Chapter 33: Prosperity, Power, and Peril: America in the 1990s





The following activities accompany the Legacy for a People and a Nation on "The Internet" in Chapter 33. Refer to page 977 of Norton, A People and a Nation, Sixth Edition for the complete text of this Legacy. There are three parts to this web page: Questions to Consider, Investigation, and Further Exploration.




Questions to Consider
1. Has the Internet changed people’s lives? How? Who is excluded from the process?

2. What role does the Internet have in the process of globalization? Does the Internet further promote or work against the possibility of American Ethnocentrism?

3. By allowing anonymity, is the Internet a tool for democracy?

4. Will the Internet and tracking tools reduce our anonymity and freedom?


Investigation
Consider the potential implications of the Internet. What type of nation, political system seems more conducive to the Internet and why? Why do some countries ban the use of the Internet? A number of sites offer you statistical information about the Internet. You may want to begin with InfoQuest, but also look at the Library of Congress's page on "Internet Statistics and Demographics". Read the arguments made by Center for Democracy & Technology, especially the arguments about human rights and democracy.




Further Exploration
1. Recognized as an insightful account, you may want to start with this early history of the Internet and compare it—history and predictions—with later accounts.

2. The Library of Congress provides a "History of the Internet" page with additional links.

3. PBS provides an Internet Timeline and other links related to the evolution of computing and the Internet.