Section one:
Question one
Anne Hutchinson claimed that if God had predetermined the salvation or damnation of a person, their behavior on earth would then not change their fate. This line of thought was triggered by the conflicting behavior of the church members with the doctrine of predestination. In accordance to her understanding of the Biblical law, she viewed the Massachusetts ministers as having lost their way. The claim threatened to reduce the powers of the ministers as the members would ignore the church authority.
Question two:
After Andrew Jackson was elected as the seventh president of the United States, many of the states began passing more laws that were against the Native Americans. These changes occurred given that Jackson was a democrat, but the earlier government was comprised of the aristocrats. Additionally, the states had been granted power to annul the federal laws, and disobey them. In case the government tried to enforce the laws, they had the right to detach form the federal union, and form their own government to run the particular state. Jackson changed the way previous presidents used to rule, where they only used their veto power against a bill that was Unconstitutional. He instead believed that he needed to veto a bill that was against the interests of the people. Consequently, the congress had to inquire from the president before proposed or passed a law.
Question Two (a):
The Jackson’s 1814 treaty with the creeks established a new and important agenda. The treaty allowed the Indians to own the land individually, and hence splitting them, and tearing the ties they held regarding communal land ownership. Consequently, this introduce the spirit of competition and conniving; attributes that reflected the Western capitalism, which blended succinctly with the idea of civilization and progress for the Indians. Through a series of treaties, the whites took disposed the Indians large portions of land.
Question four:
The “Manifest Destiny” was a term that described the Americans believe regarding the mission they had been given by God entailing the expansion towards the west, taking up a continental nation, and using the constitutional government to those people who were unenlightened. However, during the U.S. civil war, the term carried overtones of racism concepts. The term meant that the English-speaking and Teutonic people had been granted supremacy to rule Americans. Given that America was a country composed of various tribes, giving supremacy to only selected line of people surmounts to racism.
Section Two:
Question one:
The commencement of the Industrial revolution came with a change in the role American women played in the society. It is during this period that power driven machinery were used in industries particularly the textile industries. Additionally many institutions were established opening up an equally many opportunities. Consequently, this meant an increased manpower was required to occupy the vacant opportunities. Earlier on, the women’s place was at home where they were required to undertake the domestic chores only. However, this changed during the industrial revolution that came up with favorable conditions that embraced the contribution of women in the industrial sector.
Women were allowed to enroll in education institutions, from where they learnt and acquired relevant skills enabling them to secure employment in various sectors. The spread of education particularly helped women to get employed as school teachers. For instance, during the 1870, the American school public school system consisted over half of the schoolteachers being women. Invention of the telephone, telegraph and typewriter also created many more job opportunities for women. Managing these appliances seemed more suitable for women than men.
Question four:
The reconstruction was the period after the civil war that aimed at rebuilding the United States. The former slaves were granted land and an amendment of the constitution done to alter the nature of the African-American rights. Slavery was abolished, and the African-American males granted the right to vote. This was an important move to as it would ensure that the collective population of America had an opportunity to contribute in the rebuilding process. Additionally, rebellion and revolts from the slaves that would hinder developmental process would cease. Consequently, all the policies regarding rebuilding would be implemented easily by the government. During the reconstruction, the blacks were able to build stable communities, and exercise their democratic rights through voting.
The reconstruction, however, failed after President Andrew Johnson, Lincoln’s successor, came up with a policy that was lenient towards the Southerners. He failed to punish most of the Southern Whites, elevated provincial governors to power and gave the directions for the creation of new state governments. For a part of the century, reconstruction was viewed as a period of corruption and misgovernment, supposedly attributed to inclusion of blacks in politics.
Section three:
Civilization is a term that refers to state of human society that has made material, intellectual and cultural development. It is manifested in the achievement of mature politics and proper legal organization. It is also a state of the advancement of the social development of the people. Progress means advancing to a particular place or objective. It is used to imply satisfactory development or growth. Civilization and progress had been used to perpetrate atrocities to the native communities. Those communities that felt to be superior usually encroached the territories of other communities in to grab land and get free labor in disguise of granting civilization and progress. Many of the people were made slaves, and their land taken after the whites settled in their lands claiming to initiate civilization and progress among the communities.
The white Americans, especially those who dwelled in the Western frontier resented the Native Americans they encountered. They viewed them as aliens, who settled on the land that was deservedly theirs. The higher office holders decided that the best step to take was to civilize the Native Americans. The main motive of the civilization was to make the Native Americans become like the white Americans. Civilization was to be achieved through encouraging them to adopt Christianity, learn to speak English and take up European economic styles.
Many of the tribes in the Southern America embraced the customs that changed their culture, and they became known as the civilized tribes. Nonetheless, the whites went on to evict the civilized natives from their land as they wanted to make fortunes from growing cotton in the region. To get the land, they stole livestock, looted and destroyed towns and houses, and finally settled on the land making it their own.
References
History. Trail of Tears. 23 January 2013. web. 26 April 2013.
Jones, Steve. American Manifest Destiny. 6 January 2012. article. 26 April 2013.
