LAD #7: Washington's Farewell Address

          In George Washington's farewell address, he says that he is not leaving because of problems, but because he is ready to leave. He wanted to give a proper farewell and hoped Americans would not be angered by his decision to step down. Stepping down at this time was not a big deal seeing as the country was in a good place. Also the years in politics made him welcoming retirement. He states that he owes Americans a lot of gratitude for what they have given him and he also hopes that the Constitution will continue to work for America and the liberties will still be guaranteed. Washington offers some advice to the future Americans,  they are warnings. One was that liberty must be held in the highest standard, political safety will result in prosperity for the US. Next, he said Americans must join together and use their patriotism for their advantage. Everyone in the nation must learn to preserve the union. Also, he says all parts of the United States must work together and use each other when help is needed. If all parts of our nation work together, they cannot fail or be beaten and there is much hope this idea of patriotism will work for the country.  To go along with this, Americans cannot focus on the differences between people in their area, they need to work together instead. This working together goes along with the fact that everyone must follow the rules written in the Constitution. All political groups will counter act the interests of Americans, therefore we should not have political parties but rather leaders with whom we share mutual interests. These people who hold the power may, at the beginning seem helpful, but they are really going to hinder American progress. Also the Constitution should have alterations put into it if the need arises, the need being for the people to maintain their rights. The biggest enemy of Americans is political parties, they, over a long period of time, lead to one person gaining to much power and miseries in the general population. These political groups can cause corruption, thus causing Americans to be subjected to the will of other places. Another important part of the government is the system of checks and balances. Due to people always wanting power, each group must share power, none surpassing the others. Checks and balances will only work if the people in the government are educated and virtuous. To help this nation survive, stay at peace with others and also stay away from evils like corruption. Another thing that must be done is staying out of the problems of foreign nations, stay neutral and trade with both sides. To go along with this, stay clear of permanent alliances and stay honest, by doing so do not grant favors. Overall, Americans must stay neutral, should not have political parties, and should not seek indulgences. In doing so they will be rewarded with their own happiness.

Above: American Flag

LAD #6: Washington's Proclamation of Neutrality

Despite the fact that many of the Great Powers of Europe are engaged in warfare, the United States should continue to be friendly and impartial towards the warring groups. Therefore, Washington asks the people of the Untied States that they remain impartial to both sides of the war in Europe and Americans proceed in accordance to their neutrality. Anyone who does not act in accordance to the neutrality will be punished by law if they aid any of the hostile nations. Washington has signed these papers with the seal of the United States on April 22, 1793.

Above: George Washington, speaker of this proclamation.

LAD #5: Federalist #10

1.  Why are factions so difficult to eliminate?

Factions can be fixed either by controlling the causes of the factions disobedience or controlling its effects. You can rid the factions of a cause by removing liberty or giving everyone the same interests. Both of these ideas contain flaws, it is saying either you take away an essential part of life, which would be unwise, or you make everyone have the same beliefs, which would be almost impossible and totally  impractical. Therefore, you cannot eliminate a faction, it is much to challenging, you can only control the effects of a faction. Factions are a challenge to eliminate because the ways to eliminate are challenging and unjustifiable, so the most efficient method to working with factions is to control the effects of the factions.

Above: The Statue of Liberty, pictured because liberty is something that is unwise to take from people and that is why factions cannot be eliminated. 

2.  If factions cannot be removed then how can they be controlled?

The best way to control a faction is to make sure they are a minority. The Untied States has principles that make sure the majority is what dictates this country. The minority will overall have a very limited effect on the majority. You can use the factions passion to help your cause, also. Overall, factions are controlled by the democratic principles that make up our Constitution, they make sure the minority factions can be controlled.

Above: The Constitution, pictured because its principles control the factions

Republican Motherhood Blog

1.       What role did the Revolutionary War play in the transformation of housewifery to Republican Motherhood?
The Revolutionary War drew men and older boys from their houses, leaving women to take care of the estates. In Document B, it is mentioned that the children take after what their mother teaches them. The mother raises the children so it is quite important for them to have some education. Mothers raise the future politicians, lawyers, etc. of America, therefore it became important for mothers to teach their children. Also this gave a better social meaning to the job of the women around the house, seeing as they were expected to overseeing activities in the house.

Above: A women spending time with her family
2.      What were the consequences of Republican Motherhood on women?
Due to this new duty of women, the view of women was changed. They were expected to never interfere with politics, as said in Document A. Also since women were the teachers of future generations, learning was limited. If a mother did not know arithmetic or could not write, it would affect her children. Children were raised and taught by women, so if your mothers education was lacking, yours could be, too.

Above: A mother with her children
3.      What is the significance of the ideology of Republican Motherhood as a stage in the process of women’s socialization?
Women finally had a role in society that was meaningful. "If the hedges and borders of the social garden be broken up, the lovely vine... will be the first to fall and be trodden under foot" (Document D). This quote is saying that if women don't perform with their new duties, than society will collapse and the first to fall will be the women. The socialization of women was affected by Republican Motherhood because the motherhood made women and active part of society and gave them a purpose around the house.

 Above: Mary Gibson Tilghman and her sons by Charles Willson Peale (1789)

1.       Describe the setting.
 Mary and her sons are sitting, most likely, in a living room on a sofa. Based on their outfits, they seems quite wealthy and also they have enough money to commission a painting of themselves. Another interesting part of the painting is that there is no husband painted.
2.      Who serves at the center of the portrait and why?  How does the woman look?  How is she “republican” rather than aristocratic?
 The woman is the center of the painting, she is the oldest person in the painting and therefore holds the most power. Normally, the man of the house was painted in the center because he held the most power in the house, but due to the republicanism of women, the women in the photo holds the most power in the photo. An aristocratic woman would never be the center of a photo with her sons, a woman in that social setting would hold less power than her sons, even though they are children.
3.      What values do her sons exhibit?
 Her sons both seem to love their mother, they are sitting on her lap and the one son is reaching for her arm. Also they both seem content and calm enough to let the painter paint their portrait.
4.      Is there a significance to the position of Mrs. Tilgham’s arm?
Her arm is a crossed the lap of her one son's lap. This is a position of power, she is exerting her dominance over the thing she can control, her children. She has the ability to shape the future by controlling her children and teaching them, which by the looks of the picture, is a job she took seriously.
   

LAD #4 - Revolution Article

Five things I learned by reading the article "Rethinking the Revolution" by John Ferling.

I. Paintings from the Revolutionary War were sanitized, almost all of them did not show war scenes and those that did, did not show people shooting or wielding bayonets. That was in vast comparison to the pictures in the Civil War that showed a mass of dead bodies.

 Above: Revolutionary Painting

II. Dead bodies, during the revolution, laid in the streets. Streets were covered in blood and wagons ran over the dead bodies and because there were so many bodies sometimes they were not all dead and people could hear the living people on the streets pleading for help.

 

Above: Revolutionary bodies being burried
III. Many people in the patriot army during the Revolutionary War lacked a supply of clothes, these soldiers were forced to spend months without shoes or proper clothes. During the winter months, Washington noticed that their were foot prints of soldiers in the snow, and they were not boot prints, they were foot prints because those soldiers did not have shoes.

Above: Military uniform
IV. During the Revolutionary War, 47% of soldiers in the Continental Army that were taken prisoner died, in comparison, 12% of Confederate prisoners died in prison camps during the Civil War. There is a major difference between the two numbers.

Above: Prison camp
V. Civilians suffered during the Revolutionary War due to disease brought to them by soldiers. In a small Massachusetts town, many people fell ill with disease brought to them by a camp of soldiers near them.

Above: Soldiers fighting a battle

LAD #3: Declaration of Independence

Part I- Democratic Principles
There are a number of Democratic Principles mentioned in the Declaration of Independence. The first right mentioned is that if necessary, humans have the right to separate from their leaders if they believe those leaders are being unjust. To go along with this, it is written that all humans have certain rights that cannot be taken away from them; life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. These liberties and freedoms, that are "unalienable", are similar to the fact that "all men are created equal." This quote is one of the most famous in American history, practically everyone knows it. Overall, the major democratic principle is the fact that the government is created in favor of the people, the government can be abolished if need be. It is the job of the people, citizens of the state, to overthrow an unjust government.

 Above: The Declaration of Independence

Part II- A Handful of Grievances
Some of the grievances mentioned in the Declaration are as follows;
-The King of Great Britain refused to change laws for the good of the American public.
-The British King dissolved representative houses that opposed his decisions, they thought they invaded the rights of the people.
-The King made judges dependent on him alone, by controlling their tenure and salaries.
-He kept standing armies in America, despite their dislike of them, and without their consent.
-The King quartered a large number of soldiers among the Americans
-He made taxes without American consent and cut off their trade with other parts of the world.
-Most of all, the King ignored American petitions, which the patriots believed made him not fit to rule the free people of America.

Above: King George III of Great Britain

Part III- The Conclusion
The Americans warned the British that they extended unwanted jurisdiction in America. They also told them of the reasons why they settled here like religious persecution. America tried to reason with them and they didn't listen, so now America has been forced to cut ties with the British, they hope to be friends in peace, but enemies in war. The United States of America therefore declare that they are free and independent state, not in allegiance with the British crown. With that, Americans have full power to do anything an independent state can do, and with that America pledges their lives, fortune, and honor.

Above: Signature of John Hancock, largest on the Declaration of Independence.

LAD #2: John Peter Zenger

      1. Who was John Peter Zenger?
He was the publisher of the New York Weekly Journal and this is what got him in trouble. He wrote articles that exposed the corrupt royal governor, William Cosby. He accused the government of rigging elections and was extremely critical of the governor. This led to him getting jailed.

   2. What was the controversy over his charges? Talk about Hamilton's defense.

Andrew Hamilton defended Mr. Zenger by saying that even though he did print the articles, it was his freedom to do so. Libel is what Zenger was charged with, and that meant he had published something opposed to the government. So Hamilton asked the jury to prove the accusations made by Zenger to Cosby were false, and when they could not, the jury came back with the not guilty verdict. Therefore Hamilton had proven that Zenger was free to speak his mind because he was not publishing stuff that were false, the things he published weren't proven false.

      3. What influence did his case have on American governmental tradition?
This showed that the government, was corrupt in certain areas and that freedom of speech was important. This case proved that Zenger was not wrong in publishing his accusations because the prosecutors couldn't prove it wrong and it also showed that free speech was a liberty that people should live with.

      4. What is the lasting significance of his trial? Explain.
This trial proved that free speech was a liberty. It was later included during the constitution and it was used during the American Revolution, when Americans felt the need to exercise the use of their free speech. This trial overall, set the stage for freedom of speech to be a liberty.

LAD #1: Mayflower Compact & Fundamental Orders of Connecticut

1) What concepts are included in the Mayflower Compact?
Many of the concepts included in the Mayflower Compact relate to the fact the men, women, and children on the boat are subjects of King James. The people signing this document are "royal subjects." Not only that, but they have taken this voyage to honor god and advance the Christian Faith. Also the writer of this document speaks about honoring both the King and their country by starting a colony, and beginning a civil body by coming together. They say that the people of their colony must act in a virtuous manner, which they will also make fair laws and constitutions. They state at the end of this document, again, that they are writing this for their King. Overall, the major concepts stated in this document are that they are acting for King James, they are taking this voyage for the Christian faith, and they will try to act fairly in the new world by creating just laws and constitutions.

 2) How does the Mayflower Compact reflect and attachment to both the "Old" and "New" worlds?
The Mayflower Compact discusses that the names written on the document are for the King, which the King is a major part of the "old world." Also they want to further the Christian faith, which is a belief they brought from the old world, but the compact also discusses the "new world." First they are going to enact their own constitution. This constitution will not be one taken from the "old world", it will be drawn up to the needs of the men and women in the Plymouth Colony. Overall, the compact contains pieces of both the "old" and "new" worlds.

 3) How did the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut differ from the Mayflower Compact?
The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut and the Mayflower Compact differed in many instances. First, the Mayflower Compact mentioned the King of England, but in the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, the King was never mentioned. Also the Orders were mainly about the government, it was specific about what they were going to do, but the Compact was a general statement saying they would make fair laws, it was not as specific. Also the Order was voted on, where as the compact was signed. The final major difference was that the Order talked about towns, much of the rules were already set in Connecticut, where as the Mayflower Compact was the first set of rules in a new world, so it was less specific. Overall these documents were extremely different.

4) What prompted the colonists of Connecticut to take this approach to government, i.e.: use of a written Constitution?
The colonists at this point in history, were beginning to be fed up with the British government. They wrote down their laws so it would leave power in Connecticut and not in the foreign nation, England. This constitution ensured the colonists their own freedom and representation. Also this made them independent from other states because they had their own legislature.

5) In what significant way(s) does the Fundamental Orders reflect a fear of and safeguard against the usurping of power by one person or a chosen few?
The Fundamental Orders make sure that each man has a say in his government, its based on individual rights. Each person has the right to elect people in the government. This selection of people into the government protects the individual because they can choose who gets the power. Also their is a limit of the number of years a governor can serve which limits their power. Overall, this document helps to limit the power of the government while giving people the rights they deserves, like participation in their own government.

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