American Institutions (AI)-- HIST 1700 American Civilization
To satisfy the American Institutions requirement I took HIST 1700, American Civilization.
HIST 1700, Section 409 — Reflection
Russel Fugal — 3/16/2018
I wrote my second document based assignment about the national debate about the secession crisis in 1861. I decided to begin my search with newspaper editorials on both sides of the issue. I was aware that both Union and Confederate governments censored reporting and closed newspapers, and during my initial research I learned that the Democratic Standard was the first newspaper to be forcibly closed in the North, though not by the Government. I decided that this was a good study of the passion surrounding the topic, the controversy over secession.
I chose my topic because I am anti-war and in favor of voluntary organization of society. This philosophy makes me think critically about the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and every other war. I know that there are two sides to every story, and the pursuit of Union victory was devastating to the South. I also see hypocrisy in American tradition honoring the traitors to England in the Revolutionary War while demonizing the traitors to Union in the Civil War. America is a flawed nation, and the Constitution (which protected slavery for over 80 years) is a flawed document. Slavery is a flawed economic system, but coercive rule of one people over another just because they are more populous is also a flawed political system. Not to mention the strategic politics of the emancipation proclamation which only freed slaves in enemy territory while not doing the same in domestic territory.
I have improved my writing in this class by focusing more tightly on forming a thesis and organizing my introductions and summaries. The assigned length of the papers has allowed for time to complete several, but has also limited me in what can be said in the space, sharpening my focus.
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