This document summarizes an essay discussing whether Abraham Lincoln deserves to be called "The Great Emancipator" and if he truly believed that "all men are created equal." It presents evidence from eight historical documents related to Lincoln and emancipation. The documents include writings by Lincoln expressing conflicting views on slavery and racial equality. They also include the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery. The essay examines these documents to assess Lincoln's beliefs and whether his actions merit the title of emancipator.
American Healthcare Issues Lack Insurance Depriving Citizens Rights
1. American Healthcare Issues
Tierra Fussman-Henry
American Military University
American Healthcare Issues
Lack of Insurance is depriving citizens with their Healthcare
Rights
The American healthcare system has been the talk for quite
some time ever since the recession took place. Healthcare is
something that should not be dependent upon the economy of
the country because getting sick or unwell is not in anyone's
hand. Every human whether rich or poor is bound to get sick
and then, healthcare facilities should be there to treat them
equally. Healthcare facilities should be equal for everyone but
unfortunately, this is not happening in the system of American
healthcare.
Some glaring issues need to solve on an urgent basis in the
American healthcare system but the one which is being pointed
out more than others is affordable insurance. Due to the
expensive cost nature of health insurance, millions of people
tend to avoid it. and in return, they deprived themselves of the
healthcare that is rightfully theirs. “The cost of health insurance
and health care is rising at a pace faster than wages and
2. inflation.” (unknown, 2020). Due to the increasing rate of
insurance, the system of healthcare is dying slowly and it is
high time for the authorities to look into this matter.
For the matters sake, two simple solutions are designed to
overcome the expensive insurance policies.
Solution
no.01 would be that the system of healthcare and health
insurance must be handled by the state because it is their
responsibility that they should provide affordable healthcare
and affordable is not in the card then, insurance must be there.
It falls within the responsibilities of state, federal and local
governments to think over it and launch innovative programs.
“An important reason is the US system of private health
insurance. As discussed earlier, other Western nations have
national systems of health care and health insurance.”
(unknown, n.d.).
Without the state's support and consideration, the cost of
healthcare is reaching the sky and whenever someone has tried
to work over it, the system has been harsh to them. Every new
government says that they will be working on the healthcare
system and making it more affordable and within everyone's
reach but nothing has ever happened. In an interview, PwC was
recorded saying that states are developing different strategical
plans to counteract the healthcare situations. "States will be
3. taking more direct action to secure their insurance markets in
2019, even as the methods for doing so become more variate,
creating challenges for regulatory compliance," PwC said.”
(Siwicki, 2019). But it has been proved through time again and
again that leaders don’t come with new schemes or if they do
come up, then they are not as supportive as they ought to be.
Another solution would be the development of such a system
where either healthcare cost is affordable or insurances are
affordable. Like the plan that ex-President Obama launched,
Obamacare. But critics have been harsh to this solution as well
because they have not been able to change the system. "After
promising for seven years and voting more than fifty times in
the last four years to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the
Republican majority in the House of Representatives could not
agree on a replacement plan. As a consequence, the ACA – with
all of its strengths and weaknesses – will continue.” (Lewis,
n.d.)
Furthermore, critics also viewed it as a system that made
people lose insurance in the name of quality healthcare. "The
ACA has widened the gap between providing patients the
mechanism of paying for healthcare and receiving it. The ACA
is applauded for increasing the number of insured, quite
appropriately as that has occurred for over 20 million people.
Less frequently mentioned are the 6 million who have lost their
insurance.” (Center, Woods, Manchikanti & Purdue, 2017).
4. Therefore, it is believed that critics might be right up to some
extent but years-long damaged systems cannot be corrected in a
snap of fingers. It will take time, patience and some sensible
talk. My solutions hold their grounds because insurance is a
life-long treat that will provide the health service one plan for.
Therefore, it is the responsibility of the State to develop such
plans in which everyone has easy access to health insurance and
affordability is the priority. What state can do is stay in
connection with the legal three branches of the federal
government (executive, legislative and judicial) and design a
strategy in which easy access to insurance in the minimum
period with the cost being moderate or less. Such innovation
would be appreciated at Local, Federal and State Level of
governmental institutions so normal people can enjoy the
facility of medical health whenever they need.
Reference:
Center, H., Woods, C. A., Manchikanti, L., & Purdue Pharma,
L. P. (2017). A critical analysis of Obamacare: Affordable care
or insurance for many and coverage for few. Pain Physician, 20,
111-138.
Gologorsky, Beverly. (2019). Health care in the US should be
affordable and accessible. Retrieved on 6th February 2020.
https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/tom-dispatch-health-
care-should-be-affordable-and-accessible/
5. Lewis, Michael. (n.d.). can the US health care system be fixed?
History, problems, and solutions. Retrieved on 6th February
2020. https://www.moneycrashers.com/fix-us-healthcare-
system-history-problems-solutions/
Siwicki, Bill. (2019). Here are 6 major issues facing healthcare
in 2019, according to PwC. Retrieved o 6th February 2020.
https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/here-are-6-major-
issues-facing-healthcare-2019-according-pwc
Unknown. (2020). Health care issues. Retrieved on 6th February
2020. https://www.healthpaconline.net/health-care-issues.htm
Unknown. (n.d.). the problem of health care in the United
States. Retrieved on 6th February 2020.
https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_social-problems-continuity-
and-change/s16-04-problems-of-health-care-in-the.html
DBQ #3: Lincoln and Emancipation
Historical Context: When Abraham Lincoln was elected
president, it set off a chain of events leading to the Civil War.
Seeking to reunite his country, Lincoln pondered whether
emancipation of the slaves would help or hurt that cause.
Ultimately, in 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation,
freeing all slaves in the rebelling states.
Directions: Carefully examine and read the following
documents. Then, in a well-written essay, assess the following
6. question: Does Lincoln deserve the title of “The Great
Emancipator”? Did he truly believe that “all men are created
equal”? To accomplish this task draw on your existing
knowledge of 19th century social reform movements and
incorporate information from the documents into your essay.
Document 1: Abraham Lincoln, Fragment on Slavery, July 1854.
If A. can prove, however conclusively, that he may, of right,
enslave B. -- why may not B. snatch the same argument, and
prove equally, that he may enslave A?--
You say A. is white, and B. is black. It is color, then; the
lighter, having the right to enslave the darker? Take care. By
this rule, you are to be slave to the first man you meet, with a
fairer skin than your own.
You do not mean color exactly?--You mean the whites are
intellectually the superiors of the blacks, and, therefore have
the right to enslave them? Take care again. By this rule, you are
to be slave to the first man you meet, with an intellect superior
to your own.
But, say you, it is a question of interest; and, if you can make it
your interest, you have the right to enslave another. Very well.
And if he can make it his interest, he has the right to enslave
7. you.
Document 2: Abraham Lincoln, Speech in New York City, July
1858.
Let us discard all this quibbling about this man and the other
man, this race and that race and the other race being inferior,
and therefore they must be placed in an inferior position. Let us
discard all these things, and unite as one people throughout this
land, until we shall once more stand up declaring that all men
are created equal.
Document 3: Abraham Lincoln, Speech in Virginia, September
1858.
I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any
way the social and political equality of the white and black
races . . . while they do remain together there must be the
position of superior and inferior, and I . . . am in favor of
having the superior position assigned to the white race.
Document 4: Abraham Lincoln, Letter to newspaper editor
Horace Greeley, August 1862.
I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest way under
the Constitution. The sooner the national authority can be
restored; the nearer the Union will be "the Union as it was." If
there be those who would not save the Union, unless they could
8. at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there
be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the
same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My
paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is
not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the
Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could
save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could
save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do
that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because
I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I
forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the
Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing
hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe
doing more will help the cause. I shall try to correct errors when
shown to be errors; and I shall adopt new views so fast as they
shall appear to be true views.
I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official
duty; and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal
wish that all men every where could be free.
Document 5: Illustration, “Writing the Emancipation
Proclamation,” September 1862.
9. Document 6: Abraham Lincoln, Emancipation Proclamation,
September 1862.
Whereas, on the twenty-second day of September, in the year of
our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a
proclamation was issued by the President of the United States,
containing, among other things, the following, to wit:
That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as
slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people
whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States,
shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the
Executive Government of the United States, including the
military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and
maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts
to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may
make for their actual freedom.
That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid,
by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any,
in which the people thereof, respectively, shall then be in
rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State,
or the people thereof, shall on that day be, in good faith,
represented in the Congress of the United States by members
chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified
10. voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the
absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed
conclusive evidence that such State, and the people thereof, are
not then in rebellion against the United States…
And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do
order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said
designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward
shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United
States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will
recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.
And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to
abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence; and
I recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor
faithfully for reasonable wages.
And I further declare and make known, that such persons of
suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the
United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other
places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.
And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice,
warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke
the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of
Almighty God.
11. Document 7: Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,
September 1865.
Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude (forced
work), except as a punishment for crime where of the party
shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United
States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction (place owned by
the U.S.).
Section 2. Congress shall have the power to enforce this article
by appropriate legislation.
Document 8: Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address,
March 1865.
At this second appearing to take the oath of the presidential
office, there is less occasion for an extended address than there
was at the first. Then a statement, somewhat in detail, of a
course to be pursued, seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the
expiration of four years, during which public declarations have
been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the
great contest which still absorbs the attention, and engrosses the
energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented. The
progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as
well known to the public as to myself; and it is, I trust,
reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope
for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured.
12. On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago, all
thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil-war. All
dreaded it -- all sought to avert it. While the inaugural address
was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to
saving the Union without war, insurgent agents were in the city
seeking to destroy it without war -- seeking to dissolve the
Union, and divide effects, by negotiation. Both parties
deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let
the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than
let it perish. And the war came.
One eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not
distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the
Southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and
powerful interest. All knew that this interest was, somehow, the
cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this
interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the
Union, even by war; while the Government claimed no right to
do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither
party expected for the war, the magnitude, or the duration,
which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause
of the conflict might cease with, or even before, the conflict
itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a
result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same
13. Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid
against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare
to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the
sweat of other men's faces; but let us judge not that we be not
judged. The prayers of both could not be answered; that of
neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own
purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offenses! for it must
needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the
offense cometh!" If we shall suppose that American Slavery is
one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must
needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed
time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North
and South, this terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom
the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from
those divine attributes which the believers in a Living God
always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope -- fervently do we
pray -- that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away.
Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by
the bond-man's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil
shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the
lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said
three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments
of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether."
With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in
14. the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to
finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to
care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow,
and his orphan -- to do all which may achieve and cherish a
just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.
Running head: GOVERNMENT BRANCHES AND POLICY1
GOVERNMENT BRANCHES AND POLICY5
Government Branches and Policy
Tierra Fussman (Henry)
American Military University
Government Branches and Policy
The three levels of government (federal, state, and local), play a
critical role in collectively formulating universal healthcare
policies. While the federal government mainly provides
15. financial support and indirect support to states and overall the
healthcare system, it plays a limited role in service delivery.
Formulation of healthcare policies poses complex legal, social,
and ethical issues. The goal of health policy is to promote and
protect the health of individuals and communities. Officials in
the various government branches can achieve this objective in
ways that protect human rights.
An example of a healthcare issue under debate by the
government is the provision of medical care for the poor.
American Liberals are of the view that the health of the poor
should be an obligation of the government. On the other hand,
the American Medical Association insists that having such a
policy would lead to socialism and endanger the relationship
between patients and doctors. In the USA, there are no plans for
socialized medicine or “panel doctor” that exist in most
European countries (Sharpe, 2019). In theory, a more significant
percentage of physicians are in private practice. Their
financially stable patients pay large enough fees capable of
covering the proportion of time that the physicians devote to
free service among the poor (Chatwin, Arku & Cleave, 2019).
The main problem with this scheme is that the poor are never
assured that they will get quality service, or in some instances,
any at all. Further, numerous people in the lower middle class
earn sufficient incomes that can prevent them from relying on
free service, yet they bear the financial burden of serious
16. illnesses, a disaster from which it takes several years or decades
to recover from.
Over the past few years, several schemes have come up that are
on a border-line between private and public medical practice.
There are public health facilities that undertake to give
unlimited medical, nursing-home, and dental services upon the
payment of a fixed figure per annum. These facilities retain
their dentists, physicians, and other staff members on a fixed
yearly salary (Kraft & Furlong, 2020). They may not engage in
private practice and are required to take care of as many
patients as possible. Such facilities have experienced
tremendous support in many cities. Members of a cooperative,
retain their own physicians at the end of the year and have
unlimited right to consult him.
The American Medical Society has fiercely fought against such
types of procedures. It has blatantly refused to allow its
members to engage in such practices and has even expelled any
member who defied their orders. Expulsion from the society is a
serious issue since it brings into question the professional
standing and competence of the physician (Chatwin, Arku &
Cleave, 2019). Recently, The United States Department of
Justice took action against the District of Columbia facet of the
American Medical Association due to similar conduct. This
conduct was described as a conspiracy to restrain trade.
Under the US federalist system, the governing of the health care
17. system is allocated between federal and state governments. The
Affordable Care Act (ACA) expands the coverage options for
Americans, among other changes in the health care system
(Sharpe, 2019). Though the federal government provides much
of the funding for subsidized coverage and sets the platform for
the regulation of the insurance market, state and local
governments have the flexibility to implement the law.
Currently, proposed healthcare reforms by the political right are
aimed at giving greater responsibility to state and local
governments (Kraft & Furlong, 2020). To review the balance
between federal, state, and local governments regarding health
care, Democrats and Republicans are coming up with proposals
that alter the balance. Further, the two political sides are
assessing policies that affect access to care and insurance
coverage.
For decades, America’s medical and political leaders have
promised to fix the health care system. Critics opine that
nothing much has changed until now. In their view, over the
years, healthcare been growing increasingly unaffordable and
avoidable deaths keep wiping out thousands of patients each
year (Chatwin, Arku & Cleave, 2019). Critics argue that
universal health insurance may not necessarily lead to universal
access to health services. In practice, the model rations care and
leads to extremely long waiting lists for treatment. The system
has not entirely been able to solve the seemingly irresistible and
18. universal problem of the rising cost of health care.
However, the arguments fronted by critics against universal
health are wrong. Universal health care is critical since it
enables people and communities to access the services that they
require without having to pay exorbitant prices. UHC also leads
to more inclusive and faster growth for economies. It has a
direct impact on the welfare and health of the population. Use
and access of health services makes it possible for people to be
more active and productive contributors to their communities
and families. Thus, it is a critical component of poverty
reduction and sustainable development. In addition to this,
universal health care is the hallmark of the commitment of
governments at all levels to improve the health of the people.
References
Chatwin, M., Arku, G., & Cleave, E. (2019). Defining
subnational open government: does local context influence
policy and practice?. Policy Sciences, 52(3), 451-479.
Kraft, M. E., & Furlong, S. R. (2020). Public policy: Politics,
19. analysis, and alternatives. Cq Press.
Sharpe, L. (2019). Policy implementation. and PolitiCs A
Nurse’s Guide, 101.