Describe the "Gospel of Wealth" and "Social Darwinism" and discuss why they were popular theories to explain poverty and wealth during the time period we are studying. How did they reinforce class structure and power? Are these theories still being used to explain poverty and wealth today? If so, how and if not, what is used to explain poverty and wealth in America today? Has class structure and power changed due to the shifts in poverty and wealth today? Is there any danger in our current poverty/wealth situation today?

Of course it could have been avoided. a great many scholars argue it happened because of truman's use of fear to gain support. his predecessor fdr was the most popular and charismatic president ever. truman was a machine politician chosen as the least offensive choice around for vp. had henry wallace remained vp and then president, the cold war might not have happened. or had dewey been defeated in the primaries by robert taft, and then taft defeated truman in 48, the cold war also might not have happened. taft was somewhat isolationist, opposing nato and the korean war. wallace believed truman to be unnecessarily provocative in his dealings with the soviets.of course for strong anti communists, they claim the soviets would see any sign of weakness and try to take over the world. but this is a conspiracy theory not backed by evidence. most communist movements were local and not controlled by moscow. stalin had just lost over 20 million people and was exhausted and paranoid. his number one fear was a rearmed germany allied with the us, and truman made his nightmare real with the marshall plan. truman's blunders are at least half responsible for the cold war and neither wallace nor taft would have made them.on top of that, stalin was dying and in poor health. his successor khrushchev was a reformer who ended the forced labor camps, set many political prisoners free, criticized stalin, and declined to build a powerful soviet navy to confront the us. stalin actually proposed a neutral united germany. a paranoid american gov't turned him down, guaranteeing a continued cold war for decades more.

Tenochtitlán was the capital of the aztec empire. it was a busy and bustling city where“there are daily more than 60,000 souls, buying and selling, and where are found all the kinds of merchandise produced in these countries.” when cortes arrived in 1519, theenormity of the trading market and the smoothness of it’s running both surprised and  impressed him.