History of Freedom

Lecture Notes

We discussed the fact that our idea of freedom and government evolves from ideas taken from Greece, Rome, the signing of the Magna Carta in England, and the Enlightenment.

Greece: representative government--republic
Rome: rights for citizens, right to trial by jury, senate
Magna Carta: limited the power of the monarch and created Parlaiment in England.
The Enlightenment: developed the ideas of liberty, equality, and brotherhood.

Even so, the Founding Fathers' definition of freedom was not as "free" as what we expect today. We will analyze this concept by studying our national documents.

We began by discussing the Declaration of Independence, which was, in effect, a giant laundry-list of complaints sent to the King in England. Imagine, the King has just paid for the protection of the colonists during the French and Indian War. He feels entirely justified in taxing the colonists to pay back the war debt. We are examining the writing of the Declaration from the point of view of the colonists and the king.

Homework: Analyze the complaints listed in the Declaration. Explain several (I have given you a specific number in class) in your notebook providing an "English to English" translation.

Make up test--citizenship

If you have not taken the test for the Citizenship unit (Vinny, Corey, Kyle G, and anyone else I have missed) you may answer the following questions in an essay or complete paragraphs and email your answers or submit it to me before next Friday:

1.What is the process of becoming a citizen of the United States?
2. Why does it seem that the issue of citizenship is so controversial today?
3. What is "active citizenship" and how can you show active citizenship?
4. What are the rights and responsibilities of becoming a citizen?
5. According to page 55 of your book, there are seven "social roles" that a person plays in society. Which do you think are the most important and why? Which ones do you play in society?
6. How did your Island in the Sea resemble a real nation? What types of things did you do that real nations do?

Founding Documents of the United States.

This week we will look at the founding of the United States. We will discuss the views of the Founding Fathers at the time of the Revolutionary War, and we will look at the history of where they formulated some of these ideas. The republican ideas they used to create this nation were not dreamed up over a bowl of hot oatmeal or even over a beer in a pub. They came from a long history of such ideas that evolved from the Greek and Roman Empire, to the signing of the Magna Carta in England, through the Enlightenment.

Highlights of this unit:
--the true meaning of the Declaration of Independence, including a bonus "English to English translation."
--an exciting lecture about the first attempt at governing this nation: The Articles of Confederation and Why They Failed.
--the Constitution and Bill of Rights

The following link will provide you with a copy of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights:
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/charters.html

The following link will send you to the actual Articles of Confederation. Click on "document transcript" for a typed copy.
http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=3

[Note: Cut and paste the links--they don't seem to be working...thank you to Claudia for pointing this out. Archives.gov is the United States National Archives]

Homework: Period 6 & 7 F

Both classes have finished the Island project and have turned in their written responses to the disasters that befell their nations. In real life, countries are forced to deal with crises, and leaders either rise to the occasion or the people suffer. You have dealt with war, famine, economic troubles, sanctions, and other issues. Most of you tried very hard to come up with solutions and make treaties that helped your nations,.

Homework: Read pages 46-58, sections 1-3. You may answer the questions at the end of the section or take notes on each section outlining the main ideas. Hint: there is a test on Friday in which you will be able to use your notebook.

F Week Presentations

We are still awaiting the remaining presentations due to our water main break and now our fire alarm. They will take place today, Tuesday, unless there is a snow day or tornado or poltergeist in the building or something... We will then respond to the disasters presented to your islands and compare and contrast the job you did with the job that happens in the United States every day.

Active Citizenship

President Bill Clinton challenged Americans to redefine citizenship as "active citizenship." He said that in addition to paying taxes, being informed voters who vote, and following the laws, each citizen needs to leave the community better than he or she found it.

Our activity in class was to brainstorm about ways that we can do just that so that when opportunities approach us, we can improve our community. If everyone makes that commitment, the community and nation will be a better place!

Freedom

Today in class we discussed our projects. We decided it is, in fact, easier to complain about people who run a country than it is to design a country with a perfect balance of rights and responsibilities.

We examined the issue of "rights vs. responsibilities" in American society. We will discuss each right more closely, as well as each responsibility, but we were in general agreement that it's impossible to have rights without putting some effort into the "responsibility" column.

Ideas we will discuss:
--the definition of "freedom" today is not the same as "freedom" was at the time of the Founding Fathers. We will discuss how the idea of freedom has evolved and changed.
--we will discuss the history and origins of the idea of "freedom" on which America was founded.
--we will discuss how the civilizations of Greece, Rome, England and France strongly influenced the government we have today.
--we will discuss areas of opportunity to exercise our rights and freedoms and ways to carry out our responsibilities as American citizens.

Homework: (quiz grade) On Friday at 9PM, Senators Obama and McCain will take part in their first debate. I would like you to grab some popcorn and watch this debate. In your notebook, write at least three good points each participant makes, and at least points on which they were corrected. If you cannot watch this debate on Friday for reasons beyond your control, pick up a newspaper article on Saturday and read the article about it, watch the clips that will be posted on Youtube, or go to cnn.com and search for news stories about the debate which will lead you to clips of the highlights.