Download Harkness Questions Group 5 Humanities 3-4 Due: 5-8

Harkness Questions
Group 5
Humanities 3-4
Due: 5-8-14
Nekrosius
1) How and why do people take advantage of the fourteenth amendment? Does this change
depending on who the person is (race, socio-economic class, etc.)? How has this changed
America?
This section of the fourteenth amendment is taken advantage of by foreign people; those who
are not citizens of the United States. It is simply done by giving birth to a child in the United
States of America. Some advantages are:
 Being able to run for office; political positions.
 Just being a U.S. citizen is an advantage because the U.S. was quite powerful.
 Being treated as an equal to other Americans.
 Access to food assistance and other welfare benefits that an illegal immigrant family
would otherwise not have access to.
 Ability to get parents, foreign-born spouse, or foreign-born siblings a United States
citizenship. Once the foreign-born family members are naturalized, they can do the same
for other foreign-born relatives as they are now protected by the Fourteenth Amendment.
This is why America’s cultures and inhabitants are so diverse.
2)How did other events before and during the American Civil War (in other words, the
material that was already discussed and presented) lead to Lincoln’s assassination, the
Reconstruction Era, and the other events that happened during it (amendments, plans,
reconstruction itself, effect of reconstruction, etc.)?
There is no definite answer to this question since it is really about the connections that other
people make between their topics and this one, but here are some connections:
Group 1- Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address:
 Reconstruction happened due to Lincoln’s goals which were established in this address.
 His ending was out of the blue, but its poetic words showed his true goals for America
that were supposedly almost fulfilled at this point. They also were the basis for his other
goals for and that carried through Reconstruction.
 His presidency caused a lot of changes including the American Civil War itself. This also
Group 2- Emancipation Proclamation:
 Lincoln’s wish to make this war about slavery as well as unifying the Union has a
straightforward connection to the Reconstruction Amendments. From Lincoln’s wish to
the real thing. The results of this wish were the documents that freed the slaves and gave
them rights.
 This caused a lot of hate from the Confederates. One of Lincoln’s haters was the person
who assassinated him.
 This document foreshadows almost everything related to slavery that happened in the
future: the rest of the Civil War, the Amendments, Freedmen’s Bureau, etc.
Group 3- Gettysburg Address:
 This was the turning point in the war. From here, some ideas about the future must have
been created.
 This group covered Chancellorsville, Vicksburg, and Gettysburg. Three major battles in
the Civil War. Each event in the Civil War that brings power to the Union causes more
Confederate hate and later Lincoln’s assassination and black discrimination.
 In this address, Lincoln states “this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of
freedom”. Lincoln is giving Americans hope. This creates the drive in many Americans
(mainly Unionists) to fight in this war. It also gets rid of some of the depression; at this
point, hope was a brilliant and needed thing.
Group 4- Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address:
 By quoting the bible, Lincoln is hinting at the idea that the abolition of slavery and slave
rights are important. Not too long after this, the Reconstruction Amendments are issued
to protect freed slaves’ rights.
 By saying things like “but let us judge not that we will be not judged” and “with malice
toward none”, Lincoln is directly showing that he is judging and possessing malice
toward the South. This creates that indirect but clearly obvious criticism of the South and
creating even more hate that is directed toward him (leading to his assassination).
 This document and this time period foreshadow the war finally coming to an end. It
marks the beginning of Reconstruction.
3) How did the version of Reconstruction executed by Congress differ and align with
Lincoln's vision of Reconstruction?
This was largely inspired by a reading guide question, however it seems like it would be
helpful for the class to discuss it as it could have many different answers. Their views would be
quite interesting and hopefully beneficial to the rest of the class including us.
 They changed the Ten-Percent Plan to the Wade-Davis Bill.
 There were some similarities such as the Reconstruction Amendments (though passed
after his death, Lincoln was desperate for the Thirteenth Amendment to be passed) and
state readmittance (as Lincoln’s first goal was to unify the Union).
 Reconstruction was done by white men and African-American men together. This would
have made Lincoln very happy because he was working so hard for the freedom of the
slaves.
4) Why does the fourteenth amendment still exclude Native Americans? What does this say
about America as a nation?
There was no one really to advocate for the Indians and no one had made a big change or
attempted to for Native American rights. This shows how although the U.S. has now
emancipated all slaves and consider themselves a more equal nation they still turn a blind eye to
the Indians. This also shows that America still has more work to do.
5) How did Lincoln’s Assassination affect the American citizens?
The citizens were in shock. The symbol of freedom and the northern success in the war was
gone. Of course this is what Booth wanted. But what booth didn’t expect was how the nation
would rally and how the Radical Republicans would quickly step in and get right on
reconstruction. Booth had expected the North to buckle and the Confederacy would step back in
and seceded again but booth did not anticipate that most of the Southerners were displeased with
Lincoln's assassination.
6) How do the 13th, 14th and, 15th amendments affect our daily lives today.
They are basically used today to prevent human trafficking and similar conditions of forced
labor. The 13th amendment is used to outlaw such conduct. The 14th amendment has the equal
protection clause, saying no state shall make any law which shall abridge the privileges and
immunities of the United States. This makes it so different states cannot interpret what it means
to be a citizen and who is and who isn't so they cannot discriminate. The 15th amendment gives
all males the right to vote, making the government less bias.
7) What were the shortcomings of the 15th amendment and how and when they were
addressed?
The 15th amendment did not give women the right to vote. Although Native Americans were
technically given the right to vote when this amendment was passed most states still did not let
them. Native Americans did not start exercising their right to vote until 1924 when the Indian
citizenship act was passed. This was probably because the white males who had power, did not
want to share it. Also racism played a big part in the discrimination of Native Americans.
8) What current issues apply to the 14th amendment?
What people answer to this truly depends on how much they know about what is going on in the
world. One example would be how some states are using the 14th amendment to outlaw gay
marriage. But it truly depends on what the kids will be able to connect it to.