Friday, June 5, 2009

FINAL EXAM INFO

The final exam will be Sunday from 1-4 in our classroom, Monday during normal class time and at the normal class place, or Wednesday in our classroom from 5-7:30pm.

Also, THE FOLLOWING TERMS WILL NOT BE ON THE FINAL:
St. Patrick's Brigade
Lowell Factory
Quaker Gun
Battle of Manassas

STUDY HARD AND BE SURE TO EMAIL WITH QUESTIONS

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

FINAL EXAM TIMES

1. Sunday, 1-4 (you have 1.5 hours for the test but may start anytime)
IN OUR NORMAL CLASS.

2. Monday during our regular class time in our regular class.

3. Wednesday, 6/10 from 5-7:30 (you have 1.5 hours for the test but may start anytime)
This will also be in our regular class.

If none of these times work we will find a time that does work for you.

Civil War Outline

Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address: March 4, 1861
In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall have the most solemn one to "preserve, protect, and defend it."

I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.



Outline of the Civil War


I. Events & Battles of 1861-1862

A. Events
1. Secession of the Confederate States
2. Fort Sumter
3. Mobilization of the North and South

B. Battles

1. First Manassas (Bull Run, Virginia 7/21/61)
2. Shiloh (Pittsburg’s Landing, Tennessee, 4/6/62)
3. Second Manassas (Bull Run, Virginia, 8/28/62)
4. Antietam (Sharpsburg, Maryland, 9/17/62)

II. The Crucial Year: 1863
Emancipation Proclamation (1/1/63)
Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863)
The Gettysburg Address (11/19/63)
Vicksburg (May-July, 1863)

VII. 1864-1865
Presidential Election of 1864
Lincoln Elected to a Second Term (National Union Party)
1864 Election:
212 Electoral Votes to 21 for McClellan

Fellow-Countrymen:

AT this second appearing to take the oath of the Presidential office there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then a statement somewhat in detail of a course to be pursued seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself, and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured. 1
On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it, all sought to avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, urgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war—seeking to dissolve the Union and divide effects by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came. 2
One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union even by war, while the Government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with or even before the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." 3
With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.




The Last Year-1865: The End of the Confederacy

Appomattox Campaign

Assassination of Lincoln (April 14, 1865)











The Emancipation Proclamation January 1, 1863
By the President of the United States of America:
A Proclamation.
"That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.
"That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof, respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be, in good faith, represented in the Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State, and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against the United States."
Now, therefore I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in-Chief, of the Army and Navy of the United States in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days, from the day first above mentioned, order and designate as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof respectively, are this day in rebellion against the United States, the following, to wit:
Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, (except the Parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James Ascension, Assumption, Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the City of New Orleans) Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, (except the forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Ann, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth[)], and which excepted parts, are for the present, left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued.
And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.
And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence; and I recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages.
And I further declare and make known, that such persons of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.
And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God.
By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN
WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

UPDATED SCHEDULE

By popular demand and the good graces of your teacher,
the Frederick Douglass Reading is NOW DUE FRIDAY.

The Essay is NOW DUE WEDNESDAY.

TURNITIN.COM HAS BEEN UPDATED, SO THE ESSAY WILL NOW BE DUE TO TURNITIN BY MIDNIGHT ON WEDNESDAY.

Friday, May 22, 2009

War with Mexico

War with Mexico
Causes of War
Economic Expansion:
Playing Politics:
British Interests in Texas
Slave State Power Grab
Ideas:
Manifest Destiny
John L. O’Sullivan

Two Wars:

California


Mexico


Outcome:

A. Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848)

1. Mexican cession of 525,000 square miles
2. U.S. pays $15 million
3. U.S. assumes $3.25 million in debt to Mexico

B. Gadsen Purchase: $10 million

C. Trouble: (imbalance)
Two Articles from Treaty of G-H
ARTICLE VIII
Mexicans now established in territories previously belonging to Mexico, and which remain for the future within the limits of the United States, as defined by the present treaty, shall be free to continue where they now reside, or to remove at any time to the Mexican Republic, retaining the property which they possess in the said territories, or disposing thereof, and removing the proceeds wherever they please, without their being subjected, on this account, to any contribution, tax, or charge whatever.
Those who shall prefer to remain in the said territories may either retain the title and rights of Mexican citizens, or acquire those of citizens of the United States. But they shall be under the obligation to make their election within one year from the date of the exchange of ratifications of this treaty; and those who shall remain in the said territories after the expiration of that year, without having declared their intention to retain the character of Mexicans, shall be considered to have elected to become citizens of the United States.
In the said territories, property of every kind, now belonging to Mexicans not established there, shall be inviolably respected. The present owners, the heirs of these, and all Mexicans who may hereafter acquire said property by contract, shall enjoy with respect to it guarantees equally ample as if the same belonged to citizens of the United States.
ARTICLE IX
The Mexicans who, in the territories aforesaid, shall not preserve the character of citizens of the Mexican Republic, conformably with what is stipulated in the preceding article, shall be incorporated into the Union of the United States. and be admitted at the proper time (to be judged of by the Congress of the United States) to the enjoyment of all the rights of citizens of the United States, according to the principles of the Constitution; and in the mean time, shall be maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty and property, and secured in the free exercise of their religion without; restriction.

Monday, May 18, 2009

FINAL EXAM TIMES

1. Sunday, 1-4 (you have 1.5 hours for the test but may start anytime)

2. Monday during our regular class time

3. Wednesday, 6/10 from 2-4:30 (you have 1.5 hours for the test but may start anytime)

If none of these times work we will find a time that does work for you.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Frederick Douglass Reading Guide

In addition to these questions, draw as many comparisons as possible between the life of F.D. and that of Celia.

1. What are Douglass' best arguments against slavery?

2. According to Douglass, how does slavery affect slaves' human development (personality, behavior, sense of self)?

3. After his confrontation with Mr. Covey, why does Douglass write, "however long I might remain a slave in form, the day had passed forever when I could be a slave in fact"?

4. Why is Douglass able to "understand the deep meaning of those rude and apparently incoherent songs" sung by slaves only when he no longer is a slave himself?

5. When Douglass writes, "You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man," what does he understand a man to be?
What does Douglass mean when he talks of "... the right of each man to own his own body and soul..."?

6. How is Douglass able to maintain his religious faith when that of his owners is used to justify their treatment of him?
Why does Douglass consider holiday celebrations as part of the "inhumanity of slavery"? (p. 115)

7. Douglass says that "Slavery proved as injurious to his master's wife as it did to him." What impact does slavery have on gender roles in the South?

8. Douglass describes knowledge as "valuable bread" and the Liberator as his "meat and drink.” Discuss.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

FINAL EXAM STUDY GUIDE

You people must be very special. Noone has ever asked for the study guide so early. I am certain it is because of your innate love of history and desire to know more, right? Good!
We'll cover these terms and ideas in class.

I. Identifications(4 OF 6) 5% each=40%

You will answer 4 identifications out of the 6 that I give you:
Cherokee Nation v. Georgia
Worcester v. Georgia
Battle of Manassas (Bull Run)
John Brown
Battle of New Orleans
Lewis and Clark
Lowell Factory System
Caning of Sumner
St. Patrick's Battalion
Manifest Destiny
John C. Calhoun
Embargo Act
John Marshall
“Quaker Gun”
Marbury v. Madison
Erie Canal
Louisiana Purchase
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Bleeding Kansas
Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo
Compromise of 1850
“Beecher’s Bibles”
Know-Nothings
Dred Scott Case
Election of 1860
Jefferson Davis
Battle of Gettysburg
Gettysburg Address

II. Essay Questions: (60%)
One of the following questions will be on the test.

1. The sectionalism that developed between the North and South, ultimately causing the Civil War, was the product of numerous factors. What were the most important political issues that drove the two sections of the nation apart? What role did slavery play in causing the war?

2. What were the most important arguments against slavery in the books Celia, A Slave and The Autobiography of Frederick Douglass.

3. Compare and contrast the War of 1812, the War with Mexico, and the Civil War.

4. Thomas Jefferson urged Congress to withdraw the United States “from all further participation in those violations of human rights which have long continued upon the unoffending inhabitants of Africa.” His ideas contradicted his life. How did this contradiction, the presence of the ideal of freedom and the reality of slavery, change the United States in the period from the Revolution to the Civil War?

Monday, May 11, 2009

ESSAY ASSIGNMENT

Format: 2-4 pages, typed, double-spaced

Due Date: Monday, June 1
Due to Turnitin.com: Midnight on the night of Monday, June 1

Although the Turnitin information is on the syllabus, here it is again:
Class ID: 2675523
Password: history

Remember, the best way to be certain that your essay is ready to be turned in as a final draft is to bring me a rough draft in the days before the final draft is due.

In addition, check the blog for citation format and revision advice.

Remember, your own original analysis of whichever question you choose is crucial. If you are thinking of this history paper as a description of a book or two, think again! Simple description is pointless; make an argument! Again, these issues will be discussed further on the blog and in class.

In a well argued and thoroughly revised essay, answer one of the following questions:

1. Compare and contrast Celia’s attack of Robert Newsom and Frederick Douglass’ fight with the overseer Covey.

2. How important was gender in the slave community? Where and how do masculinity and femininity become important elements of Celia, A Slave and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass?

3. Considering Celia, A Slave, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, and at least two of the Slave Narratives from the American Memory Project what role did violence play in maintaining order on the plantation? http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snhome.html.


FORMER HISTORY 102 STUDENTS: If you have already taken my History 102 course, you may want to think about this essay question as an option:

4. Compare and contrast the experience of Celia or Frederick Douglass with Primo Levi during the Holocaust.


5. FIND YOUR OWN: There are plenty of great ideas out there, but the one requirement is this: YOU MUST APPROVE THE TOPIC WITH ME BEFORE WRITING THE ESSAY!!!

Friday, May 8, 2009

UNTO THE 182Os

--Industrialism in America--

I. The Transportation Revolution:
A. Canals
B. Turnpikes
C. Steamboats
D. Railroads

II. New Working Conditions:
A. Factories
1. The Putting-Out System
2. The Waltham System
(Francis Cabot Lowell)
B. New Inventions
--handout--

III. Immigration:
A. Irish
B. German
C. Chinese

IV. Significance:

Stability and Decline: Into the 1820s

Stability and Decline: Into the 1820s

I. Jeffersonians become “federalists”
A. Lousiana Purchase
B. Gallatin and the National Bank
C. High Tariff
D. Military Might

II. The Era of Good Feelings
A. Electing James Monroe
B. Economics in the Era
1. Bank of the United States
2. Panic of 1819
a. over-production
b. land speculation
3. The Panic, the Bank, and Sectional Tension

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Jefferson and the New Nation

I. Election of 1800

SHAPE OF THE NATION:

2.5 million in 1775
5.3 million in 1800

300,000 in towns of 2500 or more (less than 7% “urban”)

"My father was A farmer and by the help of his trusty rifle kept the family in wild meat such as bear, elk, deer, and wild Turkey."

"My Farm gave me and my family a good living on the produce of it; and left me, one year after another, one hundred and fifty dollars, for I have never spent more than ten dollars a year, which was for salt, nails, and the like. Nothing to wear, eat, or drink was purchased, as my farm produced all."


II. Revolution of 1800?


III. The Courts
Marbury v. Madison (1803)

IV. The West: Completing the Vision
A. Louisiana Purchase
B. Lewis and Clark

V. Slavery: Jefferson and Hemmings

Monday, May 4, 2009

Reading Guide for Celia, A Slave



This book is due in class on Friday, 5/15.
The questions are not due but will help you prepare for the essay and for class discussion.


Celia, A Slave Reading Guide


HERE’S A BIG GENERAL IDEA TO CONSIDER: Notice in this book moments when Celia expresses agency, the ability to make decisions and exert some measure of power on her own.


Describe the area of Calloway County, Missouri. What was the land like? What were the people like?

Describe Celia’s introduction to life as a slave of Robert Newsom.

George said “he would have nothing more to do with her [Celia] if she did not quit the old man.” Why does he say this? Who is George? What does he assume about Celia and Newsom?

How does Celia kill Newsom?

Describe the reaction of the press, the courts, and of the Newsom family to the killing.

Read the Chapter “The Verdict” carefully.

Interpret the quote on page 107, toward the beginning of Chapter Six: “At this point the defense’s arguments began to threaten the very foundations of the institution of slavery. Celia, the defense insisted, even though a slave, was entitled by law to use deadly force to protect her honor.”

What are the most important conclusions drawn by the author in the final chapter? If you had the opportunity to describe the meaning of the book to a friend, not what it is about but what it means, what would you say?

Friday, May 1, 2009

The New Nation

Two Great Quotes from Abigail Adams
“...remember the ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies we are determined to foment a Rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation.”

Virginians could not have the "passion for Liberty" they claimed they did, since they "deprive their fellow Creatures" of freedom.



The New Nation:

I. Ratification of the Constitution


II. First Party System:
Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists


Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Amendment II
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Amendment III
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
Amendment VII
In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.



III. Election of 1796: (Adams)

Alien and Sedition Acts

IV. Election of 1800

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Constitution

The New Nation:
I. The Constitution:
Basic Concepts
II. Ratification of the Constitution
III. First Party System:
Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists
IV. Election of 1796: (Adams)
Alien and Sedition Acts
V. Election of 1800: Republican Ascendancy
VI. Revolution of 1800?
VII. The Courts: Marbury v. Madison (1803)
VIII. The West: Completing the Vision
Louisiana Purchase
Lewis and Clark
IX. Slavery

BILL OF RIGHTS
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Amendment II
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Amendment III
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
Amendment VII
In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Declaration of Independence--bow your head when you say that!





IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

Shot Heard Round the World


Revolution Origins

THE ROAD TO WAR

I. Changing Policies:
(ending “salutary neglect”)

A. Navigation Acts:

B. Sugar Act (1764)
George Grenville

Patrick Henry

C. Stamp Act (1765)


D. Townshend Duties (1767)


II. Escalation:
A. Discussion:
The Boston Massacre


In spite of each parasite, each cringing slave
Each cautious dastard, each oppressive knave
Each gibing ass, that reptile of an hour
The supercilious pimp of abject slaves in power
We are met to celebrate in festive mirth
The day that gave our freedom second birth
That tells us, British Grenville never more
Shall dare usurp unjust, illegal power
Or threaten America’s free sons with chains,
While the least spark of ancient fire remains



B. Burning of the Gaspee

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Mid-Century Challenges

Mid-Century Challenges

I. French and Indian War

II. Economic Shift

III. Land Conflicts
A. Susquehannah Company
B. Paxton Boys
C. South Carolina Regulators
D. North Carolina Regulators
E. The Boston Fire of 1860

IV. Significance

Monday, April 13, 2009

Great Bust of Jonathan Edwards


White pine tinted with oils, C. Keith Wilbur, M.D., 1982