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10 Long Answer Questions

Essay Instructions:

PART I: SECOND HALF ESSAY QUESTION

Your response should draw upon course readings as well as lectures. Your response should include the argument of your essay clearly stated in a thesis statement in your introductory paragraph. You may want to plan out your essay before you write. 5 minutes spent outlining your answer before you begin writing will ultimately improve the quality of your answer. Each essay question will be worth 10 points.

 

1. Consider the selections from John L. O’Sullivan’s editorial on the annexation of Texas, published in 1845. What does it say about the attitudes held by many in the United States about western expansion? What does it say about AngloAmerican attitudes towards non-Anglo-American “others” in North America?

  1. Some historians have described the expansion of popular politics in the Jacksonian era as the rise of a white man’s democracy. Who were the losers and who were the winners under that system? To what extent did American society as a whole democratize after the Revolution?
  2. Examine the picture posted on the course Canvas comparing life on a slave plantation to life in industrialized Britain (Source 2). Do you think this picture accurately conveyed life on a slave plantation? How did the sentiments portrayed in this picture relate to Southern defenses of the slave system? How did it relate to southern states’ desire to secede?
  3. In 1857, Hinton Rowan Helper wrote The Impending Crisis in The South. Helper’s book argued that at the time of the signing of the Declaration of Independence the North and the South were roughly equal in economic and cultural terms. However, his book goes on to outline the many reasons the North and South experienced regional differences. By drawing on Helper’s work (Source 3) as well as information from the second half of the course explain why the North and South differed politically, economically, and culturally.
  4. Consider Angelina Grimké’s discussion of women’s rights and anti-slavery    

(Source 4). How does Grimké see the relationship between the antislavery movement and the movement for women’s rights? How do Grimké’s opinions relate to other reform movements? (You should pick one reform movement to discuss.)  

 

 

PART II: CUMULATIVE ESSAY QUESTION

The directions are the same as in Part I, except that you must be sure to include material from the entire class period. Each question is worth 10 points. (250 words maximum for each questions)

  1. Compare women’s social roles before and after the American Revolution. In what ways did their economic and occupational status change? How did social expectations evolve in the decades after political independence?
  2. On July 4, 1776, residents of the thirteen United States changed from colonial subjects of Great Britain to prospective colonizers of the North American continent. Do you think this shift being British subjects to being citizens of the United States changed their approach towards colonizing the interior of the continent? Why?
  3. The historian Edmund Morgan once argued that the paradox of American democracy was that Americans had bought their freedom with slave labor. If that was so, how central was African slavery in the growth and development of the United States from the colonial period through the Civil War?
  4. Upon leaving office, George Washington advised America not to split into political factions. Do you believe that Americans followed his advice? How did political factionalism evolve during from the early republic through the Civil War?
  5. “In many respects, the Mexican American war played the same role in the lead up to the Civil War that the Seven Years War did in the lead up to the American Revolution. Each set the stage for a larger conflict to follow.” Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Why? Which war do you think had a greater impact on American society?
Essay Sample Content Preview:

10 Long Answer Questions
Question 1
John O’Sullivan’s editorial on the annexation of Texas reveals imperialistic attitudes held by many in the United States about western expansion and towards non-Anglo-American “others” in North America. O’Sullivan introduced the term Manifest Destiney to refer to the United States’ unavoidable expansion across the North American continent. He believed that the expansion of American borders to the Pacific Ocean was a divinely ordained right: Anglo-American settlers were God’s advocates in spreading western ideals across the entire North American continent. O’Sullivan’s views on America’s territorial expansion justified the purging of non-Anglo-American “others” and their influence. For instance, he welcomes the annexation of Texas, stating that “She is no longer to us a mere country on the map. She comes within the dear and sacred designation of Our Country”. He goes ahead to condemn America’s rivals in her western expansion including the French, Spanish, and Mexicans. O’Sullivan asserts that the manifest destiny was allotted by Providence for the free development of Anglo-American development and that America owes no obligation of duty towards Mexico, who were the original rulers of western states. He is derisive of other nations, particularly Mexico, which he regards as too puny to resist the advancing army of Anglo-Saxon emigration. O’Sullivan is also contemptuous of the Spanish, English, and French, whom he believes are also incapable of impeding the accumulating momentum of America’s progress westwards.
Question 2
The winners in the expansion of popular politics in the Jacksonian era or what is generally regarded as the rise of a white man’s democracy were white men while the losers included women and racial minorities, especially blacks. While Andrew Jackson’s tenure was relatively short, his influence on American politics and reform movements was pervasive. For instance, he expanded the right to vote to all white men by abolishing the property and tax qualifications for voting. Before Jackson came into power, many state constitutions required voters to meet certain property qualifications in order to vote. This attempt at keeping democratic tendencies in check limited the influence of citizenry in government. Jackson expanded the limits of democracy by extending the right to vote to all adult white males over the age of 21. However, while voting rights were expanded to white male suffrage, women and free blacks were denied the right to vote and treated as second class citizens. Women were considered as legal property of their husbands and therefore ineligible to vote while blacks were comparatively disenfranchised and regarded as second-class citizens. American society as a whole democratized immensely after the Revolution by expanding voting franchise to white men although at the expense of women and minority races. A greater proportion of the public could participate in politics although gender and racial inequalities continued to exist in American society.
Question 3
The picture does not accurately portray life on a slave plantation and is rather a false de...
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