Tutor profile: Meghann K.

Why was the 26th Amendment added to the Constitution?

The 26th Amendment was added to the Constitution in 1971 to standardize the voting age to 18 years or older throughout the United States. Typically, voting age had been determined by individual states (and it usually was 21 years or older), but the draft in the Vietnam War inspired opposition to a higher voting age. The reasoning was that if you could be drafted at 18 and potentially die for your country, you should also be able to vote and exercise political power at 18.

How did nationalism lead to the downfall of imperialism and the colonial system?

Although nationalism, pride in one's own nation and support for its interests, originally was a cause of imperialism, it also lead to the end of the colonial system. European countries in the 1500s-1800s had tremendous nationalism, and they took over many African, Asian, and Latin American countries to serve their own national interests and increase their geo-political power. Colonies provided wealth and prestige to European nations, and Europeans saw colonies as symbols of their nations, evident by the British calling India the "jewel in the crown of the British Empire". Nationalism eventually, and maybe inevitably, began to shift to the colonized peoples of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The oppressed peoples of the European empires began to have pride in their own culture and traditions, and wanted to expel European influences and rulers. This is evident in the Boxer Rebellion in China, and the work of Kamal Ataturk in Turkey. Many nationalist leaders in European colonies started to inspire the indigenous people to have pride in their own culture and traditions, and they called for the end of foreign influence.

Describe the circumstances, issue, and decision made in the Supreme Court case Korematsu v. US.

Korematsu v. US (1944) was a landmark Supreme Court decision in which Japanese Internment during WWII was justified as a "military necessity". Fred Korematsu was a Japanese-American citizen who refused to follow the internment order issued by President Roosevelt during WWII. Americans on the west coast feared that Japanese-American citizens were spies for Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Racist attitudes along with fear lead to Japanese Internment. When Fred Korematsu challenged the internment order, he argued that his rights as an American citizen were violated by forced internment. The Supreme Court ruled against Korematsu, and upheld the principle that civil liberties can be limited during times of war, just like in Schenck v. US during WWI.