Wednesday, November 12, 2008
The Transformation of Politics in Antebellum America
Hello everyone in first period American History. wqe are currently in on the chapter transformations in politics in Antebellum america. In this chapter of history it mainly focuses on Jacksonian democracy and its successes and limitations. What are some of the limitations that exist in todays democratic government if any. Is there a particular reason that our economy isn't as strong as it was 8 years ago. Please refrain from saying "because Bush is president". What did he do wrong in a political sense that gravely affected America so much?
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In this particular question i want us to look beyond the maedia and everybody elses idea of what is right and who the correct candidate. Look past the superficial and direct your thoughts to politics and how gravely our country has changed. think about things like gas, taxes,the war in Iraq and more. What is happening to our political system? This what you need to ask yourselves.
you can visit this website and in your own mind compare this idea of the Jacksonia era to your own and to the democracy that we are experiencing today!
http://www.wowessays.com/dbase/ae4/lmy140.shtml
Well, first off, under the policies of Mr Bush, we reintroduced our nation into a trans-centennial war with Iraq and Afghanistan. Because of this, our entire nation suffers economically, as the Iraq war costs our nation just under $720 Million every single DAY. As you can guess, this has greatly increased taxes, lowering the amount of products purchased, due to financial restraint, lowering revenue throughout companies, and in general, causing an underproductive economy.
Personally, I agree with Justin. IF you take a look at our country, you can see even the most basic things starting to fall apart. Notice the rise in food, and pretty much any items whatsoever. A Huge amount of cash (60% of income tax, or somewhere close to that figure) is spent on none other than our nation's defense. The total figure last year (or was it last last year?) was $711 billion. This is about the same as the rest of the world combined, and clearly it is a huge waste of money when it could be used for way better stuff, such as echnological improvements, healthcare, housing problems,etc. Long story short, the U.S. is crumbling economically and politically.
In the past, I believe it was way different. People then didn't care so much for defense, and so the money was spent on other things. People gradually had more opinion, i.e. universal white sufferage. Sure, it may not be perfect once you look at the blacks or women, but it was a STEP in the right direction of forming a nation.
Even the trail of tears could have been seen as an improvement. Again, I don't support their actions entirely, I do agree there were better ways to gain land and get the Indians off or even cooperate, but it DID expand the amount of space for the Americans. When you're building a nation, shouldn't every mind be considering on making it bigger and with more impact?
Comclusion: Jacksonian era was a period of improvement, while today is more of a period of recession.
Louis,
Couldn't you make the same argument about the war in Iraq today that you make about the Trail of Tears? Aren't we looking ultimately to expand our political beliefs and extend our way of life, just like with the acquisition of land during the 1820s and 1830s? Isn't the goal today to strengthen our nation, just like with Jackson?
Also, you guys are not thinking about Jackson and the bank at all when you are making these comparisons. What about the Panic of 1837?? Talk about a time of recession! Make sure to consider the WHOLE history.
It's true to some extent that with the war in Iraq we are trying to expand our beliefs, but I disagree about our current war trying to strenghten our nation. Rather, the only thing that it did strengthen were private businesses and war companies such as Halliburton. True, our security is top-class, but internally, we are developing too slowly. All the money that should have been used for advances are all spent on defense.
Ocasionally, the news might publish something about a fund for education and other benificial, plus a really huge figure, but notice that most of the time, there's huge debate whether to allow the measure to pass or not. In contrast, rarely anuyone really comments or critques about the defense system, and about the majority income tax is spent on it. My point here is that we're only under a false pretense of "strenghtning our nation" while in reality giving hundreds of billions of dollars away to private companies.
I personally think a large majority of the things the country does, like the War in Iraq, are very closely related to Manifest Destiny. Although America may not be fighting to acquire land, we are still trying to exert our power over the entire planet. Of course, we aren’t pushing the idea that it is because God wants us to conquer the world and expand our influence. With the idea Justin brought up about taxes and the ridiculously large nation debt, I don’t really think we can put it all on President Bush (although I personally believe he does share some blame). Higher taxes, national debt, war, an unproductive economy…all of these are things that, no matter how hard we try to prevent them, will always happen. Somewhat similar to the theory that everything always keeps happening over again but after long periods of time. It is simply human nature to go to war, to fight for what we believe in, to rely on others for aid (whether financially or some other). Look at the early republic. Taxes were raised, although not necessarily for the same cause, in the Tariff of 1828.
This website goes in depth on the idea that alexandra in embodying
i agree with alex, like ms. chipman said in class history likes to repeat itself and i think that if the theory was more broadcasted then maybe we could be able to predict some problems that had come in the past that would come in the future. Sure not everything would be exactly the same but it may help to keep our economy strong, among other things and this could most definatey help our country
I agree with what Alex is saying. I think that we still have this mindset that either the world needs saving and we're here to do it or the world is ours to conquer. Had I been around at the time of the Manifest Destiny, I would have held the same belief then as I do now. Why? Why should we think that we can barge in and take what is not ours? Aid what does not need aiding? Of course, I am completely in agreement with what America does to help the hungry, poor and hurt. I just don't think that we need to unfurl our flag in every direction, over every continent in the world. It is our duty as Americans to help, not inconvenience others. Help those who need it, not those who don't ask for it.
Well first off, Bush had done great job in keeping the country together, somewhat, but still it could be better. I think it is just bad luck that the terrorist attack the world trade center during his presidency. But due to the Iraq war, America are at constantly in fear of losing their love ones and also have to pay more taxes for the war. I agree with Justin with how the nation is turned into the trans-centennial war. It truly brought America some conflicts because of partly Bush.
i agree with lisa because if a country doesn't need our help and they tell us so or even if they don't they should be able to deal with their own problems...we shouldn't push and shove our way into every little situation or we might have a bad situation for ourselves if all other countries see that we just barge into others' problems and don't care if they don't want our help
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