Scenario

President Andrew Jackson asked Carl Schurz, a Republican Major General in the Union Army, to report on the economic and social conditions in the southern states following the Civil War. The following excerpt is from his report:

Aside from the assumption that the Negro will not work without physical compulsion, there appears to be another popular notion . . . that the Negro exists for the special object of raising cotton, rice and sugar for the whites, and that it is illegitimate for him to indulge, like other people, in the pursuit of his own happiness in his own way. – Carl Schurz, Report on the Condition of the South, 1865 (DuBois, 2014)

After the Civil War, Schurz urged government to have high moral standards and advocated for the rights of African Americans. President Johnson resisted these views and shelved Schurz’s report.

Write a journal entry that is 1–2 double-spaced pages in length that addresses the following questions:

1. Description: Imagine, like Carl Schurz, you are a journalist advocating for reform. What do you think should be reformed (socially or economically), and why?
2. Interpretation and Reflection: Do you think the government should be involved in the reform? Why or why not? How much involvement should the government have had when it came to social or economic policy and reform during Schurz's time? How much involvement should the government have when it comes to social or economic policy and reform today?

You are not required to include a cover page, but if you refer to information from your textbook or other sources, be sure you provide in-text citations in accordance with APA requirements.