American History Homework Seven Answers - Student 29

AmandaS

1. What was the "Gilded Age"?: The era towards the late 1800's was known as the "Gilded Age" because it appeared golden. The gilded age refers to major growth in population in the United States and extravagant displays of wealth and excess of America's upper-class during the post-Civil War and post-Reconstruction era. Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) was the one who originally devised the phrase, he also wrote a novel by that name in which Washington, D.C. was run by greedy businessmen and corrupt government officials.

Excellent!

2. What do you like about Thomas Edison, and do you think homeschooling him created enormous wealth?: Thomas Edison is the founder of many important inventions that todays society uses so often. Edison was home-schooled most of his life except for a short time at the age of seven where he attended a public school and was mocked by a teacher there. Thomas Edison was extremely intelligent and invented things that are now used everyday. The thing i like most about Edison was how there could be so many obstacles while trying to invent something new, yet he never gave up. I think that part of his wealth came from being home-schooled because it helped him reach far beyond what the public school was teaching and gave him the opportunity to learn more on his own. Without Edison and his miraculous inventions America might have been a completely different place today.

Superb answer. But keep in mind that Edison did not think he was any smarter than anyone else. He worked harder.

3. How do you think the frontier might have affected the views of Americans?: In late 1875, the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians gathered in Montana with the intentions to fight for their land which the Americans had intruded upon. During the battle many Indians were killed and soon the Indian tribe was relocated back to Oklahoma where many other tribes resided. In 1881 Helen Hunt Jackson wrote a book for the Native Americans that was intended to give the same impact as "Uncle Toms Cabin" had done for the African Americans. A few years later in 1887 partly due to the book, congress enacted the Dawes Act to help Indians. This law granted landholdings to individual Native Americans, which replaced communal tribal holdings, this law turned out to be a complete failure. The government who had originally been trying to help the Indians, ended up making it even worse. In 1890 Census Bureau declared that the frontier was settled and officially closed. Frederick Jackson Turner wrote that the frontier experience had promoted individualism and democracy, which i agree with.

Well done!

4. What do you think is special about the United States that has made it the world leader in inventions?: I think that US has had a lot of great inventions throughout history, all of which have helped it become so successful. There were also quite a few great Leaders in the United States who impacted many, and the Freedom Americans had to be able do what they wanted also could have helped with the making of the inventions.

Excellent.

5. How influential do you think political cartoons really are? Give an example or two. I think that political cartoons can have a different effect on everyone: A cartoon often helps with ones understanding on the situation because they are able to see it fully drawn out. And sometimes it is much easier to actually see the situation rather then just hear about it. Therefore i think the cartoons are influential and give people a much better understanding on what is happening in the world.

Terrific, but I also requested an example. Always be sure to answer the question fully. (Minus 1).

6. Other than Thomas Edison, who do you think was the most influential person between 1877 and 1896?: Other than Thomas Edison, I see Alexander Grahm Bell as being the most influential person during that time period in history. Bell is the inventor of the famous device, the telephone. This invention was inspired mainly by his mother and wife who both suffered from loss of hearing. He decided to experiment with hearing devices which soon led to him inventing the telephone and receiving the first U.S. patent award in 1876 due to his invention. Upon Bells death all telephones in America stilled their ringing for a silent minute in tribute to the man whose yearning to communicate made them possible.

Excellent! Will use as a model!

7. Please interpret the above cartoon, with special emphasis on explaining the images used and including a description of the point of view of the cartoonist.: The cartoon shows Uncle Sam drowning in a pile of "quicksand gold" when he is trying to reach prosperity which is far off in the distance. The cartoonist is obviously against the use of gold and is wanting America to use a more common currency, silver, because America was so far in debt at the time.

Good, but America itself wasn't in much debt. Farmers were.

Terrific answers. Score: 69/70.--Aschlafly 20:19, 1 November 2008 (EDT)