Social and political outlook

Choose ONE of the following topics. Be sure to use information from lectures and from Foner’s text. Be as specific as possible in creating your narrative. Please write it in the first person. You can give your character a personality.  a) Pretend that you are a native-born, white, Protestant working man. In 1865, at the age of 18, you set out for California and manage to get a job in a San Francisco cigar-making factory. You become a loyal Democratic voter. Discuss your experiences, your outlook on politics, your perspective on immigration, and anything else that seems relevant and significant. Focus on the 1870s.   b) You are an elderly Republican congressman from New York. You were elected in 1860 and retired in 1886. Write about your changing social and political outlook. Think about slavery, Reconstruction, (including the 15th Amendment), the rise and consolidation of big business, the election of 1876, and labor.