Essay: Provide a 2-3 page response (written) to the following question.

On the first day of class I asked you if you thought that we, as Americans, were freer in 2012 than we were in 1877.

Construct an argumentative essay that addresses the issue of "freedom" in America throughout the 20th (and early 21st) century. Are we freer today?

If so, why are we freer and who or what deserves the credit for that enhanced freedom?

If we are less free, why are we less free and who or what is limiting that freedom? Please be as specific as possible.

Issues that MAY be helpful as far as writing this paper:

• New Deal

• WPA

• Civil Rights/Voting Rights Acts

• Brown v. Board of Education

• Executive Order 8802

• Contract with America

• Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

• Reaganomics

• GI Bill of Rights

• Freedom Riders

• Roe v. Wade

• Affirmative Action

• Iran-Contra Affair

• Bush v. Gore

• NAFTA

• The "credibility gap"

• McCarthyism

• "Don't Ask, Don't Tell

• Defense of Marriage Act

• Oklahoma City Bombing

• War on Terror

• PATROIT Act

• Citizens United