil Rights Act, Birmingham Campaign, March on Washington, Bloody Sunday, Chicago Freedom Movement, Vietnam War Opposition (joined by the Hippies), and the Poor People’s Campaign. All these were the first steps to a bigger fight in America, and although racial and political tensions were high then, they still are, and the fight they started is still being fought.
    2.) One of America’s worst moments took place during the 1940s, specifically during WW2. Yes, we assisted the allies to defeat the axis powers and destroy the Nazi regime, and that was an amazing moment for the world, but we also did things we should be ashamed of. First of all, we created Internment camps for Japanese-American citizens. About 120,000 Japanese-Americans were sent to these camps, where 1,862 people died due to medical negligence, some shot to death for walking too close to the perimeter of their camp, tear gas being used on large crowds to prevent riots, and some family were relocated into separate camps. Another moment we shouldn’t be proud of is the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The first bombing, in Hiroshima, instantly killed 80,000 civilians and left many with missing limbs, blindness, and skin melting off their bones, with a total of 90,000 to 140,000 people left dead. 3 days later, Nagasaki was bombed with a total of 73,884 people dead and many suffering from radiation and the ailments I listed about the Hiroshima bombings. These atomic bombs should have been considered war crimes, and the American government failed to remember that this was a war on armies, not innocent civilians. It was cruel and unjust.
    3.) I don’t think America was necessarily “great” before the 2016 election, but we had come a far way with equality; Gay marriage had been finally legalized, racism was still alive but to a lesser degree, and many people were simply able to enjoy life. Since that time, America has seriously gone downhill in just a mere 4 years. Racism has escalated, encouraged by Trump’s campaign and willful ignorance in our government/justice systems. Even now, during these protests and riots against police brutality and for the innocent people who have died, institutionalized racism is shown constantly, and our government has shown us that they do not care for us, but rather for power now, using excessive force against peaceful people for no reason except to instill fear and create obedience. We have a long way to go before we can change our government for a better America.

  4. Nolan Lamphere

    America has never really been great for everyone. Throughout our country’s history, we’ve had periods of time where things were better for one race or another, and times when it was worse. But throughout the 240+ years of this country, white people have always had the most advantages and the greatest opportunities. Within that, the greatest point in American history for white people was the 1950s. The 1950s were a time of economic growth, the United States was far and away the biggest economy in the world, and the threat of the Soviet Union hadn’t really set in for most of the world. Many adults before the 50s had grown up in the poverty of the great depression and then the rationing of the second world war. To be able to suddenly afford items you had previously thought to be luxurious shifted the entire consumer outlook in America. If you want to talk about what the best time period in America for everyone is, I’d say right now. Obviously the protests and racism we’ve seen in the past week make it clear that things are nowhere near perfect or even acceptable, I do think things are better as a whole than they have ever been. We no longer have slavery, segregation, or any laws that are blatantly racist like red lining. I also believe younger generations are becoming more and more accepting and tolerant, so it’s over time racism will continue to diminish and the country will continue to grow.

    I think the worst time period in American history was the civil war. The entire country was torn apart, family vs family, brother vs brother. The country was split because the south was too ignorant to realize the slaves they were keeping were just as much humans as they were, and deserved to be treated the same. Granted, racism was very much alive in the North as well, but for the country’s bloodiest war to be against itself over a conflict that should have never been a problem to begin with is terrible. From the birth of the nation, the declaration of independence claims that all men are created equal, and yet it took almost another century before this would be upheld to truly mean all men, regardless of race.

    I don’t agree with Trump saying America wasn’t great before he became president, but I do think I know why he said so. It seems to me like Trump is at least somewhat racist, so calling America before he was president not great, he’s subtly throwing shade at Obama and the Obama administration. They are from different parties, so a lot of their policies and opinions on controversial subjects like foreign policy, especially with countries like North Korea differ. Trump has openly said he doesn’t like Obamacare and has taken options to try and repeal and replace it with something more to his liking. The economy was realistically fine during Obama’s administration if not good and improving. Trump in my opinion has not made sufficient changes to be taking credit for how good the economy is right now.

  5. Emma Schardt

    It’s hard to narrow down one time period where America was great because great is too broad of a term, especially when evaluating a country like America. I agree with Mr. Wickersham’s definition of great: “when America has lived up to its highest ideals like equality, liberty, rule of law (where the law applies to all, rich or poor, weak or powerful), self-government, individualism, freedom of opportunity, diversity of opinions and cultures, and individual rights.” However, given all these different factors that contribute to being great, I don’t think that there is a timepoint in which America has achieved all of the points at the same time. I believe that the time period before 9/11 was when America was at a great point. I think that America emerged into this new era once the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed with outlawed discrimination on every base which created equality among the American people. Following this, movies, music, fashion and even technology were being produced and influenced the different eras. Even nowadays we label certain things as something from the 70s, 80s or 90s because all these new developments really shaped their years. While one could say we are still doing that now, since new developments occur on the daily, I think that in these past few years politics have overtaken society and these both together are slowly falling apart from their peak of greatness.
    I think there are many time periods in which America has not lived up to its highest: slavery, the World Wars, The Indian Removals, The Great Depression and more. I do think however the worst of these especially for our country was the time leading up to the Civil War. During all of this time, I don’t think America lived up to any of its ideals. America was sectionalized based on skin color and those who supported slavery vs. those who didn’t. This continued even after the Civil War, but I believe it was at its worst before. I think slavery was the biggest setback for any country in the world who participated in it, not just America. However, I think another setback is that we didn’t have any good presidents who fixed the issue until Lincoln who passed the 13th Amendment which abolished slavery. Slavery was the worst setback we had in our country, however I also am not sure what I would’ve done differently. I also think it’s hard because our lives today are extremely different then they were then and our country has evolved since then as well as people’s perspectives. I don’t think the Civil War could’ve been avoided because it was greatly needed for our country.
    Given the fact that I moved to Germany in February of 2016, my opinion of this is a little different and more limited since I wasn’t living in the States. However, I do know that all of my friends considered 2016 a great year, especially the summer and even currently I am seeing tiktoks saying they wish we could have another summer like we did in 2016. I also don’t know what Trump felt was wrong with the U.S. during this time, I do however know that he had very different views than those of Obama’s and I’m guessing he felt that Obama made America bad and Trump had to fix it. I don’t recall any issues or problems during the year of 2016 besides all of Trump’s ridiculous tweets, however those are still occurring now and the obsession with Pokémon Go. I must say given the current actions, I am not sure what Trump is thinking when he says “Keep America Great” given that he is now planning to send the military around the nation if the protests don’t stop. All over my social media I have been seeing pictures of Obama and Michelle walking with the crowds, while Trump has soldiers on both sides of him when he walks to wherever. Even Bush tried to unite the nation while figuring out how to react to 9/11. Both Obama and Bush have made efforts to unite the country while Trump is trying to add more violence by dispersing the military.

  6. Eric Heifler

    1.I don’t think I would pick one time period where America was at its greatest. For instance, I would say the Progessive Era where the US government tried to right some of the wrongs of the gilded age, protecting its citizens, and creating reform. But on the other hand, the 3 progressive presidents were also imperialists, which I see as America at its worst. So I need to take this in a case by case scenario for each category I see fit because of the massive contridictions. On an economic level, I see the New Deal and Progessive Era as the best of America. The federal government ended eras of laissez faire policy and actually got in there to make the lives of the common man better. Also post WWII America, which many see as America’s golden age, when the top marginal tax rate was at 90%, and with that money, America was able to grow its middle class. Though I think this time period was lacking in more social reform (especially racial reform) which I think was at its height during the 19th century reform movements and the civil rights movements of the 1950s-1970s (including women’s liberation, the sexual revolution, and gay rights). These were points in America when we looked at its social problems head on, and tried to make it a place of equality and liberty for all its citizens, not just a few. On a world stage though I think America was best with the Monroe Doctrine, and the 3rd wave of immigration. The Monroe Doctrine was a great ideal that America would be a bastion against imperialism, an ideal lost to us but a great one nonetheless. The 3rd wave of immigration was when America became a beacon to the oppressed. My choice for this time might be particall as my great great grandparents and great grandparents came to America at this time to escape anti-semitism in eastern and central Europe, especially the Russian Pograms, though I see that as just proving my point.

    2.I think the darkest points in American History were where we betrayed our values. The entire institution of slavery and race relations in America is a dark mark on both our nation’s history, and present. Other instances would be in our fight against communism in the latter half of the 20th century led us to overthrow democratically elected left-wing leaders, mostly in Latin America, and replaced them with murderous, oppressive, autocrats. We betrayed our values of democracy and anti-imperialism in the name of democracy corrupting the meaning of the word freedom. I also can’t help but think about what’s going on now, where we have a wannabe dictator in the white house who uses rubber bullets and tear gas to clear PEACEFUL protesters for a photo-op. This is not new in America though, if it’s shooting Vietnam protests, sicking dogs on Civil Rights protestors, or getting the military to attack labor strikes, it seems America has always been ready to use its military on its own people.

    3.I think President Trump saw that America was becoming more liberal, and he didn’t like it. There were more people coming from Latin America, we had lbieral policies in place like Obama Care and gay marrage, and we had a black president. None of this I’d imagine he’d like, so wanted America to go back to the “good old days”, probably like the social status quo of the early 50s.

  7. Owen Peake

    1. In my opinion, I think there are a few times in American history when America has been “great.” The first time I think is the years after WW2, America had just emerged extremely successful and influential. The economy was good, and the population was booming. While many aspects were great, then not everything was perfect at the time. I think another time and probably the best time when America was “great” is around the last ten years. In this time technology has been the best it’s ever been, which has made the quality of life the best its ever been. Science has also come very far, and research has never been better. America’s global reach was significant, and we did lots of good things, but also a few bad. Life on the home front was excellent. Acceptance for many groups and cultures has been at an all-time high but still needs to become better.
    2. In my opinion, America was, at its worst, was the civil wartime and parts during reconstruction. Before and during the civil war, the country was the most divided it’s ever been. The values that we think are important now were completely nonexistent during that time. Everyone disagreed on many topics, even though they may be on the same side. After the war was also a big part of why I believe it was the worst time. We had just come out of the worst time and had an opportunity to make great changes and big advancements. While important things did happen, the country missed a huge opportunity to make things great. When huge change could’ve come, the government and some people at the time just made things worse by continuing racism and segregation. I think if people would’ve pushed for and made lots of change right after the war, then it could’ve been a much better time.
    3. I think he thought America was not great because of his disliking of the former administration and government. He has many different views that the former political leaders had. He also disagreed with lots of foreign policy and trade policy with other countries. One big thing that he disliked was the state of the economy and believed that he could make it much better. Our president thought that these issues made the country bad and he believed that if he was put into power he could make change and “make America great again.” I disagree with his views, and I think that America at that time was in a very good place but there definitely were issues.

  8. Christopher Rivera

    I believe that America was great during the late 1990’s. As this was a time of peace for most Americans and a time of prosperity. No war, no terrorist. America was creating a new era for itself and modernizing with new, and more efficient ways of doing things. Although some could argue that we have the same ideals in today’s society, I think that our pandemic, riots, and economic recession are all taking a huge toll on America to the point that our politics and society are falling apart. As for a time we didn’t live up to are moral standards as Americans one can simple point to anytime before slavery was ablosed. It’s a simple answer really I understand that but I think it’s the right one. Westward expansion is also a time I don’t believe america was at its proudest, from a historical view at least. The slaughtering of native peoples would be frowned on in today’s world. Since the president didn’t think we were great back in 2016 when he ran for president, why do you think he thought we were not great then (in essence, what made America not great)? Or, if you disagree with the president, why was America great then? Explain with specific examples. (I realize that he has changed his slogan for the 2020 election to Keep America Great, so one thing to think about is what he has done since becoming elected to make America great again in his mind). Well, the president who currently thinks America is great is delusional. There are riots and protests, a deadly disease is rapidly spreading even though media coverage has died down. People are still dying. Not to mention there hasn’t been a time in the past 200 years where Americans Have been in such a political divide. Why the president didn’t think America was great in 2016, is probably because he was simply referring to president Obama. Other than that I can’t pinpoint any part of America then that was worse than now. We fell short in 2016 in the president’s eyes I believe 1. By having Obama as president and 2 by terrorist organizations like ISIS still being prominent. With that said currently, Unemployment is at a record high, Americans are at a near record amount of division and oh yeah there’s also a deadly virus. I suppose you could argue there were more terrorists when Obama was president. As for the second part of this question I just thought of something funny. Maybe the only reason he thinks America is great is because he is incharge and the only way to keep it great is for him to be incharge. I mean it sounds obvious but I don’t think he would have it anyother way, meaning I don’t think he would support another republican to run even if he could.

  9. Jonathan Sheygaz

    With many possible time periods to choose from, one of my favorites would have to be the Roaring Twenties. Throughout this decade, many Americans not only prospered financially, but culturally too. Severa cultural resolutions were transpiring during this time that seemed to increase the perceived freedoms of most Americans. Even with prohibition seeming to restrict freedoms of the liquor lovers, the ‘underground’ speakeasies only showed the true spirit of America and our desire for full cultural freedom. This time period was also filled with vast job opportunities in new factories and vast amounts of credit to purchase goods previously unaffordable to the masses. During this time period, the stock market also showed a significant boom.
    Anyone could provide numerous different time periods for which the United States fell short in our main ideals as each individual time period had its negative aspects alongside with any positives. One period that I think the United States fell short was the 2000s. This very recent time period was filled with congress passing legislation that ultimately restricted the freedoms of Americans as a whole. As an example, the USA Patriot Act which was signed into law in 2001 as a result of the tragic events of September 11, 2001, had a significant impact on the privacy of American citizens and still does today. One of the specific aspects of the Act allows the government to perform secret searches without having to notify the person whose information or property is being searched.
    I think that under his presidency, America has been made somewhat worse economically. As a specific example, the numerous Tariffs in the trade war with China have had very significant impacts on many, many American businesses who rely on their relationships with Chinese companies. Additionally, the tax reductions for businesses as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 have overwhelmingly gone into purchases not beneficial for the economy such as stock buybacks. This economic instability caused as a result, has made America a more unpredictable country to do business in. America in 2006 was also financially unstable as proven in the Great Recession of 2008. Mortgages were too easy to obtain at this time and Amreicans faced record levels of consumer debt up to that time. As a trend that would continue past 2006, the trade deficit also continued to widen with the United States importing a greater amount than we exported in goods.

  10. Neely Allen

    A time where I think America was great from a government standpoint would have to be the reconstruction period. I feel that the reconstruction era was one where America made the most progress in a short period of time. We saw the abolition of slavery, development of voting rights and amendments like the 13th,14th and 15th. Some of the things that people were fighting for during the civil rights movement were for things that were legalized during this time period, but then made illegitimate by the south and racist groups like the kkk who instilled fear in black people in terms of voting. In addition to the reconstruction period, I felt that the time leading up to the civil war and during the civil war were great for America in terms of influential people who were doing good. Abolitionists and things like the underground railroad correctly displayed american ideals of fighting for justice and freedom. I feel that the time span from about 1850 to 1877 was not “great” in all aspects, but I feel that this was a time in which genuine efforts were made to better the lives of people who needed it without ulterior motives of self benefit.
    A time where America fell short would be the 60’s in my opinion. Not only was their injustice against people of color but queer people as well, not to say that there wasn’t injustice before or after but the extent that the government went to in order to oppress people was absolutely revolting. People who tried to march for their rights were met with such hate and the government did nothing to help. Its quite similar today in my opinion. It feels as though with all these riots and so little change that part of the government would let this nation burn before they give up such ideals. Same goes for gun reform, but that’s a completely different topic. I’m sure they’ll convict these officers in an attempt to appease the public and continue their racist and ignorant operations after all has been said and done. And after writing this paragraph I think I’d change my answer to today. America truly seems at its worst not only because of the injustice and issues but because of the time it’s had to fix it. If a child gets upset and hits someone, you teach them not to do it again. If an adult gets upset and hits someone they face bigger punishments because they’re older. They know right from wrong. Same goes for a country. These issues are not new, these protests are not new, these demands for respect and decency are not new. But the longer they go on, the worse the punishment should be for a government and system who ignores it because by now we know better.
    In 2016 I was a seventh grader who didn’t know who Donald Trump was until I heard he was running for president. I had a narrow view of the world and even then I didn’t agree with what he was saying simply because of what he thought a great america would look like. I know that one of his main campaigns was to tackle illegal immigrants and since his time in presidency I’ve learned about immigration facilities that mirror concentration camps, I’ve heard of kids dying in there and being torn from their parents and considering how adamant he was on getting these illegal immigrants I feel he thinks he’s successful and wants to keep it that way. I do not know much about what he’s done as president and especially not anything good he could’ve potentially done and part of that could be because I only get news from media that i agree with or it could be because he just hasn’t done much to tackle issues that I consider to keep america from being “great” but I do know that america should not be looking for a president to “make america great again’’ based off the good things only accessible to group of people during a horrible past. We should be looking for a president who’s looking to make america great based off of all we’ve been doing wrong to groups of people and fixing it today.

  11. Charles Hudson

    I personally believe that America has always been great, regardless of the struggles we’ve been through. That being said, there are some time periods that were very good for most American people. One such instance of social and economic prosperity occurred in the 1990s, with the rapid development of technology, stable economic growth, and a general carefree attitude that defined the decade. Socially, the rate of crime decreased dramatically, with the murder rate going down by over 40%, which contributed to the general positive atmosphere of the time. Economically, the 1990s saw stable, continuous, and above average growth, with GDP rising a little under 4% a year (throughout the decade). This expansion led to a rise in the average standard of living, and Americans were able to enjoy the fruits of their labor, by spending money on new technology and media. The 1990s saw American culture thrive, with the development of new types of music and media (Nirvana, rap, etc). One of the more subjective benefits of 1990s society was the fact that cell phones were becoming very common and making it easy to communicate with each other, but it still wasn’t developed enough to become disruptive like it is today.

    American history hasn’t always been amazing though, and this is shown during the Antebellum period of history. Sectionalism, prejudice, and racism were commonplace, and slavery itself existed as an entrenched instution of the South, hurting millions of people. For a country that prides itself on freedom and liberty, this was a big issue, even if some of the citizens were free. The country also saw itself being torn apart by the competing political factions (North and South) who ignored the needs of the country and focused on ruthlessly pushing their own agendas. With all of this considered, I think that it’s safe to say that Antebellum society wasn’t the best time in American history.

    I disagree with the President’s previous statements that implied that America wasn’t already great before his election, but I can understand somewhat where he was coming from. While America (in my opinion) was great before 2016, it did suffer from problems. The pervasiveness of identity politics and increasing political radicalism was weakening the country and making us increasingly divided. Foreign policy was somewhat mismanaged, with many previous presidents (Clinton, Bush, Obama) focusing on the Middle East and getting us bogged down in conflicts there, rather than focusing on major threats such as China, and to a lesser extent Russia. Economic stability was weakened with the repeal of the Glass-Steagall, which arguably helped amplify the effects of the Great Recession. Of course, I’m not saying that all of these issues are resolved, but these are some possible reasons behind the President’s statements. So while I don’t believe that America wasn’t great before 2016, there were problems, and I think that the President’s slogan wasn’t intended to be interpreted literally, and was chosen over alternatives primarily for its catchy nature.

  12. Alex Warren

    1) A time period when America lived up to its highest ideals I believe was in the second term of Obama’s presidency leading up to the 2016 presidential race. If I were to restrict the time period even further, I would pick 2015 as an individual year in which America upheld its original values. One of the nation’s most important values is the one of self determination/individualism i.e being able to decide your own future and actions without much government restriction. Prior to Obergefell v. Hodges thirteen states still did not recognize or allow same-sex marriage, but with SCOTUS’s decision in 2015 all states had to issue marriage licenses to gay couples which was a substantial leap forward for LGBT rights and upheld our value of individualism since gay people could now legally marry in those states (including Michigan). Diversity also was on the rise across all ethnic groups (minus white alone non-Hispanic) during this time period meaning that society was becoming more diversified with people of different backgrounds, opinions, and experiences. In 2014, The minimum wage was increased to people under federal contracts which would allow those who receive low wages to better take care of themselves and their families and pay for education opportunities such as community college or university which would allow them to further their career. Finally, another example in which I believe America upheld its value of self determination occurred at the state level with the legalization of recreational and medical marijuana. The initiative largely began in 2012 and by 2016 all but five U.S states had decriminalized the use of marijuana to some extent which was a great win for stoners and those with certain medical conditions who now had the right to enjoy smoking for fun, but more importantly some Americans gained the right to greater control over their medical care and treatment of their conditions.

    2) An instance in American history in which we did not live up to our original ideals was during John Adams’ presidency, specifically in 1798. In this year the Alien and Sedition Acts were instituted, the latter of which was a direct compromise of the first amendment and allowed for imprisonment if you wrote or spoke in opposition to the president and the government. In this instance we fell short of our original values of both rights and diversity. First, with the disallowance of freedom of speech and press on the subject of the government, the Sedition Act violated American rights. Second, because the Sedition Act was targeted at Democratic-Republican newspaper editors and publishers (although nearly no one was actually charged and jailed) this act hurt the diversity of opinions because the press under the act could become exclusively pro-Adams and pro-Federalist. If I could go back and change history I would not allow either of these acts to be signed into law because I do not believe they were what kept America off of the brink of war with France. If these acts were not in place, I believe America would have fostered a more diversified society and a place in which its citizens enjoyed more rights.

    3) Trump is not only a president but a businessman. During the end of the Obama administration, the annual GDP (both real and nominal) was decreasing (but not anywhere close to the Great Recession). President Trump was and is very invested in the economy, so during his campaign he used it as a major point of interest and felt that the sluggish GDP was what was hurting business growth and entrepreneurship. I believe that he also thought America was not “great” due to the former president being a Democrat (Obama) so his slogan was a way to say that Obama was creating a “bad” country. Who knows if Trump actually believes America was bad during Obama’s presidency or if he’s just using the slogan as a way to get voters and shade Obama, but either way I don’t really care. Trump uses the unemployment rate to show how he is making America great again, but if he were to look at the statistics over time he would realize that the drop in the unemployment rate was helped substantially by Obama after the Great Recession. It also backfired because unemployment rates skyrocketed during his presidency due to Covid-19 and has only just recently started to decline.

  13. Jack Nagy

    1. Unfortunately, America had glaring flaws in every era. Even when things were looking bright, there was something holding it back. Up until 1865, slavery still existed, and there was little unity in the country, leading up to the Civil War. Until 1968, Black citizens were treated with little or no respect, and were segregated from the white community. From the seventies onward, the country has not been unified at all. Recently, the amount of mudslinging has gone up drastically, with either party denouncing the other. To be great, we need to be unified and peacefully operate as one.
    2. Up until 1968, Black Americans were treated with no respect. Until 1865, they were enslaved in the South. During enslavement, they were subjected to hours of painful toiling in the field, and they were harshly punished when any punishment was handed out. After the Civil War, laws in the system were put in place to make it harder for Black Citizens to do daily tasks. When a black person was accused of a crime, there was an almost 100% chance they would be convicted and would get an extremely unfair sentence. The judicial process they encountered was short and unfair. The jury would automatically rule them guilty, and there was a chance they could get lynched in their cell before the trial even finishes. Lynchings were common before segregation ended. It usually involved white men kidnapping, torturing and killing an innocent black man, but Jews, Catholics, and Immigrants were also subjected to this cruel punishment.
    3. Before he was elected, the American economy was not doing very well. During Obama’s presidency, he raised the national debt from $6.5t to $20t. His foreign affairs were not great either, with many poor deals with Middle Eastern Countries, which enabled them to get Weapons of Mass Destruction. Donald Trump aimed to make Obama’s wrongs right. So far, he hasn’t done too much about the national debt, but he has added so many new jobs, and he plans to bring back factories that moved to other countries. The Stock Market has also been doing very well and has rebounded since the drop when COVID started to close businesses. Even though he has been the victim of lots of mudslinging, he perseveres, and only wants what is best for the American people. His slogan “Keep America Great” signifies that he wants to keep the same level of productivity.

  14. Noah Drake

    1. America has had its ups and downs throughout history for sure, and prides itself it on overcoming injustices and obstacles. In history I think that the best time was the 80s and 90s. i think in these times people and the country in general was much happier. the Vietnam war would be over in the previous decade, and no major military action would occur for some years. in 1991, the Soviet union collapses, which is a very nice moral booster for the American people. with the decades before the 80s and 90s, being the great depression, world war 2, Korean war, civil rights movement, and then back into war in Vietnam. I think that America built off of these decades, and brought into the last two decades of the 1900s an energy that would set the tone for what the 2000s should carry on.
    2. I think the most obvious form of not living up to the American “greatness” is the civil war. this was a time where the entire country was torn in half for a horrible reason, slavery. I say this is the worst time in American history, a time that truly rivaled the idea of a great nation. Because we were tearing other Americans down in the hundreds of thousands. the whole civil war was born from human ignorance, the south not wanting to accept that the slaves were just as equal to them as their fellow white owners.Also in this time period families were ripped apart based on the belief of slavery or not, a phenomenon that replicates itself on any major disagreement in the nation. Not to mention, this is the bloodiest war in the American history, and of course it was against ourselves. this was a time where America was basically on its knees, after the impermanent crutch of slavery collapsed, and the country had to rebuild itself.
    3. I think its clear to say that Trump was speaking on the previous administrations management of the nation. His promise of bringing back a great America, has entirely flopped, and I think there is more tension and brink of chaos in America than there has ever been. Although the pandemic itself is not Trumps fault in any way, the horrible response by our country is his fault, as a leader. His slogan change to keep America great also doesnt work because why would anybody in their right mind want to continue what is going on right now. Riots and protests cover the country end to end, every major city. I also think that what Trump has done in office isnt bad, If he was any other character other than himself he would probably be considered a pretty good president. for example many cities, and states, have experienced lows in unemployment of all races. (although this will probably change due to covid).

  15. Maya Gratch

    I think that it’s very difficult to pinpoint a time in history when American has completely lived up to all of its ideals. Our equality, our acceptance and celebration of different cultures, our fair government, and our civil rights are all things that are to me, what it should mean to be an American. Throughout our history, I don’t think that there has been a time where all of these ideals have been present and that makes it hard to choose a time where we have been “great.” To me, a time period that most lived up to all of these ideals was the 1960’s. Regardless of the various presidents during the time, the number of people during that time who were willing to give their all into fighting for a better America made America great. Many communities of people banded together to fight for common causes, like the rights of the LGBTQ+, the African American civil rights movement, the women’s rights movement, and other fights against oppression. The unity between so many different types of people is what made this time period so great.
    There are countless times where we haven’t been able to live up to our ideals as a country. A time period that stands out to me as being exceptionally bad was the 1870’s and 80’s, following reconstruction. While during the time of Reconstruction there were several moves made to help African American’s become more equal, the end of Reconstruction brought back many of the same issues. The Jim Crow laws passed in 1877 are a perfect example of how the period directly following reconstruction was one of the most oppressive time periods in American history. These laws took back many of the rights African Americans had just gained. Similar to African Americans, other people of color in the US made no traction, and women, though more began to work, also weren’t given any significant rights.
    In Trump’s opinion, I think that the reason he used the motto “make America great again” was because he disagreed with a lot of the government and legislation made during Obama’s presidency. Trump’s government now in contrast with the government of Obama’s presidency is more laissez-faire, isolated, and focused on providing for the upper class, instead of the people who are in need. I think that Trump saw Obama’s government as too liberal, and by “making America great again,” he’d be making our country more focused on traditional conservative values. In my opinion, though America had its fair share of issues before Trump’s presidency, Trump has in no way followed through on his promise and in my opinion, has made it worse than what it had been before.

  16. Macy West

    1. I don’t think America has really been great in every aspect for any one time in our history, I think the best is yet to come. That being said, if I had to pick a time, I would have to disagree with the president and say that around 2016 or generally the second term for Obama. We had the first black president and gay people could legally get married, and I think generally the trend in history is that as it progresses groups apart from straight cis white christian men gain more rights legally and more acceptance socially. So I thought it was important to choose a very recent time period because choosing the 50s would feel wrong because it was only really great for one group of people. I would also say that America was not so great as soon as the election season began because candidates on both sides were hated by a lot of people and caused a lot of political clashes and divisions among americans so the time period I think has been the greatest would exclude this. I was twelve in 2016 and younger in years before so I wasn’t really aware of the political decisions happening during this time frame, I just knew that like I thought everyone should be equal and gay people should be able to get married like everyone else. That being said I know there were probably some things during this time that were not handled great, and I do know there were a lot of racially motivated police brutality crimes so this isn’t just a 2020 thing. The reason I didn’t choose today is that I think that the current leadership is dividing the nation, and the president and his tweets and quotes were the reason that at twelve years old I was like, “oh god, I should pay attention”.
    2. I don’t think we’ve ever really lived up to our standards, but to give an especially bad example, slavery happened. I don’t really feel like I have to explain why slavery was bad, because we all know and were in class when we learned about it. I don’t know what was worse, when slavery was legal everywhere, or when half the country figured out that African Americans were people too and the other half thought that that was so false that they proceeded to leave the country (cecede) at the possibility of slavery being abolished. Clearly those were very bad times for an entire group of people, and it divided the nation that created a war.
    3. I obviously disagree with his opinion that 2016 was not great and that times before it were much better and I explained this before. I think he didn’t like how liberal the country was or Obama. He accused Obama of hiding his birth certificate because he thought that Obama was muslim, and I don’t think he is especially empathetic towards muslims considering the muslim ban he implemented. To be clear Obama is not muslim and now his birth certificate is public information. He probably thinks America is now great because he is president, and maybe because he created new jobs (although not a drastic amount more than the last terms of presidents) and that was something he was planning to do, but coronavirus did sort of get rid of a ton. Not to say that for sure Trump is a narcissist, but in my opinion he is, and I think that just the fact that he is in power is enough for him to think America is great.

  17. estelle v

    1. Mr. Wickershams, definition of great is living up to our ideals, rule of law, individualism, diversity, access to rights, freedom of opportunity, and I’ll also include overall strength and prosperity. Going off of that definition, I think that America was the closest to “great” in the 1990s to 2010. Many things were happening that were positive for our country. Technology was finally starting to become popular, but it was actually helping people, nobody was obsessed with phones and social media, and people still lived their normal lives. I think that in this time period, America was creating a new reputation and a new “norm” for itself, becoming more modern and finding quicker, more efficient technologies to help people do everyday things easier.

    2. I think that a point in American History where we betrayed our values and didn’t live up to our highest, most cherished ideas was during slavery and the civil war. I’m not sure which one was worse. The simple fact that slavery was legal everywhere in the country and the majority of people were okay with it goes against American values in my opinion. Also, half of the country decided to leave and ended up starting a war because people were starting to “wake up” and start seeing that slaves were people too, and what was happening wasn’t right. This ended up dividing the nation drastically, completely going against american values. Another time where we betrayed our values is right now in my opinion. I think the government could try and cooperate, especially the president, who doesn’t seem to care about the current state of America at all, and uses everything he can to his benefit.

    3. Back in 2016 when Trump was running for president, I was just in seventh grade, and didn’t really know, or care about the elections. During the elections, I didn’t agree with a big part of things he said, and I remember everyone thinking he was never going to win and taking him as a joke… and then he won… In my opinion, I think that Trump didn’t like the changes happening in America under Obama’s presidency. He disagreed with many democratic ideas, during the elections it was mainly the issue of immigration, and his idea of wanting to build a wall. There were more people coming into the United states from Latin America, and this probably didn’t sit right with Donald Trump. I’m not exactly sure what the “great” america was that he’s constantly referring to, but it was probably not too great. I think that america before he came in was better off than it is now. I definitely don’t agree with his views, and I think that America before he came in was in a very good place, inevitably with its own issues.

  18. Nabeel Zaheer

    I think the peak of America was the 1950s and I think this because of the amount of change the time period brought and what it taught Americans. Look at the 1950s like this, world war two just ended and America looks like the number one country right now in the world. World war 2 was a great success for the U.S as they were on the winning side of the war. The economy is booming right now, people are happier than ever, and people are taught something from world war two. They are taught the horrors of war, and as a result want to be more peaceful and hope they don’t get involved in something like world war two again. People are going through rapid changes and are beginning to be open into new things. For example, people believed in sex after marriage but now women are having sex before marriage more often. Families are also spreading out and are moving into the suburbs instead of being overcrowded in major cities. Not only that, the U.S was seen as the biggest military power too because of their world war win and the country is going through rapid technological changes. There are new cars being invented, new tools being invented, new consumer goods being invented, this was a great time period that brought change.

    I know this is far back but I think the worst time period in U.S history was the 19th century. Reconstruction and the civil war literally made the U.S look like a joke and seem heavily hypocritical. The country claimed to be the land of the free yet African Americans were discriminated against, lynched, and there was a fight for slavery. During this time period, citizens would literally kill eachother because they had opposing viewpoints on slavery, such as a congressmen being beat up because he dissed another congressmen on his views. This would be impossible nowadays but people back then believed it was the right thing to do. Not only that, we have things like bleeding kansas and African American communities being destroyed because they’re African American communities, not white based communities. This whole time period was absolutely disgusting and I honestly get disturbed sometimes hearing what happened.

    I honestly agree with Trump because I don’t think 2016 was “great, I think they were decent when it comes to politics. I don’t think Obama was necessarily a bad president but a lot of things happened around 2016 that Obama didn’t really stop or help prevent which wouldn’t let them become great. We have massive shootings happening more and more around this time period, but there’s also the middle eastern war regarding islamic terrorist organizations. Not only that, we had the flint water crisis there because of the government wanting to take a cheaper option. I don’t think 2016 was a bad year but I think it was mediocre.

  19. Ellie Deighan

    In my opinion, the time in which America was the greatest was the 1992-2000, prior to 9/11. This was after the 1950s, where the Jim Crow laws were diminished, so although racism still existed, there were no laws that were racist and prominent in society. Additionally, we were at peace with other countries. The Cold War ended in 1991, and we had not yet invaded Afghanistan. Also, 9/11 had not happened yet, so terrorism was at a minimum. Technology was advancing, making life for Americans easier, with the invention of the internet in 1983. Although there was the internet, people were not as reliant on it as we are today. This is a good thing because as we can see today, the internet is not always the most reliable and can spread around false information. Furthermore, social media was not a big thing yet, which is good because a lot of people in the present day are addicted to social media. It can also cause people to compare themselves to others and can leave people constantly wanting more, which is very mentally unhealthy. Also, the economy was booming, creating a better life for many Americans who had been impoverished before.
    The worst time in American history was probably leading up into the civil war. The issue of slavery created a massive disagreement in the country. So much so that the south seceded from the country. This is a huge failure for America because as a country, we are supposed to be united and during this time, we were not. Honestly, a war was necessary to break the institution of slavery so it probably could not have gone differently, but it was still a very awful time in history.
    The president probably thought that America was not great in 2016 because terrorism was still extremely prominant and we were still at war, with troops in Iraq. There were also killer clowns so that was a problem as well. Unemployment was super high, as well, which I know creating jobs was a part of his campaign while running in 2016. But, I always see tiktoks and memes about how 2016 was the best summer, so I suppose that most people were generally happy during the time. In comparison to now, I would say that America was much greater in 2016 than it is now, with the pandemic and problems with police brutality.

  20. Ella Plumstead

    1. I never quite believe that America has been truly “great”. Americans have certainly felt euphoric at times and celebrated what was going on in their lives, but the good times didn’t come without struggle. Take the roaring 20’s for example. People flooded the streets and partied beyond belief after the end of World War 1. Technology was evolving and civil rights movements were in the works. However, this doesn’t mean America was “great”. Citizens just felt great. Times in history such as Manifest Destiny displayed the “American Dream” and ideals that better America, but again, this didn’t happen without the struggle of living out West and the inhumane treatment of Indians. There hasn’t been a perfect time in American history in my opinion that truly feels as though life stands still and nothing could be better. There is always room to improve.

    2. Going off of the roaring 20’s example, the time was sandwiched by two disastrous times in American history. Before it, we have America’s first world war, which is bad because war in general is violent and devastating and signals that there is an extremely urgent conflict that needs to be resolved. I’m not sure how we could have avoided this or how we fell short, but it happened and we moved on. After the 20’s, the Great Depression occurs. The worst economic crisis of the time that the world has faced. Such gleeful and exciting times were followed by extreme hardships. The stock market crash could have certainly been avoided and measures have been taken to now prevent that, so not having the knowledge to protect and stabilize our economy is where we fell short. If leaders had realized the possibility of this happening sooner, this could have been avoided. Another example would be the establishment of slavery and the Jim Crow laws. To me, the fix is simple. The fix is to never treat other human beings like that ever. Our country fell short because we did not treat everyone equally and we denied people the rights they inherited when they were born into America. We definetly could have done things differently by never allowing a concept like slavery to be accepted into society. Unfortunately, racism is still a very prevalent issue in the US today.

    3. “Make America Great Again” is a slogan that has always striked me because I still believe America was never “great”, however, I don”t think America has been “bad” either. This country certainly has its ups and downs and a great day or experience for one also means a bad or negative experience for the other. The US is one giant opportunity that comes with its own unique challenges and benefits for people to conquer in their lifetime. Certainly there are striking issues that need to be fixed, such as the unequal treatment of African Americans by police, and the president definitely hasn’t done anything to try and fix it. Such a problem left unresolved doesn’t make his presidency a “great” one. Don’t get me wrong, every president has their struggles during their time in office, but they’ve never referred to their campaigns or America as “great”.

  21. Kevyn Roessler

    My definition of what makes our country great is similar to Mr. Wickersham’s. I think what makes our country great is when we actually are a bastion of freedom and equality. The only time period that I can think of where we lived up to our values as a country was the Obama presidency. Before 2008, our President was always an old white guy, with JFK and a few others as a middle-aged white guy. Obama’s election proved that it doesn’t matter what color your skin is (and Hilary Clinton’s chance to win the nomination proved that it doesn’t matter what gender you are), you can still become the most powerful person in the United States. By 2015, we had legalized same-sex marriage. Obama also brought this country closer with an enemy we’ve had for years and years: Cuba and the Castros. Unfortunately, his final step in this direction came eight days before his second term was over. We were also planning to take in thousands of refugees from Syria; these people were fleeing an absolutely devastating war, and had to take some incredible risks to make it to somewhere safe. For a time, one of those safe havens was our country. Overall, Obama’s presidency was one of, if not the only time that we’ve been great.
    Unfortunately, every other time period has a dark side, in my opinion. Slavery was prevalent throughout all of the South for 89 years after the forming of this country, and even though people were trying to fix things after the war, Reconstruction is viewed by most people as being completely ineffective, and Jim Crow Laws and Segregation began to take root by the 1880s and 1890s. The Gilded Age is full of inequality, with the gap between the upper and even middle class was staggering. People like J.P. Morgan were so rich, they were able to bail out the government during the Panic of 1897. The Spanish-American War saw us commit serious atrocities in The Philippines, and WWI’s chemical weapons left many people scarred and shell-shocked. In the 1920s, the rich got richer and the poor got poorer, until everyone got poorer in the Great Depression. WWII saw the imprisonment of thousands of Japanese-Americans just for either being from Japan or having family from Japan. We also destroyed two whole cities. Hiroshima was home to about 280,000 civilians, and Nagasaki had about 240,000. In three days, America committed thousands of war crimes. The ‘60s saw the passing of the Civil Rights Act, but that didn’t end racism, as those of us that didn’t think that are clearly seeing now. In addition, the Vietnam War is almost the sole reason that we haven’t entirely trusted the government since. Watergate has become shorthand for a big political scandal, and the advent of the AIDS epidemic saw incredible discrimination against members of the LGBTQIA+ community. 9/11 was absolutely incredibly tragic, but it in no way justifies all of our wars in the Middle East, some of which are still going on today. Today, the world is coming apart at the seams. Our President seems more concerned with whether or not he’s going to get re-elected than with the over 100,000 deaths his negligence has caused, and his political party have been reduced to just sycophants who do whatever the President wants and defends the undefendable. By and large, America as a country has done some great things in its 244-year lifetime, but it really hasn’t been great for that long until something ruins it.
    I think President Trump thought America wasn’t great because a Democrat was in charge. During this past decade, our society has become more partisan than ever, if you need evidence of that, you can reread the end of the previous paragraph. I personally disagree with the President, and believe that President Obama’s two terms were one of, if not the only time that we’ve ever been truly great. I don’t really want to rewrite my entire first paragraph, so I’ll skip to the next part of this question. I think President Trump believes that he’s made this country great because of how the economy was doing. I really don’t like him, if I haven’t made that clear enough, but I’ll admit, the economy’s done really well, at least before the global pandemic.

  22. Elodie McLaughlin

    1. It is hard to narrow it down to a specific time period to when America was great because our country has been through many ups and downs. If I had to choose a time period, I would say that America was great in the 1990s and early 2000s. This is because technology has become much more advanced, the quality of life has improved, and we have taken steps in accepting others for who they are (however, we still have a way to go). During this time period America was more calm because in previous decades we went through WW1, the Great Depression, WW2, the civil rights movement, etc. After those tough times, I think that the happiness of Americans was greater.

    2. An instance where we have not lived up to our highest, most cherished ideals was during the Civil War and the years prior. America was divided during this time, and slavery still existed. America could not agree on a common path forward. There were factions that supported abolishing slavery, while certain constituants were fully in support of owing slaves. African Americans were enslaved during this time and white supremacy was a belief that many Americans held. African Americans were not free, they did not have equal rights, they were treated as “second class citizens”, and the South refused to accept slaves as citizens of the United States. Additionally, the Civil War was the bloodiest in American history. Having our country divided and not “united” was one of our biggest periods of disgrace.

    3.I believe that Donald Trump disagreed with the former administration’s policies with respect to business and taxation, and therefore thought that America was not “great”. When he says “Make America Great Again”, I believe that he is focusing on improving the economy. He spent much of his time and effort on trade and tariff reform and an emphasis on American manufacturing. His administration overhauled the tax system for both business and individuals. He reduced the level of taxation for the middle class, leaving more money in everyone’s pocket. His focus has not been social issues such as the support of the LGBTQ+ community, civil rights issues, police brutality, etc. He routinely rants on Twitter with his unfounded opinions on COVID-19 and any issue or person that he disagrees with. Trump thinks America is great because of the economic growth and prosperity in this period, however he chooses to disregard the negative social aspects of life in 2020.

  23. Nin LE

    Similarly to Mr. Wickersham, I believe America can truly be called great when you can identify aspects of their ideals such as equality, liberty, and law. America can be truly called great when it finds the perfect balance between having power while keeping its citizens all equal. The time period where America saw the greatest improvement both socially and economically was after the 1970s following the civil rights movements.
    Before the 1950s, african americans were kept separated from white society, seen in black neighborhoods, segregated bathrooms and drinking fountains, and even dining places. This was one of the worst time periods in america’s history, one we could not call great. But this came with social reforms through black rights and the civil rights movement, which was a powerful statement coming from african americans during the time. They faced death threats and lynchings for participating, but they saw that America needed to change desperately. Not just the african Americans, but a large number of white people as well saw that they needed to come together during this time in order for America to move forward, similarly to current times. I see greatness in America during this time because of the ability of both sides being able to eventually come together to right the wrongs. We became even more comfortable socially which provided opportunities for improvements in other areas.
    A time period where America was nowhere near its greatest was actually the time period before the civil rights movements, it was a point of great social reform while reminding us of the traumatic past America has given to african americans. Jim crow laws put african americans below white people once again, which was just america saying they didn’t want to consider african americans as equals in society. It would have difficult, but america should have just accepted equality after the civil war and the abolition of slavery.
    In 2016, Trump felt that America was in the middle of a decline, that America was not the superpower it once was, and he wanted to return America back to its glory. I think America was doing fine in 2016, quality of life was as good as it gets for a while. It was a good time period filled with lots of technological advancements and social equality. Perhaps Trump was looking into the future, maybe he wanted America to become more powerful than we already were.

  24. Erin Parker

    Pinpointing an exact time when America was great is difficult because America was never at a peak of excellence. Sure there are times when this country exemplifies the values of freedom, diversity, prosperity, and individualism. And those aspects still encompass this country, but unless the decades of oppression and systemic racism that burdened societies of minorities, are fixed and restored, this country will always have that weighted factor that prevents it from being great. If I had to draw from past eras or dates to pinpoint when America was at its’ peak, I would date it back to the last two decades before Trump’s presidency. This was the late 1990s through 2000s. Starting with Bill Clinton’s presidency, when America was transforming society into a more technological dependent atmosphere. This time period saw the lowest unemployment in 30 years, economic expansion soared with Clinton’s ideas of an open foreign market, or the NAFTA agreement. Reading and test scores rose, the introduction of technology in schools fueled this, financial aid for college students. I think the emergence of higher education for millennials is one of the most important tasks you can focus on, because we are the future, and the future needs to be educated. When Barack Obama was appointed to office, he made history. He overcame huge milestones to be in that position, and I think that was one of, if not the greatest time in America. It showed a hope among minorities that we have a chance to succeed against the stigmas of the past. President Obama rescued America out of the Great Recession, and captured Osama Bin Laden. I think the most current events of 2020, is when America was not great. Donald Trump coined the phrase “Make America Great Again” as his 2016 campaign slogan, yet this country is at one of the worst low points. With a global pandemic, and a president who doesn’t know how to properly combat this issue. He disbanded the Pandemic Response Team under Obama, he did not act in time when he was first briefed of the issue, he refused to take any responsibility for his lack of action, cut ties with the World Health Organization, which in turn places our country at a disadvantage when it comes to finding a vaccine. We could have prevented so much turmoil and death, if we didn’t have a baby in office. I disagree with Trump’s notion, that America wasn’t great in 2016. I think our country was secure and safe. We had secure ties with other countries, there was hope of the first female president, after the first black president.

  25. Rachel Akaba

    American history has been up and down when it comes to where people in charge tend to prioritize. Because of this it is hard to choose which era or decade truly showed a period of equality, rule of law, individualism, freedom of opportunity, diversity of opinions and cultures, individual rights, etc. I think a period that showed promise to most of these ideals would be the 1960s to the 70s. During this period so many discriminated groups of people took a stand to change American society and the current laws thet were then in place. For example the Civil flights Movement truly helped to change social and political aspects that impacted the black community. The movement managed to dismantle the Jim Crow system, encourage a law that prohibited discrimination based on race in public and private facilities, dismantle systems of segregation and guaranteed the right to vote for all black people. There were many other movements that did similar things. For instance the Women’s rights movement fought for equal job, educational and political opportunities. Due to the movement, the workforce and colleges saw an increase in the number of women. Women also got the right to abortions and birth contril pills. Another community that saw change during this era was the LGBT+ community. During this period they succeeded in geting several cities to pass laws prohibiting employment and housing discrimination against them. Other groups such as the Native American and Latinx communities fought for more representation in the workforce and in society in general. I think a time where America didn’t live up to the highest ideals was when reconstruction ended due to the Compromise of 1877. This compromise allowed the federal government to stop enforcing the rights of black citizens in the South, and resulted in Jim Crow laws which would strip down all civil liberties that African-Americans deserved for another century. If this compromise didn’t exist injustices against the black community may have been solved long ago. Based on his slogan Make America “Great” Again, I believe Trump may have not thought we were great because he didn’t like Obama or his policies and accomplishments. But the truth is even with his new “Keep America Great” slogan, America is declining is its “greatness” due to heightened racial injustices and prevalent systemic racism encouraged by the president’s words and demeanor. I do believe that sometime in the near future, with the right leadership, America could truly be great.

  26. Alex Hamze

    In my opinion, I believe that America was never always great. We had our ups and downs, our mistakes and our good choices, and our good eras and bad eras. However, I do believe that Mr. Trump is selling a complete and utter lie.
    I believe that the time period in which America was great was between the late 40s to the 70s. During and after WWII, our economy was booming and so were jobs. We were a big producer and more opportunities opened up for Americans. Throughout the early 60s and late 70s, America had truly become a place of change and movement. New types of fashion opened up, women became Independent, new forms of music came, and new types of film came along as well. We had also started to see peaceful protests and the hippie era. People were standing up for what they believed was right and we saw new forms of protests as well. We had fixed broken bonds in the Middle East between Israel and Egypt in the Camp David Accords with former president Jimmy Carter. This was a prosperous time for America and it truly made our values transparent and was a great time for Americans.
    A time when America was not great would have to be the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War was by far the most wasteful and brutal war we had ever fought. Many Innocent people died and too much money was spent. I believe that we fell short in our tactics to prevent Vietnam from becoming Communist. We could have made a more peaceful approach rather than killing innocent people and keeping our troops there. All in all, the Vietnam war hit our economy hard and damaged U.S. military morale. There were a lot of things we could have done differently but the killing of innocents was not right and we could have developed a more peaceful and less-costly approach.
    I believe that the President thought we were not great back then because the economy was not supporting him and his friends and he simply was not getting more money like him and his friends want. The only reason he ran for office was so he could change the laws that hurt him and his powerful friends and restore capitalism at its finest: Only helping out the rich and painting the working class out of the picture. I believe that America was at a good time in 2016 simply due to the fact that international relations were more stable, we were not escalating problems, the economy was more stable, healthcare was available to more people and more people had insurance. Big businesses were not in as much power as they are now. Trump is simply looking out for the rich.

  27. Emma DeMarrco

    I think the time in which America was the greatest was in the late 90s to the 2000s era. However, I don’t think there was ever a time in our history where America was truly great and free for all people. We began oppressing African Americans through slavery hundreds of years ago dating back to the beginning of America, and they have remained oppressed ever since. This goes true for other minorities such as Mexicans, Native Americans, the LGBTQ community, and many others. I say the 90s to 2000s era because it was a decade of good feelings and was very unique. It was also recent, so our country had greatly progressed socially and racism and discrimination was no longer written in our laws (for the most part). The reason I didn’t pick now, our most recent time, is because of obvious issues occurring right now in which people are being racially discriminated against by law enforcement officers, and African- Americans are being shot and killed for no apparent reason. This of course has gone on for a lot longer than just now, but is very predominant in our country right now. We were also decently economically stable, and making new technology advances. Women and men could dress how they wanted to, and they had a very liberated style with room for expression.
    I think the time period in which we had the institution of slavery was our lowest point. There was no possible way for our country to be great at any point during that time because not all of us were free, many were enslaved to others. This entire time period is the definition of a corrupt, controlled, anti-free America. We were profiting off the backs of tortured, captive slaves, and there is nothing great about that.
    I think that in 2016 our country was doing pretty well. I think that he believed it wasn’t great because of the influx of illegal immigrants, although I believe that a lot of them were necessary to our economy and workforce. Trump has differing views, and would rather get rid of all of them, which would explain why he found something wrong with America in a time where we had many immigrants living in our country. I also believe he said this because of our previous president, Barack Obama, which everybody knows Trump is not a fan of. To sum up, I don’t believe there was a time where America was 100 percent truly great, because many have lived through its oppression since the beginning of time, but I really do hope we get there someday.

  28. Clarice Kim

    A time that America lived up to its ideals was during the Progressive Era. There were groups committed to shrinking the wealth gap and the inequality that came with it. Muckrakers were dedicated to helping promote public safety (life), and kept corruption in check. The power of labor unions helped promote (some) equality between workers and employers. The anti-trust laws established protection against groups getting too powerful in America, therefore protecting the liberty of others. The reforms also tried to make it easier for people, regardless of their starting socio-economic situation (sometimes), to pursue what made them happy. Urbanization and further industrialization helped strengthen the American economy, which in time would allow America to invest in social security (and the like) for its people.

    I believe that society during the Gilded Age did not exemplify American values. It was a time where it was hard for the majority of the population to survive. Corporations and trusts controlled the working conditions and wages of many to their benefit, and the government did not stop their suppression of citizens’ freedoms. The wealth gap presented no chance at equality, especially for minority ethnic groups. Working conditions were not made safe for the worker, as employers were always looking for the most efficient and cheapest way to make money. Child labor was prevalent, and prevented them from being well-educated. This further limited citizens’ opportunities for the pursuit of happiness.

    In 2016, America was okay. We weren’t stuck in a recession, and we weren’t involved in any major wars. Technology continued to develop, which in turn changed the ways that ideas circulated. There were terrorist attacks in Europe as well as domestic terrorists (school shooters). Those events (from my memory) were some of the bad things about 2016. Racism and discrimination cases of marginalized groups still prevailed, but there were some advances in this (such as the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2015). I think the things that Trump thought that weren’t great in 2016 were the issues with terrorism, ObamaCare (or in other words, the move towards universal healthcare in America), “illegal immigration issues”, and the push for raising minimum wage (and other market/business-controlling practices). I don’t agree with Trump that all of these things were problems in 2016.
    As for today, I don’t think that America is any greater than it was in 2016. I mean, even if Trump solved some of the unemployment issues and the market did well during the beginning of his presidency, all of that went “down the drain” this year. Plus, the worst effects of the pandemic on the country would not exist if Trump took action sooner, and didn’t cut ties with the WHO.

  29. Margaret Anderson

    I don’t think there has ever been a time when the United States was truly “great.” I think that the Progressive Era was good because it was the period in which Americans took a lot of steps towards bettering society and living up to American ideals. While there were still flaws in their society, the progressives made a lot of progress over a short period of time. They were working to make society better through various movements. There was the Suffrage movement, which gave women the right to vote. There was also an increase of protection for workers and workers compensation was introduced. Steps were taken to limit child labor by setting an age minimum and a maximum workday. They began regulating businesses and making sure consumer’s products were safe, for example the Pure Food and Drug Acts of 1906. Muckrakers and books, such as The Jungle, began to open citizen’s eyes by exposing corruption in government and in businesses. I think the Progressive Era best showed American ideals and values because people were working together to make the standard of life better and a majority of people were receptive to these changes. Even though the Progressive Era took a lot of steps in the right direction, it still had its share of flaws. There was a revival of the Ku Klux Khan across the country, immigration laws based on nationality were based, and eugenics emerged. These things all discriminated against minorities.
    I think that an era when we feel short of American ideas the most was during the time of the Civil War. The states were extremely divided and had their own interests in mind. One of the causes of the Civil War was slavery. Some of the southerners became too concerned with making the most profits possible for themselves, and didn’t care if that meant completely taking away the rights of others and forcing them to be slaves. That goes against the American idea of “freedom for all” and equality. This could have been different if people had been more open to change.
    I feel like 2016 was a pretty good year for America, maybe that just because I was younger. No one seems to think badly of that time and it doesn’t seem like there were a lot of things that needed fixing. I don’t think things in the U.S. have gotten necessarily better since Trump was in office. I think that the slogan was just Trump’s way of publicizing himself.

  30. Elsie Meilinger

    I believe America was truly great in the 2000s. I know that sounds stupid because in 2001 the most tragic day in American History occurred, 9/11. Even though that moment was sad, scary, and so many other emotions, it brought our country together. It was the one time in history where no one was focused on the wrongs of society, but just on coming together to defeat the panic and fright of terrorism in our countries. We had to rebuild New York together, and had to suffer the losses of so many heroes together. The rest of that decade felt nothing but strong and united.
    All of our lowest points in history in my opinion relate to the problem and unjust wrong of slavery, not the “necessary good” that John C. Calhoun thought it was. Although all of slavery was horrible, our lowest moment was during the 3/5ths compromise. The fact that larger states thought that they deserved more representatives in the government because they owned more slaves than the other states is completely absurd. A person should not be counted as “property,” or as three fifths of a person. Obviously there shouldn’t have been slavery in the first place, but those slaves were people, and it’s disgusting that our ancestors thought anything less of them.
    Donald Trump has made huge claims about his ability to “make America great again,” but not only that, he now thinks that he made it better during his four years of presidency. I don’t know exactly what Donald Trump could be referencing when he says we need to make America great again. Frankly, it’s insulting to the former presidents of the United States, claiming that they did an insufficient job at leading the United States. We made history in the 2008 presidential election by electing the first African American president in the U.S. I believe that President Obama did a great job at keeping our nation united and civil. What we’ve seen during Trump’s presidency is that African American citizens feel the need to speak out once again that they are not getting the equal treatment they deserve, and they definitely aren’t getting equal treatment from their president, their leader, who makes racist and insulting comments towards them and their culture. In my opinion, America really hasn’t been great. During every new presidency, there is always a new controversy, always a new flaw, and always a new battle to fight. It all depends on what you believe in.

  31. sydney taylor

    1 In my opinion there was never an actual good time when America was great for arfican americans it’s always been close but never there. But to an extent american is trying so. I think that America lived up to being great during the time it would have been during manifest destiny when american continued to grow. Where luisana was bought then the golden age happened so everything was going well. The expansion was bound to happen at one point in time but when it happened it was big. The boom of people moving out west to have farms and start new lives was many. The gold rush had many people coming into the states to start a new life by getting gold and selling it.
    2.well the history of 2020 so far it’s going pretty trashy. As you can see with people not wanting to stay inside during this pandemic we are having. Along with people not doing their part as citizens of america and staying at home as they should. It’s killing people and then there are people getting upset over the fact that they can’t get haircuts because we’ve been quarantine the past few months. The covid cases have gone up greatly because the states have been opening up when they should have started closed. And from before the corona stuff we had the propaganda of a 3rd world war. That had everyone on edgy. And now with the black lives matter movement it’s been almost 30 years why is this still happening. The protest for the unjust sistem witch was looked over too many times. But now it’s starting to change and the history of the year 2020 so far.
    3. The president thought that America wasn’t great because there were so many illegal immigrants and african Americans in the usa. And I strongly disagree with that. America was just fine with how the country is. The country will never be in a great state exactly in the world we are in now. Like it was fine back then we didn’t have the fears the county has like now. The thoughts of making america great again is a false thought that will never be real. You can not fix a county that way that is not how it works. I liked America before Trump became president but as you can tell just by who is in office how much a country can change so quickly.

  32. Lara Ringey

    For me, it’s difficult for me to be able to really pick one time and say that it was overall great, because whenever America has excelled in areas, there’s blatant areas of failure. However, I’ll give a broad time period in which I believe America has been greater. The 1990’s was an overall successful decade, as it was a time where we had steady economic growth, as well as technological and cultural growth. Ignoring the first year of the 90’s, as there was an economic recession, that decade overall was a positive time for America. Eventually, an economic boom was hit, launching America into this good decade. Jobs during the time were also steadily being made, which assisted in improving the economy. Technological advancements were also huge, with the rise of the internet truly shaping up with the World Wide Web being created. Today, we still see trends arising from the 90’s, as the culture during the time was so strong that it’s made a lasting impression on generations after it. Thus, if I had to choose, I’d say the 90’s is the best example of a time America was great.

    Unfortunately, unlike it being difficult to choose a great era of America, it’s so very easy to pick out several showing the extreme shortcomings of this country. In fact, I believe our country has been entering another horrid time period currently, with the several horrific events that have occurred as of late. However, a prime example of a horrible time is the Reconstruction Era. After a major step with the abolition of slavery, with the Reconstuction Era, it was as if nothing had changed. Several laws were begun to be put in place to restrict African American’s despite their new found “freedom.” Extreme violence was constant towards African Americans, with strict black codes being placed along with white supremacist groups such as the KKK and the White League forming. Many African Americans were also dragged into the sharecropping industry, which was practically another form of slavery as they were in permanent debt and couldn’t escape. Economically and politically this era failed as well. The Reconstruction Era was a point of extreme poverty, especially within the South. Overall, this time was a complete failure as it failed to do much to benefit anyone, especially African Americans.

    I believe that 2016 was overall a good year from what I can remember. The slogan “Make America Great Again” seemed to root from Trump’s extreme distaste for Obama’s liberal administration. Trump has done many questionable things, specifically in terms of social issues within our country as well as foreign affairs. Trump boasts about how he has entered America into the best time economically with unemployment rates dropping, despite it having been decreasing since Obama’s presidency, I’d argue what the most significant thing he’s done during his presidency is create an extremely large divide between the people and the government.

  33. Draque Williams

    1.From everything i’ve seen so far on during my lifetime I really think that during the early 1990s – 2000s were the years when America was flourishing and “great”. For one many people were starting to flow towards the new economy which was beginning to be more internet driven. Many investors were getting rich off easy stocks from investing in software and internet companies. Social networking sites soon also started to get noticed like myspace, twitter and facebook flooding with people from around the country. Many films were also beginning to lean towards the new technology of the generation with 3D flims that became more popular. Movies like the lord of the ring and x-men became top staples for the movie industry and the technology it used for the flims.
    2. I think a time in America when we did not live up to our most cherished ideals would be this year 2020. I know that the year isn’t over quite yet and there is still some room for improvement but so far this year we haven’t been living up to the ideals that everyone is equal. With the recent George Floyd incident and more similar incidents caused by police brutality and racism it causes many to wonder if what we have been doing in America is right. I feel that since we are long past the Civil Rights Movement we should have been moved past the idea of racism but I think that is the top downfall to make this not one of America’s highest points. I think this could have been avoided by looking at the previous years, Especially during the other BlackLivesMatter protests which could have been a warning to avoid and change things from this years many protests and complaints towards government.
    3. Personally I think that America hasn’t never been entirely great for a period of time but rather we have had great moments all around the course of history. This leads me to disagree with Trump’s slogan “make american great again” since it has never been “great”. Although 2016 did have many great moments like for instance the 2016 Olympics was a great moment in American history since many Americans took home gold metals. It was also a political peak for women of color getting elected into congress with its first Indian American female getting into congress. Another big change was allowing transgender people to openly serve in the military by whatever gender they went by and allowing same sex adoption in Mississippi which was big for the LGBT community.

  34. Josh Moore

    In my opinion America was great in the 2010’s to now. We had serious technological advancements starting to begin i think that in the later part of the 1900 we were building up to where we are now in our country but i think these riots and protests are really brining the inequality and mistreatment the african american communities experienced that were neglected in the past few decades. And I think that with time our country will keep evolving to the best form it can be where everyone is treated equally. There was a lot of people pushing for gay marriage rights which inevitably lead to the legalization of gay marriage. The minimum wage was also increased in 2014. Also states started to legalize marrijuana which is a positive because it shows the government is listening to the people.
    I think america was at a low point in the 50-60’s this was 100 years after the civil war where our country was divided over slavery and many people died i the fight to end slavery yet there was still a lot of discrimination. African americans were beaten and seriously mistreated by whites and they got away with it. There was a lack of justice being served to the white people doing these horrible things to innocent african americans. America was a country where people should all be treated equally because that was something that america was meant to represent and with the lynching that was going unpunished shows the poor state our country was in. The country in a state where if you weren’t white you were treated very differently and there was al ot of white supremisist. There was also an issu with the KKK
    Before 2016 our country may not have been as great as it could have been it was a pretty great country but we did accomplish a lot considering equality with legalization of gay marriage and there was a lower amount of racial tension. And i think when trump he says make america great again hes talking about making america more republican again after the obama administration

  35. blair chernow

    Personally, I think anytime before Trump was great in comparison to the last four years, but I understand the question is asking me to be more specific so I’ll choose the year 2000s. Particularly in 2015, when gay marriage was finally legalized, this was a step toward equality, and many people were able to legally be tethered with a loved one. This is one of the peeks in American ideals and morals and will forever be a large step in the right direction regarding equality. Another event in this time period that I believe was a step in the right direction for America, is the election of Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic supreme court justice. This broke down a huge barrier for minorities, and although we have a long way to go, this will forever be a historical event worth mentioning.
    I think a time period where America did not live up to our highest ideals would be right now, the year 2020. This year, specifically these past months, Americans have taken many steps back regarding equality. Police brutality is a prominent issue we are facing, and although we are attempting to fight for these freedoms for fellow Americans, President Trump and the government are constantly finding ways to silence these efforts, causing an outbreak of rioting and looting. Some may argue that we have come a long way in the fight for equality, but getting rid of slavery is really the only accomplishment that these people can use as an example of making any progress. But when you really think about it Black Americans are still treated much like slaves without equal rights, mass incarcerations, difficulties voting, and poor living conditions. Black Americans have not been treated equally for centuries and now, with Trump in power, it has become easier for people to abandon all these morals and decencies and go back to being racist and entitled. I’m not saying this is the worst time period in history, I am just saying that these past few months it seems like many Americans have abandoned all of these ideals.
    In President Trump’s eyes, as a republican, I think he thought America wasn’t great because of the recession our economy was experiencing. Although we had worked our way back from it, money seems to be on the top of Trump’s list of important things and during that time period, the economy probably wasn’t as great as he may have thought it should be. Personally, I disagree with Trump’s statement, I think America was great, or at least it was safe. These past four years there have been school shootings, more sexual assault claims than ever, a pandemic, and a march for equality in support of black Americans. President Trump hasn’t made anything great, except maybe the economy, which is now in ruins anyway. So overall I think he has made things a lot worse.

  36. Brennen Vechazone

    Many times America has been seen as great and had many great moments. But the question is when was the last time America has been great and or what is the definition of how America has been great. Our president, Donald Trump, has had his slogan since 2016 as “Make America Great Again”, but now it has changed to “Keep America Great Again”. Now let’s get into when America has been great.

    In my opinion, I think the United States of America has had many great times. But I think that America had one of it’s greatest times when the colonists finally got their freedom and independence from Britain. I see this as America being great because all of the colonists and soldiers really came together to earn their freedom. I know this was 100’s of years ago but we can see that happening in our society today. With all of the violence, racism and police brutality, protestors are now having peaceful protests to have change. Change is what is similar between the same time periods plus many more in American history. So all in all, I see the American Revolution and early stages of America as being great.

    There are many events and times America has been great. I see America being great when everyone is together to support each other and fight for a common cause. An event I see is the 9/11 attack in New York. Yes the attack was very tragic but it was after what happened was the main point of everyone being great. But there are many times America was not great and I think the time America was not great at all was the age of slavery and the Civil War. We were not great due to the enslaving of Africans and treating them horribly and abducting them from their home land. As you can see, this was probably one of the lowest points of America.

    In my honest opinion, I think he only said that due to being run over the last 8 years by a Democrat president while Trump is obviously republican. I say this due to some of the backlash Obama faced from some of his ideals and ways from the American company. I feel like America was doing perfectly fine but I feel like the slogan was only made because of Obama and the Obama administration. Also, the way Trump speaks, in person and over social media doesn’t help the cause of this due to him seeing not having a filter. So that’s why I think the slogan was made to say that.

  37. Gillian Emerick

    1. Give me a time period when you think America was great. It doesn’t have to be the latest or the best (but it could be), a time in which you think America lived up to its highest ideals and values. Explain in detail why you think this event or time period makes America great.
    I think it is hard to pinpoint an exact time period when America was great because there is always a period of time when there was a group of people being discriminated against. However, if I had to choose a time period that I thought America best lived up to its highest ideals and values it would be the 1990s. The Soviet Union collapses right at the beginning of the decade, setting a happy and uplifting tone for the next couple of years. It was a big era for technology as it had become much more advanced and we were discovering new things and ideas. The technology then was at a point where it used to just help people instead of possibly causing a large distraction like it does today. The quality of life was also improved, and the country was taking steps to become more accepting of all people.
    2. Provide an instance where in American history we have not lived up to our highest, most cherished ideals. Explain in detail why you think we fell short, and if possible, how could we have done things differently?
    I think a time in American history when we completely went against our highest ideals was during slavery and the time of the Civil War. While America prides itself on the idea of freedom for all, the country was completely separated over the idea of enslaving people. It took many many years for a president to do anything about slavery, until Lincoln was elected. We could have done things differently by realizing was earlier on that enslaving people just because of their skin color is not okay.
    3. Since the president didn’t think we were great back in 2016 when he ran for president, why do you think he thought we were not great then (in essence, what made America not great)? Or, if you disagree with the president, why was America great then? Explain with specific examples.
    I disagree with his statement that America wasn’t great in 2016. I think Trump greatly disagreed with the way Obama was leading the country, especially because of how liberal it was, and believed the country was no longer as “great” as it had been.

  38. Ty Kennedy

    As compared to other countries, I feel like America, while it hasn’t been the best country in the world for as long as I’ve been alive, it certainly has been a better country than a lot of other countries. When we take a look at North Korea or China, I don’t really think anyone in America would want to move there permanently (except for a slight assortment of reasons). I feel that America was best in the 2000-2018 time frame. However, I would exclude 2008 from this because, while many good things happened that year, the stock market crash put millions of people in unemployment. I feel that from 2000-2018, technology rapidly advanced, with online stores crashing through stock market value and new forms of entertainment released almost daily. If we showed people from 2000 phones from 2018, they would look at us like we were crazy. Unemployment rates (besides 2008) also floundered most of the time. Of course, many people believed 2016 and 2018 to be horrible years (mainly because of global warming and celebrity deaths), but I felt like those years were my favorite. What I say has lots of bias specifically because I experienced 14 out of the 18 years in this time frame. I was oblivious to the world’s problems when I was younger and even when I grew up nothing much happened.

    When it comes to America not being the best in terms of values, morals, and quality of life, I feel there are four candidates for this. Of course, 2020 is one of these candidates. There are many things we have to deal with right now, such as COVID-19, which has dealt a huge amount of chaos on our country politically, economically, and socially, and also the Black Lives Matter Protest, which, even though I fully support, is dealing a lot of damage to police, the government, and cities such as Minneapolis. Of course, as this is the worst year I personally have experienced, it goes on this list. Other candidates would be the Great Depression and the 2008 stock market crash. I grouped these two together because they both had highly negative impacts on America’s economy, and while the Great Depression’s stock market crash hit harder and longer, the 2008 stock market crash personally affected my family, so the fact this is a candidate is biased by that means. Finally, I feel like America wasn’t at its best during the Civil War. This is because we had two sides of America totally opposed against each other over an inhumane treatment of African-Americans. Thankfully, the North won this fight, so slavery is not part of American society today. For all of these candidates, I feel there would be nothing we could have done to fix these or prevent them, as they would happen at some point of time.

    When Trump’s campaign slogan was “Make America Great Again”, I feel like the reason as to why he felt 2016 as a bad year was because we weren’t doing as economically good as he wanted us to. Of course, he was right about this, but in his presidency, he didn’t do much to fix it. Yes, we did get money added to our bank account, but not very much of it. Politically, he did the opposite of what his slogan said to our country by making a huge fool of himself and getting into trouble, but alas, I feel like he’s going to win the 2020 election solely because I don’t think many want Biden as president either.

  39. Evan Meinel

    There was one time period that I thought America was “great”. The United States of America has not ever lived completely up to the potential America has. The closest America has gotten is during the 1980’s. The 80’s was a time where the United States of America didn’t have the most problems. The time period that had the least problems, is the time period closest to being “great”. The 80’s had the fewest problems. The 80’s had the Challenger explosion, the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and the Cold war was still going on. These are some of the major things that happened in the 80’s. The 80’s didn’t have any wars like Vietnam or a World War going on. Overall the 80’s was the closest time period that America has gotten closest to being great. 1980’s was the time period that had the fewest issues going on for the United States of America and for the American people.

    The entire Jacksonian era was one of the worst times in American history. The United States of America did not even come close to being “great”. With President Jackson in office, he sent thousands of Native Americans to their deaths. Jackson made laws to remove Native Americans after the United States’ government said they could keep that land. Jackson also vetoed 12 bills, that is more than all of the presidents before him combined. He was running a Monarchy, he put in place the spoils system. Jackson put his supporters and his friends in places of power within the United States government. Jackson hated the Native Americans. President Jackson was basically a tyrant, he vetoed every bill that wouldn’t benefit him. President Jackson removed/killed Native Americans for his benefit. President Jackson put his people in places of power. This basically was a monarchy, President Jackson did what he wanted when he wanted.

    President Trump didn’t think America was great in 2016 because the government did have the same ideas/morals that he has. So Trump ran for president to create change in the government, to “Make America Great Again”. America was fine before Trump was in office. It is true that the United States of America had its troubles, but they were not the same compared to now. Trump turned the United States of America into not great. Every other country in the world thinks the United States of America is a stupid country, all because we have an idiot in office. Trump is the leader of our country, when he does something stupid, it is reflected on all of the American people. How Trump handled the Coronavirus was the stupidest way. Basically telling people to drink bleach to kill the coronavirus, on national T.V. How he is handling the riots and protests, “When the looting starts, the shooting starts”. The President of the United States of America tweeted that out, unbelievable. All Trump did in office was that he made America worse and made America look like a fool for putting him in office.

  40. Charlie Pesek

    American is supposed to be the land of the free, and the land of endless opportunities, however it doesn’t seem that way from an insiders perspective. Personally, I don’t think American has ever been as great as it says it is. Throughout our history we have been divided, whether that been because of race, sex, class, sexual orientation, or background. America has faced many issues, many of them are still unsolved. However, during the 1860’s most of us put our differences aside to build the transcontinental railroad, and then I believe was our greatest time. As the dust from the civil war began to settle, and people began to move out west, people came together to aid the common goal. The transcontinental railroad was one of the biggest technological achievements of the century, and it took an entire country to rally together for the railroad to be built. Not only did the railway provide jobs for the working class, but it helped convince people to settle westward, and helped expand our country. What used to take a month of treacherous travel, could now be accomplished in a week on a soothing train ride. No longer did travelers need to face the intense climate, and weather changes, now they could sit back and relax as a train moved them from one end of the country to another.
    However, the country has had more downs than ups; especially recently. The last two decades have been fueled with problems that our country has yet to solve. It began with 9/11, the worst terrorist attack on American soil to date. This caused panic and intense racism throughout our country. Middle esatern people no longer felt safe leaving their homes, and were often harassed or mugged in the streets. Then during the early 2000’s, members of the LGBTQ community were attacked for loving someone of the same gender, or proclaiming themselves as a different gender, gay marrige has since been legalized, but they are still treated s lesser humans because of who they love. And in the last ten years, police brutality has been on the rise. In the past month we have seen the death of Geroge Floyd, and in response we have rioted. We have destroyed entire cities in the name of justice. Everyone is in agreement that his death was tragic and the people involved should be charged with murder, howvere it isn’t fair for us to destroy proprtey that had nothing to do with his death.
    I don’t believe that American has ever been great. We claim to be a free country that is filled with equality and peace, but that is a lie. Our current president wanted to make American great again, but I don’t believe he has done anything to claim that we need to “stay great.”

  41. nick Lurz

    In my opinion I think America was never great, it is really hard to find an exact time when we were a perfect country . We have seen good times between the 90’s up to like 2000. We see an improvement in technology over the years and a country that is rapidly developing, we see poverty rates throughout the 90’s dropping and our people are happy. We are at a point of peace, the Soviet Union ceased to exist and the cold war had finally come to a close. China wasn’t very industrialized, their economy would end up skyrocketing in the 2000’s and become in reach with the U.S. With world peace the U.S was able to focus on domestic issues, the internet was gaining popularity, and computers were also becoming popular. Television was also still relevant, one thing I always remember doing as a kid was waking up and watching cartoons on Nickelodeon. Spongebob was becoming popular and was something people watched everyday.
    One very important instance was when LBJ sent troops to Vietnam. The intention was to stop the spread of communism but it led to outraged citizens and many lost lives. We deployed 2.7 million in this war that wouldn’t necessarily be very beneficial for us in any way. 58,000 of those people lost their lives and it upset many citizens and led to many anti-war and peace protests. The way we fell short was not pulling our troops out of Vietnam sooner, it was basically unwinnable with Viet Cong hiding in the trees in their home land. In this scenario the enemy clearly had us beat and we put many more lives to waste. We could have listened to protestors and many others and pulled our troops.
    I wouldn’t say America was great in 2016 but it definitely improved. During Obama’s term he didn’t really do much to benefit the African-American community. We also had a flawed healthcare system and we needed plenty of improvement. In my opinion, Keeping America Great is one of the worst slogans to represent Trump’s reelection candidacy. Trump hasn’t done anything to benefit the protestors and assure that they are making change. All he wants to mention is that looters and rioters must be stopped and that ANTIFA is a terrorist group. He may say this country is great, but it can’t be great with racial inequality. It is a huge problem right no and change needs to be made.

  42. Connor Mueller

    In every social media post, and “relatable tik tok” they mention how 2016 was the best year ever (especially summer 2016). Saying there were no worries and everybody just hung out and had fun. And I agree with all of this besides that fact that in 2016 there were murdering clowns chasing kids, and that became a joke. But in 2016 society seemed so different even though it is only 4 years in the past. 2016 definitely wasn’t bad, and I don’t understand what the president wanted to change because ever since he was elected everything seemed to change in every aspect. Now his slogan is to keep America great, obviously implying not to make any juristic changes to our political, social, and economical aspects of everyday life but I think it needs to be the opposite. Today “the Great America” is generously falling apart. With pandemics, riots, and all around disasters we need to make changes. Issues of police brutality have occurred in both Obama’s and Bush’s presidency and they managed to take the issues and unite the country, while Trump is neglecting equal and fair action and rather letting riots destroy American cities. We need a change in our government, and one that can unite us as a country to make us stronger rather than one that uses social media to mock its followers.

  43. Connor Mueller

    1. When was a time period where the United States was great.
    I would say from the late 90’s to early 2010’s would be the time the United States was the greatest. Other than 9/11 and the Islamophobia that ensued, things were looking great. Gay marrige was legsalized and Barak Obama became the first African American president, serving for two terms. Also, the technological advancements were helping a lot of people and people were not addicted to phones and social media just yet.
    2. When was a time period where the United States fell short of it’s ideals?
    The United States fell short during Johnson’s reconstruction, 1865 through 1869. I believe that the United States fell short during this time because it undid all of the good done from president Lincoln and the civil war. Because Johnson pardoned confederates who weren’t supposed to be pardoned, African Americans were treated almost the same as they were before the civil war. African Americans could not vote even though they technically had the right to do it. Salvery was also effectively brought back with sharecropping. Segregation and Jim Crow laws were a direct result of Johnson’s actions.
    3. Why did Trump think 2016 was not great? Do you think 2016 was not great? What do you think about Trump’s new slogan?
    I think Trump did not like 2016 because America was becoming more liberal, one example being that gay marrige was legalized. There were some problems though, like the polarization of politics, but I don’t think Trump was talking about that. I believe the time around 2016 was a good period. Like previously mentioned, gay marrige was legalized. We also had our first African American president, and he held office for two terms. 2016 for the most part was pretty chill. Nothing extremely crazy happened. As for Trump’s new slogan, he could not have chosen anything worse. We are going through lots of crazy stuff right now and no one wants it to stay the same. Everyone is sick and tired of the pandemic (no pun intended). Also, no one can say America is great right now because of the police brutality against George Floyd and the protesters in Lafayette park. Calling in police to beat up protesters just so you can get a photo of you holding the bible upside down and backwards is not great at all. And no country is doing great when rioting and looting, in protest of police brutality mentioned earlier, are going on. America is definitely not great today.

    sorry for the previous one i dont know how that happened

  44. Kieran Kamish

    1. When was America great? I think America has always been great. Have we, as a country, been perfect? No. But great? Yes. From the beginning of our Fore Father’s envisioning democracy versus a monarchy or dictatorship was innovative and thought provoking. They envisioned (for the most part) the end of a class system and tried to make laws that benefited all citizens. They created opportunities for the masses and tried to equalize land rights and protections. Was a it perfect? No. There were classes of citizens who were not recognized as citizens, didn’t fall under the laws of the Constitution or had the same rights. But it was a beginning to build on. Our Constitution and the Declaration of Independence have been living, breathing documents for hundreds of years. While not perfect, they certainly were the result of great thinking and the foundation of a great country.
    Slavery was not a great time in our history. However people fought for and lost their lives for the freedoms of races and classes of people that were being oppressed. The time was not great, but the outcome and the heroic efforts of people and leaders like Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Jackson brought about positive change and for instance, the passing of the 13th Amendment, allowing African Americans the right to vote. The process wasn’t smooth or implemented perfectly, but it was progress.
    Prior to the 19th Amendment passing and being ratified, women could not vote. Not great! Not perfect! But progress was made.
    The Depression, joblessness, hunger and famine was not great but as a country, FDR brought about positive change, new plans, new deals and unfortunately, new wars. Not great! However his actions got people back to work, put more money in people’s pockets and back in banks, got women working and demonstrated America’s will, skill and might on a global basis. Yes, many people lost their lives in WWII but greatness is not achieved without sacrifice.
    The Civil Rights movement had flaws and challenges but the end result, as we’re still proving, has promise and the thought of true equality for all is powerful.
    The current President’s slogan of “Make America Great Again” resonated with people who may have been dissatisfied with previous leaders, and wanted to disrupt the status quo but in no way has America never been great. Not perfect – but for sure great. There is more promise, opportunity, wealth, education and foundational greatness in America than any other country in the world. If not, people would, after several centuries, not trying to still be immigrating to this great country. If it was not great, people would be leaving in large masses. America is great and has opportunity for improvement as we have studied over the past school year. We can continue to be innovative thinkers, thought leaders, powerful globally, restore our position in the world as well as hopeful citizens, kind citizens and demonstrate all our greatness that our current President doesn’t even begin to see.

  45. Maya-Rose Trajano

    Though this probably isn’t the best time, the only time I thought about being “great” was the 20s era and the New Deal era. I think one reason why the 20s were great was its diversity in opinions and culture. An example of this is easily the Harlem Renaissance. Another example of how the 20s were great is the major change in the image of the woman.There was the “flapper”, breaking away from the Victorian ideals of the lady. There was the third generation of college-educated women, and women continuing to work and press for change. There was also the changing idea of motherhood, and most importantly the introduction of birth control. Another example of how the 20s were great could be its booming economic prosperity, though it was short lived, and the major advancements in technology. I also mentioned the New Deal Era. I think that came into mind when reading the question because it was a time when everyone was struggling, more than others unfortunately. I mean, though jobs were easier to get for others, depending on factors like race, the government had made big improvements in it’s help and involvement with the country and did provide a pretty good amount of relief. But if I’m being honest, now that I’m writing about it and thinking about it, I don’t actually like this era as one to be an example of when America was great. I think I like the time of World War 2 just a little bit better. What came to mind was the involvement of women in the war and their effort and support during the world time of crisis. Examples include the WACs, WAVEs, and this wasn’t mentioned in the I’m pretty sure, but even WASPs. Other examples are the “Rosie Riveters” and “government girls” of the nation. All of these time periods, though, unfortunately fell short on the basis of race as things mentioned in my last blog comment like equal pay, opportunity, protection, etc. A counter instance to America being could be the time of the Constitution’s or the new government’s creation, the reconstruction of the AoC, where the 3/5ths compromise was created and the fact that slavery was protected within the Constitution. That is what comes to mind. I think Trump may have not thought we were great because of our healthcare situation. I remember that he wanted to get rid of the Affordable Care Act. I also remember that he wasn’t so happy about a trading situation as well, I think. I remember having an assignment last year on the US and China trade war, or something along the lines of that.

  46. Kate VanderWeele

    I agree with Mr. Wickersham’s definition of what great means, America living up to its ideals like equality, liberty, and rule of law, diversity, and freedom of opportunity. But there is never going to be a time where America lived up to those ideals for everyone. I think one of the times America lived up to its ideals, was during the progressive era which saw various reform movements aimed at ending corruption, and improving society and life. Regulations were placed on child labor, businesses were regulated, and the Pure Food and Drugs Act made sure products were safe. However, during this time, we also see the reemergence of the KKK, and membership reaches its highest point at 5 million members. The progressive era did almost nothing to ensure rights or better the lives of African Americans and other minorities. There have been many times when America has not lived up to its highest ideals. The first one being slavery, and treating black slaves as property and inferior to white people, was one of the worst aspects of American History, and was only abolished after a Civil War. Another time was the Indian Removals, where at least 8,000 Native Americans were killed while being forcibly relocated by the government. I also think that American Imperialism in the late 1890s and early 1900s, specifically when America defeated Spain and gained Puerto Rico, The Philippines, and Hawaii. However there were debates over whether the U.S. should annex them, such as “the white man’s burden”, and that the native people of those territories were inferior to the Americans. The Civil Rights movement in the 1960s highlighted the police brutality aimed at protestors who wanted civil rights and equality, and was another dark time in American history. The police would beat up protestors, arrest protestors, and use police dogs and fire hoses to break up these protests. The last one I can think of is after reconstruction when the KKK re-emerges because it was popularized in the silent film, Birth of a Nation. 30,000 members of the KKK, with their hoods down, held a massive march in Washington DC in August,1925. I think that Trump’s slogan, Make America Great Again, was used because he disagreed with the policies of previous administrations, and it was a slogan that appealed directly to his supporters. Also when Obama first won the election in 2008, there were conspiracy theories about whether or not Obama was actually a U.S. citizen, that he was a Muslim, and was not born in Hawaii, therefore not eligible to be president. Trump was actually one of the people who promoted these claims, and some people saw it as a racist reaction to Obama being elected as the first African American president. I don’t think America was never “not great”, but Trump probably used the slogan because the past 8 years, there had been a democratic president he disagreed with politically. I don’t think we are any greater than we were before, in fact we are in a worse position than we were then because of the pandemic and the lack of a response from Trump. He also continued to be more worried about the economy, rather than the health aspects of the pandemic. We might not be in this bad of a pandemic if Trump took action to prevent it, rather than disbanding the response team, ignoring intelligence warnings, and cutting the U.S. ties to the World Health Organization.

  47. grace kauffman

    It’s very hard to say a time when America was at its greatest point. In my opinion I think that it is at its greatest points for certain people but at no point has it been great for everyone all at once. With that said I feel that When our country was at its strongest was in the mid-1980s. During this time. Our Economy was doing very well and we were starting to become stable in our country. Another reason why I believe that this was the strongest time is because there was no war at the time. I feel that because there was no war life was simpler and people therefore were happier and kinder to one another. I think another point where our country was very strong was between 1995 and 2000. This is because not only was our country becoming more advanced in terms of technology we were also improving our justice system and this was a big turning point for social equality in our country.
    I would say when our country was at the weakest was probably in the 1920s. This is because our country was very oppressive towards African-Americans and they did not receive any rights, citizenship or justice. Not only was our country completely unfair we run at this time, our Konomi was also not fair and favored the wealthy upper class. I believe that this was the worst time in our country because the laws put in place provided no justice for the majority of the citizens in our country.
    I think that President Donald Trump when he ran in 2016 chose the slogan make America great again because he truly did believe that in 2016 America was worse than it was in the past. I do not agree with his argument because I think that in 2016 our country was in a better spot than at a time earlier in our history. He probably believed that it wasn’t doing wellBecause our economy was struggling and we were in severe debt. I do not think that he achieved his goal of making America great because we are still in severe debt. With that said who’s new slogan of keep America great again for the 2020 election does not make any sense because all he did was make our country worse. One thing he did was help unemployment and we have more jobs but that’s about it.

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