HISTORY 121 | UNIT ONE—CRITICAL QUESTIONS—DISCUSSION BOARD FORUM

INSTRUCTIONS:15-18

1. Choose two questions to answer from the attached list.

2. Post your answers, in the respective discussion board forums, (DB 1, Q1 and DB 1, Q2) found in the Discussion Board area.
o Write two (2) to three (3) paragraphs — for a total of 250-300 words of a critical analysis, and how you interpret
the information, and what inferences do you draw from the text.  
o Include the answer at the beginning of the post.
3. You must also reply to two (2) of your fellow student’s discussion board posts.
o Your reply should be 4 to 5 sentences. Keep in mind these are short answer questions however a two or three
sentence response does not provide an adequate analysis of the subject material.

Hint: You can compose your answer in a word processing program, then copy and paste into Blackboard, to take advantage of spell
check and sentence structure features.

1. Describe the political, social, and economic issues in the North and the South facing northern Republicans as
they went about devising plans for Reconstruction. How did President’s Lincoln envision Reconstruction to
address those issues?

2. How did President Johnson approach Reconstruction and its results? Be sure to consider the Black Codes? Were
they a necessary and realistic response to the situation or a thinly disguised attempt to restore a version of
slavery to the South?

3. How did those groups who lived through Reconstruction view their experiences? How would those views be
reflected in subsequent historical debates?

4. How did the Republicans in Congress respond to Johnson’s Reconstruction and how did they change it?

5. Why did the North abandon Reconstruction so rapidly? Why was the South “redeemed” so rapidly by white
political leaders?

6. What was done to protect the freedmen? What more could have been done? Why was more not done?

7. Evaluate the successes and failures of Reconstruction. What were the successes? How might the failures have
been avoided? What groundwork had been laid for the future?

8. What was the “Republican Vision” for the west and how did that result in an “Integrated Economy?”

9. The authors argue that the mythology of the West is one of hardy and self-sufficient individuals taming the wild,
a more accurate history of the west would be “Incorporating the West.” What do they mean by that? Would
you agree or disagree and why?
10. How did an arid climate make life difficult for Homesteaders? How did they deal with the problem?

11. What happened to Native Americans as people from the United States settled lands in the West?
12. How do you, account for America’s impressive industrial growth in the late nineteenth century?
13. How did the people who organized business in the late 19th Century use corporate organization and
innovation to maximize profits?
14. Would you describe the entrepreneurs of the late nineteenth century as “robber barons” or “captains of
industry”? Why would you choose one term over the other? Did they really believe in free enterprise? Why or
why not?
HISTORY 121 | UNIT ONE—CRITICAL QUESTIONS—DISCUSSION BOARD FORUM

15. Describe the most important late nineteenth-century changes in both the nature of the American work force
and the conditions of the workplace. Why did most industrial workers accept the difficult conditions of their
work?
16. The authors suggest that with Industrialization, people in the U.S. adopted consumerism which
fundamentally altered culture. What does this mean? Who was it expressed in (choose ONE) gender
roles, the rise of sports, or the “Great Outdoors?”
17. How did the public role of women change in between 1880 and 1917?
18. Analyze the impact of Darwinism on American scientific and social thought.

How did the public role of women change in between 1880 and 1917?

The public role of women changed drastically between 1880 and 1917. Women prior to 1880 were expected to stay
at home and be domesticated. At that time, they were considered the property of their husbands or their families and
were generally discouraged from work outside of the home. Respectable women could only earn money by offering
domestic services and were not allowed to have an education or an opinion in politics. Young women without husbands
had little options, for instance, factory work was often available but that was dangerous and dirty.
With the industrial revolution came new freedoms and expectations for both men and women. The assembly
line, mass production and the invention of the telephone all paved the way for growth in demand of entry level workers.
White women were the majority in jobs such as secretaries, telephone operators and typists while men were generally
filling the new sales and managerial roles.
As more women worked outside of the home, a greater the need for access to an education and demand for
equal treatment, including the right to vote, emerged. Public opinions of what a “woman’s rightful place” was shifted
during this time and more white women found themselves able to pursue careers.
The clear distinction in the text that the white working women were only allowed to be in the lowest wage
positions, those that were considered dead-end jobs, is very indicative of the social hierarchy of the era. Most white
men living in the United States in this era were both racist and sexist, giving only scraps to anyone who was not also a
white male. It is also very clear from the text that only white women could have these unwanted positions. This is the
beginning of the structural racism that has taken place in our history.

What was done to protect the freedmen? What more could have been done? Why was more not done?

                The freedmen were given their freedom from slavery that was protected by the 13th Amendment. They were
granted citizenship in the 14th Amendment. The 15th Amendment granted the right to vote. They could have been given
additional protections from discrimination and from the “Black Codes”. They could also have been granted the same
freedoms as white males such equal rights to land and access to the same education for their children. Laws to protect
them from segregation could have also been implemented and enforced, as well as laws to protect their newly started
government systems within each state. The failure to protect the freedmen was not only in the lack of laws enacted to
protect them but also in the deliberate action of the Supreme Court to limit the protections that had been granted in
the 14th Amendment and the Civil Rights Act of 1875.
                Many of the rights and protections that should have been given were not because the priority was to protect
the interests of white plantation owners and to keep money in the hands of white men. White men ruled with the belief
that any other race was inferior to them and should not have the same access to education or wealth. White wealth was
consistently the deciding factor in what freedoms and protections were granted. If a proposed law or protection would
have a negative effect on the economy then it was not allowed to pass. Corruption was rampant in politics during this
era and money from the south bought influence in the north.