FOURTEEN POINTS

Woodrow's Wilson's 14 Points were not realistic because the tensions at this time were far too great to satisfy international partnerships. Woodrow's Wilson's 14 points mainly focused on how to divide land after World War I. On the side note, the creation of a League of Nations was strongly emphasized. Wilson believed that all tariffs should be lowered (Point 3) and that a general association of nations should work together to guarantee independencefor large and small countries alike (Point 16). Though Point 3 seems effective, it would only work if there were a League of Nations (Point 16). Though the League of Nations seemed like a good idea, it would not work. At this time period, the world was divided into two basic spheres: Axis and Allies. They had just finished fighting a war, and thus tensions did not cease. Then, with eight of Wilson's points, war land was to be redistributed. This redistribution of land would only increase the tensions between these countries because one country would feel at fault to the other. The creation of new states, such as Poland, would also bring down the League of Nations, because the League was designed to bring equality to all countries; but if Wilson, the U.S. president, grants Poland its independence, then that country will be in dept to America and thus tilt the equality of nations. Also, since only the most powerful countries would be considered to join the League, it would limit international equality. The smaller nations, or the defeateed nations, such as germany, would be taken advantage of for the next several years to come. Overall, Wilson's 14 points would not work.

Foreign Power Intervention

The American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Civil War were all significantly impacted by foreign intervention. The American Revolution had begun as a war between the colonists and Britain. The British had a large advantage over the colonists until France had joined in the war to help the colonists. Then after gaining new military reinforcements and support from France, the colonists were able to win. Then, in the War of 1812, the British were able to cause significant destruction to American holdings with the help of the Native Americans. One example of this was the destruction of Fort Dearborn by Chief Tecumseh’s men. Without the support of the natives, this war would have been strongly in favor of the Americans. Lastly, the Civil War was also strongly decided by the intervention/lack of intervention by foreign power. Foreign is defined as something (in this case someone) that exhibits different characteristics than the majority of things surrounding it. This means that the Civil War was decided because of the slave population intervention. The warring between the South and the slaves had caused an economical downfall for the south, thus disallowing the production of foodstuffs and the eventual collapse of their government. Also, the lack of British intervention on the South’s part had caused the North to be able to easily dominate the Confederate States since they lacked the necessary resources to win the war.

The Civil War: Repressible or Irrepressible?

The Civil War was irrepressible because the vast differences between the North and South had influenced the creation of two separate nations. Since the Jacksonian period, southern states had threatened to succeed the Union. The founding of the United States had established the North into a strong economic community, whereas the south was seen as additional territory. The creation of a cotton industry in the South had created the reliance on slaves, whereas the North didn’t need slaves because their main industries were related to manufacturing. This split had caused the two sides to distance themselves from each other. The North resented southern slaves because it decreased northern wages, and the south resented the north because it feared that they would abolish slavery which would ruin their industries. Thus, both regions saw the other as an economic oppressor. These issues caused an inevitable split in 1860. This split could possibly have been suppressed with the Critenden amendments, but the identity of the northern Republican Party had forbade agreeing to such ideas. Overall, the identity of the North and South was very different, and thus Civil War was irrepressible.

Acquisition of Territory: Help/Hurt

Acquisition of territory had both helped and hurt America because it had improved the economy and international standing, whereas it had also caused internal conflict and disunity. The expansion westward had improved the American economy. With the new supply of land in order to satiate the need for more crop producting territories, America was able to gain a new supply of agriculture and some cahs crops such as tobacco. The expansion of territory also allowed for the production of many raw goods which helped to support the New England manufacturing industries. Development also improved international standing. The United States' sharing of Oregon with Britain supported American equal standing. The control of
Texas also improved the international standing because the United States was now seen as more powerful than the lesser Mexico. The main thing that hurt America during expansion was
increased disunity. The issue of slavery had caused Americans to divide. In the Missouri Compromise, it was loosely defined what would happen with the western states, thus causing conflict between the newly founded
territories. Also, Texas was not allowed into the Union because it supported slavery. Overall, expansion was good because it improved the economy, but it hurt America by causing disunity.

Jacksonian Period

During the Jacksonian period of 1824-1840, the American population began to demand more democratic rights. These rights helped to secure the period’s characterization as the period of the “common man”. At this time, the Panic of 1819 had occurred. As a result of this panic, the American population began to fight for new economic regulations – the North demanded tariff increase while the south demanded a free economy. This conflict along with the Missouri Compromise had caused the democracy of the nation to strengthen, and essentially allow for a period of the “common man”. Politically, the nation progressed into a more democratic government that supported the ideas of all people. In the 1824 election, only one out of four eligible people voted. Then in 1828, the number of voters increased to two out of four eligible people. This caused government officials to be chosen directly by the people. Also, candidates now had to become more appealing to the people since their vote actually mattered, thus increasing the commonality of the period. Reform movements that made this period more reflective of the common man included John Calhoun’s The South Carolina Exposition. This document showed that the Southerners disliked tariffs and that it was essential for government to respect the southern states as much as the northern ones. Jackson’s Revolution of 1828 was another example of this. Jackson had won election over Adams, showing that population sympathized with the honest person that did not cheat. In conclusion, this period should be considered a period of the “common man”.

War of 1812 Divisions

The War of 1812 emphasized the divisions of American society both politically and on a personal basis. This war was widely divided mainly because it did not have the support of the general American public. At this point in time, there was a large disunity among Federalists and Democratic-Republicans. The Democratic-Republics had an anti-British standpoint and supported the war, as compared to the Federalists who supported Britain an
were against the war. The Democrat-Republicans supported an agricultural economy, as opposed to the Federalist industrial economy. This caused the parties to be disunited on the issue of taking Canada
(which would be one of the spoils of the war). Federalists feared that if Canada was taken, then the agricultural economy would increase too rapidly and the United States would fail. These two parties had a close to equal support within the states, thus causing the population to be divided.

Mob Actions

I believe that mob action is not justifiable. In the colonies themselves, the actions of the colonists was unjustifiable. The colonists had gone against the British, just as a child goes against their parent. Britain was the country that had created America, and helped shape it into what it was in the 1770s through its great sacrifice of bullion. Britain had paid for the colonization of the United States, and then expanded by Westward after which it paid soldiers to protect the colonists from Natives. In turn, they believe that the colonists should only pay a small fraction of the war costs - a fraction that did not even create an effect on them. They wanted to tax the colonists on the selling of cheaper tea, but because greed paid a major factor in the exploitation of Britain, the colonists rebelled. In this instance, rebellion is bad because the colonists were not fighting for civil rights since they were not in any immediate danger. Thus, it was unjustifiable for the colonists to use mob tactics.

Colonial Unity and the Revolution

Colonial unity during the eve of the Revolution was essential to the success of the colonists against the British. At that time, the Patriots (supporting colonials) outnumbered the Liberals at a 4:1 ratio. The Patriots were all located in the trade areas of the colonies, predominantly in the north and middle colonies. Whereas the Liberals were situated in Anglican church areas which were usually in the south. This demographic helped to shape the Patriotic colonists into a united front. These Patriots stood together against taxation without representation. Though items such as tea were cheaper than before, the newly imposed tax went against the colonial principles. This led to the strong unity through groups such as the Daughters of Liberty, Sons of Liberty, Patriotic mobs, and all other groups that resented the British taxes. This thus cause new Patriotic works, such as Thomas Paine's Common Sense that stated that a little island like Britain could not contain the large and vast Colonies. After the Continental Congress, the Colonies decided to separate from Britain and finally announced the justification for their independence in the Declaration of Independence. By this time, the colonists were strongly united in order to fight the redcoats.

French and Indian War

The French and Indian War had affected the realtions between the British and the French. This war was part of the world-wide Seven Years' War, which was fought from the New World, to Europe, and even the Phillipines. France, being concentrated on Europe, was unable to send reinforcements to the New World. This caused the British to defeat the French and take over Canada. Canada, being under British control, caused the French Acadians to be pushed far south into territories such as Louisiana. Though the French were extremely angered by the British they were unable to respond due to the lack of force. This established British supremacy over the French in the New World. Since this moment on, Britain dominated the colonial north of Canada, and taunted the now weakened French of the south (predominantly Louisiana). This victory by the British caused a prolonged Seven Years' War. Overall, the British established supremacy in the New World.

Democracy

The Great Awakening and immigration both impacted American democracy. Immigration, allowed for the mixing of many cultures in the New World. Though the colonies consisted of only 7% Irish, 6% German, and few others, the British colonies were the most diverse out of any area in the world. Here, the cultures clashed in such a way that both good and bad things resulted from this. Through culture clashes, democratic principles emerged. Democracy is defined as by the people for the people, and that's exactly how it was for the "Dutch" (Deutsch) in Pennsylvania. In Philadelphia, street signed were in both English and German. Also, the cultures were able to establish their own societies and choose their own leaders. Asides from that, this also brought Democracy backwards. The idea of the white man as the superior to the African resulted in the establishment of slavery. 92% of Africans were enslaved, 90% of those slaves living in the south.
The Great Awakening also greatly impacted democracy. Through the creation of new religious ideas, new principles and thoughts were able to be expressed. In this instance there was religious Democracy, because the already reformed Christian faith had been reformed again.

North vs South

The Northern and Southern colonies were both centrally supported by different economical and social issues, the South mainly focused on the development of trade through the use of tobacco, as the North developed through the creation of a strong religious base and interaction with colonials abroad. The Southern colonies, such as Virginia, South Carolina, Maryland, Georgia, and North Carolina were considered the poorer colonies. These colonies centralized on the production of cash crops which were dominated by tobacco. Though these colonies were far from the native England, they were restricted to the matters of their foreign governing authority. States such as Georgia were intended for all English residents that had unpaid debts. Other states such as Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina, were all limited to the Anglican religion. The one religiously free colony was Maryland, who was founded by Lord Baltimore after he attempted to avoid religious prosecution by traveling north. They were not intended to become developed colonies, but instead a buffer zone between Spain and England. On the contrary, the Northern colonies were much more developed. The North centralized more on diverse trade, which allowed for the development of skilled trades. Fur trading itself became the basis of some of the far northern colonies such as Maine. The colonies were also religiously diverse, as compared to the southern Anglican Church. Here, there were Separists, Puritans, as well as states with no religious restrictions such as New York. In the North, each type of person was able to become successful as opposed to the South's English basis.

American Education

In today's current society it is hard to compare education to that of 18th century American colonies. In the 18th Century, American schools were predominantly religion oriented, and thus though religious morales and principles. In modern day, there is the idea of public education, private education, and religious education. Though some schools center their thoughts on Christian faiths and Jewish faiths, they are not as strictly run as the schools of the 18th Century. The schools of the 18th Century were only that of the community's religion, meaning that the things taught in school influenced the children to become better religious devotees. Also, the current system is more open minded, meaning all religions are intertwined in order to form a society in which it is impossible to stay unexposed to the ideas of other societies.