People who know American History

[solidcrowd 10+ year member]

These 2 essay questions are due tomorow for my final and I have no idea where to start...I'd appreciate it if someone could help me get the ball moving and help me get this started, Thanks:

#1

Benjamin Franklin once wrote “where liberty is, there is my country.” Is he right? Was that the American experience from its colonial settlement to the end of Reconstruction? Can the story of America during that period be written as one of ever greater freedom for an ever greater number of people?

#2

The American experience beginning with colonial settlement was one of continental expansion until the United States became a country “from sea to shining sea.” IN each of the three eras we studied—to 1776, from 1776 to the Jacksonian Era, and Jacksonian America through Reconstruction—what were the key factors and ideas that drove continental expansion? What were the benefits and consequences of that expansion?

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[Bender. 10+ year member]

#2

reasons...human instinct to explore, gold rush, looking for resources

benefits...more land, more resources, easier trade with japan area

consequences...screwed indians over

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

Is he right?

Sure.

Was that the American experience from its colonial settlement to the end of Reconstruction?

Unless you were a woman or black, yes.

Can the story of America during that period be written as one of ever greater freedom for an ever greater number of people?

Not until well after Reconstruction...arguably not until this century.

 

[solidcrowd 10+ year member]

I got #2 but i still don't quite understand what to write for question #1. Thanks for the answers so far though.

 

[Ken448 10+ year member]

hah Id help, but I got a F+ (seriously) on my final to give me a D- in HS History so I would pass and GTFO. Hated history, no matter the country, but I was a A or B student in everything else.... 16 years agoooooooooooooooooooooooo

 

[Bender. 10+ year member]

hah Id help, but I got a F+ (seriously) on my final to give me a D- in HS History so I would pass and GTFO. Hated history, no matter the country, but I was a A or B student in everything else.... 16 years agoooooooooooooooooooooooo

i like american history but hate world history...i like learning about our country but i dont give a fuck what the damn africans or egyptians or who ever the fuck else was doing way back when

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

i like american history but hate world history...i like learning about our country but i dont give a fuck what the damn africans or egyptians or who ever the fuck else was doing way back when

Which is part of why our foreign policy is where it is today //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

 

[solidcrowd 10+ year member]

Can the story of America during that period be written as one of ever greater freedom for an ever greater number of people?

What does this mean? I have tons of info for question #2 but am lost when I look at #1

 

[sctattooer 10+ year member]

Yes it can. The ideals were there. Early colonists knew why they had left England, and what it was that they wanted different in their lives. The vast amount of people who flocked to this land in the 1700s didnt come here simply to escape taxation. They wanted complete liberty, and, for the most part, knew that it didnt come for free. Life in the 1700s was cruel and quite primative, winters were brutal and homes were not insulated. People survived by pulling together, all with the same dream, liberty. The more people there were pulling together, the greater freedoms each could enjoy.

and 2: benefits and consequences. Benefits included food, probably most importantly, as the east grew larger and more people hunted food, supplies became scarce. Exploring the new land brought industry, as people found more resources to the west, sending them back east created wealth for many, so I suppose wealth played a major role there.

Consequences were more than many travelers bargained for. Many lost their lives to animal attacks, weather, conflicts with others over territory, resources, or personal property.

Do I pass?

 

[quest51210 10+ year member]

this may help students

http://www.palomar.edu/dsps/actc/mla/