American History Homework Five Answers - Student Ten

JessieH -Done, editing-

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: (B) 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.

2. Identify at least two key positions of the Whig Party. For one they generally leaned towards the north, in siding against slavery. Remembering that that they went against almost everything that the Democratic party were proponents of, leads to the second key belief; that they pretty much believed everything the Democrats didn't. 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.

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.

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 seemed like a behind the scenes person. And with 'Uncle Tom's cabin' she really emphisised the horrible truth about slavery, and I admire her courage.

5. Explain what "Bleeding Kansas" was. The dispute over whether or not Kansas was going to be a slave state, or a free one. It was called 'Bleeding Kansas' because of all of the spilled blood from bother parties.

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 how Steven Douglas made the pathetic law stating that each state could decide for it's self whether or not it wanted slavery, and the miniature battles that were fought.

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. 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 not be on the same page even today. For another, what about the Africans? Could we have just said "Eh, I don't fell like fighting today, and I hate getting my pants dirty. Those Africans can just stay put." and ignored them? I think that if we didn't have the war, either the Africans would still be slaves in the south today, or the south would have completely succeeded from he union, and we wouldn't have fifty states today. I think it was a very important war, that history probably couldn't have done without.