American History Homework Five Answers - Student Ten

JessieH -Done and is very worried about final grade!-

1\. Imagine that someone by the name of Joe Biden lived in 1858. Imagine also that he belonged to the "Know Nothing Party." The following would be true about Mr. Biden EXCEPT:

All except (B). If Mr Biden was a member of the 'Know nothing party' then He would have been afraid that the country was being overpowered by immigrants.

(a) He knew nothing about airplanes and automobiles. (b) He welcomed immigrants into the United States. (c) He belonged to a relatively new political party. (d) He was probably not a member of the Republican Party. (e) He could have lived in the State of California.

Correct.

2\. Identify at least two key positions of the Whig Party.

For one they generally leaned towards the north, in siding against slavery. And because The whigs were for anything the Democrats were against, and were against anything they were for, the whigs were in favor of National banks. But when the Whig party broke, half sided with the newfound Republicans, and half sided with the Democrats. I believe that by some joining the Democrat proved that not all whigs were completely against them. Only most.

Excellent.

3\. What caused and what ended the Mexican War?

I think what started it was a mixture of things. I think all of the border arguments between Texas and Mexico played a part. Also the battle between us and the mexicans, in which blood was shed on a territory which is still disputed over today, initially had something to do with it as well. And the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo finally ended it in 1848, even though Polk was still unhappy. He had wanted more Mexican land then was given.

Good.

4\. Who do you think was the most important person in the period 1840-1860, and why? Personally, I think that Harriet Beecher Stowe was the most important person during this time period. Simply because she wasn't a president, she had real, down to earth principles and beliefs, and she seemed like a behind the scenes person, who did a lot of work, but didn't receive a lot of the credit. And when she wrote 'Uncle Tom's cabin' she really emphisised the horrible truth about slavery, and opened the eyes of the people around her, and I admire her courage to write that kind of book during those times.

Superb answer! Spelling correction: "emphasized", not "emphisised".

5\. Explain what "Bleeding Kansas" was.

After the Kansas-Nebraska act, each state was given the choice to be a slave state, or a free one. This was disastrous, causing several small wars to spring up. These conflicts especially effected Kansas. 'Bleeding Kansas' was the long drawn out dispute over whether or not Kansas was to be a slave state. It was called Bleeding Kansas because of the much spilled blood from both parties over the issue.

Superb.

6\. Explain the cartoon, and what you think the cartoonist's view was. The woman's quote begins, "You have been a bad boy, Steve, ever since you had anything to do with that Nebraska Bill ...."

I think it is describing when Steven Douglas made the pathetic law stating that each state could decide for it's self whether or not it wanted slavery. The women behind him is representing columbia, or the USA. I think the view point of the cartoonist was definitely against Douglas's law, but I can't really tell whether or not he is pro slavery, or against it.

Right, all you can tell is that the cartoonist thinks Douglas harmed America with his "popular sovereignty" approach, and that America is spanking him appropriately. Also, it's "Stephen", not "Steven".

7\. Do you think it was possible to avoid the Civil War? Explain.

Personally, I don't think It would have been possible to avoid the Civil war at all. For one thing, the north and the south were so fired up at each other, that if we didn't have the war, we probably would still hate each other today. And for another, if the south got rich off of the south's profits, which were earned on the backs of slaves, they easily could have attacked the north. And what about the Africans themselves? Could we have just said "Eh, I don't fell like fighting today. Those Africans can just stay put." and ignored them? I think that if we didn't have the war, the Africans could still be slaves in the south today, and the south would have completely succeeded from the union, and we wouldn't have our fifty states today. Or, even worse, the slaves would have been freed a different way, in more present times. I think that if the Cilvil war had never happened, the chances that there could have been a modern day war against slavery are very high. And that could have been even more devastating then the Cilvil war, because now we have bombs, and tanks, and more updated weapons. I think it was a very important war. One that history probably couldn't have done without.

Superb analysis. Note spelling: "Civil", not "Cilvil".

(I apologize for the obnoxious length of question number seven. I went a little over board :)

No problem with longer answers!

Terrific answers! Please work a bit on your spelling. Perfect score: 70/70!--Aschlafly 19:59, 17 October 2008 (EDT)