00. Feedback Instructions
¶ 1 Leave a comment on paragraph 1 1 The American Yawp is a highly collaborative project. Hundreds of contributors, dozens of editors, and hundreds of commenters have worked to build this content. We are excited to continue that collaboration and ensure that our text reflects the very best of current historical scholarship. Each summer, our editorial team integrates feedback from scholars and instructors to produce an improved draft for the following academic year. And so we need your help.
¶ 2 Leave a comment on paragraph 2 0 What’s missing? What’s extraneous? What sounds awkward? What’s just flat-out wrong?
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¶ 4 Leave a comment on paragraph 4 0 Putting together a textbook is hard work, and synthesis inevitably frustrates specialists. We are committed to capturing innovative scholarship, but we must do so in a manner that balances detail with summary, narrative with analysis, and complexity with accessibility. Every addition will require a corresponding subtraction, so we appreciate suggestions for streamlining material just as much as suggestions on what we should add. Ultimately, this is the job of our editors, but we welcome your insight not only as educators, but as specialists in your areas of expertise.
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Alexis Sisneros
Divine Noella
Alex Manes
Mark DeLucia
Timmy
I use the American Yawp and thought it was so cool that you could bring new information but in chapter 10: Religion and Reform, on paragraph 12, I am confused. I tried to comment there but it does not work so I am commenting here. The paragraph refers to the Church of Jesus Christ as the “Mormon Church” which is not a formal name. I understand it would be important to mention that nickname but the paragraph refers to the church as “Mormon” several times. Mormon was a prophet of the church, not God. The church of Jesus Christ worships God and Christ which is what the name should and does reflect. Prophets teach of God and guide the church, the only person who can receive revelation for the whole church but they are not worshiped. The paragraph says the name was later changed to “The Church of Jesus Christ” but in the linked historical document, Joseph Smith himself calls it the Church of Jesus Christ. Also it fails to mention Joseph Smith’s absolute disgust for polygamy and how much he opposed the practice. The paragraph also says that “near-constant opposition from both Protestant ministers and neighbors suspicious of their potential political power forced the Mormons to move several times.” This fails to mention the tar and feathering of Joseph Smith, harassment, imprisonment, and to put it more plainly: abuse that actually drove members of the Church of Jesus Christ out of Missouri and other places.