American History Homework Six Answers - Student Eleven

AddisonDM (all done!)

1.Lincoln’s main goal was preserving the Union, so much so that he would even actively preserve the institution of slavery as a means of preserving the Union. Still, Lincoln disliked slavery and ultimately issued the Emancipation Proclamation which freed all slaves in “rebellious” or Confederate states.

Superb answer. Will use as model!

2.The 13th Amendment abolished slavery. But the slaves’ new freedom would be relatively useless without the 14th Amendment, which sought racial equality by granting all races equal rights. The 15th Amendment specified that all Americans, regardless of their race and background, had the right to vote. The significance of “background” is that not just blacks in general, but former slaves had this right.

Superb again.

3.Robert E. Lee because he was both loyal to his own cause and state, and held a true respect for his enemies, and especially the Northern general Ulysses S. Grant. The problem with today’s political climate is not so much that there are divisions, but that this sense of respect is largely gone. Thus, in the most devastating war of our history, we find good example for all Americans.

Terrific observation.

4.I would have been even easier on the South. I wouldn’t have sent the Northern “carpetbaggers” into the South, and I would have vocally opposed the Radical Republicans. The sentiments that allowed racism and organizations like the KKK to take root were probably fostered more by hatred of the North than of free African Americans. The Southern climate would likely have been cooler if the North had backed off more.

Interesting. You could be right.

5.Frankly, we can argue whether homeschooling fosters independent thinking, at least in some cases. While Lincoln’s thought process and character was certainly not harmed by homeschooling, I think it was probably more his intrinsic character than his mode of education that shaped who he was intellectually. Furthermore, homeschooling in today’s sense did not even exist in Lincoln’s time. To support modern homeschooling based on the effects of Abe Lincoln’s being homeschooled would be like Barack Obama claiming that his presidency would resemble Andrew Jackson’s, because they are both Democrats. I think the comparison is something of false parallel. (Of course, this is no criticism of homeschooling.)

Good analysis, but I respectfully disagree. Some basic differences between homeschooling and formal schooling must have been the same then as now. Then, as now, a successful homeschooler today needs to develop initiative, independence, open-mindedness and other qualities, while someone in formal school can do well more by doing what he is told. Then, as now, homeschoolers are better prepared to be self-employed as adults than formal schoolers are. Today homeschoolers vote at 3 times the rate of formal schoolers as adults, and I don't think that is a coincidence. But certainly you're entitled to your own opinion about this.

6.Lincoln appears to be having a dream in which he is fleeing from the White House. Is the lady in the White House door who seems to be chasing him out Columbia? Is the man walking in the door a new president? I think the cartoon tries to demonstrate that Lincoln has been harmful to the country.

Close, but the military clothes give away the identify of McClellan. Attention to detail is the key to decoding cartoons. This cartoon is about Lincoln's fears of losing the election of 1864. (Minus 1).

7.The cartoon is condemning the unfair and sometimes vile treatment of Chinese immigrants to California. The quote “America means fair play for all men” condemns the American workers’ opposition to the Chinese getting jobs. It may be an implied attack on unions as well, which the cartoonist may have thought are unfair.

Good, but I'm not sure the cartoonist blamed unions for this. He might, and perhaps he should. But I'm not sure he did.

Honors Questions

1.Since most Americans no longer rely on agriculture, and we are such a consumerist society, I would choose deflation over inflation. However, both are necessary and even unavoidable in a free-market economy, so we all have to deal with both. Hard money or gold/silver encouraged deflation and paper money inflation, which is why farmers preferred greenbacks over gold.

Excellent analysis, will include in model.

2.Free enterprise was definitely a good thing, because it provided a sense to Americans that they could rebuild their country themselves- similar to the feeling of colonists during “Salutary Neglect.” The opposite of free enterprise, a planned economy, could not have helped America nearly as well, because the government, more than anyone or anything else is in crisis after a war; so how could such a government effectively manage and revive the economy?

Superb.

5.I think Abe Lincoln, despite not being a man of much faith, was basically good and well-intentioned. He personally disliked slavery, and if the South had not been so aggressive he probably would have been more anti-slavery. The longer he was in office, the more he realized the moral problems of slavery, and issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Though he may have provoked the South into starting an actual war, he did oversee both the end of the war and the freeing of slaves. He was not perfect- in his wish to preserve the Union almost unconditionally, he put country above God- but he was a good man.

Terrific analysis.

Excellent answers. Almost perfect, losing a mere point on one of the cartoons. Score: 99/100. Well done!