How should society and government in a democracy such as the US promote the virtues of diversity and/or combat the dangers of division?
When President Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address, the U.S. was in the midst of a great Civil War, brought on by deep and persistent divisions within the country – divisions over race and slavery, black vs white; regional cultural divisions; rural vs urban divisions; and divisions over what type of nation we should become. We have always been a diverse society, from the beginning. And we have only gotten more diverse over time. But diversity and division have the same root word. The two exist together in our nation. And nearly 160 years since Gettysburg, Lincoln’s vision has not perished from the Earth. Using your knowledge of US history and of US society today, assess how well we have dealt with diversity and division in our nation. Are we still a divided country? What strengths have we used to deal with division and what role has our diversity played? How should society and government in a democracy such as the US promote the virtues of diversity and/or combat the dangers of division?
