American History Homework Ten Answers - Student Fourteen

Duncan B. American History Homework 10

1. Although I was well-prepared, I think I could have better improved on the law cases. Although there was only one question about a case (#38) and it was not a particularly difficult problem, I was uncertain if I would have gotten a question on, for example, McCullough vs. Maryland.

Excellent point. The legal cases are tricky to keep straight.

2. My favorite question which I missed on the midterm was number 29 (which was also my least favorite). It asked to identify various things on a cartoon. I think that on similar questions in the future, instructors should identify figures in cartoons better.

Sorry about that! You only missed that question by 7 years, and that was your only error on the entire exam!

3. The Scopes Trial was one of the first times in American history that the reporting was only from one side. The account of H.L. Mencken, who was an atheist and evolutionist, misinformed the American public and the world of the true result: Bryan and creationism had won; Darrow and evolutionism had lost. Throughout all of American history up till about sixty years ago, issues were confronted in the media from both sides.

Excellent point, will use as a model!

4. The United States was bound to enter World War I someday. With German aggression, (which was not actually as bad as it was propagandized to be), submarines, and the Zimmerman telegram, it was inevitable that the Americans would go to war. The continual flood of British and French propaganda helped. On the whole, I think it was a method of showing American values to Europe.

Good, and superb observation about propaganda.

5. Teddy Roosevelt was an interesting combination of liberal and conservative. He advocated traditional American values such as Christianity, patriotism, and loyalty to family and country. (We could use a good dose of that sort of thing today!) He fought corruption in government and was always straightforward in his dealings. On the other hand, he greatly expanded executive power and instituted many federal laws. On the whole, however, he was a fairly decent president who always did what he honestly believed was best.

Superb insights.

6. The Sixteenth Amendment, the first of the four “progressive amendments,” instituted the first federal income tax. Before, the United States government had raised money by tariffs. The income tax, which required more tax from you the higher your income was, targeted wealthy industrialists and businessmen rather than the “common man.” This was progressive doctrine.

Excellent point.

7. This cartoon depicts Teddy Roosevelt’s peace treaty between Russia and Japan. “T.R.” is the central figure. It mocks Roosevelt for his “cowboy” attitude—in spite of having a pair of angel wings, he is roughly handling Russia and Japan to make them behave.

Terrific.

H1. World War One was the first war where the torpedo entered general use. It had been invented in the late 1890s, but it was not generally used for several years. Torpedoes gave a far greater “punch” to smaller vessels. Before the torpedo’s debut, battleships and large cruisers had an incredible advantage; now a single torpedo from a destroyer or submarine could eliminate that benefit. In fact, in the first few months of the war, a single German sub named the U-14 sunk three British armored cruisers—the Aboukir, Cressy, and Hogue—off the Dutch coast.

Fantastic, will use as a model.

H3. The comedian Will Rogers said of Prohibition, “It’s a good idea but it won’t work.” Prohibition caused immense gang problems; in spite of the fact that alcohol was banned, studies showed that Americans actually consumed more liquor after Prohibition then before. The American people wanted alcohol, regardless of how good “prohibition” might sound.

Great answer, but I strongly doubt that alcohol consumption went up on a per capita or per income basis after it was prohibited.

H4. I thought the midterm exam had a good level of challenge on the questions. The cartoons were good, and it had a good diversity of questions on parts of American history. On learning for it overall, I gained valuable information about study techniques.

Well done.

Perfect answers, but I doubt your claim in "H1". You did have two model answers! Congratulations: 100/100.--Aschlafly 15:47, 23 November 2008 (EST)