Historians often distinguish between “history from the top down” and “history from the bottom up.” History from the top down focuses on leaders and elites:
presidents, politicians, military officers, and the like. History from the bottom up focuses on common people: average citizens, racial minorities,
immigrants, women and children.
In studying the history of the 1960s, which is more important: history from the top down or history from the bottom up? Who had a greater effect on the course
of American history in this period, the nation's leaders or its regular citizens?
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