Rationale

Textbook Rationale Everyday, important events occur that shape the history of the United States. Some events are more important than others but they all change the future for America and impact history. It can be hard to choose only five historical topics from the past five to ten years due to the numerous topics to pick from. The events chosen for this textbook relate to politics, foreign affairs, military, the economy and technology. All of these areas have changed immensely in the past few years and that is why they were incorporated into my textbook. My textbook includes mostly the top news stories from the past few years but it also includes social history, so the readers know how the average American living through these events felt and changed along with the events. The theme of my text book is change and that is shown through the changing stories, lives, and opinions in America. The first event in my text book is about George W. Bush’s second term as President of the United States and also the campaign process. I included this topic because I think that it is important for readers in the future to know about presidents. During Bush’s presidency, American’s opinions of him fluctuated. The change of the views people had regarding Bush are important for people to know about. For visuals, I included a picture of Bush so that the readers can know what he looks like. I also included a primary source of a video showing average Americans expressing their views of Bush to show the readers how people felt about him by the end of his presidency. This topic relates to the theme of change because of people’s changing opinions of bush which are described to be like a rollercoaster. The next event is the controversy in America due to American military presence in Iraq. This topic is important because it shows two differing opinions in America, it also includes foreign affairs in the Middle-East. Readers should learn what was happening in other countries besides America and that is another reason why I included this event. To give the readers and image of this event, I included a picture of Bush speaking to troops and a soldier standing on a Baghdad street with two tanks behind him. As a primary source I added a video of an American man trying to sum up the Iraq situation in his own words. This video is good because it shows an opinion of an ordinary American and it simplifies the situation. The controversy over Iraq displays the different opinions between people all over the world surrounding this event and it shows the desire for change in Iraq which is why this topic relates to my theme of change. Third in my textbook, is the recession that began in 2007. The recession is a major event that has changed millions of American’s lives for the worse so it is quite an essential topic and that is why I put it in my textbook. Readers will be able to see the tough financial times Americans went through by reading this chapter and it will teach people of the future to not repeat their mistakes and hopefully another recession of this magnitude can be avoided. I included a picture of a home foreclosure sign which were very common during the recession. And the video I put in as a primary source includes Financial Reserve chairman Benjamin Bernanke speaking, and ordinary American people talking about how they are cutting back due to the recession. This will show the readers what life in the recession was like. The changes in people’s lives and in America during the recession along with the changes made to end the recession, all relate to the textbook theme of change. The next event incorporated into my textbook is the campaign process and presidency of Barack Obama. I believe that this is a very important presidency because Obama is the first African American president so I decided this topic was imperative to my textbook. Readers will see the close campaign between an African American and a woman for the Democratic campaign. In America, white men are the typical presidential candidate. A picture of Obama is included so that readers can see what he looks like and there is also a picture of some of his supporters which are all different ages and races. For this topic, I included two primary sources. One is a quote from Obama’s inaugural speech and the other is a video of his supporters from all over the country who are all different ages and races. This video does a good job of showing how the nation has really changed. Americans elected and African American president and a woman almost won a major campaign which shows how much America has changed from the days of slavery, segregation, and oppression. Finally, in my textbook I included the impact of new technology on America. Technology has physically changed in the past five to ten years. I think this topic is important enough for my textbook because technology has a huge impact on almost all American’s lives and it is important to see what was new in these few years. A picture of Facebook is included to show what it looks like. Also, there is a picture displaying the changing iPod designs from 2003 to 2010. A video about the iPad is present as a primary source to show how average Americans get very excited about the newest technology. Over just a couple of years, technology has changed so much and it has altered people’s lives which is why it supports the textbook theme of change. Although these events are the most important to me, there are other events that I could have put in my textbook but I decided against. One possible topic was September 11, 2001 attacks. I decided not to put this in my textbook because although it is a very influential event, my textbook is only supposed to include events not incorporated into the school textbook. And, this event occurred almost ten long years ago. Also, in my President Bush chapter, the September 11th attacks are touched on. Another event I thought about putting into my book was Hurricane Katrina. I decided to not put this in because it only affected a minority of Americans so I did not think it was as important as other choices. It also does not directly relate to the theme of change. The last events that I thought about adding were social issues, such as homosexual marriage and racism. These topics are very important but I left them out of my textbook because I do not think that they impact the entire country as much as other topics. It is a hard task to choose only five or so events from the past five to ten years, but I believe that my textbook accurately portrays main events that influenced and changed America. The images and primary sources chosen all help to support and inform readers about these events. My textbook will also inform readers of the change that occurred in the United States from about 2003 to 2010 regarding politics, foreign affairs, military, the economy and technology. It will also inform readers of the opinions and lives of the average American due to these events. For the future, it is interesting to wonder what events will occur and alter the track of American life.