Discussion 4: Please note that this module has a slightly different format. In this module ONLY, you do not need to post a question to your classmates or reply to other posts. However, please note that your initial post should be slightly longer than previous discussion boards.
PLEASE POST YOUR RESPONSE TO THE FOLLOWING QUESTION:
As Henry Steele Commager reminds us in “Who is Loyal to America,” questions surrounding definitions of American loyalty and the acceptable boundaries around dissent have a long history in the United States.
We have seen this in many ways, concretely in Wilson’s Alien and Sedition Acts during World War I (dissent) and FDR’s Executive Order 9066 (loyalty). Although Commager’s article was written in 1947, one could argue that these issues reach far back into our history and persist to the present day. Using the material you’ve learned in Module 4 and this document, please write in 400-500 words your response to the following question: Do you think that Commager’s claim that loyalty in 1947 really meant conformity was justified by the times in which it was written? In other words, was conformity/loyalty, as defined by Commager, necessary during the Cold War or was dissent/critique the real loyalty to the United States?
Be sure to use historical events of the era to support your position. Your citations and information MUST be based on only the assigned course material – NO OUTSIDE/NON-ASSIGNED SOURCES.
Remember when composing your post that you MUST cite your facts, paraphrasing, and direct quotes, and don’t forget to include page numbers for the Foner book for your citations from the textbook. You do not need a work cited component — just abbreviate the source so that it’s identifiable at the end of the sentence that needs citing, and be sure to use page numbers if applicable.
