Aspect of the US History 1776-1861 - Essay Example

? HISTORY Introduction The study aims to explore two primary sources dealing with some aspect of the U.S history from 1776 to 1861. The first source to be explored is a “documentary history of the United States” by Richard .D. Heffner written in the year 1952. On the contrary, the second source to be explored is a document commonly known as the “Great Issue in American History” by Richard Hofstadter written in the year 1958. The two documents focus on social, political and economic events that took place between the year 1776 and 1886. a).When were these documents written? Who were the authors and who were the intended audience? The first document that is being explored in this study involves a documentary history of the United States which was written in the year 1952 by Richard. D. Heffner and was published by the New American Library London in the city of New York City. The intended audience for this document entails all the intelligent leaders including those people who may want to learn about the history of the United States. On the other hand, is document concerning the “Great Issue in American History” and was written in the year 1958 by Richard Hofstadter, the ,third edition for this document was later released in the year 1976. This document was published by Alfred.A.Knot.F.Inc and Random House, Inc. Whereby, the authors intended audiences are mostly the undergraduates’ student who may have interest to use this document and connect it with other sources for better understanding of the American history. b). Why were the documents written -- what did each author want to accomplish by writing this document? What kind of a mindset did the author bring to his/her subject? The two documents were written to explain to the audience about the issues and events that were taking place during this period in that American History. Whereby, the author in the first document labeled as a “documentary history of the United States” wanted to accomplish the aims of providing insight to the audience social, political and economic pattern in the United States by combining varicose events that were taking place during this period. The author has discussed two issues namely. The veto powers of the bank and the liberty across the United States during this period. The author of the second document labeled as “Great Issue in American History” was aiming to provide an insight of the major controversies ranging from political social and economic controversies that were taking place America during this period. Therefore, based on the two documents, it can be observed that the authors wanted to place some mind sets to the audience that, during 1776 to 1861 the government had neglected the interest of its majority citizens by giving too much social and economic powers to the foreigners and the rich people. In addition, the authors had tried to indicate the cause of a long term developed conflict between the southern and northern regions (Richard, pp.296-300). c). what do the document reveal about what was happening in the society in which it was produced? What events were taking place to which the document refers, either directly or indirectly? The first document involves a “documentary history of the United States” by Richard .D. Heffner written in the year 1952.This source provides an insight of American social, political and economic events that were taking place from 1976 to1861.Whereby, argument made by various major actors such as; judges, private individual, legislative bodies to mention just but a few. The emphasis on this document has been placed on two major issues namely; Veto of the bank renewal bill of 1982 and the Liberty or Union. The writer has criticized the Veto power of the bank and the government because the ownership and stock purchases have been monopolized. Whereby, the congress posses all the powers to create 28 million stocks while at the same time incorporating the powers to sell those stocks. For example, almost half of the stocks have been left under the hands of foreigners while the rest by the richest members of the society. This has denied majority of the U.S citizens an opportunity to have ownership of the stocks. It has been asserted that if the government decides to sell it’s monopolize it would be in a good position to recover all its value invested in stocks. However, the government should sell much of the stocks and gratitude’s to its citizen rather than to the foreign firms. This may help to promote economic development of the mother’s country (Richard, pp.94-100) The second idea presented in this document entails Liberty or unity in the United States. Whereby, the spirit of nationalism that was initially abandoned by the republicans was established. The national armed forces was reinforced, several economic development programs were made. For example, canal and road construction exercise were carried out in different regions of the United States. In addition one stable and uniform currency was established in the country. This acted as a symbol of unity across the nation. By the end of the year 1820, James Monroe’s was re-elected for presidency, his re-election further acted as a unifying factor in the United States during this period. However, there were some differences between the Northern and Southern U.S that erupted during this period. The southern U.S supported the idea of establishing slavery which the Northern people were against and hence leading to conflict between the two regions. In addition, the Northern had large number of people in the House of Representatives which stood at 123 members while on the contrary, the Northern had a 89 members this difference further created bitterness between the two groups (Richard,pp.100-101). The second document to be investigated and analyzed entails the great issue in American History as put forth by Richard Hofstadter. This source provides an exploration of the American controversies from the year 1976 to the year 1861 Whereby, Mr. Webster prepared a speech made by Jackson’s, the speech was based on the critics that Jackson made regarding the Veto powers that the congress government had given the original banks in the U.S at the expenses of the majority members of the public. Whereby, the government was trying to monopolize financial institutions. In addition, government had established a charter within the constitutional to regulate banks. However, Andrew Jackson to criticize this idea because such an establishment was could have jeopardized the interest of the general public and the entire U.S economy. For example, the government interferes with the interest of the private financial institutions may be detrimental not only to the private entities but also to the members of the public. Therefore, the author had proposed for the establishment of Government banks that are separate from the private ones in order to protect the interest of its citizens (Richard, pp-296-300). Works Richard .D. H.A Documentary: History of the United States. The New American Library London. New York City.1952.print. Richard, Hofstader. Great Issue in American History. New York City. Alfred.A.Knot.F.Inc & Random House, Inc.1958.Print. Read More