Lincoln Questions

Chris Laney

Block D

Daniel Day Lewis' portayal of Abraham Lincoln

1. To what extent was Lincoln "uncompromising"?  To what extent was Thaddeus Stevens (leader of the Radical Republicans) "uncompromising"?  What were they willing to compromise on?  What were they not willing to compromise on?

Lincoln was uncompromising in getting the 13th amendment passed, whereas Thaddeus was uncompromising in the way that he didn't want to fully say that he was for racial equality. The two of them were willing to compromise on Thaddeus voting for the 13th amendment, whereas Thaddeus was adamant about not fully saying he believed in racial equality.

2. To what extent did the movie provide evidence of Lincoln's perspective as depicted in the Lincoln letters?

The film shows the perspective of him doing whatever he can to save the union. Although he is trying to force the 13th amendment through, its to save the union from another civil war.

3. Why did Lincoln believe the 13th Amendment was essential?  

He believed the amendment was essential because if the amendment wasn't passed they could set the union up for another civil war.

4. How did the film complicate the narrative that the North was against slavery and/or for racial equality, while the South was for slavery and against racial equality?

The film complicated the north and south against and for racial equality by showing some of the northerners not wanting to pass the 13th amendment because they had heard of rumors that the two sides of the civil war were negotiating peace.

5. For what reasons did people seem to resist the ending of slavery?  Did the film depict this as a matter of concern for property rights, or something else?  

They seemed to resist ending slavery because people had heard rumors that The North was already negotiating peace terms with The South. The film depicted it as a concern of ending the war faster rather than going through the struggle of voting on the amendment.

Civil War Letter Collection

Civil War Letter Collection

Letter of October 19, 1863

Letter written by Churchill Jones Crittenden on October 19, 1863, sent to his mother. Letting her know of recent news and that he was in a small fight but was unharmed.

Letter of January 14, 1864

Letter written by Churchill Crittenden sent to his mother on January 14, 1864. In this letter Churchill explains how he was in a small skirmish and how he was the only man that wasn't touched. Although he means not to brag, he only wants to do his duty.

Letter of February 1864

Letter written by Churchill in February 1864, sent to his mother. In the letter he tells her of relatives and how they are.

Letter of October 4, 1864

Very short letter written by Churchill to his uncle on October 4th, 1864. In the letter he writes that he is a prisoner and he is slightly wounded. The next day he was shot down by a firing squad.

Last letter written by Churchill, on the verso "The last words of my son" is written

Letter of November 22, 1864

Longer letter written by Churchill’s brother, James Crittenden, to his mother in late November of 1864. He describes in brutal detail how one of his comrades fought to the death and how he learned of his brother’s death.

Informative Sign:

These letters written by the Crittendens shows that the soldiers in the civil war fought bravely and with no hesitation. Although Churchill and his brother James showed their bravery in combat, Churchill showed his bravery in death when he stood in defiance to the Union firing squad. The overarching ideal shown by the two Crittendens was that every person should never give up for their cause. He was a dedicated man, but what caused such dedication in what seems like a terrible cause? When he was shot down by the firing squad on the 5th of October, why were the soldiers so hesitant to shoot the quiet man that stood before them? Finally, after his brother heard of his death, why did he keep fighting?

13th Amendment

Chris Laney

1. The actual text of the 13th Amendment, along with the date it was ratified.

"Section 1

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

Section 2

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation." (National Archives 13th amendment)

The 13th Amendment was ratified December 6th, 1865

2. An explanation of what the 13th Amendment did, that the Emancipation Proclamation had not already done.

• The 13th Amendment had freed all slaves within the U.S. while the Emancipation Proclamation had just freed slaves in the states that had seceded from the U.S. (National Archives Emancipation Proclamation)

3. A primary source political cartoon or other illustration about the passage of the 13th Amendment

Lincoln chopping down the dead tree of slavery with slaveowners still in it

Sources:

U.S. National Archives on Emancipation Proclamation

Excellent source for the actual documents and some great general information on the articles themselves

U.S. National Archives blog post on the 13th amendment

Easy to read information about the limitations of the Emancipation Proclamation compared to the 13th amendment 

Wikipedia article on 13th amendment

Great general information on the 13th amendment

Flag Research

US History
Flag Blog

Grand union flag, including a Union Jack and 13 stripes

You should also add an annotation to each of your sources. You had some personal voice, but you could add in a few more "I" statements in your writing. The format of your answers was a little confusing to me, but all your information was great!

1. When and where does the US flag originate?
1. The first national flag of the US was the Grand Union Flag. I learned that it was adopted on December 3rd 1775, and Benjamin Franklin even suggested to George Washington that they should keep the same design as the British East India Company's flag.
2. When and why has it evolved? Note eras of significant and permanent change. Note the lack of any big change, if you find that’s the case. 
1. It has evolved every time a new state had been founded and a new star had to be added to the flag respectively for each state. The dates the flag was redesigned range from 1777 to 1960 with our current flag of 50 stars and 13 stripes. 
3. What factors have shaped the look of the flag, including the shapes, colors, and arrangements of stars, stripes, red, white blue, etc.? Is there a history and purpose to these graphic design choices? 
1. The stripes of the flag represent the first 13 colonies while the blue field with the white stars correspond to how many current states there are.
2. Originally when the flag was adopted in 1777 there was no specific reason that the flag had red, white and blue colors. However the United States' Great Seal does have a specific reason to have red, white and blue.
1. As Charles Thomson, secretary of the continental congress said about the Great Seal: "The colors of the pales (the vertical stripes) are those used in the flag of the United States of America; White signifies purity and innocence, Red, hardiness & valour, and Blue, the color of the Chief (the broad band above the stripes) signifies vigilance, perseverance & justice."(Site about US Flag's colors)
3. Not that I could find.
4. For what is the flag a symbol?  Does consensus about the meaning of the flag appear to be fairly widespread?  How can you tell? Does it seem to be widely understood as a positive symbol of national unity? 
1. The Flag is typically known as a symbol of freedom or American identity or pride. Usually the meaning of the flag is pretty well known but it can differ from person to person. I can tell because symbols and what they mean are subjective, it depends on someone's perspective rather than just a definition. Yes.
1. What are the flag’s nicknames?  What can you learn about where those nicknames originate in our culture?
1. Old Glory, The Star Spangled Banner, or just the Stars and Stripes.
1. The term "Old Glory" was coined by William Driver when the flag sailed around the world for the first time (Wikipedia US Flag)
2. The nickname "Star Spangled Banner" comes from the United States national anthem
2. What can you learn about the flag in popular music?  Consider songs, genres, album covers, and lyrics.
1. I found that the flag tends to be more prominent in country music, being more patriotic and open about the country. 
5. What evidence suggests that the flag is generally understood, within our culture, as something that is worthy of respect and more careful treatment than you might otherwise provide to a piece of fabric?
1. The flag is generally understood as something worthy of respect because its been around for nearly 300 years and its a massively prominent symbol in the country's history and identity.
6. Can you find any evidence to suggest that the flag itself is controversial?  Or do there just seem to be ways of using it that are controversial?
1. No. There do seem to be many ways of using the flag to be controversial such as burning it in protest, such as during the 2008 election when people did that to protest against the outcome.

Sources:

Grand Union Flag Article

From this article I learned the history of the Grand Union flag, how it was based off the British East India company's flag and when it was adopted into service.

US Flag's colors and their importance

From this source I learned of the importance of the colors in the flag and that the symbolism of the colors actually comes from the colors of the US Great Seal.

Wikipedia US Flag article

I learned from this

First Post

A quasar powered by a black hole

Quasars are massive celestial bodies, they emit massive amounts of energy and usually have a starlike image in a telescope even if its billions of lightyears away. Quasars also have the potential to be called blazars if their trajectory is relatively close to earth and has the potential to destroy everything in its path. Most of them are so bright that by the time you see them you'd already be dead.

Abraham Lincoln

Introduction to the text

Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

1. Chapter 14, pg 434-435

2. Presidential Approaches: From Lincoln to Johnson

3. The book talks about how Lincoln's death was a travesty to not only the people but the government since the presidency was left in Andrew Johnson's hands.

4. That leaving the presidency in Andrew Johnson's hands who didn't have the morals of Lincoln was a bad decision.

5. Yes.

6. America's History Textbook

7.

Lincoln Being Assassinated

8. Working with the history of anything let alone just America's history, is important because it helps us learn from peoples past mistakes and informs of what could happen again.