Everyday Soldiers Duty

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The Moral Duty of Everyday Citizens
In the United States duty is important and necessary in order to keep the present in order and to prepare for the future. Duty requires sacrifice and diligence. In the Spanish-American War duty was extremely important to soldiers and to the people back home. The soldiers did their duty and protected the people back home from having to go through the same terror they did. Even though the equipment and supplies were insufficient, the soldiers found the duty they agreed to take was more important than poor equipment. During the Progressive Era, many people felt it was their duty to stand up for what is being wronged. Women would go to great lengths to earn rights and to be able to express those rights. Suffragists …show more content…

Jones was a soldier in the US Army who felt his duty as an American was to sacrifice his life for the country he loved. Jones left his family and his girlfriend, Rosa, back home. During the Spanish-American war, the soldiers had improper clothing and weapons, which caused them to dread fighting. Many soldiers left and fled from the war because it was too much to handle, but Jones was committed to serving his country. As Jones finds out many of his comrades were dead he writes Rosa, “I wish that this war was over for I want to get back. And I will stay as long as the war lasts. And I will not leave the trenches if I had to die for it and you may be sure that I will go back” (Jones, July 4th, 1898). While wishing the war was over, Jones explains that he plans to stay the duration of the war, and if he has to leave it will be because he is dead. As Jones expresses his commitment to the war he demonstrates how important his duty is to him. Even after many of his comrades left the battlefield, Jones stayed because it was his duty to fight for his country. Jones missed Rosa very much, but he put his country first. With doing his duty, he sacrificed his freedom in order to prevent others from having to. As part of his duty, Jones felt it necessary to take care of his comrades. One of his comrades was shot in the head and Jones wrapped his head. The symbolism of helping him even though he knew he would die is that he made a promise to his country and that was part …show more content…

Rose Winslow was an immigrant from Poland, whose parents brought here while an infant to become a citizen of America. Winslow started working in a hosiery mill at the age of eleven, being overworked developed tuberculosis and was unable to work at the loom for much longer. Soon after she became a Women’s Suffragist activist, which led to many protests against the president. After Wilson rejected the Women’s Suffrage, the suffragists protested outside the White House, while doing so many were arrested for “obstructing traffic”. The sentence for this was seven months in prison, during these seven months the women in prison went on a hunger strike. This hunger strike lead to the prison officials to force feed the women through tubes. Winslow went through this hell to do her duty and to create a better life for future generations. During her imprisonment, Winslow smuggled notes out to her husband and said, “I am interested to see how long our so-called “splendid American men” will stand for this form of discipline… God knows we don’t want other women to have to do this over again” (Winslow, “Women Fighting for Liberty,” 3). Winslow waits to see how long the “splendid American men”, which is her way of shaming them and calling them cowards, will allow innocent women to be force fed and tortured in prison. As prison tears the women apart, Winslow does not allow this to

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