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7. In his first inaugural address in 1861, President Abraham Lincoln asked Americans to
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be led “by the better angels of our nature”: We are not enemies, but friends. We must
not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of
affection. The mystic chords of memory stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave
to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus
of the Union, where again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our
nature.” Develop a speech to be delivered to your classmates or your school at large in
which you urge your audience to remember — and enact — the spirit of Lincoln’s address
as you face the challenges of this era. Use at least three of the texts from this chapter in
Redefining America
your speech.
8. In her book This America, historian Jill Lepore discusses American values and their
relationship to the issues facing the nation today:
“A nation founded on the idea that all men are created equal and endowed with
inalienable rights and offering asylum to anyone suffering from persecution is a beacon
to the world. This is America at its best: a nation that welcomes dissent, protects
free speech, nurtures invention, and makes possible almost unbelievable growth and
prosperity. But a nation founded on ideals, universal truths, also opens itself to charges
of hypocrisy at every turn. Those charges do not lie outside the plot of the story of
America, or underneath it. They are its plot, the history on which any twenty-first
century case for the American nation has to rest, a history of struggle and agony and
courage and promise.”
Write an essay in which you analyze how at least one of the texts in this chapter illustrates
this vision of American identity.
9. In 2016, a Women’s March established that a new generation and new coalitions were
raising their voices within a new political consciousness. A few years later #metoo
dramatically called attention to the impact of legal action and social media’s potential
for collective protest. After researching the roots of these movements centered around
women’s rights or others (such as representation of women in positions of power in the
media or entertainment industry), discuss what you think the course for women’s rights
will be in the next ten years.
10. In 2020, American Factory won the Academy Award for best documentary film. Directors
Julie Reichert and Steven Bognar told the story of a shuttered General Motors plant in
Ohio that was reopened by a Chinese billionaire as Fuyao Glass Company. While the
new plant brought new jobs to an economically devastated community, cultural clashes
arose about work habits, team building, and leadership. Do you believe that the future
of American workers should involve similar international alliances or collaborations? Is it
unavoidable? Explain.
11. In Homo Deus: A History of Tomorrow, philosopher Yuval Noah Harari wrote: “In the
past, censorship worked by blocking the flow of information. In the twenty-first century,
censorship works by flooding people with irrelevant information. . . . In ancient times
having power meant having access to data. Today having power means knowing what
to ignore.” To what extent do you agree with his assertion? What implications does
your position have for how you expect to navigate your life as the twenty-first century
continues to unfold?

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