American History Homework Eleven Answers - Student Twenty

Ruth L 11/20/2008 American History Andrew Schlafly

1. This course is mostly over. Can you now identify a value in learning history?

A value in learning history is to learn from the mistakes from those before us. There is a plethora of knowledge that is available to us found through the mistakes of others. However, we often completely ignore them. For example, in 1812, Napoleon invaded Russia. But even though he had the better army, he was beaten by the Russian winter because he had not brought proper winter supplies. 129 years later in 1941, Hitler also invaded Russia. But he ignored Napoleon’s mistake and also didn’t bring proper winter supplies. And just like Napoleon, Hitler was beaten by the Russian winter.

Terrific answer. Coincidentally, another student commented on that also. As I told him, that would be added to the model answers if it were American history! Still, it's a great example.

2. Was the United States right to enter World War II, and should we have entered sooner or later?

If the United States had not entered World War II, it is very likely that Germany would have conquered all of Europe, portions of Africa, and from there who knows? And even if the Allies could have beaten Germany on their own, the United States certainly brought a much quicker end to the war. So, yes, it was good that the United States entered World War II and should have entered much sooner.

Excellent!

3. Which of the approaches in American history towards immigration do you like best, and why?

I like the Immigration and Nationality Act the most because it gave all foreigners a fairer chance at entering America.

Very good.

4. Pick out something from the "Roaring Twenties" and describe what you like about it.

I like that we had a conservative president (Warren Harding) and four conservative Supreme Court Justices.

5. What is your view of the New Deal, and what might you have done differently in response to the Great Depression?

The New Deal was one of the worst ideas the Executive Branch has ever had. It tried to make a quick fix, when America really needed a long-term plan. It created useless jobs as an excuse to give away government money (Civilian Conservation Corps and Federal Emergency Relief Act), it put government regulations in place of free enterprise (Agricultural Adjustment Act (this act was so bad that it was declared unconstitutional), Tennessee Valley Authority, Glass-Steagall Banking Act, and National Industrial Recovery Act (also declared unconstitutional), and granted money to failing businesses (Emergency Banking Act and Farm-Credit Act). While these ideas may seem like would help the economy, they really don’t because giving people government money only helps them for a short amount of time. Once the money runs out, they are back where they started. Besides, all “government money” is, is taxes. And the more government money given away through programs, the higher the taxes have to be to pay for them. Also, using government regulations only work at first, but history has shown that free enterprise always leads to a better economy. What would have been better to do would have been to make less government programs, lay off unnecessary government workers, and overall downsize the government. Doing this would have lessened taxes greatly which would have put much more money in people’s pockets. It is true that this wouldn’t have given people jobs (what people really needed then) but it would have created more wealth than making government programs did. Besides, it’s not really the job of the government to make jobs; that’s not what it was created to do.

Superb! Will use in model answers!

6. Do you think we should have dropped the atomic bombs on Japan? Explain.

We absolutely should have dropped the atomic bombs on Japan. By doing this, we saved not only American lives, but Japanese lives as well. The Japanese would not have stopped fighting for years and years, even if it was clear that they were going to lose. In their culture, it is better to commit suicide than to fail at something important. If we had not brought a “quick” end to the war with the atomic bomb, the Japanese would have kept fighting much longer, and kept losing their lives. Many people say it was wrong, because we killed innocent civilians. I agree that during war we must absolutely avoid attacking civilians. However, I believe this case is an exception because the Japanese killed many, many civilians during World War II. They didn’t kill American civilians (because we were too far away for it to be practical), but they still killed civilians. And they would have attacked American cities if we were closer to them. Therefore, seeing how they saw nothing wrong with attacking civilians, so we shouldn’t have a problem with it either.

Good analysis. You make your case well and it is hard to disagree.

7. Please interpret and explain the cartoon, including an estimate of its date. (It was published by a paper in New Jersey years ago.)

The ghost-like character is Theodore Roosevelt. The caption across the top reads: “Great Scott! My big stick was a mere willow compared to this!” The “big stick” refers to Theodore’s policy of “walking softly and carrying a big stick.” The cartoon shows the House and the Senate carrying enormous sticks to the White House. The sticks are labeled: “Dictatorial Power.” On each stick is a note that says either: “For the president from the House,” or “For the president from the Senate.” This cartoon refers to all the power Franklin Roosevelt had while in office. He had much more power than other presidents before him had had. Theodore Roosevelt is saying that he wanted to president to have power (a big stick), but near as much power as his descendant, Franklin Roosevelt had. Since this cartoon is about Franklin Roosevelt’s presidency, it would have to have been written during his presidency. So, somewhere from 1933-1945.

Very good, but tie it to New Deal in 1933. The 1940s are much too late.

Perfect answers! 70/70. Congratulations!