Some say that the US has been the most blessed nation in the world. What can we account for these blessings? Are we lucky? Did we have good leaders? Was it in our control or was it destiny?
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Discussion Blog: I've created this blog to supplement class discussion. Questions will be posted at random and often coinciding with discussion questions from class.
Points: Each time you make a comment to any question on this blog you will get 1 speaking point added to your discussion grade (for all you modest mice).
Comments: Should be at least 6 lines in length, thoughtful, relevant, polite, politically correct, clean, and feature analysis and evidence. They should also address at least one other person's comment on the question (unless of course you are the first to comment!)
Points: Each time you make a comment to any question on this blog you will get 1 speaking point added to your discussion grade (for all you modest mice).
Comments: Should be at least 6 lines in length, thoughtful, relevant, polite, politically correct, clean, and feature analysis and evidence. They should also address at least one other person's comment on the question (unless of course you are the first to comment!)
The US was lucky, but for the most part, the blessing can be accounted for in our aggressiveness. The expansionist ideal of the people, the idea of Manifest Destiny, fueled the movements to push everyone, including the British, French, Spanish, and Native Americans, away. Of course, America found it self lucky in various compromises over land disputes. The British unknowingly gave up valuable minerals and the French were forced to sell mass amounts of land for extremely low prices.
ReplyDeleteThe leaders of the time, although carelessly making a few mistakes, generally held through. As the "Democratic Experiment", there was a lot at stake, and many foreign nations found interest in the US's activities. The US managed to create various alliances during the right times in order to achieve its goals, and other times it managed a stance of neutrality, generally holding its resources until the right time.
The US has been extremely blessed. I agree with Daniel that American aggressiveness has played its part with our blessings, but i would also argue that America has had great leaders, and we've been lucky as well. To begin with the leaders, many American leaders were willing to sacrifice their ideals for the greater good. For example, Jefferson was willing to sacrifice his strict interpretation of the constitution for the overall benefits of the Louisiana Purchase. Although some may argue that the presidents may not have always been so selfless, such as Johnson's vetos on everything, overall our leaders have been able to pull through for us. In addition the sheer amount of great leaders that appear when we need them show just how lucky we are. For example Lincoln was able to find Grant to replace the failing McClellan, or Thomas Jefferson during the critical era. Overall the US has gotten extremely lucky by being able to produce the good leaders to direct our aggressiveness, accounting for our blessings.
ReplyDelete~David Wu
i think it was good luck sometimes like when we got the support of the french in the revolutionary war. but i think it also was due to the leaders we had like linclon and washington who took control and used their power to help the nation
ReplyDeleteI think that the US has been really blessed for the most part. A lot of the blessings we have do come from our aggressiveness like Daniel previously mentioned. America also has a fighter attitude and because of this we don't stay down for long. I think a lot of this is not only because of the leaders we have, but it is also because of the citizens of this country. I think that a lot of our success comes from the fact that we did expand the country and also from our form of government. Because of these great success the US has been blessed with, we are somewhat able to control how the nation operates.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the US has been really blessed. I think it was due to able leaders, not luck and destiny. Ever since the birth of the nation, Americans have been ready to expand, like Catherine said. This greatly helped them expand and become a powerful nation. Also, due to good leaders, America has grown into a multi-cultural country with many positive developments. For example, during the Great Depression, FDR's good leadership helped America make it through and overcome the depression.
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