Short answer: primary source
Clinton signs NAFTA
- Unit 9
- 3 points
- About 13 minutes
You read a source written at the time and answer three short parts about its ideas, its historical situation and the developments around it. On the exam: Short-answer question 2 of 3, required; the three short-answer questions share a 40-minute section worth 20% of the score.
The question and its sources
President Bill Clinton gave these remarks as he signed the law that carried out the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) among the United States, Canada and Mexico; the agreement took effect on January 1, 1994. Congress had approved it the month before after a close fight. Read the source, then answer parts a, b and c. Write a few sentences for each part; you don't need a thesis.
Source
“NAFTA will tear down trade barriers between our three nations. It will create the world's largest trade zone and create 200,000 jobs in this country by 1995 alone. . . .
“Now, the institutions built by Truman and Acheson, by Marshall and Vandenberg, have accomplished their task. The cold war is over. The grim certitude of the contest with communism has been replaced by the exuberant uncertainty of international economic competition. . . .
“Make no mistake, the global economy with all of its promise and perils is now the central fact of life for hard-working Americans. It has enriched the lives of millions of Americans. But for too many those same winds of change have worn away at the basis of their security. For two decades, most people have worked harder for less. Seemingly secure jobs have been lost. . . .
“We cannot stop global change. We cannot repeal the international economic competition that is everywhere. We can only harness the energy to our benefit. Now we must recognize that the only way for a wealthy nation to grow richer is to export, to simply find new customers for the products and services it makes.”
[Truman, Acheson, Marshall and Vandenberg: American leaders who built the country's Cold War alliances and economic institutions after World War II. Certitude: certainty.]
Source: President Bill Clinton, remarks on signing the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, Washington, D.C., December 8, 1993; text from Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton, 1993, Book II
Suggested time: 13 minutes
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Part (a)
1 pointBriefly describe ONE argument Clinton makes in the excerpt about the global economy or about NAFTA.
0 / 2,500 characters
Part (b)
1 pointBriefly explain ONE development in the United States economy in the period 1970 to 1993 that supports Clinton's statement that “for two decades, most people have worked harder for less.”
0 / 2,500 characters
Part (c)
1 pointBriefly explain ONE way that Americans opposed or criticized free trade agreements or economic globalization in the period 1990 to 2000.
0 / 2,500 characters
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