SSH101 Final Takehome Section

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SSH101 Final Take home Section
PART I
The era of common man began in 1820’s when Andrew Jackson was elected the president. Difficult economic and complex social changes were experienced during the Jacksonian era. During the Jacksonian era, several important reform movements in history began. The reformers committed themselves to activities like improving the treatment of the mentally ill, abolishment of slavery, free public schools and education, controlling the sale of liquor/beer, legal and political rights for women, social relationships, and crime eradication.
Women in America were not socially strong as men in the early 1800s. Women had no right to vote, and the married ones were not allowed to own property or even keep their earnings. However, the temperance and abolition reform movements gave women an opportunity to get intricate in the public dome. The change campaigns delivered a unique opportunity to escape the limits of the home and enter public affairs. Therefore, this made women protuberant in these reform crusades (Zinn 22). The activists Sarah Grimke and Angelina argued that women and men were created equal and therefore, they should be treated equally by law (Zinn 36). A women rights convention was organized in 1848 by Stanton and Mott to declare women as equal to men. Some states then passed acts allowing married women to possess property.
The reformers were also motivated to help people suffering from insanity. This is because; the so-called insane people were treated with unbelievable brutality as they were believed to have been cursed with impure spirits.

The beer problems attracted the reformers. It was dealt with by a reform movement under temperance. There was heavy drinking among members of Congress, women and also clergymen (Zinn 31). The alcohol consumption rose in the early 1800s prompting the movement to force abstinence from alcohol drinking. Many people claimed that drinking alcohol is immoral and brought about mental unsteadiness to people involved. Women and children were suffering at drunkards’ hands. The drunkenness reduced the efficacy of labor and augmented the risk of accidents at work thus motivating reformers to deal with the problem. The efforts saw the reduction of alcohol consumption in the late 1830s and early 1840s. Some states passed acts that restricted the sale of alcohol.
The reformers worked to see more free public education for all. This is because, during the early years of the republic, schools were scarce. The motive to have schools was to ensure that children get the education and share joint cultural values. When Horace Mann was appointed secretary in 1837, he augmented state expenditure on schools. This lead to reforms such as; introduction of textbooks, dividing students into grades and extending the school period. During this reform, free community education feasted in the region (Zinn 40). The reform movement was also attracted by slavery that was dormant. They fought to abolish slavery especially black slaves and women. An anti-slavery society was formed in1833 by Fredrick Douglass who always demanded equal rights for black people. The abolitionist reform movement pursued the agenda until the rights were provided for in the constitution.
PART II (B)
The two hostile countries in the United States came about in the spring of 1861. The split gave birth to the confederate States of America and United States. There was an estrangement brought about by the quarrel regarding slavery and its status in the federal territories. A section of the country believed that slavery was good and need to be extended while the other section was opposed to that. That is, slavery is wrong and therefore should not be extended (Oleson and Brown 17). These differences warned in intensity between the rebellion and the Civil War. The Democratic Party supported slavery while Republicans were strongly opposing slavery. The Democratic Party also divided into two, proslavery Democrats in South and antislavery Democrats in the north. This quarrel over slavery brought about the collapse of the second party system (Zinn 19). The death of Clav and Webster left the Whigs without a leader and consequently lost to the Republican Party. The collapse of the second party system happened because of failure to compromise the strong stands on slavery.
After the Civil War, the 13th, 14th and 15th Reconstruction amendments were passed. The 13th amendment rendered slavery as a serious crime. The amendment was established to end slavery in the United States of America and hence abolishing Slavery. The 14th reconstruction amendments were established to safeguard citizenship in the United States. The amendment gave rights to all children born in the country, right to be citizens of the United States of America (Zinn 46). The 15th reconstruction amendment was enacted to give all people rights to vote regardless of their color. The amendment made it unlawful to repudiate people the right to vote based on their race. The reconstruction amendments were established to ensure that the freed slaves were able to incorporate with the society.
PART III (A)
“Manifest destiny” was American belief that referred to the chosen people. The idea was brought to existence by John L. O’Sullivan in 1845. It was a conviction that God preordained The United States to enlarge through North America and exercise supremacy over its neighbors. In the United States magazine and democratic review, he argued for “the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions” ( Frazier 28). The United States was expanded by 1.2 million square miles. The expansion was large, and this made O’Sullivan think that more enlargements of the Unite Stated were underway, desirable, and necessary hence the concept of manifest destiny. Manifest destiny included many ideas concerning race, culture, economic necessity, and religion (Oleson and Brown 44). The manifest destiny was set to give the United States political and social superpower and potential to great wealth. Anyone who dares challenge the American hegemony becomes enemy and disputes erupt. Challenging American hegemony attracts political instability and economic turmoil to those involved. An example is China that in most cases challenging the American hegemony since China has engaged the western hemisphere in trade (Frazier 41). Thus, due to less involvement by Washington in the region, the dispute among Latin Americans states have increased.
EXTRA CREDIT
During this period, the defensive tariff was intended by a national bank owned by the federal government and private stockholders to offer subsidies to transportation projects (Zinn 52). The internal improvements were to be done using money obtained from the sale of public lands in the west. Economic roads were constructed, and this increased slavery. The East, West, and South resolved their differences when all American system features were made operational.
EXTRA-EXTRA CREDIT
The reconstruction amendment appeared to be controversial, but it helped in shaping the United States of America to the level it is today. The reconstruction amendment came after the Civil War thus trying to bring all people together. Though the amendments were to safeguard and guarantee rights to the freed slaves, it has helped in creating the most democratic society in the world.
Works Cited
Frazier, Thomas R. The Underside of American History: Other Readings. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1974.
Oleson, Alexandra, and Sanborn C. Brown. The Pursuit of Knowledge in the Early American Republic: American Scientific and Learned Societies from Colonial Times to the Civil War. Johns Hopkins UP, 1976.
Zinn, Howard. Young People’s History of the United States. Seven Stories P, 2009.