Alliance Highschool Speaks About the Idea of Compromise.

History Quiz Question #10, based upon the quote of Author Shelby Foote as he appeared in the video series, "The Civil War" by Ken Burns.

Quote by author Shelby Foote,
regarding involvements in the Civil War:
"We (Americans) should have stuck to
what we were best at: compromise."


Essay Question #10:
When is it alright to compromise, and when is it not?



Answers:



"Slavery was an evil in America, that needed to be abolished, but I think there should have been compromise so that so many people could have lived. In situations with evils such as Hitler, we can't compromise, but we must fight to take away that evil! The bible really isn't clear on whether we should compromise or wage war, but I think the best thing to do is compromise so that lives aren't lost."

-Jessica, Freshman



"Compromising is fine until people stop standing by what their beliefs for the sake of peace.
If the Union had continued compromising on the issue of slavery, blacks would be toiling in every part of the United States. Certain things must be defended. Included among these are human lives, freedom from tyranny of the whip and the child's right to a loving parent or guardian. In these things, compromise is selfish, wrong and cruel. Yes, war should be avoided, but if millions of lives are lost or tortured in the name of peace, then compromise is wrong."

-Alexis, Sophomore



" We had possibilities for compromise, if the North gave a little more power to the South and the South gave up a bit of their slavery - we would still have slavery at that point though, so compromise was not the best answer. Sometimes we want to compromise to keep a war from starting, or to end a war, but its not always an ok thing. If your compromise corrupts your morals, then the compromise should not happen. You should never compromise to sin, and God has justified some wars, so I think you leave it up to Him to decide whether your fight is a sin. To compromise on God's commands though? NEVER!!! "

-Student 'K', Junior



"If they would have compromised on the fact of slavery, America would have been a much different place. I don't think they should have compromised. It would have just been tension ready to explode. If we did not get this Civil War out of our system when we did, it could have been ten-fold worse if it happened today or some other time. In general I think we should compromise on our views and NOT on our beliefs."

-Jared, Freshman



"You should not compromise with wrong. If you know you are living in truth and someone is living in wrongs, then you should not accept their lies with your truth. However, there is always the possibility that war would be the greatest wrong and too costly to engage in. Then compromise would have been the lesser of two evils. If ones morals are threatened, one should not compromise."

-Bailey, Sophomore



"There are a lot of situations where it is appropriate to compromise, such as when you can save lives, or prevent harm or potential hurt, it is better to compromise. However, it is not good to compromise when you have to let go of your core values to do so. Never compromise if it has to do with something you truly believe to be wrong, because you will just be failing yourself. If an agreement can be reached by reasonable means, then absolutely compromise. I think what he said about America Compromising is true on the level of domestic issues, but not with foreign countries."

-Cavan, Junior



"I think compromising is the best thing to do, but I think that the Civil War was a hard one to compromise. I say that because each side had so many strong feelings for what they believed in, making it tough to compromise. Slavery is a huge subject. I think it is possible that if they tried to come up with a compromise about it where both sides get something there would still be lots of anger between the two sides. So I don't think the war could have been compromised. Maybe prolonged, but not compromised. "

-Trevor, Freshman



"I think compromise is so...CONFUSING!!! I think compromise is the only way you can postpone the inevitable. It's so easy to think if you compromise, then everything will be alright, but eventually you will regret that compromise, demand your full rights, and the whole problem will start anew. Compromise postponed the Civil War, but it couldn't keep the Civil War from happening. I wish compromise could be a solution, but it isn't. It's like if you accidentally rip a piece of paper in half. It's important that you keep the paper, so you tape it. The tape is the compromise. It will hold just fine for a while, but when the tape stops sticking, you've got the same problem all over again.

-Scout, Freshman



"In my opinion I think we should try to compromise all the time. The reason behind that is because "violence is not a means for conflict resolution", and I agree. During the Civil War, I don't think there could have been a reasonable compromise, because both sides wanted what they wanted and they were not willing to change their ways or views. Yes, I do think compromising is good, but in this case, it couldn't have happened."

-Max, Freshman



"I think it depends upon the compromise. If it were a compromise in the Civil War, I think that it would be bad because the Civil War changed the world - even the world we live in today. If we had "compromised" we probably wouldn't have the knowledge and scientific advancements that we have today, including medical and technology."

-Sam, Junior