American Studies.
Sunday, September 8, 2024 7:24 AM
Monday
Finish with the Salem Witch Trials and the Puritan Demise
Homework - Study for the test!
Tuesday
Test Day!!
Homework- Read the following links about British politics, and be able to discuss how these might effect politics in the colonies.
How did these changes in British politics affect the colonies?
The Magna Carta of 1215 - How would this affect the colonies view of the British Parliament, and later influence the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution?
The Glorious Revolution - How did this change the British government, and what did this mean for the colonies?
New King William & Queen Mary- What has changed in British Parliament with their rule?
The British Bill of Rights - Explain the significance of the British Bill of Rights. How did this document change British society?
Wednesday
How did these changes in British politics affect the colonies?
The Magna Carta of 1215 - How would this affect the colonies view of the British Parliament, and later influence the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution?
The Glorious Revolution - How did this change the British government, and what did this mean for the colonies?
New King William & Queen Mary- What has changed in British Parliament with their rule?
The British Bill of Rights - Explain the significance of the British Bill of Rights. How did this document change British society?
Why are these clips funny? How each define the roles of the sovereign and the people?
Essential Question: How did English Colonies become America?
How did these changes in British politics affect the colonies?
New King William & Queen Mary
Rise of power of British Parliament especially the power of the House of Commons
“More important was the Glorious Revolution of 1688 in which Parliament effectively rejected James II and invited William of Orange to take the throne. The Crown retained the right to appoint and dismiss governments, and draw the personnel of governments from any chosen source. However, the fact that William owed his position to Parliament established more firmly than ever before the central constitutional convention that the monarch must pursue government and the raising of taxation in consultation with parliament, in particular the Commons. The 1689 Bill of Rights established for the Commons the sole right to authorize taxation and the level of financial supply to the Crown. The 1694 Triennial Act established the principle of the necessity of election within a given time period to continue service within the House of Commons, thus ending the Crown's ability to extend indefinitely parliaments which proved supportive, and ensuring parliamentary independence from the Crown. Crown/Commons relations were marked by consensus for much of the eighteenth century as their interests coincided over the need for political and social stability, the rule of law, and the preservation of property. A balanced constitutional monarchy emerged as the framework of British political life.
The constitutional adjustments of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were followed by similarly gradual but important changes in the role of the House of Commons during the nineteenth century. Parliamentary reform acts of 1832, 1867, and 1884 gradually extended the electorate, thus widening the political nation represented by the House of Commons to include members of the working classes. This had two main effects. First, MPs began to organize themselves much more rigorously on a party basis in order to capture the popular vote at election time, and subsequently to form party governments on the basis of electoral support. Secondly, the heightened democratic basis of the House of Commons secured its primacy over the House of Lords and the monarch within Parliament. 1834 was the last occasion on which a monarch changed a government to suit himself.”
Colonial Political Structure (Massachusetts)
Governor (Appointed by “The Crown”)
Upper Assembly & Lower Assembly
Appointed by Governor Elected by men with property (gentry)
The British House of Commons
Homework- Watch the following videos, and take careful notes:
Learn
The Seven Years' War: background and combatants
The Seven Years' War: battles and legacy
Seven Years' War: lesson overview
The Townshend Acts and the committees of correspondence
The Intolerable Acts and the First Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress
The Declaration of Independence
Women in the American Revolution
Thursday
Seeds of the Revolution- Keynote Presentation
Homework- Read "Common Sense" excerpt by Thomas Paine and answer the questions:
In the first paragraph, what are the purpose and effect of the juxtapositions that Thomas Paine uses to characterize the differences between society and government?
How does the use of imagery, figurative language, and analogy contribute to Paine’s position in the second paragraph?
How does Paine characterize society in paragraphs 2-3?
How accurately does Paine’s hypothetical account anticipate the future United States under the Constitution?
Paine writes of the “frequent interchange” that will “establish a common interest with every part of the community” (par. 6). Is this what we have in American politics today? To what extent have we kept the promise that he identified?
What is the rhetorical effect of the figurative language at the end of paragraph 7?
Compare Paine’s “Common Sense” to Hannah Griffitts poem:
__HANNAH GRIFFITTS__
__Upon reading a Book entitled Common Sense__
Philadelphia, January 1776
From a well-to-do Quaker family in Philadelphia, Hannah Griffitts wrote poetry throughout the revolutionary period that hailed moderation and condemned extremism from both Patriots and Loyalists. Here she labels Thomas Paine author of the widely read pro-revolution pamphlet Common Sense, published in January 1776 a “ Snake beneath the Grass.” She grieves that moderate political voices are no longer tolerated, indeed called “friends of tyranny,” and that reconciliation with Great Britain has become a lost option.
The Vizard drop’d, see Subtlety prevail,
Thro’ ev’ry Page of this fallacious Tale,
Sylvania1 let it not unanswered pass,
But heed the well guess’d Snake beneath the Grass, A deeper Wound at Freedom ne’er was made, Then by this Oliverian2 is display’d.
Orders confounded Dignities thrown down, Charters degraded equal with the Crown,
The impartial Press, most partially maintain’d Freedom infring’d & Conscience is restrain’d, The moderate man is held to public View, “The Friend of Tyranny & Foe to you,” Deny’d the common Right to represent
Forbid to give his Reasons for Dissent,
Whilst base Informers (Own’d3 a public Pest)
Are round the land encourag’d & caress’d
Our Representatives the People’s Choice
Are held contemptuous by this daring Voice.
Persons are seiz’d & Posts monopoliz’d
And all our Form of Government despis’d
Then from this “Specimen of Rule” beware,
Behold the Serpent & avoid his Snare.
’Tis not in Names, our present Danger lies
Sixty as well as one can tyrannize,
Ah! then awake Sylvania & beware,
The fatal Danger of this subtle Snare,
Hold fast your own, your charter’d Rights maintain Nor let them weave the Snare into the Chain,
And whilst firm Union stands4 the British Foes,
Let not the native Hand your Date of Freedom close.
NOTES:
1 Pennsylvania.
2 Griffitts is likening Paine to Oliver Cromwell, an English politician who established a brief republic in England in the mid1650s, after the execution of King Charles I, but came to exercise tyrannical authority.
3 Own’d a public Pest, i.e., although radical voices are admitted to be dangerous, they are yet“encouraged and caressed.”
4 Withstands.
Discussion Questions:
Identify the allusions in this poem.
Why the connection to Oliver Cromwell? What point does Griffitts make in doing so?
What arguments does she make against Paine?
Friday
- Compare Paine and Griffits
-Tone Analysis of The Olive Branch Petition
- Tone Worksheet and Discussion
Analysis of the Rhetorical Strategies in The Declaration of Independence
Homework- Actively read Declaration handout A.