American History Homework Eleven Answers - Model

Lecture - Questions - Student Answers

1. This course is mostly over. Can you now identify a value in learning history?

2. Was the United States right to enter World War II, and should we have entered sooner or later?

3. Which of the approaches in American history towards immigration do you like best, and why?

4. Pick out something from the "Roaring Twenties" and describe what you like about it.

"Keep Cool with Coolidge." That was the campaign slogan he used. I like everything about the Coolidge administration. He made choices confidently and decisively, and good, conservative choices at that. "Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding." (Proverbs 17:28) (Steven M.)

5. What is your view of the New Deal, and what might you have done differently in response to the Great Depression?

6. Do you think we should have dropped the atomic bombs on Japan? Explain.

7. Please interpret and explain the cartoon, including an estimate of its date. (It was published by a paper in New Jersey years ago.)

Honors (pick 3 out of 5)

H1. Throughout American history, has the president has been becoming more and more of a "leader" or a "follower"? In other words, is the trend towards more of a leadership position for that office, or less of one? Explain.

I would have to say that presidents are becoming followers as the years go by. Very few have stood, or stand for new or different choices that the people may or may not agree with. That's simply how they get elected, though. They say they believe in the causes that a majority of the country believe, get themselves elected, but one really has to wonder if they believe these things or not. Especially when a number of the "popular causes" contradict each other. Now, having the same beliefs has a majority of the Americans can be seen as becoming a leader, wanting to lead America in the most popular way. But all this leader is leading is simply "the cool crowd," those with the most popular beliefs and ideas. So I say that no matter what it may look like, presidents have become a group of followers instead of true leaders. (Kara H.)

H2. Pick out any military aspect of World War II and discuss it.

H3. Discuss any issue, mystery or debate topic from the lecture or time period 1920-1946.

H4. Your view of the United Nations, please?

The United Nations is yet another example of something that looks great on paper and mostly fails in practice. There are two setbacks to large, international councils like this: one, they have a tendency to limit or damage national sovereignty, and two, nations can sometimes hardly agree on their own national policies, let alone agree with other nations. It’s like taking the thirteen (somewhat disunited) states under Articles of Confederation, and putting that on an international scale. Not to mention the fact that the UN needs a huge bureaucracy to run, and bureaucracies are often self-serving and prone to selfish scandals such as the Oil for Food scandal. Also, it was recently reported that a very expensive decoration project was undertaken for a refurbished UN human rights chamber in Spain. This money could have gone somewhere much better. Perhaps the UN should go somewhere I can’t say .... (Addison DM)

H5. How would you recommend for handling the communist infiltration described in the lecture?