American History Homework Six Answers - Student Eighteen

MichelleF

1. Was the main goal of the newly elected President Lincoln tho end slavery, or to save the Union?

His goal was to save the Union.Abolishing slavery may have been a secondary goal, but a major part of his platform was preserving the Union.

Correct!

2. Explain the purpose of the 13th, 14th, and 15th, Amendments to the Constitution.

13th abolishes slavery, the 14th protects nmerous citizens rights from inteference from the State, and the 15th was passed to give all races the right to vote and to protect that right.

Good.

3. Who was your favorite military figure, and why?

General William Tecumseh Sherman. He was a skillful general, consistent throughout the war and he saw war for what it was.my two favorite quotes of his are “War is the remedy our enemies have chosen and I say let us give them what they want” and War is hell”

Excellent. Will use as a model.

4. How would you have handled reconstruction differently?

I would not have tried to punish or humliate the South. The war was fought to keep them in the union; why would you then try to make it difficult and distasteful for them to stay? I would have tried to readmit the South on more equal footing with the North,as opposed to giving them less rights and sending down people to govern them. The south had it’s lands torn apart in the war, people killed, their economy destroyed and their way of life abolished along with their slaves. They were already going to have a hard time reconstructing without being told they can’t even govern themselves. In their minds, North had been bullying them to much before the war. I think my policy pprobably would have been to allow them more freedom to recanstruct themselves as opposed to doing it for them.

Excellent again, and might use as another model!

5. Abraham Lincoln was homeschooled. Do you see any characteristics in him that might have reflected his homeschooling, such as his independent thinking?

I don’t think that home schooling was as much of a big deal then as it is now. It was fairly common, and schools were not as biased then, either. Don’t think that home schooling made him different, I think he would have turned out similarly whether or not he was home schooled.

OK, fair enough.

6. Please interpret the cartoon to the right. Its title is “ Abraham’s dream! - - ‘Coming events cast their shadow before.’” Lincoln is fleeing to the left while wearing a Scotsman’s plaid cap and a cape. He declares, “ This don’t remind me of any joke!!”

Lincoln’s dream is of defeat in the 1864 election. Columbia is holding a severed black man’s head and kicking Lincoln out of the White House. George McClellan, the other major presidential candidate, is seen ascending the White House stairs. Lincoln’s cap and cape are a reference to the disguise he wore while traveling to D.C. for his inauguration. McClellan, however, is seen in his army uniform; this is possibly a suggestion that McClellan is above disguises. The cartoonist is supporting McClellan.

Correct, and good point about disguises!

7. Please interpret the cartoon with Columbia below. The caption is, “ The Chinese Question.” Columbia says, “Hands off, gentlemen. America means fair play for all men.”

Columbia is sheltering a Chinese person from angry mobs who feel that he shouldn’t be in America. Americans had been becoming resentful towards the Chinese immigrants. They felt that these foreigners were invading their country. The common sentiment was that if you weren’t either European or American, you had no right to be here. In 1882,Congresws banned Chinese immigrant and prevented those who were already here from becoming citizens. The cartoonist’s view was that the Chinese should be able to come to America and live here unmolested. The cartoonist, Thomas Nast, was probably a Republican, as they were less hard on the Chinese immigration issue early on. Later, however, both Democrats and Republicans agreed that there should be no Chinese immigrants.

Excellent analysis.

H2. Free enterprise after the Civil War: a good thing or a bad thing?

Good thing. The economy is better off without government interference, and would recover better that way. Anything else would be subversion of capitalism.

Good. Work on spelling and removing typos.

H4. Andrew Johnson: misunderstood or incompetent?

Misunderstood AND incompetent. He was definitely not fit for the job he was let after Lincoln’s assassination, but, if he had been running everything from the start , he would have done things differently. Instead he was stuck with someone else’s mess to clean up.

Good point about the mess.

H5. Your view of Abraham Lincoln, please.

I think he was not as extraordinary as historians say he is. He wasn’t a strong leader, he attempted compromise and reconciliation when it was futile, and, earlier in his presidency, relied very little on God. He wasn’t bad because of what he did, but rather, what he didn’t do. He also wasn’t a very good military strategist, which would have been a useful skill.

So true about Lincoln's lack of military strategy. Want to use this as a model answer also!

Terrific paper. In fact, it's perfect! 100/100. Congratulations!