Assignment #12

"The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe—the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.

We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans—born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage—and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this Nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world." John F. Kennedy    JFK meant that the world has been come a very differnet place than what it once was. In nations hands they held the power of the atom. The atomic bomb which could wipe out all of humanity if not carefully handled.  He also states that Americans must never forget how far they have come. From being a small colony under rule by a tyrant to a super power with an army that helps other nations break free of the chains of tyranny. Since the inception of the United States it has been against tyranny and focused on the rights of all men. So he is using this as a way to say that the threat of communism must be met and stopped in order to preserve the rights not only for Americans but for all of mankind.

Assignment #11
"During those years of false prosperity and during the more recent years of exhausting depression, one business after another, one small corporations after another, their resources depleted, had failed or had fallen into the lap of a bigger competitor. A dangerous thing was happening. Half of the industrial corporate wealth of the country had come under the control of less than two hundred corporations. That is not all. These huge corporations in some cases did not even try to compete with each other. They themselves were tied together by interlocking directors, interlocking bankers, interlocking lawyers..."
 Franklin D. Roosevelt

 What Roosevelt is implying with this statement is that the great depression was caused by a lack of distribution. Only a handful of companies had wealth and these companies would not compete with each other. So prices would not flucuat, they would remain high causing greater returns for the company but fewer dollars to spend for the consumer. Competition in the market in his eyes could have possibly stoveoff the depression, but since companies were working together and competition was virtually non-existent, the depression was inevitable. Everyone was working together to maximize their own profits and to hell with everyone else. He uses the word interlocked, as if they were all chained or connected together and if one fell the rest would follow. Which is what happened, greed lead to slef interest, which lead shady deals, which lead to a collapse
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Great Depression Artictle
 "Democracy has disappeared in several other great nations, not because the people of those nations disliked democracy, but because they had grown tired of unemployment and insecurity, of seeing their children hungry while they sat helpless in the face of government confusion and government weakness through lack of leadership....Finally, in desperation, they chose to sacrifice liberty in the hope of getting something to eat. We in America know that our democratic institutions can be preserved and made to work. But in order to preserve them we need...to prove that the practical operation of democratic government is equal to the task of protecting the security of the people....The people of America are in agreement in defending their liberties at any cost, and the first line of the defense lies in the protection of economic security."
 Franklin D. Roosevelt

 This passage about the Great Depression highlights how foreign nations have abandoned the use of Democracy. He states that this was done out of fear because a country gets afraid when its people are going hungry, unemployment is at a high and money and resources are scarce. He believes that these countries are weak and lacked the necessary leadership to help uplift them and remain a democratic nation. He places people's libery above all and they should not be squandered no matter what the nation is facing. The security of the people is important, because in all actuality it is the people who make up the nation so you should be abandoned their rights in favor of a stronger healthier country. He feels the in America they people will not abandon their rights and liberties in place of a meal. He knows that they will try to make things work and they will also preserve the democratic state for aslong as they can.

Assignment #10
 "But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
Abraham Lincoln
November 19, 1863


This part of the Gettysburg Address pertains to the sacrifices being made in battle. Lincoln did not care if anyone remember what was said about the civil war and neither did he about the people who fought in it. He knew that their names would be lost in the pages of history just like what happens in every great war. What he wanted to be remember was their sacrificed, their unrelenting determination and their resolve. It was them, whon fought and died on the many battle fields who ensured that the United States remained a free country governed for the people, by the people and with the people's best interest at heart. He wanted their sacrifices to be etched into the pages of United States history for eternity since they were fighting to keep the land of the free, free forever.