Essay Questions

Which is the most substantial resource in the New World?

Degler reports, “In America the availability of land rendered precarious, if not untenable, those European institutions which were dependent upon the scarcity of land. Efforts to establish feudal and manorial reproductions in the New World came to nothing. The Dutch, for example, tried to set up an ambitious system of patroons, or great landowners, whose broad acre along the Hudson were intended to be worked by the tenants.” Land is the principal resource that Europeans strive to control. It is a central resource in agricultural ventures. Owning land is an attainment that guarantees success for the crops cultivated have commercial weight.

Deconstruct the “determinants of the American character.”

Degler reports, “Between the War of 1812 and Spanish-American War in 1898, the great events which agitated American life were almost exclusively internal and domestic. One of the objects of this inward concentration was the taming and settling of the vast geographical reaches of the new country…. The conquest of a continent with ax, plow and factory was at once an expression and a determinant of the American character.” The ‘ ax and plow' are symbolic of agricultural investments which enable the expansion of America's territories. The factory denotes industrial developments which would permit Americans to process and manufacture various commodities. The symbols infer that Americans are defined by the motivation to work hard to grow individually and to contribute to the development of the country.

Why is Andrew Jackson noteworthy in America’s story?

Degler reports,“ He was also, however, more than a western figure, for he gathered to himself, almost like the symbol of Uncle Sam itself, the democratic aspirations and hopes of Americans for their country and their future. For this reason the Era of Jackson was also the Age of the Great Experiment.” Jackson's endorsement of democracy is remarkable for it lays the groundwork for principles of self-determination and autonomy in America. He motivates Americans and offers them hope about a Democratic country. A democratic government would guarantee that all Americans are represented adequately and that their freedoms are upheld.