American History Homework Four Answers - Student 21

JonathanL 10/10/08 Homework week #4

1) the revolution of 1800 was in fact not a “revolution” at all… It was the first time in recorded history, that there was a complete power switch in government, peacefully.

Correct.

2) if I was the president, I MOST DEFINITELY would have approved the Louisiana Purchase. Land is BY FAR the most valuable natural recourse. Granted Mr. Schlafly, it is very true that we could all fit into the east coast if we had to, but would that be necessary, or for that matter American? Not at all. So would I make the Louisiana Purchase, you bet I would.

Excellent, and argued well. Grammatically, say "if I were," not "if I was."

3) One cause of the war of 1812 was that England was harassing American sailors. Basically, we thought we were all that, so we decided to challenge England to another war, which we got destroyed in.

Good.

4) The Monroe administration was one of the best in the history of our country. What I liked most about the administration is that he was a true Constitutionalist, or believed in following the Constitution to the letter. James Monroe was superb for numerous reasons, but perhaps most of all for his role in keeping the government out of people’s lives, and allowing the economy to flourish, a near polar opposite to today’s government.

Excellent.

5) the phrase “Jacksonian Democracy” came from middle to lower class people loving him as much as upper class citizens despised of him. Andrew Jackson was the first president to be born in a log cabin; he won a landslide victory in 1828, and the main cause for this was because he portrayed himself as a “common man.” As hard as it is to say it, Jackson was a “Democrat” that I liked.

Well done.

6) The Marshall Court is known for expanding its power tremendously during John Marshall’s 35 year tenure as Chief Justice. Under Marshall’s dictatorship, the Supreme Court expanded its power tremendously. Virtually every major decision he made expanded federal power, starting with the Marbury vs. Madison case in 1803. This just goes to show that power hungry people were as real and dangerous as they are today. The reason our country is so great other than the fact that we were founded on principles of God, is that our Constitution was written on the basis that people are naturally evil, and they need to be kept in line. This obviously works well, but when evil comes into power, it welcomes evil, and will destroy even the greatest of nations.

Superb answer.

7) The figures in the cartoon are on the far left, a British looking man with devilish horns, representing that he is evil, or at the least not very well liked. In the middle is a bear, which represents in this case Russia, and on the far right is obviously a portrayal of early America, well represented I believe, in the form of a beautiful, innocent, most importantly free, nation. The captions depict vividly the struggles even still between Briton and the United States at this time, which is during the war of 1812. Russia, or the bear, is acting as a mediator, but we will have no dealing it or devilish little creature, the bull, until it is bound up, and can no longer be a potential threat to the United States. As a side note and question, I was wondering which of our presidents served as a an ambassador to Russia, and is he depicted in this cartoon as well?… as the bear that is… and also just the night and day difference between today’s and early American cartoons. Back then cartoons really met something serious, not just an insult, as many cartoons today are. They were much deeper then, having really to search for the meaning, which is good, because if you spent that much time to try to find a meaning , chances are you were really searching for one, and you obtained the important information that you were after.

Superb. In answer to your question, it was John Quincy Adams who served as the ambassador to Russia.

H1) The most blatant and obvious answer to this question is that Jefferson was a old day liberal, and liberals like to exalt other liberals, even if the recognition is not valid. Now, I am by no means denying that Thomas Jefferson was a brilliant man, and one of the more brilliant founding fathers for that matter, which is an accomplishment in a league of its own. However, I am saying that by the time Jefferson’s second term was finished, his popularity ratings were not very good indeed, mostly for his LOSS in the “First Barbary” War (or the War with Tripoli). I am not anti-American by any standards, in fact I am extremely pro-USA. But to make it sound like we won a war, when we really did not is wrong. The fact that Jefferson was a liberal is one of the ONLY reasons that they did this. I say this because if Jefferson claimed to be a Conservative, he would have been charged with overseeing one of the biggest losses in American War history.

Terrific; will use as a model answer.

H4) This question can be answered in few words. The north favored tariffs, or import taxes, because they did not work farms, and it increased the number of American jobs. The south despises tariffs solely on the reason that they worked farms with various crops, but more importantly they owned slaves. A rise in tariffs, such as the “Tariff of Abominations,” passed in 1828, rose the tariffs so much and made importing slaves and various other necessities to work a farm so hard that they almost could not do this… however, the south did rise to the occasion, when John Calhoun of South Carolina secretly wrote the "South Carolina Exposition and Protest" in 1828, which stated that the: "whole system of legislation imposing duties on imports,--not for revenue, but the protection of one branch of industry at the expense of others,--is unconstitutional, unequal, and oppressive, and calculated to corrupt the public virtue and destroy the liberty of the Country...."

When Jackson was informed of this he was infuriated, and took John Calhoun, at that time his vice-president, off the ticket for the next election.

Superb.

H5) Slavery undoubtedly began to interfere with our freedom of speech when it came to the point that people were killing each other so slavery could either be permitted or banned in a specific area… This whole idea of “letting the people choose what they want,” by: some guy who has a name that I cannot remember, which basically discredit’s the validity of my work thus far in this essay… but hey, I knew half of it right? Anyway that idea to let people choose whether they wanted slavery in certain areas clearly did not work whatsoever; bloodshed was the only thing that resulted from that, besides more disunity between the north and the south. And yes, freedom of speech is being shot down today, but this time by the homosexuals. Now, I judge the person on the person, and I am not about to say that all homosexuals or lesbians are evil. However, when you call yourself a “protected group,” and can get other people in trouble if they say that your way of life is not normal, called a “hate crime” believe it or not, that is wrong. Be whatever you are going to be, but do not say that you are tolerant of everyone, which is a common standpoint from the homosexuals, when in fact you yourselves are the non-tolerant ones, because you are not tolerant of someone’s PERSONAL beliefs that your way of life is wrong… I do not even want to get started, we will see one day though, when God returns, who is right and who is wrong. All of our unanswered questions will finally be answered. Amen.

Excellent answer!

Fantastic answers: perfect score! 100/100.--Aschlafly 09:50, 11 October 2008 (EDT)