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NL888 Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

Failed to understand "summation of the state of the country"

Does it mean "summation of the states of the country"?

Context:

Letter from George T. Curtis to President-elect Grover Cleveland, November 25, 1884.
SUMMARY
George Ticknor Curtis (1812-1894), a Harvard-trained lawyer, was the author of a history of the U. S. Constitution and more than thirty books on jurisprudence. His brother, Benjamin Robbins Curtis, was a Supreme Court justice from 1851 to 1857, and George Curtis's first wife, Mary Oliver Story, was the daughter of Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story, who served on the bench from 1812 to 1845. George Curtis represented Dred Scott before the Supreme Court in 1856-57. In November of 1884, several months before the inauguration, Curtis writes a twenty-nine page letter to President-elect Cleveland that offers a summation of the state of the country in the nineteen years since the end of the Civil War, giving thoughtful consideration to the causes and remedies of the conflict. Curtis believed that President-elect Cleveland, the first Democratic president elected since James Buchanan in 1857, had a rare opportunity to bring the long-divided country together and he delves, in particular, into a close examination of three amendments to the Constitution adopted at the close of the Civil War-the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth-relating to the prohibition of slavery, citizenship, and the right of suffrage, and the responsibility of the state and federal governments to uphold these principles. His interpretations are filled with historical insight and a deep sense of humanity. In his inaugural address, President Cleveland did indeed emphasize the Constitutional right of suffrage for all men and adopted the tone, if not the actual wording, of many of Curtis's suggestions. Above all, in his address, President Cleveland called for the abandonment of "all sectional prejudice and distrust . . . [and] to work out harmoniously the achievements of our national destiny. . . ."
  

Top answer

It means a summary of the condition that the country is in. It might cover the economy, international relations, politics, progress, goals for the future and so on. The president once a year gives a "State of the Union" speech.

  • It means a summary of the condition that the country is in.
  • It might cover the economy, international relations, politics, progress, goals for the future and so on.
  • The president once a year gives a "State of the Union" speech.
  • Here is a description of President Obama's last "state of the union" speech.
  • org/wiki/2012_State_of_the_Union_Address
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1 Answers
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It means a summary of the condition that the country is in. It might cover the economy, international relations, politics, progress, goals for the future and so on.
The president once a year gives a "State of the Union" speech. Here is a description of President Obama's last "state of the union" speech.

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