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| | On the SAT II, about 20% of the test concerns ''economic'' history. That's a big portion of the exam. This includes questions about unions, money standards (gold or silver or paper), inventions, trade, taxes, farming, court decisions about economic disputes, disputes over the size of pensions for Civil War veterans, government spending and anything else effecting the economy. Economic trends influence the course of human events more than students realize. | | On the SAT II, about 20% of the test concerns ''economic'' history. That's a big portion of the exam. This includes questions about unions, money standards (gold or silver or paper), inventions, trade, taxes, farming, court decisions about economic disputes, disputes over the size of pensions for Civil War veterans, government spending and anything else effecting the economy. Economic trends influence the course of human events more than students realize. |
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| − | In the time period after the end of Reconstruction (1877) until the key presidential election of 1896, economic issues were particularly important. Nothing much else was going on: the presidents were unremarkable, social disputes like slavery no longer existed, and there were no wars. | + | In the time period after the end of Reconstruction (1877) until the key presidential election of 1896, economic issues were particularly important. Nothing much else was going on: the presidents were unremarkable and, frankly, entirely forgettable. Social disputes like slavery were resolved. And for the longest time in American history, there were no wars. America had no wars between the end of the Civil War in 1865 and the beginning of the Spanish-American War in 1898, a period of 33 years. Ask yourself: when was the second longest time of peace in American history?<ref>The second longest time of peace in American history was between the end of the War of 1812 in 1815 and the beginning of the Mexican War in 1846, a period of 31 years. See http://americanhistory.about.com/library/timelines/bltimelineuswars.htm .</ref> |
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| | The Supreme Court ruled in 1883, in the Civil Rights Cases, that the Fourteenth Amendment was limited to prohibiting racial discrimination by government. These decisions held that the Fourteenth Amendment does not apply to racism by private groups. This ended the civil rights movement until the 1950s. So there is nothing to learn about civil rights concerning the late 1800s. | | The Supreme Court ruled in 1883, in the Civil Rights Cases, that the Fourteenth Amendment was limited to prohibiting racial discrimination by government. These decisions held that the Fourteenth Amendment does not apply to racism by private groups. This ended the civil rights movement until the 1950s. So there is nothing to learn about civil rights concerning the late 1800s. |
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| | Women's Christian Temperance Union "1874: founded by women to combat problems alcohol caused their families, society; sought prohibition" | | Women's Christian Temperance Union "1874: founded by women to combat problems alcohol caused their families, society; sought prohibition" |
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| | + | == Yankee Ingenuity == |
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| | + | America was not the origin of major religions, or even most great ideas like free enterprise. America was not the place where most scientific breakthroughs occurred. America has not been the leader in great writers, or great statesmen. Most of the concepts that have been so successful in America, like the "separation of powers" structure in the Constitution, are based on insights that originated in Europe. |
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| | + | Indeed, it is not easy to name what did originate in America. Not democracy. Virtually none of the great physicists, mathematicians, composers, writers, or other great thinkers came from America. What, if anything, is so special about America in its place in the world? |
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| | + | In two words, "Yankee ingenuity." Virtually all great inventions since about 1750 came from America, and these creations of man have brought the world a wealth beyond all imagination. America creates, and the rest of the world copies. And neither the rest of the world or even American history books give full create to Yankee ingenuity. |
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