Homework Ten Answers - Student Ten

Answer the first question, and then 4 out of the next 6 questions.

1\. Pick a question that you missed on the midterm exam, and describe several different ways that you could have figured out the correct answer instead.

On the comic, the first thing I should have done was to notice that there was a confederate flag in the background of one of the panels. Had I noticed this, I would have been able to deduce that the comic was referring to the election of 1864, since in the previous election there had been no confederacy. Second, I should have noticed that the other person in the comic was General McClellan, who ran against Lincoln in 1864.

Right. Good analysis.

2\. Write about any aspect of World War I, such as how the United States got involved, or how it ended. The United States only got involved towards the end of the war. At this point the fighting was less gruesome than it had been during the middle and beginning of the war. This was a key appearance in that it introduced figures that would come to play a large part in World War II. For instance, George Patton led the tank division in World War I and made a big name for himself by winning numerous victories. The war ended after the Treaty of Versailles, which left many Germans disgruntled, setting the stage for World War II.

Excellent answer.

3\. Who was the most influential person of the time period in this lecture? Explain.

The Wright brothers were the most influential people, because they perfected (their invention of the airplane is disputed, but even if you do dispute that they invented it, they still perfected it) the airplane, which had numerous large impacts on international travel, globalization, and the way wars would be fought, especially impacting World War I and World War II.

Superb emphasis in giving credit to the persons who perfected a famous invention.

5\. Pick any debate or discussion topic or issue in this lecture, and answer it.

6\. Briefly explain Constitutional Amendments 16 through 19.

7\. Explain the cartoon.

The comic shows Theodore Roosevelt negotiating the Treaty of Parsmith, which ended the Russo-Japanese War. It portrays Theodore Roosevelt pinching the ears of Japan and Russia.The cartoon also implies that America is growing as a power, since he is much larger and more mature than the Japanese and the Russians.

Correct, but your spelling of the treaty is off. It was the "Treaty of Portsmouth."

Honors (pick 3 out of 5)

H1. Discuss your view of the free speech decisions during World War I.

I believe that limiting free speech, even for the sake of securitization is a logic that leads down a slippery slope into an authoritarian regime. For instance, even if minor free speech limitations seem legitimate for the sake of a more secure nation, or to make more people join the military, once we allow it, we keep moving the marker for what constitutes a legitimate violation of free speech further and further, until we allow the state to restrict our free speech rights whenever it wishes to, leading to an Orwellian regime.

Excellent analysis, and good reference to Orwell. (Note: "securitization" does not seem like a real word in this context)

H2. Write about any military battle or innovation or tactic in World War I.

Trench Warfare was one of the most gruesome and deadly practices of World War I. There were men packed into trenches every few hundred yards. It was hard to ever gain ground in a fight because of this fact, but the fighting was intense and deadly. They would use poison gas on people in the trenches, killing them over a matter of ten minutes to a whole hour. In addition, it was hard to actually capture a trench since there were mines in between trenches, and this transformed the land into miles of land strung with wire, mines, and dug up with trenches.

Superb answer and explanation.

H3. Contrast the presidents in the era of this lecture.

H4. What is your opinion of Lochner doctrine?

H5. Do you think the ideas of Darwinism—survival of the fittest—made World War I so horrific?

No, I do not believe so. The only reason that World War I was so horrible was the way that people construed these beliefs. Darwinism is not a prescriptive theory, it does not tell you to conquer your enemies, it is only a descriptive theory, one that describes scientifically what the process of evolution is. Rather, I propose that different ideas of the German philosopher Frederick Nietzsche were in wide popularity at the time, such as the Will to Power, which said that of man’s different drives and wills, the will to dominate was the strongest and ought to be respected. This seems more likely than Darwinism to influence the Germans for two reasons. First, Nietzsche was a famous philosopher respected by the English and the Germans, whereas Darwin’s ideas were not as respected by the Germans since it represented that the English were further along scientifically than the Germans. Second, remember that Darwin’s theory is a description of the way that he thinks things are, not a way that we ought to act, whereas Nietzsche’s philosophy prescribes a way people should act. According to Nietzsche, we should respect our drive for power. It would be more likely for people to act on a theory that actually had something to follow, some maxim, rather than one that did not give a command.

Good analysis. Nietzsche's ideas were very destructive. But Darwinism was influential in Germany too, particularly among the most educated.

Joseph M

Grade: 70/70. Shouldn't there be one more answer? Well done.--Andy Schlafly 21:59, 8 May 2011 (EDT)