Government Documents Of The 20th Century

The principles of what it meant to be American in the 20th century evolved through government documents that were released at the time and interpreted by the public. By and large however, government documents further instilled values of what it meant to be American that had been core to the American identity since its conception. Through an examination of public documents, it is clear that these sentiments were not always immediately shared by the general public, or the legislation passed through government documents immediately impactful. In general, while government documents painted a clear picture of the United States as a defender for equality and freedom, public documents depict a less rosy representation of American life in the 20th
The Cuban-American Treaty of 1903 included a section which allowed the US “the right to intervene for the preservation of…life, property, and individual liberty”. Roosevelt, in his Fourth Annual Message offered similar sentiments, saying “it is necessary for us firmly to insist upon the rights of our own citizens without regard to their creed or race.” Roosevelt insisted that the Navy and must not stop growing and building in order to preserve the freedoms of the United States. Another government document that maintained this narrative was NSC 68, which outlined America’s objectives for national security in the
The Feminine Mystique describes a situation in the 1960s where there is “a problem that has no name”. Betty Freidan describes many housewives of “all education levels suffer[ing] from the same feeling of desperation”, and a yearning “for something more than [their] husband and [their] children and [their] home”. Betty Freidan acknowledges an interesting event that has occurred in the women’s movement, one that indicates that, almost paradoxically, the women’s movement has taken a step back as “all professions are finally open to women in America”. Freidan notes a seemingly contradictory relationship “that as higher education for women becomes available to any woman with the capacity for it…more and more drop out of high school and college to marry and have babies”. The government opening more doors for women in terms of careers seem to push them away from the opportunities they were given, at least initially. This is not to say that there was no point in expanding the opportunities for women, but rather legislation can have unintended consequences, and sometimes the intended goal of legislation can take additional time to be realized. Freidan argues that these expanded rights for women pushed women to “become aware of an identity crisis in their own lives,” and women