THEMES+FROM+THE+STORY

Our text reveals that America was definitely prepared for the Civil War but, unlike that of which we learned in our story, America was not ready on September, 11, 2001. America was prepared to fight the war that we call the Civil War, unlike September 11th because the Civil War started from a verbal battle that had been going on a long time, dividing the country, whereas, we were not prepared for a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. We were not expecting it at all. That is why it caused America so much grief and harmed this country momentarily. The events during the early 1900’s and September 11th have definitely strengthened the thoughts that foreign countries want to harm us or our way of life. Jealousy defines these two historic events in American history, along with destruction and harm. Iraq wanted to inflict harm on America because they were jealous of how much higher our standard of living was and is compared to theirs.

The start of the Civil War was sudden, but Americans acted quickly. It was a sad war; brothers fighting brothers, cousins fighting cousins and such. Families were forced to fight one another just because of where they lived and their different beliefs about slavery. Why such a big result for a dispute such as slavery? Well, the north part of the country was against slavery, but the south was for it because they could not imagine their lives without slaves. Technically, the slaves did all the work on plantations in the south, and the people of the south were afraid that they could not survive without them. The president at the time, Abraham Lincoln, believed that slaves should be free, yet the whole country did not agree with him, and that is why it became such a big conflict of interests. The thoughts of the president did not matter; half the country did not want to hear what his thoughts were. Life without slaves was not an option for them; they never even gave the idea a chance. That is why this disagreement turned into a war. It was a dispute that could not be settled verbally; it had to be settled by hand-to-hand combat. The ideals of the American people have shifted greatly since 9/11. People no longer take life for granted. When 3000 people died in the World Trade Center attack on 9/11/01, Americans realized how precious life truly is. After those attacks, it was a great time in the United States because it brought everyone together, no matter their age, their color, their race. Everyone bonded, and it was a time of complete peace and harmony in America. Instead of doing what the terrorists wanted, they did the opposite. They were not scared to fight back at all and defend their freedoms. Americans stood up and fought for their rights, just like they did during the Civil War. Our text also revealed that America is not invincible and September 11, 2001 supports this theory. We can be hit when we least expect it. Unfortunately, America is the target of many countries because it has capitalism, the people are free, and there are many opportunities that people in other countries do not have. America will always be envied by other countries until those countries learn to raise their own standard of living. Until then, it will be a target of many terrorists and people like them around the world; that is a big reason America is at war with Iraq right now. The standard of living of Iraq and other countries like it must be raised so the United States can finally settle this issue.

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