Americas Heritage High School Edition Homeschool

★ ★ ★ AMERICA’S HERITAGE an adventure in liberty High School Edition ★ ★ National Edition ★ Developed and provided by The Houston Independent School District in cooperation with The Robert and Janice McNair Foundation and The American Heritage ★ Education Foundation, Inc. ★ ★ ★ “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, ★ in a state of civilization, it expects what never was ★ and never will be.” ★ Thomas Jefferson ★ ★ Liberty Enlightening the World Liberty World 1

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America’s Heritage: An Adventure in Liberty America’ Heritage: Adventure dventur Liberty Curriculum Materials for High School Teachers Teachers are provided these resources as a supplement to school resources as they deliver instruction focused on developing an understanding and teaching of our nation’s factual and philosophical heritage to promote Freedom, Unity, Progress, and Responsibility among our students and citizens. Developed and provided by: The Houston Independent School District in cooperation with The Robert and Janice McNair Foundation and The American Heritage Education Foundation, Inc. 3501 W. Alabama, Suite 200 Houston, TX 77027-6035 Phone: 713-627-2698 Fax: 713-572-3657 email: ahef@americanheritage.org www.americanheritage.org Teachers are free to copy any of these materials for educational purposes.  2008 3

Table of Contents - High School (National) Purpose 6 Letter from Superintendent 7 Forward: The Miracle of America 8 Preface: From Oppression to Freedom 9 Unit Theme Page American Heritage Themes 21 Character Education Focus - September 1622 - The Mayflower Compact Responsibility 29 Character Education Focus - October 1776 - The Declaration of Independence Freedom 39 Character Education Focus - November 1787 - Federalist 47 Responsibility 59 Character Education Focus - December 1787 - U. S. Constitution Freedom 81 Character Education Focus - February 1787 - Bill of Rights: Rights and Responsibilities Responsibility 107 Character Education Focus - February 1791 - The First Amendment Unity 115 Character Education Focus - March 1776-1791 - Our National Documents Progress 125 Character Education Focus - September 1794 - Entrepreneurs in History Progress 135 Character Education Focus - April Cornelius Vanderbilt Andrew Carnegie James Hill John D. Rockefeller 1916 - American’s Creed Responsibility 155 Character Education Focus - January 1976 - U. S. Flag / Federal Flag Code Freedom 157 Character Education Focus - March 1998 - Religious Expression in Public Schools Unity 167 Character Education Focus - May 2000 - What is an American? Responsibility 185 Character Education Focus - May 5

Purpose The American Heritage Education Foundation, Inc. (AHEF) is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the understanding and teaching of our nation’s factual and philosophical heritage to promote freedom, unity, progress, and responsibility among our students and citizens. AHEF has provided these materials to help students become thoughtful, active, and productive citizens. For more information, contact: The American Heritage Education Foundation, Inc. 3501 West Alabama, Suite 200 Houston, Texas 77027-6035 (713) 627-2698 (713) 572-3657 facsimile www.americanheritage.org Note to Educators Before engaging in the lessons and activities of America’s Heritage: An Adventure in Liberty High School Edition (grades 9-12), educators are encouraged to assess and/or review the skills and content students have been exposed to and have learned in grades 6-8. 6

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FOREWORD The Miracle of America: A Revolutionary Idea In only a little more than 200 years, our ancestors transformed this country from a wilderness into a great nation. This nation demonstrates what can be accomplished by free people who create a government limited to serving the people rather than being their master. The moral and ethical basis of good conduct was derived from the faith that built America. That faith grew from the common belief that each individual is endowed with basic rights and responsibilities by our Creator. That is the foundation of our democratic republic expressed in the Declaration of Independence. Today, we live in a highly interdependent society that cannot work well unless there is a general agreement on the rules of good conduct and the penalties for the violation of these rules. Our Founding Fathers also emphasized that a democratic republic cannot survive without a high degree of literacy and knowledge. More importantly, the survival of our democratic republic depends on trustworthy citizens who support a common set of moral and spiritual values for individual conduct, values rooted in the beliefs and knowledge of the Founders of America who were responsible for writing the Declaration of Independence. The character of society is determined by how well it transmits true and time-honored values from generation to generation. These values are not an add-on or supplement to national values but rather determine the character and essence of the country itself. I commend the educators who will use this material in teaching their students the roots of our heritage and the responsibilities of American citizenship as well as the need for all of us to express our patriotism and love of country to those we touch. Dr. Richard J. Gonzalez Co-founder, American Heritage Education Foundation 8

PREFACE 1776 From Oppression to Freedom Modern History’s First Experiment in Self-Government: Do Americans Today Understand What Freedom Really Means? The concepts of freedom, equality of all men, unalienable rights, and self-government of, by, and for the people are, historically, very new ideas. Modern man’s recorded history is approximately 5,000 years old, yet the American experiment in self-rule is only 225 years old. What types of governments or societies existed on our earth prior to 1776? Except for the city- states of classical Greece and, to a lesser degree, parliamentary England after the 1642-48 English civil war, all nations were organized in one form or another under “Ruler’s Law” in which all power and decision-making rests in one central, authoritarian unit. Ruler’s Law has existed in many forms: Monarchy: a royal government headed by a monarch, a hereditary sovereign or king, who rules by ‘divine right,’ Autocracy: government by an absolute dictator or monarch who rules by inherent right, subject to no restrictions, Plutocracy: government by an exclusive, wealthy class, Aristocracy: government by those with inherited titles or those who belong to a privileged class, Oligarchy: government by an exclusive few, Empire: an aggregate of kingdoms ruled by a monarch called an emperor, and Military Dictatorship: government by one or a few top military leaders. (Skousen, The Making of America 44) 9

Ruler’s Law possesses definite, key characteristics that its related forms of government tend to hold in common: 1. Government power is exercised by compulsion, force, conquest, or legislative usurpation. 2. Therefore, all power is concentrated in the ruler. 3. The people are treated as subjects of the ruler. 4. The land is treated as the realm of the ruler. 5. The people have no unalienable rights. 6. Government is by the rule of men rather than by the rule of law. 7. The people are structured into social and economic classes. 8. The thrust of government is from the ruler down, not from the people upward. 9. Problems are solved by issuing new edicts, creating more bureaus, appointing more administrators, and charging the people more taxes to pay for these services. 10. Freedom is not considered a solution to anything. 11. The transfer of power from one ruler to another is often by violence. 12. Countries under Ruler’s Law have a history of blood and terror, in both ancient and modern times. The lot of the common people being ruled is one of perpetual poverty, excessive taxation, stringent regulations, and continuous, oppressive subjugation to the rulers. (Skousen 44-45) In 1776, Charles Pinckney, the first president of South Carolina’s first congress and a delegate to the Federal Constitutional Convention, in considering the governments of the world, observed: “Is there at this moment, a nation upon earth that enjoys this right [freedom and democracy], where the true principles of representation are understood and practiced, and where all authority flows from and returns at stated periods to the people? I answer, there is not. All existing governments we know have owed their births to fraud, force, or accident” (Elliot cited in Skousen 3). This stifling social oppression under Ruler’s Law resulted in very little human or economic progress throughout history, meaning that little opportunity existed for commoners to improve their lives beyond a bare subsistence level. In Europe, including England, for a commoner or slave to even 10

consider the possibility of freeing himself from his life of social and economic servitude was simply unthinkable and would have been a treasonous offense of religious heresy. While the American colonists were left mostly to themselves from 1607 to 1763 and generally governed themselves along various themes emphasizing freedom of land ownership, market, trade, and religion for over 150 years, the English monarch and British parliament very strongly regarded the American colonies as English colonies and the colonists themselves as British subjects—not Englishmen. In England, the monarchy (made up of hereditary rulers) dominated life. This dominance by the monarchy was justified and supported by the Church of England which solidified its own powerful standing in English life by affirming the monarchy’s Divine Rights in exchange for ecclesiastical power. This system of state-church power imposed a social ladder on society with the monarch at the top of the ladder followed by a limited number of positions at each lower socio-political rung. The Church of England justified this hierarchical class order on the basis that this was God’s will and was a part of the natural order of life—part of the great chain of existence from king to servant/slave that provided order for the entire universe. Further, England’s schools and churches affirmed that no one could advance or prosper on this societal ladder above his or her predestined position. The English people were expected to know their place within this pre-established social class order and to duly perform the duties of their station in life. When English parliamentary sovereignty became established in 1688 as a result of the English civil war, the monarch remained sovereign in name only. However, this change at the top of the socio- economic ladder did very little to affect the largest portion of the English population who still considered themselves ruled by the powerful upper-class of English life. The American colonists still considered themselves Englishmen ruled by the King of England. Interestingly, several generations of American colonists from 1607 to the mid 1750’s suffered few English impositions due to the colonies’ slow economic development, distance from England, and general unimportance to England. The colonies, therefore, developed a rather natural free market and free trade system of capitalism based on private land ownership, individual initiative, competition, and supply and demand. Freedom of religion was also a key component of colonial life. However, the colonists’ relative freedom from English imposition did not last. Because of the French and Indian Wars (1754-1763), the British national debt doubled, and by the 1760’s, the English treasury lay in shambles. As the colonial economic system grew, England began a stringent effort to enforce the Navigation Acts of a hundred years earlier in the 1650’s and 1660’s. The Proclamation Line of 1763, the Sugar Act (1764), the Currency Act (1764), the Stamp Act (1765), the Townsend Acts (1767), the Quartering Acts (1766 and 1774), and the Quebec Act (1774) were all attempts by the British to replen- ish its treasury and to gain absolute control of the colonists and their growing colonial economy. As the American colonists gradually realized that the king and Parliament would never voluntarily release their control over their subjects and that the socio-political structure of society was un- likely to change with respect to how England viewed the colonists, they began to recognize their ultimate need to permanently break away from their homeland. They were not, however, brash or ignorant in making their decision. Many of these Americans, who would later become the “Founding Fathers” of a new country, carefully studied their philosophical position with England. They knew the classics and Biblical, Greek, Roman, European, and American history. Their minds, Skousen notes, were arguably more far-ranging and profound than those of any collection of advanced scholars in the field of political studies up to and including the present: “The Founders often read the classics in their original language. They were familiar with Plato’s Republic and his Laws; with Aristotle’s Essay on 11

Politics; with the political philosophy of the Greek historian, Polybius; with the great defender of republican principles, Cicero; with the legal commentaries of Sir Edward Coke; with the essays and philosophy of Francis Bacon; with the essays of Richard Hooker; with the dark foreboding of Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan; with the more optimistic and challenging Essays on Civil Government, by John Locke; with the animated Spirit of The Laws, by Baron Charles de Montesquieu of France; with the three-volume work of Algenon Sidney who was beheaded by Charles II in 1683; with the writings of David Hume; with the legal commentaries of Sir William Blackstone; and with the economic defense of a free market economy by Adam Smith called The Wealth of Nations” (61). In June of 1776, Thomas Jefferson, a well-educated Virginian lawyer, was asked to formally prepare and write America’s Declaration of Independence. None of the Founders “could have brought to this assignment a more profound and comprehensive training in history and political philosophy than Jefferson. Even by modern standards, the depth and breadth of his education are astonishing. . . . He had begun the study of Latin, Greek, and French at the age of nine. At the age of sixteen he had entered the College of William and Mary at Williamsburg as an advanced student. At the age of nineteen he had graduated and immediately commenced five years of intensive study with George Wythe, the first professor of law in America. During this period he often studied twelve to fourteen hours per day. When he was examined for the bar he seemed to know more than the men who were giving him the examination. By the time Jefferson had reached early adulthood, he had gained proficiency in five languages. He had studied the Greek and Roman classics as well as European and English history and the Old and New Testaments” (Skousen 27). While studying the history of ancient Israel and before writing the Declaration, Jefferson made a significant discovery. He saw that at one time the Israelites, after having come out of Egypt between 1490 and 1290 B. C., practiced the earliest and most efficient form of representative government in an otherwise tyrannical world. The Israelites were led by Moses, a man of great notoriety among the Jews in that day because he had spent forty years in the palace of the Pharaoh and was being groomed in Ruler’s Law to succeed the Pharaoh on the throne of Egypt. (Skousen 48) Governing 600,000 Israelites by Ruler’s Law, as it were, proved an impossible task for Moses. He therefore organized the people into groups of a thousand families with one leader per group. He further divided these groups into smaller sub-groups each with its representative leader—hence history’s first experiment in representative self-government among family groups. (50) “As long as the Israelites followed these fixed patterns of constitutional principles they flourished. When they drifted from these principles, disaster overtook them” ( 27). Jefferson also learned that the Anglo-Saxons, who came from around the Black Sea in the fifth century A. D. and spread all across Northern Europe, somehow got hold of and practiced these same principles following a pattern almost identical to that of the Israelites until around the eighth century A. D. . (Skousen 32) As a result, the Anglo-Saxons were an extremely well-organized and efficiently-governed people in their day. (54-55) Jefferson became proficient in the language of the Anglo-Saxons in order to study their laws in their original tongue. He noticed the striking resemblance between Anglo-Saxon laws and the system of representative law established by Moses. Jefferson greatly admired these laws of representative government—”An- cient Principles” he called them—and constantly emphasized the need to return to them. ( 27-28) “It is interesting,” notes Skousen, “that when Jefferson was writing his drafts for the Virginia Constitution prior to his writing of the Declaration of Independence, he was already emphasizing the need to return to the ‘Ancient Principles’” (28). 12

“For seventeen days Jefferson composed and revised his rough draft of the Declaration of Indepen- dence. The major portion of the Declaration is taken up with a long series of charges against King George III [of England]. However, these were nearly all copied from Jefferson’s draft of the Virginia Constitution and his summarized view of the Rights of British America. To copy these charges into the Declaration would not have taken him more than a single day. What was he doing the other sixteen days? It appears that he spent most of the remaining time trying to structure into the first two paragraphs of the Declaration at least eight of the Ancient Principles in which he had come to believe. His views on each of these principles are rounded out in other writings, and from these various sources we are able to identify the following fundamental principles in the first two paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence: 1. Sound government should be based on self-evident truths. These truths should be so obvious, so rational, and so morally sound that their authenticity is beyond reasonable dispute. 2. The equal station of mankind here on earth is a cosmic reality, an obvious and inherent aspect of the law of nature and of nature’s God. 3. This presupposes (as a self-evident truth) that the Creator made human beings equal in their rights, equal before the bar of justice, and equal in His sight (with individual attributes and personal circumstances in life varying widely). 4. These rights which have been bestowed by the Creator on each individual are unalienable; that is, they cannot be taken away or violated without the offender coming under the judgment and wrath of the Creator. A person may have other rights, such as those which have been created as a ‘vested’ right by statute, but vested rights are not unalienable. They can be altered or eliminated at any time by a government or ruler. 5. Among the most important of the unalienable rights are the right to life, the right to liberty, and the right to pursue whatever course of life a person may desire in search of happiness, so long as it does not invade the inherent rights of others. 6. The most basic reason for a community or a nation to set up a system of government is to assure its inhabitants that the rights of the people shall be protected and preserved. 7. And because this is so, it follows that no office or agency of government has any right to exist except with the consent of the people or their representatives. 8. It also follows that if a government, either by malfeasance or neglect, fails to protect those rights—or, even worse, if the government itself begins to violate those rights— then it is the right and duty of the people to regain control of their affairs and set up a form of government which will serve the people better” (Skousen 28). 13

From their studies of the classics and these ancient principles, the Founders sorted out what they considered to be the best and most enduring ideas for the prosperity and peace of a free people under a republican system of self-government. Their resulting Declaration of Independence established a New Order of the Ages based on the belief that man’s freedom was a gift from God, not given or taken away by a mortal king as was the case under the Old Order. The principles of the Declaration were clearly very strongly influenced by the Bible. The Founders interpreted the Bible differently than the Church of England. They believed that the Bible revealed that all individuals regardless of race, creed, or color were free and equal in the eyes of God and should not be subservient to mortal men or man-made, vested rights but only to God Himself and His laws. The Founders’ independent study of the Bible without the coercion of the state Church of England helped them reach these general beliefs—that all men, whether they believed in God or not, whether or not they were of different religious, social, economic, or educational backgrounds; of different mental or physical characteristics and ability; or of any other difference of any kind; were equal before the Cre- ator with respect to their God-given rights. This Declaration, our nation’s birth certificate, is still considered next to the Bible history’s greatest written philosophy about the unalienable rights of every man, woman, and child and the people’s free will to govern themselves in any way they choose. The first two paragraphs of the Declaration express these convictions: 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 Government 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 Despo- tism, 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 Colo- nies; 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. It is clear that the Founder’s believed that this new nation was “A Nation Under God” even if all of its citizens did not necessarily believe in a Supreme Being or attend a church. Indeed, a non-believer’s right of thought opposing the idea of a God was just as important and just as protected as the right of others to 14

believe in a Supreme Being as the source of the nation’s freedom. Accordingly, the Founders felt that a national government should not create a national church to support the government and to coerce its citizens as the English government had done with the Church in England—that in this sense the government and the church should be separate in order to maintain equality among all religions. They believed that private citizens should have the freedom to choose their own religion and church without government influence as well as the freedom not to believe in God or to attend any church. At the same time, the Founders themselves strongly believed that the underpinnings and foundation of the new country and the rights of its people were inspired by a Supreme Being whose law was delineated in the Bible—a book which they felt should be openly and freely discussed and studied in their schools, businesses, and governmental institutions. The conclusion of the Declaration evinces their belief both in a Supreme Being and in the right to freedom from British rule: We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Con- gress, 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 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 Provi- dence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor. To declare independence from Britain meant to proclaim the religious, social, political, and economic freedom of all men. The implications of this Declaration of Independence were historically monumental by philosophically undermining the entire socio-economic, political, and religious foundations of any country under Ruler’s Law. Since every nation in the world in 1776 governed its people under Ruler’s Law, the Declaration of Independence tore out by its roots the centuries-old practice of government under such law. It is therefore easy to understand that “the delegates who subscribed to this document signed their names in blood. Had the Americans lost the Revolutionary War and been captured, they would have been summarily convicted of treason. The penalty for high treason against the British Crown was: To be hanged by the head until unconscious. Then cut down and revived. Then disemboweled and beheaded. Then cut into quarters. Each quarter was to be boiled in oil and the remnants scattered abroad so that the last resting place of the offender would remain forever unnamed, unhonored, and unknown” (Skousen 31). In light of such severe, appalling penalty, what kind of men were they that declared themselves to be independent from Great Britain? Were they thoughtless, impulsive, violent men? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists, eleven were merchants, and nine were farmers and large plantation owners. They were men of means, well-educated. They signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured. Their fates are told in “The Price They Paid”: 15

In light of such severe, appalling penalty, what kind of men were they that declared themselves to be independent from Great Britain? Were they thoughtless, impulsive, violent men? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists, eleven were merchants, and nine were farmers and large plantation owners. They were men of means, well-educated. They signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured. “Five signers were captured by the British as traitors and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons in the Revolutionary Army. Another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds and the hardships of the Revolutionary War. Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts and died in rags. Thomas McKean was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward. Vandals or soldiers or both looted the properties of Ellery, Clymer, Hall, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton. At the Battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr. found that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. Nelson quietly urged General George Washington to open fire, which was done. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt. Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months. John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His field and his grist mill were laid waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home after the war to find his wife dead, his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart. Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates. Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of purpose and education. They had security, but they valued freedom more.” (Hildreth) And so it has been with thousands of Americans for over two centuries who have sacrificed their lives and bodies to defend freedom from oppression not only in America but in countries all around the world. Americans have long helped natives in war-torn lands rebuild their once-oppressed countries in order to stimulate the common people to lift themselves out of destruction and depression. The spirit of freedom and brotherhood among Americans and toward other nations has many times inspired a responsibility to help our neighbors as well as old war enemies. This spirit is based on the strong American belief that every person’s right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness should be respected. Helping rebuild Germany and Japan after World War II are perhaps our country’s most dramatic examples of forgiving our enemies and helping them recover from war’s devastation once their tyrannical and aggressive governments were deposed. 16

When considering why so many average Americans have dedicated their lives to preserve freedom, we consider the same reasons why millions of people from all over the world have migrated to America from foreign countries—for the political, social, religious, and economic rights preserved in our nation and defended by its Constitution for all of its citizens. Some of these rights, many of which are found in the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the Constitution, include: The Right to freedom of religion, to believe and worship as one chooses, abiding by the law, The Right to free speech and a free press, abiding by the law, The Right to assemble peaceably, The Right to keep and bear arms, The Right to privacy in and protection of citizens’ homes and possessions, per the law, The Right to life, liberty, and property, per the law, The Right to petition for redress of grievances, The Right to Habeas Corpus, protection from unlawful or unauthorized imprisonment, and to no excessive bail, The Right to fair trial, trial by jury, legal counsel, and to be innocent until proven guilty, The Right to humane treatment and punishment, The Right to states any powers not delegated to or prohibited by the United States, The Right to free elections and personal secret ballot, The Right to freedom from slavery or servitude for law-abiding citizens, The Right to equal protection of the laws, and The Right to vote. Related rights Americans enjoy as part of our inherent rights and based on Constitutional rights include: The Right to freedom from arbitrary government regulation and control, The Right to the service of government as a protector and referee, The Right to move about freely at home and abroad, The Right to work in callings and localities of our choice, The Right to bargain with our employers and employees, The Right to go into business and compete for a profit, The Right to bargain for goods and services in a free market, and The Right to contract our affairs. These are the rights in our country for which Americans are willing to die. Such devotion has reaped a nation with unprecedented freedoms and prosperity. Jefferson was one such American of devotion. During the American Revolution, Jefferson, who had become a delegate to Virginia’s state assembly, was convinced that the Americans were going to win their battle for freedom. He feared, however, that they would not know what to do with their freedom. It therefore was Jefferson’s hope that if he could guide Virginia to be a model for other states, that the newly liberated people would be psychologically and constitutionally prepared to govern themselves. In October, 1776, Jefferson literally smothered the Virginia House with new bills in an effort to establish “a system by which every fiber would be eradicated of ancient or future aristocracy and a foundation laid for a government truly republican” (Bergh cited in Skousen 34). Although it took many years to achieve the adoption of all of his reforms, Jefferson, due to his unusual intensity and aggressiveness, was largely responsible for clearing out traces in Virginian law of feudalism, aristocracy, slavery, and the worst parts of British statutory law which Virginia had inherited from England. 17

By the end of the nineteenth century, this political and economic formula for freedom that Americans continually fought for was beginning to give Americans the highest standard of living in the world. With less than 6 percent of the earth’s population, our spirit of freedom, creativity, ingenuity, and private economic opportunity enabled Americans to produce more than half of the entire world’s goods and services. The free-market, capitalist system envisioned by the Founders was based on those prevalent and firm ideas of freedom and individual rights combined with the following common-sense ideas of economic advancement: 1. Nothing in our material world comes from nowhere—everything in our economic life has a source, a destination, and a cost that must be paid. 2. All production of goods and services come from the people, not government. Everything that government gives to the people must first be taken from the people. 3. In a free country, all employment ultimately comes from customer purchases. If there are no customers, there can be no jobs. Worthwhile job security is derived from these customer purchases and customer satisfaction. 4. Job security is a partnership between workers and management to win and hold customers. 5. Workers’ wages are the principal cost of goods and services. Wage increases must result in greater production to avoid increases in the cost of living. 6. All productivity is based on natural resources whose form and placement are changed by human energy with the aid of tools. 7. In a free country, tools come from temporary self-denial by people in order to use part of their earnings as capital for the production of new tools. 8. The productive and efficient use of tools has always been highest in a free and competitive country where decisions and action are made by free, progress-seeking individuals, rather than in a central government-planned society under Ruler’s Law where the Ruler’s primary goal is to preserve their position of authority over the people. A comparison between United States and Soviet Union economies in 1991 demonstrates the eighth item: U. S. A U. S. S. R. (Free country) (Centrally-Planned country with Ruler’s Law) Population 250,410,000 290,938,000 Area 3,618,769 sq. mi. 8,649,496 sq. mi. Gross National Product (GNP) $5,234 billion $2,526 billion GNP Per Capita $21,040 $8,819 Food Expenditure as a % of Total Private Consumption 12.2% 38.0% Telephones/100 people. 76.0 11.3 Televisions/1,000 people 812 319 Radio Receivers/1,000 people 2,120 686 No. of deaths/1,000 people 8.7 10.4 Life Expectancy 75.6 69.5 Infant Mortality Rate/1,000 live births 10.4 23.7 (Statistical Abstract of the U. S., 1991) 18

It is clear that as a free-market economy based on free private opportunity, the U. S. has achieved a larger and more mature economy than the Soviet Union under a Ruler’s Law system even though the Soviet Union has more resources including coal, natural gas, crude oil, cement production, nitrous ammonia production, market- able potash, iron ore, manganese ore, zinc, nickel, lead, and chromite. The United States’ economic system, a product of a free society and free economic opportunity, encourages individuals and companies to make a profit in order for business to expand, thereby providing more jobs, more production, and increasing profits that, ultimately, help the entire nation to prosper. Hard work, frugality, and thrift then make possible compassion for those citizens who need assistance. Alexis de Toqueville wrote in 1835 in his Democracy in America that Americans were on their way to becoming the most prosperous and best educated people in the world who also happened to be the freest people in the world. The world would also learn that America contained the most gener- ous people on earth. Private citizens in the U. S. donate billions of dollars to charities, schools, universities, libraries, foundations, hospitals, churches, synagogues, and a multitude of other important be- nevolent causes. In 1993, for example, individual charitable deductions amounted to a staggering $126.2 billion from over 35,700 non-governmental, non-profit organizations whose goals were to as- sist and aid in social, educational, religious, and other activities deemed to serve the common good. Over 68,400 grants exceeding $10,000 and totaling $5.6 billion were made by private and corporate foundations across the country. An astonishing forty-eight percent (48%) of the adult population contributed an average of 4.2 volunteer hours per week across the country in the fields of education, health, human services, youth development, religion, foreign aid, etc. This level of voluntary gifts, donations, and time far exceeds that of any other country in the history of mankind. Though free-market economics based on free political institutions and personal freedom and responsibility was not widespread throughout the world even in the 1990’s, the free-market economy based on freedom has proven itself enormously successful. The Founding Fathers should receive the highest scores possible for designing a remarkable system of social, political, and economic freedom that, while having imperfections, is the admiration of people everywhere who believe that freedom, as envisioned by the Declaration of Independence and the U. S. Constitution, is the key to progress for the betterment of all of a nation’s citizens. It is vitally important that our students and our citizens become increasingly proficient and well-informed in the inspired, virtuous, and noble ideas that are our nation’s foundation for a free society. By learning and understanding the basic philosophical concepts of freedom, education, private investment, job growth, and profit incentive, our students will be better equipped to approach the responsibilities and tasks to act and serve in society. In knowing our nation’s historical and political foundation, our citizens and students will perpetuate this ongoing miracle of a viable and energized constitutional republic so that freedom, unity, progress, and responsibility through this system of self- government will not perish from our earth.  The American Heritage Education Foundation, Inc. 19

Works Cited Bergh, Albert, E., ed. The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Washington, D. C.: Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association, 1907. Boyd, Julian P., ed. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson. 20 vols. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1950-. Constitution of the United States. Washington, DC: U. S. National Archives and Records Administration. <www.archives.gov>. Declaration of Independence, 1776. Washington, DC: U. S. National Archives and Records Administration. <www.archives.gov>. Elliot, Jonathan, ed. The Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution. 5 vols. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1901. Hildreth, Gary. The Price They Paid. San Mateo, CA: National Federation of Independent Business. Skousen, W. Cleon. The Making of America: The Substance and Meaning of the Constitution. Washington, D. C.: National Center for Constitutional Studies, 1985. Library of Congress call number KF4541.S55 1985. Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1991. Toqueville, Alexis de. Democracy in America. 1835, 1840. 12th ed. 2 vols. New York: Vintage Books, 1945. 20

★ American Heritage Themes ★ Purpose within and across cultures. The purpose of this lesson is to develop IXf. analyze or formulate policy statements meanings for the four important themes demonstrating an understanding of concerns, in American history--freedom, unity, standards, issues, and conflicts related to progress, and responsibility. One theme universal human rights. is stressed in each of the lessons in the Xa. explain the origins and interpret the curriculum materials. The themes are continuing influence of key ideals of the drawn from the work of the Founding democratic republican form of government.... Fathers as they discussed the formation Xd. practice forms of civic discussion and of the United States. participation consistent with the ideals of citizens in a democratic republic. Objective 1. The student will define freedom, Time unity, responsibility, and progress in 60 minutes American history. 2. The student will analyze and discuss Materials how various quotations relate to these ★ American Heritage Themes handout themes. ★ American Heritage Themes templates 3. The student will illustrate the ★ “From Oppression to Freedom” Essay (in meaning of one selected theme. Introduction) ★ Loyalty Day Proclamations Theme ★ Art supplies (as needed) Americans are responsible for ★ Website - www.americanheritage.org communicating to future generations a blueprint of the ideas of how the country Preparation was formed, gained freedom, and unified ★ Copy American Heritage Themes handout our citizens to progress toward a better for each student. life for ALL people. ★ Copy American Heritage Themes templates (as needed). NCSS Standards ★ Gather art supplies (as needed). IIc. identify and describe significant ★ Expand the American Heritage Themes to historical periods and patterns of change poster size and post in room. Focus Students are to develop the meaning of the four themes of American Heritage. Write the words freedom, unity, progress, and responsibility on the board. Ask students what they think each of the words mean, and write their responses near the word. Read one of the quotes from the handout about each one of the themes, and ask students how the quotes relate to the definitions the students have provided. 21

★ American Heritage Themes ★ continued Activity Teachers may select one or more of these activities for their students. 1. Have groups of students develop a frieze to illustrate one of the themes. Each group may demonstrate and/or explain to the class their illustration. 2. Have students working individually or in groups use copies of the templates, art paper, or poster boards to illustrate the meaning of one or more of the themes. Students could use words, sentences, paragraphs, pictures, or quotations from the handout or from other sources. Student should consider the meaning of the themes for Americans today. 3. Have students develop a bumper sticker to illustrate the meaning of one or more of the themes. 4. Read/discuss the essay, “From Oppression to Freedom,” as a class. Have students individually or in groups analyze segments of the essay in order to understand its terms and meaning. Students can share and discuss their analyses with the rest of the class. 5. Read and discuss the main points and meaning of the excerpts from the Loyalty Day proclamations. Students may research the history of Loyalty Day in the U. S. Students may also read the American Heritage Month excerpt. Discuss the importance of recognizing, honoring, and being informed about America’s history and heritage. (See Links page on www.americanheritage.org for additional resources on Loyalty Day.) Closure Remind students that freedom, unity, progress, and responsibility are themes from American history that are still important today. 22

★ American Heritage Themes ★ The God who gave us life, We must all hang together, or assuredly gave us liberty at the same time. we shall all hang separately. Thomas Jefferson Benjamin Franklin 1743-1826 1706-1790 There is nothing on this earth more glorious than a man’s freedom, and E PLURIBUS UNUM – From Many, One no aim more elevated than liberty. The Great Seal of the United Thomas Paine States 1737-1809 1782 Is life so dear or peace so sweet, Be Americans. as to be purchased at the price Let there be no sectionalism, of chains or slavery? no North, South, East or West: Forbid it, Almighty God! You are all dependent on one another I know not what course and should be in union. others may take, but as for me, In one word, be a nation: give me liberty or give me death! be Americans, and be true to yourselves. Patrick Henry George Washington 1736-1799 1732-1799 Freedom, unity, progress, and Freedom responsibility are central Unity themes in America’s heritage that generations of Americans from various backgrounds Progress have embraced Responsibility for over two centuries. This society of free, self-reliant individuals has God grants liberty only to those brought about the greatest outburst of creative who love it and are always ready human energy ever known, producing more to guard and defend it. social, economic, and health advances than ever Daniel Webster before in history---the miracle that is America. Yet 1782-1852 there is more to do. The most rapid, permanent progress is achieved through individual freedom, For, however loftily the intellect of man education, productivity, and morality. may have been gifted, however skillfully it Dr. Richard J. Gonzalez may have been trained, if it be not guided 1912-1998 by a sense of justice, a love of mankind, and a devotion to duty, its possessor is The main fuel to speed our progress is only a more splendid, as he is a more our stock of knowledge, and the brake is dangerous, barbarian. our lack of imagination. The ultimate Horace Mann resource is people—skilled, spirited and 1796-1859 hopeful people who will exert their wills and imaginations for their own benefit, And so, my fellow Americans, and so, inevitably, for the benefit of all. ask not what your country can do for you; Julian Simon ask what you can do for your country. 1932-1998 John F. Kennedy 1917-1963 23

★ American Heritage Themes ★ Freedom Unity Progress Responsibility 24

The Theme is Freedom (excerpts) By M. Stanton Evans Regenery Publishing Company, Washington, D. C., 1994 If we want to find the sources of our freedom, we first need to know what freedom is, as Americans have historically defined it. Our definition of freedom in these pages means the absence of coercion to the extent that this is feasible in organized society. It means the ability of human beings to act in voluntary fashion, rather than being pushed around and forced to do things. Someone who does something of his own volition is free; someone forced to act at gunpoint isn’t. This seems an obvious enough distinction, and, in an age disgraced by the totalitarian horror, a useful one to keep in focus. It (freedom) means, for instance, the ability to decide things on a voluntary basis, but says nothing at all about what will be decided. This gives freedom a status of its own, a helpful feature if we want to compare or contrast it with other values. Even so, it comes attached with a proviso: Liberty to act on one’s own behalf must be fenced off by the equal liberty of others, so that freedom for one individual doesn’t becomes oppression for a second. Freedom in this sense must be mutual, so as not to contradict the basic premise. Most important for our discussion, freedom thus defined also entails a certain kind of governing system. If a regime of liberty is to exist, some agency must forestall the use of force or fraud by which one person invades another’s rights, render justice in doubtful cases, and provide a zone of order in which people may go about their affairs in safety. This agency is the government. Its basic job is to maintain the equal liberty of the people, by preventing various species of aggression. Likewise, for identical and fairly obvious reasons, government also must be precluded from violating freedom. Taken together, these concepts add up to the notion of the order-keeping state, which protects its citizens from hostile forces, but is itself restrained in the exertion of its powers. Establishing such a regime of freedom is no easy matter, as it requires a proper balance between the requirements of liberty and those of order. Government needs sufficient power to do its job, but not too much--which would endanger freedom. The dilemma was summed up by Burke: “To make a government requires no great prudence. Settle the seat of power, teach obedience, and the work is done. To give freedom is still more easy. It is not necessary to guide; it only requires to let go of the rein. But to form a free government, to temper together these opposite elements of liberty and restraint in one consistent work, requires much thought, deep reflection, a sagacious, powerful, and combining mind.” Similar thoughts about the topic were expressed by the Founders of our republic. Indeed, Americans will have no trouble recognizing the view of government we have been describing, since in general outline it is our own: an emphasis on voluntary action, safeguards for individual rights, limits on the reach of power. The core ideas of American statecraft have been, precisely, that government exists to provide an arena of ordered liberty, but that government in turn must be prevented from violating freedom. 25

Loyalty Day, 2003 Loy Day A Proclamation (excerpts) By the President of the United States of America “To be an American is not a matter of blood or birth. Our citizens are bound by ideals that represent the hope of all mankind: that all men are created equal, endowed with unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. On Loyalty Day, we reaffirm our allegiance to our country and resolve to uphold the vision of our Forefathers.... ...Our founding principles have endured, guiding our Nation toward progress and prosperity and allowing the United States to be a leader among nations of the world. Throughout our history, honorable men and women have demonstrated their loyalty to America by making remarkable sacrifices to preserve and protect these values.... ...These values must be imparted to each new generation. Our children need to know that our Nation is a force for good in the world, extending hope and freedom to others. By learning about America’s history, achievements, ideas, and heroes, our young citizens will come to understand even more why freedom is worth protecting....” GEORGE W. BUSH The White House Office of the Press Secretary April 30, 2003 www.whitehouse.gov Loyalty Day, 2004 Loy Day A Proclamation (excerpts) By the President of the United States of America “As Americans, we work to preserve the freedom declared by our Founding Fathers, defended by generations, and granted to every man and woman on Earth by the Almighty. On Loyalty Day, we are reminded that we are citizens with obligations to our country, to each other, and to our great legacy of freedom and democracy.... ...We must continue to ensure that our young people know the great cause of freedom and why it is worth defending. Our Founders believed the study of history and citizenship should be at the core of every American’s education. By encouraging students to learn more about American history and values, we can help prepare the next generation of Americans to carry our heritage of freedom into the future....” GEORGE W. BUSH The White House Office of the Press Secretary April 30, 2004 www.whitehouse.gov 26

Celebr ate Celebrat ate American Heritage Month American Heritage Month itag No in November! “American Heritage Month gives us all an opportunity to reflect on our roots as Americans from a fresh perspective. It is a time to remember that we Americans have brought with us many different heritages, but we have joined together in this country as one people. The Declaration of Independence sets forth our fundamental values, and the Constitution serves to protect those values. Our schools, teachers, students, and other citizens help preserve and strengthen the miracle that is America. As Thomas Jefferson said, ‘If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.’” The American Heritage Education Foundation, Inc. 27

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★The Mayflower Compact ★ The Purpose Vg. analyze the extent to which groups and The purpose of this lesson is to discuss institutions meet individual needs and promote the responsibilities of the colonists in the common good in contemporary and establishing a new colony and to under- historical settings. stand the idea of a social contract, a VIc. analyze and explain ideas and mechanisms new and untested concept in the to meet neesd and wnats of citizens, regulate 1600’s, which was formed among the territory, manage conflict, establish order and colonists to help them make decisions. security, and balance competing conceptions of a just society. IXb. explain conditions and motivations that Objective contribute to conflict, cooperation, and 1. The student will formulate a social interdependence among groups, societies, and compact in his or her class after a nations. discussion of the Mayflower Compact. Xi. construct a policy statement and an action 2. The student will analyze the plan to achieve one or more goals related to an Mayflower Compact. issue of public concern. Theme- Responsibility Time Each person makes decisions and is 60 minutes responsible for his or her actions related to his or her decisions. Materials ★ American Heritage Themes handout NCSS Standards ★ Mayflower Compact Ia. analyze and explain the ways groups, ★ Dictionaries societies, and cultures address human ★ Student handbook or copy of school rules needs and concerns. and policies IIf. apply ideas, theories, and modes of ★ Material to post final product historical inquiry to analyze historical and ★ Website - www.americanheritage.org contemporary development, and to inform and evaluate actions concerning public policy issues. Preparation Vc. describe the various forms ★ Copy handouts institutions take, and explain how they ★ Gather art supplies (as needed). develop and change over time. Focus Students will develop an understanding of a social contract as exemplified by the Mayflower Compact. The central idea that a group of people could decide among themselves what others could and could not do was the birth of a new form of government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Before this time the King made all of the decisions about how people were to interact with one another. 29

★ Mayflower Compact ★ continued Activity 1. Introduce the terms social contract, covenant, compact, promise, agreement, etc. What are they? What do they mean? Have students get into groups, assigning one term to each set of students to define and to give examples of it being used. Share definitions and examples. 2. Pass out handouts on the Mayflower Compact. Read and encourage students to make notes. Discuss the reading including the significance, use, rationale, and purpose of the Mayflower Compact. Address questions. (See Links page on www.americanheritage.org for additional resources on the Mayflower Compact and the Pilgrims.) 3. Explain that almost every group of people who meet to achieve a goal, like passing a class, develops a system of rules and makes agreements among themselves in order to enjoy their basic rights and freedoms. As a class, students will discuss and define the Mayflower Compact and realize how it commits the Pilgrims to religion, government, and civility. Next students will create their own compact as a class or in small groups. 4. A. Ask students in groups to pick out a few rules from their student handbook (or copy of school policies) and justify why those rules are there and/or why they should be omitted. After each group has completed the task, let students share their insights with the class, and then have the whole class seriously consider what promises or compacts they will need to enjoy their basic rights and freedoms in order to prosper/succeed in the class. B. As a whole class, brainstorm a list of classroom rules, edit it, and create a final draft which everyone will sign. Post this class compact! Closure Students consider and address these and other related questions: How is the class compact similar to or difference than the Mayflower Compact? How does the class compact serve the class as a whole and students individually? What is its purpose and intent for use? Considering these questions, students write a one-paragraph evaluation of the class compact and provide evidence such as antecdotes, examples, analogy, logic, historical parallels, etc. to support the evaluation. Students may also write an essay on a thesis related to the Mayflower Compact, social contract theory, a significant pilgrim, or a relevant issue from the reading. 30

The Mayflower Compact Self-Government The English separatist Puritans living in Leyden, separatist Puritans Holland, desired for various reasons to transplant their colony These Puritans thought that the to America. In 1619 they secured a patent from the Virginia Church of England was tainted. They wanted to purify the Company of London for a private plantation in Virginia. The Church of what they thought Pilgrims, reinforced by some seventy “strangers” from London, were transgressions. Because sailed for Plymouth in September 1620 and arrived off Cape they believed that the Church of Cod in November. They missed the coast of Virginia. Some of England was too corrupt to the London recruits were a discontented, “undesirable lot” and change, they withdrew and separated themselves from it. made “mutinous speeches.” Bradford writes that the “strangers” boasted that they were not under the jurisdiction Pilgrims of the Virginia Company and “would use their own liberty, for The name acquired by those who none had the power to command them, the patent they had separated themselves from the Church of England (same as being for Virginia and not for New England…” (William separatist Puritans) Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation-1620-1647: A New Edition: The Complete Text, with Notes and an Introduction, Samuel Eliot “strangers” Morison, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1993, p. 75). This was the name that the Since the patent, or charter, was only good in Virginia, separatist Puritans/Pilgrims gave those who traveled to some form of government had to be established if the settlers the New World with them but were to maintain peace. The Pilgrim leaders drew up the who were not a part of their Mayflower Compact, the first self-imposed self-government not particular group. only in America but in the world. This has become one of the William Bradford most important documents in American history. The original Bradford was the guiding light parchment has long since disappeared. The current text was and principal leader of first printed in London in 1622 in a pamphlet generally known Plymouth Colony. He was the as the “Mourt’s Relation.” This pamphlet contained excerpts Governor for a total of 33 one- from the early colony’s journals and histories. The Mayflower year terms between 1621 and 1656. Of Plymouth Plantation- Compact was not intended as a constitution but was an 1620-1647, written by extension of the customary church covenant to help the Bradford, is the history of the Pilgrims define their civil circumstances. Pilgrim Colony and was first This church covenant, sometimes called covenantal published the year of his death in 1656. doctrine or covenantal theology, as opposed to the “Ruler’s Law” under monarchies, was inspired by religious teaching. covenant These separatist Puritans, as well as later non-separatist An agreement of and between Puritan arrivals to America, viewed church and state alike as agreeing par ties. A formal “associations of the willing faithful.” They were further binding agreement. convinced that the proper form of organization was not a matter non-separatist Puritans of kings and bishops dictating the configuration of worship. Those Puritans that hoped to They thought the proper form of organization should be one of purify the Church of England “believers joined together in voluntary fashion” (M. Stanton while remaining members of the Church. Evans, The Theme Is Freedom: Religion, Politics, and the American Tradition, Regnery Publishing, Inc., Washington, D.C., 1994, pp. 187-88, 193-94). Additional Reading ★ Demos, John. A Little Commonwealth: Family Life in Plymouth Colony. New York: Oxford University . New Yor ork: Oxfor University ord niver Press, 1970. ★ Morgan, Edmund S. The Puritan Family: Religion and Domestic Relations in Seventeenth-Century New England. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1966. . New Yor ork: Harper Ro Publishers, 1966. 31

★ The Mayflower Compact ★ continued Later Implications Another example and extension of church covenant as the basis for self-government may also be found in the words of the “Fundamental Orders of Connecticut” (1639). Connecticut was established and led by the Reverend Thomas Hooker. In January 1639, the freemen of the towns of Hartford, Whethersfield, and Windsor met in Hartford and drew up the first constitution that created a government, in part “. . . well knowing where a people are gathered the word of God requires that to mayntayne (maintain) the peace and union of such a people there should be an orderly and decent Government established according to God. . . .[we] doe therefore assotiate (associate) and conloyne (conjoin) our selves to be as one Publike (Public) State or Commonwelth; and doe, . . .enter Into Combination and Confederation togather , to mayntayn and presearve the liberty and purity of the gospell of our Lord Jesus which we now professe. . .”(Henry Steele Commager, Documents of American History, F.S. Crofts & Co., New York, 1943, pp. 22-23). (original spelling) strict separationist Further, in 1636, the colony of Providence, later to become One who believed in a part of Rhode Island, was established by the strict separationist comple plet comple te separation of Roger Williams because he abhorred what he claimed were church and government “conforming churches” of Massachusetts. He also had been exiled since government because of his dissent and nonconforming views regarding the would corrupt the church. relations of church and state. In 1644, the charter for the colony of Rhode Island went into effect. The charter stated that the government “conforming churches” should be “democraticall, that is a government held by the free and Those churches in voluntary consent of all, or the greater part of the free inhabitants” agreement with the Church of England and (Evans, p. 195). the King. Colonial Quotations Supporting Self-Government “The multitude I am speaking of, is the body of the people—no contemptible multitude—for those sake government is instituted; or rather, who have themselves erected it, solely for their own good—to whom even kings and all in subordination to them, are strictly speaking, servants and not masters.” (Adams’ emphasis) Samuel Adams, American Revolutionary statesman and Founding Father, Father, Essay in Boston Gazette, 1771 “Governors have no right to seek what they please; by this, instead of being content with the station assigned them, that of honorable servants of the society, they would soon become Absolute masters, Despots, and Tyrants.” Town Resolutions of the Town of Boston, “The Rights of the Colonists,” 1772 “That all power is rested in, and consequently derived from, the people; that magistrates are their trustees and servants. . . .” irginia Virginia Bill of Rights, the most famous of the Declaration of Rights George of the original state Constitutions, drafted by George Mason, Father, American Revolutionary Statesman and Founding Father, 1776 32

The Mayflower Compact N o v e m b e r 1 1 , 1 6 2 0 In the Name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, & c. Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our king and Country, a Voyage to plant the first colony in the northern Parts of Virginia; Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Futherance of the Ends aforesaid; And by Virtue hereof do enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general Good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due Submissions and Obedience. In Witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape Cod the eleventh of November, in the Reign of our Sovereign Lord King James of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth and of Scotland, the fifty-fourth. Anno Domini, 1620. Mr. John Carver Mr. Stephen Hopkins Mr. William Bradford Digery Priest Mr. Edward Winslow Thomas Williams Mr. William Brewster Gilbert Winslow Isaac Allerton Edmund Margesson Miles Standish Peter Brown John Alden Richard Bitteridge John Turner George Soule Francis Eaton Edward Tilly James Chilton John Tilly John Craxton Francis Cooke John Billington Thomas Rogers Joses Fletcher Thomas Tinker John Goodman Edward Fuller Mr. Samuel Fuller Richard Clark Mr. Christopher Martin Richard Gardiner Mr. William Mullins Mr. John Allerton Mr. William White Thomas English Mr. Richard Warren Edward Doten John Howland Edward Liester John Ridgate 33

Rights and Responsibilities Learning About My School’s Student Code of Conduct School is one place where a student has certain agreed upon rights and responsibilities. While students have certain rights in schools, they also have many responsibilities that accompany those rights. Each school district has a Code of Student Conduct about these rights and responsibilities. As a student, make it your responsibility to know the code for your school district and to review it with your parents. It will help you and other students have a safe and successful educational experience. Sample: Below are some of the basic rights of students and points of interests mentioned in one school district (Houston Independent School District Code of Student Conduct): • You have the right to attend public schools. • You have the right to a well-balanced curriculum and instruction. • You have the right to evaluation of your academic progress. • You have the responsibility to participate in the educational process by attending class, paying attention, completing assignments, and asking questions if you don’t understand a subject you are being taught. • You especially have the responsibility to behave appropriately, not interfering with the goals of the educational community. School teachers and administrators have the right and responsibility to respond to student acts of misconduct that interfere with the goals of education. Level I These offenses generally occur in the classroom and can be corrected by the teacher. Level II These offenses are more serious than Level I and/or represent the student’s inability to control Level 1 misconduct. Level II offenses call for administrative intervention. Level III These offenses seriously disrupt the educational process in the classroom, the school, and/or at school-related activities, or are a continuance of repeated Level I, II, or III misconduct. Level III misconduct may result in student suspension and optional removal to an alternative education program. Level IV Level IV misconducts involve more serious criminal offenses. These include any felony, whether school related or not, unless it is one for which expulsion is required. This level of misconduct requires placement in an alternative education program. Level V Level V offenses are dealth with by the expulsion of the offending student. Expulsion is fit punishment for violations which seriously threaten the safety of the school community. Expulsion is fit punishment in response to criminal acts of mischief including but not limited to: weapons possession, possession of an illegal substance, and assault. copyright 2003 Houston Independent School District 34

Excerpt Example from Houston Independent School District Code of Student Conduct Foreword The Houston Independent School District (HISD) has established as one of its primary goals the provision of a high-quality educational program for each student in a safe school environment free of disrup- tions that interfere with the educational process. The purpose of this Code of Student Conduct is to inform all students and parents of HISD’s expectations regarding behavior and conduct. The Code, reviewed and approved by the HISD Board of Education, is based on the policies of the Board of Education and Standard Practice Memoranda (SPMs). SPMs communicate district administrative procedures and practices. This Code was developed to protect the rights of all students by: • providing a districtwide discipline management plan • specifying the behavior that is expected of all students • describing the broad range of student misconduct and providing appropriate disciplinary consequences or options for the various kinds of misconduct • outlining student rights relating to school Students and parents are expected to become familiar with the provisions of the districtwide Code of Student Conduct and the rules and regulations adopted and implemented by their individual schools based upon their School-Based Discipline Management System. Students are also expected to abide by the policies set forth in the Code so that they can truly get the most out of their years in school. Major changes to the Code this year include the following: • changes in accordance with state law to allow for expulsion or referral to a Disciplinary Alternative Education Program (DAEP) by HISD for Level IV and V offenses, including for conduct that occurs within 300 feet of the school property line or on the property of another school district in Texas or that was committed by a student at a school district outside of the state • moving changing of school documents or signing a parent’s name on school records from Level II to Level III • adding use of computers or other means to access and tamper with HISD records, to include grade books or any other public school records maintained by HISD, to Level IV • adding “hacking” or breach of computer security that results in loss or damage in amount greater than $1,500 to Level IV • revising Level V, in accordance with changes in state law, to allow for the expulsion of students who engage in conduct against another student that contains the elements of aggravated assault, sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, murder, capital murder, or criminal attempt to commit capital murder even if the offense occurs away from school • clarifying that a police report is required for any Level IV or Level V infraction if the infraction also constitutes a violation of the Penal Code • updating the provisions regarding confinement, restraint, and time-out applicable to students with disabilities Students and parents should be aware that the Houston Independent School District does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, ancestry, national origin, sex, handicap or disability, marital status, religion, veteran status, political affiliation, or sexual orientation. This policy includes a prohibition on racial harassment and a hostile environment, as this type of harassment denies students the right to an education free of discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin. Students may utilize the district’s complaint procedures (see p. 18) to address any issues related to these areas without fear of retaliation. In addition, HISD will not tolerate sexual harassment at any level. Any complaint of discrimination of any type will be fully investigated, and the district will take appropriate action. Kaye Stripling Superintendent of Schools August 2003 35

Responsibilities in Behavior Intervention The effective enforcement of the Code of Student Conduct and the School-Based Discipline Management System is essential in keeping a school and/or school-related activities free of disruption and is dependent on the exercise of the responsibilities by the following: STUDENTS • adhere to school, district, and classroom rules and regulations for behavior and good conduct. PARENTS • support school, district, and classroom rules for student behavior and ensure that their children conduct themselves according to district standards. • provide the school with their current address and, when available, current telephone numbers. • ensure student attendance at school. By state law, student attendance is the responsibility of parents and guardians. • provide the appropriate school personnel with any student information that will affect the student’s ability to learn and the student’s behavior. • read, acknowledge, and understand these rules and the rules applicable to their children’s conduct while they are at school. TEACHERS • establish classroom-management procedures that concentrate on good student conduct and support school and district policies and procedures. ADMINISTRATORS • develop with all members of the school community an effective School-Based Discipline Management System that promotes and maintains the support of good student behavior. BOARD OF EDUCATION • approve a behavior code that identifies standards of conduct for students and enact policies and procedures necessary for implementing and enforcing a structured and disciplined learning environment. 36

Student Responsibilities The student’s responsibilities for achieving a positive learning environment at school and/or school- related activities include the following: • Attending all classes each day and being on time • Preparing for each class with appropriate materials and completed assignments • Dressing according to the dress code adopted by each individual school • Knowing that the use, possession, and/or sale of illegal or unauthorized drugs, alcohol, and weapons are unlawful and prohibited and that students may be subject to random searches in accordance with Board Policy and state and federal law in order to assure a safe school environment • Showing respect toward others • Conducting oneself in a responsible manner • Paying required fees and fines • Knowing and obeying all school rules in the Code of Student Conduct and the School-Based Discipline Management System • Cooperating with staff members in the investigation of disciplinary matters • Seeking changes in school policies and regulations in an orderly and responsible manner, through appropriate channels • Reporting threats to the safety of students and staff members as well as misconduct on the part of any other students or staff members to the building principal, a teacher, or another adult • Using HISD technology systems for school business purposes only and using school computers and related equipment appropriately • Abiding by the technology security procedures developed by HISD, such as never leaving a ter- minal or workstation unattended or unsecured while logged on to a host computer or network • Reporting all observed or suspected technology security problems immediately to a teacher In general, all students are entitled to enjoy the basic rights of citizenship recognized and protected by law for persons of their age and maturity. The Houston Independent School District shall foster a climate of mutual respect for the rights of others. Each student is expected to respect the rights and privileges of other students, teachers, and district personnel. Students shall exercise their rights and responsibilities in compliance with rules established for the orderly conduct of the district’s educational mission. The district’s rules of conduct and discipline and the School-Based Discipline Management System are established to achieve and maintain order in the school. Students who violate the rights of others or district or school rules shall be subject to disciplinary action in accordance with established district policies and procedures. All students are expected to maintain the highest level of discipline and decorum at all school functions. Failure to comply with administrative directives promoting order and respect will result in the student’s being removed from participation in school activities, including commencement exercises. 37

Student Rights and Student Publications • Students are entitled to express, in writing, their opinions and Responsibilities, Board Policies, may distribute handwritten, duplicated, or printed materials on school premises or at school-sponsored activities at other and Standard Practice Memoranda locations in accordance with certain conditions and procedures established in Board Policy. The Board Policies and Standard Practice Memoranda of the + Students have the responsibility to become familiar with and Houston Independent School District contain the rights and follow the conditions and procedures in Board Policy. (See responsibilities of students that are embodied in this Code of Student Publications, p. 20.) Student Conduct. A brief description of several of the more important student rights and responsibilities is included in this Students and School Property section. The proper balance of student rights and privileges (•) with student responsibilities and obligations (+) is essential to • Students are expected to show proper respect for both per- the orderly conduct of the district’s educational mission. sons and property. Instructional Programs + Students are responsible for their own actions directed toward school property and for damages to property. • The Houston Independent School District shall be responsible for providing a well-balanced curriculum and for deliver- Search of Property and Students ing effective instruction to all students enrolled. • Students are entitled to the guarantees of the Fourth + Students have the responsibility to strive for academic growth Amendment of the U. S. Constitution, and they are subject to by participating in the appropriate educational program to reasonable searches and seizures. their utmost ability. + Students have the responsibility not to carry on their person Attendance of Students or to have on school property or at school-sponsored events such items as drugs, weapons, alcohol, paging devices, or • Regular attendance and punctuality shall be required of other contraband materials in violation of school policy or every student. state law. + Students have the responsibility to take advantage of their • School officials are empowered to conduct reasonable search- educational opportunity by attending all classes daily and on es of students and school property when there is reasonable time unless circumstances prevent them from doing so. cause to believe that students may be in possession of drugs, weapons, alcohol, or other materials (“contraband”) in viola- Continuing Education tion of school policy or state law. Students who bring contra- • Student absences while suspended shall be considered as band onto school grounds may be searched in order to secure excused absences. the school environment so learning can take place and to pro- + Students have the responsibility to make up all work missed tect other students from any potentially harmful effects stem- while suspended within five school days after their return to ming from the contraband. School property such as lockers school from suspension in order to receive credit for the work. and desks shall remain under the control of school officials and shall be subject to search. Evaluation, Grading, and Promotion/Retention • Students do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in of Students the use of school lockers or school desks. • Students shall be evaluated on a continuous basis in the most • The administration may utilize dogs and metal detectors as effective manner to determine the extent of their progress. provided by HISD policies and applicable laws. Metal detec- + Students have the responsibility to maintain reasonable standards tors and trained dogs may be used at random locations and of academic performance commensurate with their ability. times by HISD personnel as determined by HISD administrative and law enforcement personnel. Complaints The 18-Year-Old Student • Students may present any complaint to the district, either • The 18-year-old student who has adult status may enroll in personally or through a representative, through the appropri- and attend public school. ate complaint procedures. + The 18-year-old student who is enrolled in public school has + Students have the responsibility to follow the established the responsibility to follow the policies, procedures, rules, complaint procedures and to accept the decision that results and regulations of the school district. from the complaint process. The 18-year-old student who has more than five unexcused Student Dress Code and Personal Grooming absences may be withdrawn due to nonattendance for the remainder of the semester. An Admission, Review, and Dismissal • Each individual school shall adopt specific standards concern- Committee shall be convened prior to the withdrawal of an 18- ing dress and personal grooming. year-old student with disabilities for nonattendance. + All students have the responsibility to become familiar with the school’s standards and the responsibility to adhere to them. 4 • Student Rights and Responsibilities, Board Policies, and Standard Practice Memoranda 38

★ The Declaration of Independence ★ Purpose conflict and cooperation within and among The purpose of this lesson is for students nations. to examine the Declaration of Xa. explain the origins and interpret the Independence and ascertain its true intent continuing influence of key ideals of the and its eventual realization. democratic republican form of government.... Xh. evaluate the degree to which public policies Objective and citizen behaviors reflect or foster the stated ideals of a democratic republican form 1. The student will analyze the of government. Declaration of Independence. 2. The student will summarize the intentions of the Declaration. Time 60 minutes Theme-Freedom The Declaration of Independence was Materials written by the Founding Fathers to ★ American Heritage handouts and readings express their belief that all people have ★ Declaration of Independence text (see also certain rights. The freedoms written in U. S. Archives and Records Administration, the laws of the nation have their www.archives.gov) beginning in the Declaration of ★ Opening to Declaration handout Independence. ★ Declaration of Independence text scramble ★ Declaration of Independence analysis worksheet NCSS Standards ★ Dictionaries IIc. identify and describe significant ★ Material to post final product historical periods and patterns of change ★ Website - www.americanheritage.org within and across cultures. VIb. explain the purpose of government and analyze how its powers are acquired, used, Preparation and justified. ★ Copy handouts VIf. analyze and evaluate conditions, ★ Gather supplies (as needed). actions, and motivations that contribute to F ocus Anecdote: Explain to the class that you heard this morning of a country very close to us that was having a serious problem. A small group of leading citizens had decided that they should rule the country and were in the process of overthrowing the government. How can a small number of people make such a decision for all the people? What should the government do? What should happen to the rebels if they are not successful? After a brief discussion tell the students that such was the United States in the 1770s and that the small group of citizens were our Founding Fathers. Today we will look at the actual document that got this group into so much trouble with the King of England. 39

★ The Declaration of Independence ★ continued Activity 1. Introduce the handout on “English Tyranny” and read together as a class. Divide the class into small groups, and require students to define the perceived hostile acts leading to the Battles at Lexington and Concord from 1763-1775. (See Links page on www.americanheritage.org for additional resources the Battles of Lexington and Concord.) 2. Share definitions, and discuss how these acts made many of the colonists feel. Concen- trate especially on the economy of the colonies and the perception of citizenship by colonists. 3. Now pass out the handout on “Unalienable Rights.” Read aloud, and encourage students to make notes as you relate the information to examples from today. Students are always interested in what rights they have and will be eager to add to your comments and to ask questions. Whenever a difficult question arises, tell students that their rights are basically defined in two documents and that you all are looking at one of them. Students can learn and understand the contents of these documents to find out more. (See Links page on www.americanheritage.org for additional resources on Unalienable rights.) 4. Explain that this declaration of freedom is written in four different parts: a preamble or introduction, a demand, a list of grievances, and an ultimatum or request for action. Pass out a copy of the Declaration and help students see where each part appears in the document. (See Links page on www.americanheritage.org for additional resources on the Declaration.) 5. Together, read the preamble and discuss what it means to us, to the people who wrote it in 1776, and to the people who read it both in the colonies and in England. What does it actually say? What does it actually mean? Answer questions on the handout. Do the same exercise with the next paragraph in the document. 6. Have students individually or in groups piece together the cut out, scrambled text segments of the Declaration. Each student/group may take one different excerpt/segment from the document and read, research/analyze, and discuss its meaning. Students share with the rest of the class the meaning and importance of that specific part of the Declaration. 7. Ask each group to examine the list of grievances in the Declaration. They will read each grievance and rewrite it in today’s terms using dictionaries and any other resources available. They will then pick out the two most important problems. 8. Let each group share their top two picks, and then have the class vote on the number one reason why they think the colonists felt that England was violating their rights. Closure Have each student read the last paragraph of the document and explain what parts of the demand would not go over very well with the King and why. During class or for homework the next day, students write down and turn in their opinions and then discuss them. Have students reflect on, research, discuss, and/or report in an essay or writing assignment: What was the historical outcome of the Declaration? Also discuss the subsequent co-existence of the U. S. and England and how their relations are different today. 40

The Declaration of Independence English Tyranny Since the earliest English settlings in America—Roanoke Island off the coast of what is now North Carolina in 1585 and 1587; Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English colony in the new America in 1607; and the first permanent colony settled in New England as established by the Pilgrims (Puritan “separatists”) at Plymouth in 1620—there was very little widespread English government intervention in American colonial affairs for 150 years. The English government had so little interference with the American colonies mostly because it was economically infeasible for them to bother with the mostly destitute colonists. Further, the colonists were for the most part, most of this time, governing themselves, theocracy whether by the theocracy that had been set in place in New England A government in which God is regarded as the ruling power. In or by the House of Burgesses in Virginia. The Americans had had some of the New England a long taste of self-rule and many became indifferent to monarchical colonies, the religious leaders or arbitrary rule--”Ruler’s Law”--by the British. were the political leaders (though usually the primary However, with the ever-widening control of English minister of the colony was not mercantilism and the expanding production of resources of food one). and raw materials in the colonies, the English government developed a series of Parliamentary laws that restricted American Burgesses House of Burgesses Colonial shipping, industry, and commerce and became a major A local representative assembly, established under a new Virginia source of friction between the Colonies and England. These laws, charter in 1618 by the English passed between 1650 and 1775, were called the “Navigation Acts.” government. Because conditions These acts forced licensing of all ships going to or from the Colonies. were so harsh in this Colony, it was difficult to attract a steady There was a growing list of specific items (tobacco, cotton, sugar) flow of labor from England. The that could only be sold to England and a lengthening list of other Virginia Company (London) urged items that the colonists were not supposed to manufacture—iron, this measure to make the settlement more attractive. The wool, molasses, and even hats. first deliberations took place in These Navigation Acts were not seriously enforced until the July 1619. end of the French and Indian War in 1763. This war left the British in deep debt, and the royal treasury attempted its recovery by mercantilism mercantilism clamping down on the Colonies and colonists. England established Simply, complete control of the economy by the government. Colonial custom houses and named royally appointed judges who Further, a commercial trade tried those who broke the law by disobeying the Acts. This still did policy which had the goal of not bring in enough revenue to England, but it did help unite the creating a heavy imbalance in foreign trade, favoring exports wealthy elite of the Colonies. over imports. The object was to First, to thwart the westward expansion of the colonists, pile up large holdings of gold in the national treasury; hence, the the English established the “Proclamation Line of 1763,” supposedly Navigation Acts. to pacify the Indians west of the Allegheny Mountains Additional Reading ★ Gaustad, Edwin S. Faith of Our Founding Fathers: Religion and the New Nation. San Francisco: Harper & Row Publishers, 1987. ★ Mar tin, James Kirby, ed. Ordinary Courage: The Revolutionary War Adventures of Joseph Plumb Martin, Kirby Martin. St. James, New York: Brandywine Press, 1993. New Yor ork: 1993. ★ Donald T. Phillips, The Founding Fathers on Leadership: Classic Teamwork in Changing Times. T. New Yor ork: Warner 199 997 New York: Warner Books, 1997. 41

★ The Declaration of Independence ★ continued and to protect the wildlife. The British forces left in America, however, could not control such a lengthy frontier. Many colonists, especially those who already lived west of the Alleghenies, ignored this proclamation. Further Colonial grievances toward the Crown were the result of stipulations that the colonists could no longer trade with the Indians since they were under royal license. More pointedly, the British government rescinded all land purchases from the Indians west of the Alleghenies, and frontiersmen living in the Ohio River valley were required “forthwith to remove themselves.” This action helped unite frontiersmen and western farmers and others wanting to move west and acquire new land. encroachment encroachment The next series of encroachments on colonists was a Gradual or insidious succession of taxes and other political/military and economic “acts.” intrusion or infringement The year after the “Proclamation,” the English Parliament passed upon the property or rights of another; a the Sugar Act (1764). This was at first only noticed by a few, the trespass; advancement merchants, but this Act helped bring them together. With the beyond proper limits initiation of the Stamp Act (1765) the year after, the colonists’ anger flared-up beyond any previous experience. The Stamp Act affected almost all of the colonists. The tax was for a stamp to be purchased and placed on all printed materials including newspapers, journals, marriage licenses, wills, death certificates, and even the few books that were available. One reaction by colonials to the act was the formation of the “Sons of Liberty.” The Stamp Act did more to unite the colonists than any other, with the possible exception of the Tea Act of 1773, which led to the famous “Boston Tea Party” initiated by the Sons of Liberty. Americans were irate that they were being taxed by their Mother Country without recourse—“no taxation without representation” became the rally-to-arms. Although the colonists had certain freedoms and a taste of representative government in some places during the previous one and a half centuries, a more formally articulated idea about a government, at least partially representative, from Benjamin Franklin’s “Albany Plan” (1754) was beginning to become more plausible. Americans liked less-and-less the idea of an arbitrary monarchical “government over man.” They were slowly becoming conscious of their unconscious yearnings for independence and self-rule—for “man over government.” Colonists thought other acts were trespasses as well. The Currency Act (1764) prohibited the colonists from printing their own Colonial quotation about British forces in Boston “But whatever may be the design of this military appearance; whatever use some persons may intend and expect to make of it: This we all know, and every child in the street is taught to know it; that while a people retain a just sense of Liberty, as blessed be God, this people yet do, the insolence of power will forever be despised.” Samuel Adams, Boston Gazette, 1768 42

★ The Declaration of Independence ★ continued money, and the Quartering Act (1764) particularly displeased the Americans, for they were then mandated to house and feed British troops in their homes and to furnish them with daily rations of ale or rum. The Declaratory Act (1766) stated that Parliament was sovereign in “all cases whatsoever,” further negating any complaints that the Americans voiced. The Quebec Act of 1774 concerned the colonists in no small way because England established an authoritarian government right across their border in Canada. They thought it likely that the American Colonies could suffer the same mandate fate. To authoritatively The result of these and other grievances and the subsequent command; an order issued feeling of colonists was “an absolute Tyranny over these States” under by a superior King George III of Great Britain. It culminated with representatives from the various Colonies coming together to sign the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, which Thomas Jefferson had been asked to pen. 1763 French and Indian War ends 1771 Proclamation of 1763 1772 1764 Sugar Act Quartering Act 1773 Tea Act Currency Act “Boston Tea Party” 1765 Stamp Act 1774 Coercive (Intolerable) Acts Sons of Liberty organized Quebec Act First Continental Congress 1766 Declaratory Act 1775 Lexington and Concord “The shot 1767 Townshend Acts heard ‘round the world” Taxes on imports of paper, lead, Second Continental Congress and glass 1776 Declaration of Independence 1768 1781 United States Victory at the Battle 1769 of Yorktown 1770 “Boston Massacre” 1783 Treaty of Paris Customs officials begin strict enforcement of trade laws 1787 United States Constitution 43

★ The Declaration of Independence ★ continued Unalienable Rights Excerpt from the Declaration of Independence: “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” (second paragraph). What are “unalienable rights”? These rights, according to Thomas Jefferson and the Founding Fathers of the United States of America, are the rights “endowed by their creator.” That is, these rights are “provided gratuitously” (“given unearned or without recompense; costing nothing; free,” Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary) by God. In other words, these rights or “laws of nature and of nature’s God” come directly from God the Creator (first paragraph). It had finally become obvious to the Founding Fathers and to many other colonists that it was up to man to give his consent to be ruled and also to be willing to give up a portion of his God-given natural rights for the sake of order and security in the larger society. The American Founders relied heavily on a substantially rich heritage of British political thought and law to further their ultimate aim of independence—notably influenced by Sir William Blackstone, John Locke, John Trenchard, Thomas Gordon, the Scotsman Adam Smith, and others. Nothing like Blackstone’s (1723-80) Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765-71) had ever appeared in English before, and little has since. Americans used these English Commentaries as a basis for some of their own political arguments: “This law of nature, being co-eval with mankind and dictated by God himself, is of course superior in obligation to any other. It is binding over all the globe, and all countries, and at all times: no human laws are of any validity if contrary to this; and such of them as are valid derive all their force, and all their authority, mediately or immediately from this original” (William S. Clough, ed., Intellectual Origins of American National Thought, Corinth Books, New York, 1955, p 235). This clause makes an especially strong claim: All man-made laws must reflect natural law and be in accord with it in order to be valid and have the force of law. In other words, for laws to be valid, they must be in accord with the “nature of things.” Otherwise, the law would be an attempt to change the very nature of things. John Locke (1632-1704) looms above all others in his impact upon the Founding Fathers. His Second Treatise on Civil Government (1689) may well be the most influential book on political theory ever written, explaining “natural law”: “To understand political power right, and derive it from the original, we must consider, what state all men are naturally in, and that is, a state of perfect freedom to order their actions, and dispose of their possessions, and 44

★ The Declaration of Independence ★ continued persons [themselves], as they think fit within the bounds of the law of nature, without asking leave, or depending upon the will of any other man” (Paragraph 4, Chapter II, “Of the State of Nature”). Trenchard and Gordon’s major contributions occurred primarily in the first half of the eighteenth century. An American edition of their work appeared in New York in 1724 and another in 1740. Here is another explanation of unalienable rights: “All men are born free; Liberty is a Gift which they receive from God; nor can they alienate the same by Consent, though possibly they may forfeit it by Crimes . . . ” (Quoted in David L. Jacobson, ed., The English Libertarian Heritage, Bobbs-Merrill, Indianapolis, 1965, p xvii). Traditional American political philosophy, freely borrowing from the British, teaches that the individual man is endowed at birth with rights which are unalienable because given by his Creator. The concept of man’s rights being unalienable is based solely upon belief in their Divine origin. Lacking this belief, there is no moral basis for any claim that these rights are unalienable or for any claim to the great benefits flowing from this concept. God-given rights, sometimes called natural rights, are possessed by the individual man under the law of nature, meaning under the laws of God’s Creation and therefore the gift of God. Man does not have the power to alienate or dispose of, by surrender or consent, his God-given rights, according to this American political philosophy. Colonial quotations about unalienable rights “The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time; the hand of force may destroy, but cannot disjoin them.” Thomas Jefferson, “Rights of British America,” 1774 “ . . . as all men by nature are free . . . that no man can be deprived of liberty, and subjected to perpetual bondage and servitude, unless he has forfeited his liberty as a malefactor . . . .” Town-meeting Resolution, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, 1779 “All eyes are opened, or opening, to the rights of man. The general spread of the light of science has already laid open to every view of the palpable truth, that the mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately, by the grace of God.” Thomas Jefferson, Letter to R.C. Weightman, June 24, 1826 “Government is founded immediately on the necessities of human nature, and ultimately on the will of God, the author of nature, who has not left it to man in general to choose, whether they will be members of a society or not, but at the hazard of their senses if not of their lives. Yet it is left to every man as he comes of age to choose what society he will continue to belong to” (Max Beloff, ed., The Debate on the American Revolution: 1761-1783, Sheridan House, Dobbs Ferry, New York, 1989, p 57). James Otis, The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved, Boston, July 1764 45

★ The Declaration of Independence ★ continued Earlier Colonial “Plans for Union” A variety of “plans for union” emerged as early as 1697, three-quarters of a century before the Declaration of Independence. Probably the earliest “Plan for Union” for the English Colonies in America was written in 1697 by William Penn, the Quaker founder of Pennsylvania. Although this was a “call for union,” it was not to incite separation or independence from England. To the contrary, it was a call to union so as the Colonies could “be more useful to the crown and one another’s peace and safety with an universal concurrence” (Commager, pp 39-40). “The Albany Plan of Union” penned by Benjamin Franklin in 1754 was another matter. This call for union pointed toward resolution of the antagonisms brought about by the British Empire, particularly by the Navigation Acts. Already the germs of ideas concerning “rule by law” or “man over government” had been spawned. The idea of “government over man” or “Ruler’s Law” was slowly becoming distasteful to the Americans. But it was still too early, as reflected in the reservations of early proposals, for major changes in government: “It is proposed that humble application be made for an act of Parliament of Great Britain, by virtue of which one general government may be formed in America, including all the said colonies, within and under which each government may retain its present constitution . . . . 1. That the said general government be administered by a President-General, to be appointed and supported by the crown; and a Grand Council, to be chosen by representatives of the people of the several Colonies met in their respective assemblies” (Commager, 43-45). (italics added) Although this Plan was rejected by the colonists, one can easily see that it was not yet even close to a true call for separation or independence. It seemed, in fact, like almost a groveling in its “humble application.” Why would the Parliament, representing “King’s Rule” or “Ruler’s Law,” intentionally give up any of its power to any form of representative government wherein the custom would be for “self-rule” or “man over government”? It would not—and it did not. On September 28, 1774, a proposal, supposedly to resolve the continuing problem of home rule, was raised at the Continental Congress gathered in Philadelphia to coordinate Colonial actions against the Crown. “Galloway’s Plan of Union” was a carefully worked out “plan” between England and her angry Colonies. Joseph Galloway, who most agreed was an ardent “friend of liberty,” came up with something so similar to Franklin’s Albany Plan from twenty years earlier that he had likely read and copied from it. Galloway called for a “royally appointed President-General” and a Colonial legislature empowered with “all rights, liberties and privileges of Parliament.” It was defeated in the Congress by only one vote. Apparently, as late as the Continental Congress meeting in September 1774, there was still quite a contingency of colonials that were not yet ready to abandon England for full independence. Eventually Galloway fled America for England following the Philadelphia campaign. Because he thought the Revolution was treasonous, he chose to fight alongside the British. In reality, the real “plan of union” was the Continental Congress itself, not a document. Representatives, each chosen by their respective Colonies, came together to somehow address grievances against the English Crown. And following Galloway’s Plan, the next step closer 46

★ The Declaration of Independence ★ continued to the Declaration of Independence was taken during the same Continental Congress only two weeks later. The four Coercive Acts, or Intolerable Acts as they were called by the colonists, which were passed by Parliament following the Boston Tea Party, were finally taking their toll on the Americans. The Crown sought to punish and humiliate the Colonies, but the Acts backfired. The Acts further united the colonists in common defense of their liberties. The “Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental Congress,” on October 14, 1774, claimed: “That the inhabitants of the English Colonies in North America, by the immutable laws of nature, the principles of the English constitution, and in the several charters or compacts, have the following Rights: Resolved, 1. That they are entitled to life, liberty, and property, & they have never ceded to any sovereign power whatever, a right to dispose of either without their consent (Commager, pp. 82-4). (italics added) Within sixteen days during the Continental Congress, the rhetoric of the American colonists changed dramatically. With their new language the colonists claimed that they had never consented to give up their natural rights, in effect reclaiming the rule which the Crown assumed under its authority. There were nine other claims and further accusations: “Resolved, that the following acts of Parliament are infringements and violations of the rights of the colonists; and that the repeal of them is essentially necessary, in order to restore harmony between Great Britain and the American colonies, . . .” (Commager, p. 84). (italics in the original) This new determination and sense of purpose resulted in not only the reclamation of their sovereignty but the stipulation of the terms of peace. Furthermore, on September 27, 1774, the Continental Congress voted “non- intercourse” with Great Britain, halting all commerce. Three days later, a committee was formed to consider a plan of action. The committee offered its suggestions twelve days later on October 12. A resolution was adopted on October 18 and signed on October 20. It read: “The signature of the Association may be considered as the commencement of the American Union.” The Battle of Lexington and Concord was the opening skirmish of the American Revolution (1775-83). An anonymous pistol-shot rang out on April 19, 1775, and unceremoniously “the shot heard ‘round the world” began the American Revolutionary War. It was not until the War was more than a year old that Thomas Jefferson was commissioned to write the first draft of a Declaration of Independence, a radical departure from earlier colonial “Plans for Union.” 47

OPENING TO D ECLARATION I NDEPENDENCE THE ECLARATION OF On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry July 4, 1776. The following passage from Lee of Virginia introduced a resolution the beginning of the Declaration of in the Continental Congress that said, Independence includes two important “These United colonies are, and of right beliefs. First, all men are created equal ought to be, free and independent with basic rights given to them by God, States.” A committee of five men was and, second, men set up government to selected to write a formal declaration protect their rights and may change the explaining the reasons for government if it does not respect these independence. One of these men, rights. Thomas Jefferson, was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence that was adopted on W hen, 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. Complete the following on a separate sheet of paper. 1. Define the ten bold words in the passage. 2. According to the Declaration, what are the three rights given by God to all people? What do you think these rights mean? 3. What does Jefferson say the people should do when the government becomes destructive of their rights? 4. The Declaration of Independence has been called the “birth certificate of the United States.” What do you think this statement means? 48

★ The Declaration of Independence ★ 49

★ The Declaration of Independence ★ continued IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776 ULY THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION ECLARATION OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA W hen, 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. W e 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 shown 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. 50

★ The Declaration of Independence ★ continued 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 meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within. He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners, refusing to pass others to encourage their migration 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 benefits of trial by jury; For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses; For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring 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; 51

★ The Declaration of Independence ★ continued 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, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and 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 endeavored 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 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. W e, 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 out 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. 52

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776 ULY THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION ECLARATION OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA T EXT SCRAMBLE 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 shown 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 53

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 meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within. He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners, refusing to pass others to encourage their migration 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 54

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 benefits of trial by jury; For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses; For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring 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, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and 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 endeavored 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 55

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. 56

Declaration of Independence Analysis Worksheet Purpose of Government: Basic Human Rights: Wrongs of the King: Declaration by Colonists: 57

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★ Federalist 47 ★ ederalist 47 Purpose viewpoints within and across cultures.... The purpose of this lesson is for VIa. examine persistent issues involving the students to examine the propaganda rights, roles, and status of the individual in used to present two opposing viewpoints relation to the general welfare. during the ratification of the VIc. analyze and explain ideas and mechanisms Constitution. to meet needs and wants of citizens, regulate territory, manage conflict, establish order and security, and balance competing conceptions of Objective a just society. 1. The student will analyze and Xc. locate, access, analyze, organize, summarize the Federalist arguments for synthesize, evaluate, and apply information the ratification of the Constitution using about selected public issues--identifying, the Federalist Papers # 47, 48, 49, or 50 describing, and evaluating multiple points of by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, view. and John Jay. Xg. evaluate the effectiveness of public opinion 2. The student will analyze and in influencing and shaping public policy summarize the Anti-Federalist arguments development and decisionp-making. against the ratification of the Constitution using the writings of Agrippa, Brutus, the Federal Farmer, and Cato. Time 60 minutes (up to 3 days) Theme- Responsibility Federalist Paper Number 47 discusses Materials the importance of the three branches of ★ Dictionaries government and the responsibility each ★ Federalist Papers (Numbers 47-50) (see has to protect their area of authority. www.constitution.org/fed/federa00.htm) This mutually exclusive responsibility is ★ Anti-Federalist readings from Agrippa, an important element in the checks and Brutus, Federal Farmer, Cato, etc. (see balances system. http://www.constitution.org/afp.htm) ★ Articles from local newspapers and national magazines NCSS Standards ★ Website - www.americanheritage.org IIc. identify and describe significant historical periods and patterns of change within and across cultures.... Preparation IIe. investigate, interpret, and analyze ★ Copy handouts multiple historical and contemporary ★ Gather supplies (as needed). Focus Ask students to decide on a policy for a specific issue like the wearing of identification badges, a school dress code, a minimum smoking age, driving permits, etc. (something you know they will not be able to agree on). Have the class debate the issue for 20 minutes and at the end of that time everyone will vote on a secret ballot. (Have students use scratch paper--no names.) Count up the ballots and then have the students try to figure out why they could not get everyone to agree. Then ask the students to figure out what these terms mean: Majority, Simple Majority, Quorum, and Unanimous. 59

★ Federalist 47 ★ continued Activity 1. Tell the Students about the Constitutional Convention and how it worked. State representatives gathered in Philadelphia to discuss changes needed in the Articles of Confederation. Each state received one vote. When an issue was voted on, regardless of whether it either passed or failed, it could be brought back for more debate. (See Links page on www.americanheritage.org for additional resources on the Constitutional Convention and the Articles of Confederation.) 2. Next, explain that after the Constitution was written and agreed upon by the representatives, each state had to ratify it. In an effort to convince the voters of each state, a series of letters was written to the editors of nearly every newspaper in the 13 states. These letters were written under the pseudonym Publius, an ancient Roman Senator and model citizen. Of course several other people wrote in support of and in complaint against these letters. They too were written under pseudonyms such at Cato, Brutus, Federal Farmer, and Agrippa. Most people chose names of honorable Roman citizens, politicians, and scholars. (See Links page on www.americanheritage.org for additional resources on the Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers and bios of their authors.) 3. Pass out Federalist handout. Divide the class into small groups of 4 or 5, asking each group to read the handout and annotate it. Beside each paragraph, students will make notes regarding the ideas and issues presented and jot questions, keeping comments limited to the space available on the handout. As groups work, circulate among the groups to help determine definitions and meanings. As the class winds down ask some leading questions about the authors or the need for false names, etc. Require students to finish the annotation for homework. 4. Students individually or in groups may take cut-out segments of the document and analyze/research and discuss their specific terms and meanings. Students may share their analyses with the rest of the group/class. 5. Day Two: Ask students to review their notes and question their ideas and thoughts. Point out how different their notes are from those of other students. Remind them again how hard it was for them to reach a unanimous group/class decision on one simple issue as compared to what colonists 212 + years ago were fighting to accomplish. 6. Next, give half the class a copy of the Federalist argument and the other half an Anti-Federalist argument. Read each one silently or aloud in two separate groups. As the students read, ask them to make notes in one color ink of points that are positives or pluses for the writer’s arguments. In a second color, write out what some people may argue against the writer’s ideas and plans. Let each half of the class compare notes and discuss whether they like the author’s point-of-view, ideas, and/or goal of a defined government and what role each citizen plays in that government. 7. Let each half of the class discuss and eventually debate their articles. As a teacher, monitor and facilitate discussion. Start the activity off by asking a student from each side to summarize his or her article. Then begin asking leading questions of each group. Encourage the students to start formulating their own questions. 8. Day Three: Pass out copies of the political sections of several issues of newspapers and magazines like Time, U.S. News and World Report, and Newsweek. Ask students to read or skim through as many articles as they can in 15-20 minutes. Evaluate the U.S. government’s response to those issues. Were the Anti-Federalists correct to worry about the far-reaching effects of a strong central government? Do the checks and balances proposed by the Federalists guarantee a fair and unified Constitution and government? As a class spend some time debriefing what the articles say and defend. 60

Federalist 47 Purpose The Federalist papers were written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay to promote ratification of the U.S. ratification Constitution. They first appeared in New York newspapers during Formal approval to; made officially valid; confirmed 1787 and 1788. These 85 essays helped win ratification by the necessary nine states by June 1788 and by all thirteen states by regime interim regime May 1790. Temporary government or administration History Ordinances Northwest Ordinances The Articles of Confederation, the first American constitution, Three Ordinances adopted was more a “league of friendship” among independent nations than to decide questions about the Western lands: a true act of union among the several states. True, many will claim the Articles a dismal failure. But if it was looked upon as an interim • Ordinance of 1784 regime, the government of the Articles had considerable success. Divided the Western Congress provided national direction for the waging of the lands into districts and outlined the first Revolutionary War, established peace, passed the Northwest prerequisites for Ordinances, and developed precedents and influence for the making statehood; of the Constitution of 1787. • Ordinance of 1785 On the other hand, the government established by the Articles Provided for surveying was too flawed to be permanent. Because of the fear of tyranny, all and sale of new lands; and, power was held by the individual states so that the citizenry would • Ordinance of 1787 be over government—to ensure that the power of government lay in Created the Northwest the hands of citizens—except those few powers relinquished to the Territory, which government. prohibited slavery. As a result, a consensus of all 13 states was required for any Shays’ Rebellion alteration of the Articles, and no chief executive or judiciary existed, An uprising in 1786-87 in only the representative legislature (Congress). These conditions western Massachusetts by greatly hindered the government. Additionally, the Congress had debt-burdened farmers, no power over the civilian population, and those powers relinquished led by Daniel Shays. This strengthened the idea for to the legislature still required a three-fourths majority of states. a stronger central Further, disputes between states could not be resolved satisfactorily government, as the while total sovereignty remained with the states: states could not government under the be compelled to pay taxes to support the cost of government, Confederation had neither the power nor the money including the cost of the Revolution; no permanent U.S. Capitol to raise an army to stop could be established; no power or money existed to raise an army or Shays. navy (as Shays’ Rebellion revealed); and since each state had its own specie of money, they could not settle disputes regarding the sovereignty sovereignty western lands. Supremacy of authority or rule The Confederation grew weaker. Goaded by the inadequacies of the Articles of Confederation, Congress called for Additional Reading ★ Bradford, M. E.. Original Intentions: On the Making and Ratification of the United States Constitution. Athens: Bradfor ord, University of Georgia Press, 1993. ★ Eidsmore, John. Christianity and the Constitution: The Faith of the Founding Fathers. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Baker Books, 1987. ★ Levy, Leonard W., ed. Essays on the Making of the Constitution. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987. Levy Leonard W., vy, New Yor ork: Oxfor University ord niver 198 987 61

★ Federalist 47 ★ continued delegates to Philadelphia’s Independence Hall to amend the Articles. Work began immediately, on May 25, 1787, to write a totally new Constitution. There were impassioned political battles, primarily over representation. Finally, on September 17, 1787, the work of the convention came to an end. The new Constitution still needed to be ratified by the states but now only by nine rather than by all thirteen of them. The Federalists Hamilton, Madison, and Jay, with the support and prestige of such men as Washington and Franklin, wrote articles to be published in newspapers that would eventually be collected under the title The Federalist. These were written to persuade a wary public of the need to ratify the newly drafted U.S. Constitution. On May 29, 1790, the thirteenth and last of the states, Rhode Island, voted to ratify the new Constitution. The Federalist Number 47 — James Madison tyranny Federalist 47 describes the particular structure of the new A government in which a single ruler is vested with government and the distribution of power among its different parts: absolute power, especially when exercised unjustly, “The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, severely, cruelly, or and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a arbitrarily few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, coerce or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition To force to act or think in of tyranny” (third paragraph). a given manner by pressure, threats, or This statement encapsulates the intense fear that many intimidation; to compel; to bring about by force Americans had for government. Any government, they suspected, without a well-defined “separation of powers” and “checks and balances,” could coerce the people. They dreaded an unrestrained despotism centralized government—a government that would undoubtedly The rule by an absolute power or authority; become tyrannical, ruling arbitrarily and without the consent of tyranny; oppression the people. The citizens of this new young United States of America had already experienced despotism under the monarchical rule of England. These same citizens had fought a war so that man was monarchical over government and not government over man. Of, pertaining to, characteristic of, or ruled Americans demanded the freedom to choose and the absence by a sole and absolute of coercion and did not want to be “swallowed up by the states.” ruler of the state, usually “What emerged from this discussion was a clear delineation of the a hereditary sovereign federal balance [among the executive, legislative, and judicial such as a king or emperor branches] explaining the state and national jurisdictions and the 62

★ Federalist 47 ★ continued relationships between them. It was to be a system of dual sovereignties, each with its appropriate powers and field of action” (M. Stanton Evans, The Theme Is Freedom: Religion, Politics, and the American Tradition, Regnery Publishing, Inc., Washington, D.C., 1994, pp. 263-64). Although giving up a portion of state powers to the federal government, with the appropriate balance of power, the Federalists argued, Americans would be safe from tyranny. This balance of power was defined by the Constitution as each branch was designed to help restrain the other branches from any violation of the Constitution—hence, “checks and balances.” To convince the delegates at state conventions to ratify promptly, the Constitution’s three prime supporters—Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay—joined together in publishing 85 essays, under the pseudonym “Publius” (after the legendary Roman emperor and defender of the Republic, Publius Valerius), which defended the Constitution and argued for its speedy ratification. Thus, “the method of establishing and tightly controlling power through conventions, the written Constitution, federalism, the doctrine of ‘enumerated power,’ and other techniques for limiting all authority whatsoever” had been created and instituted (Evans, p. 311). This work became a reality on June 21, 1788, when New Hampshire—the ninth state to do so—ratified the U.S. Constitution and it became the law of the land. The people had consented to give limited power to the new federal government. Constitutional Era / Founding Father Quotations Supporting Separation of Powers “The use of checks and balances in the forms of government, is to create delays and multiply diversities of interests, by which the tendency on a sudden to violate them may be counteracted.” John Adams, “On Government,” 1778 “But there is a Degree of Watchfulness over all Men possessed of Power or Influence upon which the Liberties of mankind much depend. It is necessary to guard against the Infirmities of the best as well as the Wickedness of the worst of Men. Such is the Weakness of human Nature that Tyranny has oftener sprang from that than any other Source. It is this that unravels the Mystery of Millions being enslaved by a few.” (Original capitalizations) Samuel Adams, Letter to Elbridge Gerry, 1784 63

★ Federalist 47 ★ continued Federalist Authorship Notes “The task for the Federalist authors was marked out for them the day the new Constitution for the United States was made known to the people of New York State. On the same day it was published, and immediately beside it in the papers, appeared an attack upon the Constitution, signed by Cato who was known to be Governor Clinton. Thereafter, many of the most powerful figures in New York political life, writing under the name of renowned Romans, came out in opposition to the new instrument of government” (Great Books of the Western World, Robert Maynard Hutchins, Editor in Chief, The University of Chicago, 1952, Vol. 43, p. 23). Alexander Hamilton, under the pseudonym Caesar, responded bitterly and personally to answer Clinton. After two articles, Hamilton was persuaded that this tactic would not help in the ratification of the Constitution. He relinquished this tactic and began a new approach, arguing directly in favor of the ratification. James Madison and John Jay almost immediately joined with Hamilton in writing well-reasoned arguments for the adoption of the new Constitution. Each author was a specialist in his field: Hamilton wrote 50 essays emphasizing economic and other financial issues and argued persuasively for a strong central executive (a president); Madison wrote 30 articles focused on political theory, arguing that Federal power, rather than oppressing the people, would prevent self-seekers from imposing their will and wishes on all; and Jay offered 5 essays on foreign affairs. Biographical Notes Alexander Hamilton 1755-1804, U.S. statesman; born in the West Indies Hamilton emigrated to New York in 1772 to further his studies. Within two years, he was in the thick of the Revolutionary turmoil and wrote pamphlets advocating the grievances of the patriots against the crown. In the American Revolution, he was General Washington’s aide and private secretary for four years (1777-81) until he took over a field command. Following the war, he concentrated on his law practice. Within a few years, Hamilton was among the slowly growing movement for a strong national government. As a delegate to the Annapolis Convention (1786), he took the lead in calling for a Constitutional Convention. Although Hamilton thought the new Constitution “puny,” he realized that it was a much needed improvement over the Articles of Confederation. He was soon writing pamphlets as “Publius.” After the first inauguration, Hamilton was once again working with Washington, now President, in his cabinet as Secretary of the Treasury. A bitterness arose between Hamilton, a Federalist, and Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State, who was devoted to the principles of rural democracy. From their disputes arose two factions which formed the first two political parties—Hamilton’s own Federalist Party and Jefferson’s Anti-Federalists, later the Democratic-Republican Party. As Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton created the basis of the U.S. fiscal system, secured the Nation’s credit and increased the power of the federal government. 64

★ Federalist 47 ★ continued In the presidential election of 1801, Jefferson was tied in the Electoral College with Aaron Burr. Hamilton, though he loathed Jefferson’s democratic principles, feared Burr’s lack of principles even more. Thus, with Hamilton’s support, Jefferson was elected President; Burr became Vice President. In 1804, when Burr ran for the governorship of New York, Hamilton once again stepped in and crushed his hopes. Burr sought revenge and challenged Hamilton to a duel. On the morning of July 11, 1804, the two men met in a field in Weehawken, New Jersey. Each fired a shot; Burr’s struck his opponent, and Hamilton lay mortally wounded in the mud. Hamilton died the next day. James Madison 1751-1836, 4th president of the U.S. (1809-17); born in Port Conway, Virginia An early opponent of British colonial measures, Madison helped draft the Constitution for the new state of Virginia (1776), served in the Continental Congress (1780-83 and 1787), and was a member of the Virginia legislature (1784-86). He was active in the call for the Annapolis Convention (1786), and his contributions at the Federal Constitutional Convention (1787) earned him the title “master builder of the Constitution.” A principal contributor to the Federalist papers, he was largely responsible for securing ratification of the Constitution in Virginia. As a congressman from Virginia (1789-97), Madison was a strong advocate of the Bill of Rights. A steadfast enemy of the financial measures of Alexander Hamilton, he was a leading Jeffersonian. After Jefferson triumphed in the presidential election of 1800, Madison became his Secretary of State. He succeeded Jefferson as president in 1809. The unpopular and unsuccessful War of 1812, known disparagingly as “Mr. Madison’s War,” was the chief event of his administration. National expansion began during his term in office. Retiring in 1817, he lived quietly with his wife, Dolley Madison. She married Madison in 1794 (her first husband had died in 1793). As official White House hostess for Thomas Jefferson (who was a widower) and for her husband, she was noted for the magnificence of her entertainments, as well as for her charm, tact, and grace. John Jay 1745-1829, American statesman, the first Chief Justice of the United States (1789-95); born in New York City Born into a wealthy and prestigious family, John Jay grew into manhood believing that the monied classes represented the only safe repository of power. He said, “Those who own the country ought to govern it.” He first feared that independence for the Colonies would lead to mob rule and chaos, but he slowly became a leader of the Revolution. Later, as a lawyer, he guided the drafting of the New York State constitution. Jay was president of the Continental Congress (1778-79) and one of the commissioners who negotiated peace with Great Britain (1781-83). As secretary of foreign affairs (1784-89), he advocated a strong central government. During Jay’s tenure as Chief Justice, he was sent on a mission to England where he negotiated what became known as “Jay’s Treaty” (1794). Although the pact prevented war, he was violently criticized for its concessions to the British. Jay resigned from the Supreme Court in 1795 when he was elected governor of New York, a position he held until 1801. While in that office he signed the act ending slavery in that state. Upon leaving the governorship, Jay retired to his farm in Bedford, New York, and remained a private citizen until his death in 1829. 65

★ Federalist 47 ★ continued Federalist No. 47 by James Madison January 30, 1788 To the People of the State of New York. Having reviewed the general form of the proposed government, and the general mass of power allotted to it: I proceed to examine the particular structure of this government, and the distribution of this mass of power among its constituent parts. One of the principal objections inculcated by the more respectable adversaries to the constitution, is its supposed violation of the political maxim, that the legislative, executive and judiciary departments ought to be separate and distinct. In the structure of the federal government, no regard, it is said, seems to have been paid to this essential precaution in favor of liberty. The several departments of power are distributed and blended in such a manner, as at once to destroy all symmetry and beauty of form; and to expose some of the essential parts of the edifice to the danger of being crushed by the disproportionate weight of other parts. No political truth is certainly of greater intrinsic value or is stamped with the authority of more enlightened patrons of liberty than that on which the objection is founded. The accumulation of all powers legislative, executive and judiciary in the same hands, whether of one, a few or many, and whether hereditary, self appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny. Were the federal constitution therefore really chargeable with this accumulation of power or with a mixture of powers having a dangerous tendency to such an accumulation, no further arguments would be necessary to inspire a universal reprobation of the system. I persuade myself however, that it will be made apparent to every one, that the charge cannot be supported, and that the maxim on which it relies, has been totally misconceived and misapplied. In order to form correct ideas on this important subject, it will be proper to investigate the sense, in which the preservation of liberty requires, that the three great departments of power should be separate and distinct. The oracle who is always consulted and cited on this subject, is the celebrated Montesquieu. If he be not the author of this invaluable precept in the science of politics, he has the merit at least of displaying, and recommending it most effectually to the attention of mankind. Let us endeavour in the first place to ascertain his meaning on this point. The British constitution was to Montesquieu, what Homer has been to the didactic writers on epic poetry. As the latter have considered the work of the immortal Bard, as the perfect model from which the principles and rules of the epic art were to be drawn, and by which all similar works were to be judged; so this great political critic appears to have viewed the constitution of England, as the standard, or to use his own expression, as the mirrour of political liberty; and to have delivered in the form of elementary truths, the several characteristic principles of that particular system. That we may be sure then not to mistake his meaning in this case, let us recur to the source from which the maxim was drawn. On the slightest view of the British constitution we must perceive, that the legislative, executive and judiciary departments are by no means totally separate and 66

★ Federalist 47 ★ continued distinct from each other. The executive magistrate forms an integral part of the legislative authority. He alone has the prerogative of making treaties with foreign sovereigns, which when made have, under certain limitations, the force of legislative acts. All the members of the judiciary department are appointed by him; can be removed by him on the address of the two Houses of Parliament, and form, when he pleases to consult them, one of his constitutional councils. One branch of the legislative department forms also, a great constitutional council to the executive chief; as on another hand, it is the sole depositary of judicial power in cases of impeachment, and is invested with the supreme appellate jurisdiction, in all other cases. The judges again are so far connected with the legislative department, as often to attend and participate in its deliberations, though not admitted to a legislative vote. From these facts by which Montesquieu was guided it may clearly be inferred, that in saying “there can be no liberty where the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or body of magistrates,” or “if the power of judging be not separated from the legislative and executive powers,” he did not mean that these departments ought to have no partial agency in, or no controul over the acts of each other. His meaning, as his own words import, and still more conclusively as illustrated by the example in his eye, can amount to no more than this, that where the whole power of one department is exercised by the same hands which possess the whole power of another department, the fundamental principles of a free constitution, are subverted. This would have been the case in the constitution examined by him, if the King who is the sole executive magistrate, had possessed also the compleat legislative power, or the supreme administration of justice; or if the entire legislative body, had possessed the supreme judiciary, or the supreme executive authority. This however is not among the vices of that constitution. The magistrate in whom the whole executive power resides cannot of himself make a law, though he can put a negative on every law, nor administer justice in person, though he has the appointment of those who do administer it. The judges can exercise no executive prerogative, though they are shoots from the executive stock, nor any legislative function, though they may be advised with by the legislative councils. The entire legislature, can perform no judiciary act, though by the joint act of two of its branches, the judges may be removed from their offices; and though one of its branches is possessed of the judicial power in the last resort. The entire legislature again can exercise no executive prerogative, though one of its branches constitutes the supreme executive magistracy; and another, on the impeachment of a third, can try and condemn all the subordinate officers in the executive department. The reasons on which Montesquieu grounds his maxim are a further demonstration of his meaning. “When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person or body” says he, “there can be no liberty, because apprehensions may arise lest the same monarch or senate should enact tyrannical laws, to execute them in a tyrannical manner.” Again “Were the power of judging joined with the legislative, the life and liberty of the subject would be exposed to arbitrary controul, for the judge would then be the legislator. Were it joined to the executive power, the judge might behave with all the violence of an oppressor.” Some of these reasons are more fully explained in other passages; but briefly stated as they are here, they sufficiently establish the meaning which we have put on this celebrated maxim of this celebrated author. 67

★ Federalist 47 ★ continued If we look into the constitutions of the several states we find that notwithstanding the emphatical, and in some instances, the unqualified terms in which this axiom has been laid down, there is not a single instance in which the several departments of power have been kept absolutely separate and distinct. New-Hampshire, whose constitution was the last formed, seems to have been fully aware of the impossibility and inexpediency of avoiding any mixture whatever of these departments; and has qualified the doctrine by declaring “that the legislative, executive and judiciary powers ought to be kept as separate from, and independent of each other as the nature of a free government will admit; or as is consistent with that chain of connection, that binds the whole fabric of the constitution in one indissoluble bond of unity and amity.” Her constitution accordingly mixes these departments in several respects. The senate which is a branch of the legislative department is also a judicial tribunal for the trial of empeachments. The president who is the head of the executive department, is the presiding member also of the senate; and besides an equal vote in all cases, has a casting vote in case of a tie. The executive head is himself eventually elective every year by the legislative department; and his council is every year chosen by and from the members of the same department. Several of the officers of state are also appointed by the legislature. And the members of the judiciary department are appointed by the executive department. The constitution of Massachusetts has observed a sufficient though less pointed caution in expressing this fundamental article of liberty. It declares “that the legislative department shall never exercise the executive and judicial powers, or either of them: The executive shall never exercise the legislative and judicial powers, or either of them: The judicial shall never exercise the legislative and executive powers, or either of them.” This declaration corresponds precisely with the doctrine of Montesquieu as it has been explained, and is not in a single point violated by the plan of the Convention. It goes no farther than to prohibit any one of the entire departments from exercising the powers of another department. In the very constitution to which it is prefixed, a partial mixture of powers has been admitted. The Executive Magistrate has a qualified negative on the Legislative body; and the Senate, which is a part of the Legislature, is a court of impeachment for members both of the executive and judiciary departments. The members of the judiciary department again are appointable by the executive department, and removable by the same authority, on the address of the two legislative branches. Lastly, a number of the officers of government are annually appointed by the legislative department. As the appointment to offices, particularly executive offices, is in its nature an executive function, the compilers of the Constitution have in this last point at least, violated the rule established by themselves. I pass over the constitutions of Rhode-Island and Connecticut, because they were formed prior to the revolution; and even before the principle under examination had become an object of political attention. The constitution of New-York contains no declaration on this subject; but appears very clearly to have been framed with an eye to the danger of improperly blending the different departments. It gives nevertheless to the executive magistrate a partial controul over the legislative department; and what is more, gives a like controul to the judiciary department, and even blends the executive and judiciary departments in the exercise of this controul. In its council of appointment, members of the legislative are associated 68

★ Federalist 47 ★ continued with the executive authority in the appointment of officers both executive and judiciary. And its court for the trial of impeachments and correction of errors, is to consist of one branch of the legislature and the principal members of the judiciary department. The constitution of New-Jersey has blended the different powers of government more than any of the preceding. The governor, who is the executive magistrate, is appointed by the legislature; is chancellor and ordinary or surrogate of the state; is a member of the supreme court of appeals, and president with a casting vote, of one of the legislative branches. The same legislative branch acts again as executive council to the governor, and with him constitutes the court of appeals. The members of the judiciary department are appointed by the legislative department, and removable by one branch of it, on the impeachment of the other. According to the constitution of Pennsylvania, the president, who is head of the executive department, is annually elected by a vote in which the legislative department predominates. In conjunction with an executive council, he appoints the members of the judiciary department, and forms a court of impeachments for trial of all officers, judiciary as well as executive. The judges of the supreme court, and justices of the peace, seem also to be removeable by the legislature; and the executive power of pardoning in certain cases to be referred to the same department. The members of the executive council are made EX OFFICIO justices of peace throughout the state. In Delaware, the chief executive magistrate is annually elected by the legislative department. The speakers of the two legislative branches are vice-presidents in the executive department. The executive chief, with six others, appointed three by each of the legislative branches, constitute the supreme court of appeals: He is joined with the legislative department in the appointment of the other judges. Throughout the states it appears that the members of the legislature may at the same time be justices of the peace. In this state, the members of one branch of it are EX OFFICIO justices of peace; as are also the members of the executive council. The principal officers of the executive department are appointed by the legislative; and one branch of the latter forms a court of impeachments. All officers may be removed on address of the legislature. Maryland has adopted the maxim in the most unqualified terms; declaring that the legislative, executive and judicial powers of government, ought to be forever separate and distinct from each other. Her constitution, notwithstanding makes the executive magistrate appointable by the legislative department; and the members of the judiciary, by the executive department. The language of Virginia is still more pointed on this subject. Her constitution declares, “that the legislative, executive and judiciary departments, shall be separate and distinct; so that neither exercise the powers properly belonging to the other; nor shall any person exercise the powers of more than one of them at the same time; except that the justices of the county courts shall be eligible to either house of assembly.” Yet we find not only this express exception, with respect to the members of the inferior courts; but that the chief magistrate with his executive council are appointable by the legislature; that two members of the latter are triennially displaced at the pleasure of the legislature; and that all the principal offices, both executive and judiciary, are filled by the same department. The executive prerogative of pardon, also is in one case vested in the legislative department. 69

★ Federalist 47 ★ continued The constitution of North-Carolina, which declares, “that the legislative, executive and supreme judicial powers of government, ought to be forever separate and distinct from each other,” refers at the same time to the legislative department, the appointment not only of the executive chief, but all the principal officers within both that and the judiciary department. In South-Carolina, the constitution makes the executive magistracy eligible by the legislative department. It gives to the latter also the appointment of the members of the judiciary department, including even justices of the peace and sheriffs; and the appointment of officers in the executive department, down to captains in the army and navy of the state. In the constitution of Georgia, where it is declared, “that the legislative, executive and judiciary departments shall be separate and distinct, so that neither exercise the powers properly belonging to the other.” We find that the executive department is to be filled by appointments of the legislature; and the executive prerogative of pardon, to be finally exercised by the same authority. Even justices of the peace are to be appointed by the legislature. In citing these cases in which the legislative, executive and judiciary departments, have not been kept totally separate and distinct, I wish not to be regarded as an advocate for the particular organizations of the several state governments. I am fully aware that among the many excellent principles which they exemplify, they carry strong marks of the haste, and still stronger of the inexperience, under which they were framed. It is but too obvious that in some instances, the fundamental principle under consideration has been violated by too great a mixture, and even an actual consolidation of the different powers; and that in no instance has a competent provision been made for maintaining in practice the separation delineated on paper. What I have wished to evince is, that the charge brought against the proposed constitution, of violating a sacred maxim of free government, is warranted neither by the real meaning annexed to that maxim by its author; nor by the sense in which it has hitherto been understood in America. This interesting subject will be resumed in the ensuing paper. Publius (Pseudonym) 70

Federalist No. 47 James Madison January 30, 1788 To the People of the State of New York. Text Analysis Having reviewed the general form of the proposed government, and the general mass of power allotted to it: I proceed to examine the particular structure of this government, and the distribution of this mass of power among its constituent parts. One of the principal objections inculcated by the more respectable adversaries to the constitution, is its supposed violation of the political maxim, that the legislative, executive and judiciary departments ought to be separate and distinct. In the structure of the federal government, no regard, it is said, seems to have been paid to this essential precaution in favor of liberty. The several departments of power are distributed and blended in such a manner, as at once to destroy all symmetry and beauty of form; and to expose some of the essential parts of the edifice to the danger of being crushed by the disproportionate weight of other parts. No political truth is certainly of greater intrinsic value or is stamped with the authority of more enlightened patrons of liberty than that on which the objection is founded. The accumulation of all powers legislative, executive and judiciary in the same hands, whether of one, a few or many, and whether hereditary, self appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny. Were the federal constitution therefore really chargeable with this accumulation of power or with a mixture of powers having a dangerous tendency to such an accumulation, no further arguments would be necessary to inspire a universal reprobation of the system. I persuade myself however, that it will be made apparent to every one, that the charge cannot be supported, and that the maxim on which it relies, has been totally misconceived and misapplied. In order to form correct ideas on this important subject, it will be proper to investigate the sense, in which the preservation of liberty requires, that the three great departments of power should be separate and distinct. The oracle who is always consulted and cited on this subject, is the celebrated Montesquieu. If he be not the author of this invaluable precept in the science of politics, he has the merit at least of displaying, and recommending it most effectually to the attention of mankind. Let us endeavour in the first place to ascertain his meaning on this point. The British constitution was to Montesquieu, what Homer has been to the didactic writers on epic poetry. As the latter have considered the work of the immortal Bard, as the perfect model from which the principles and rules of the epic art were to be drawn, and by which all similar works were to be judged; so this great political critic appears to have viewed the constitution of England, as the standard, or to use his own expression, as the mirrour of political liberty; and to have delivered in the form of elementary truths, the several characteristic principles of that particular system. That we may be sure then not to mistake his meaning in this case, let us recur to the source from which the maxim was drawn. 71

On the slightest view of the British constitution we must perceive, that the legislative, executive and judiciary departments are by no means totally separate and distinct from each other. The executive magistrate forms an integral part of the legislative authority. He alone has the prerogative of making treaties with foreign sovereigns, which when made have, under certain limitations, the force of legislative acts. All the members of the judiciary department are appointed by him; can be removed by him on the address of the two Houses of Parliament, and form, when he pleases to consult them, one of his constitutional councils. One branch of the legislative department forms also, a great constitutional council to the executive chief; as on another hand, it is the sole depositary of judicial power in cases of impeachment, and is invested with the supreme appellate jurisdiction, in all other cases. The judges again are so far connected with the legislative department, as often to attend and participate in its deliberations, though not admitted to a legislative vote. From these facts by which Montesquieu was guided it may clearly be inferred, that in saying “there can be no liberty where the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or body of magistrates,” or “if the power of judging be not separated from the legislative and executive powers,” he did not mean that these departments ought to have no partial agency in, or no controul over the acts of each other. His meaning, as his own words import, and still more conclusively as illustrated by the example in his eye, can amount to no more than this, that where the whole power of one department is exercised by the same hands which possess the whole power of another department, the fundamental principles of a free constitution, are subverted. This would have been the case in the constitution examined by him, if the King who is the sole executive magistrate, had possessed also the compleat legislative power, or the supreme administration of justice; or if the entire legislative body, had possessed the supreme judiciary, or the supreme executive authority. This however is not among the vices of that constitution. The magistrate in whom the whole executive power resides cannot of himself make a law, though he can put a negative on every law, nor administer justice in person, though he has the appointment of those who do administer it. The judges can exercise no executive prerogative, though they are shoots from the executive stock, nor any legislative function, though they may be advised with by the legislative councils. The entire legislature, can perform no judiciary act, though by the joint act of two of its branches, the judges may be removed from their offices; and though one of its branches is possessed of the judicial power in the last resort. The entire legislature again can exercise no executive prerogative, though one of its branches constitutes the supreme executive magistracy; and another, on the impeachment of a third, can try and condemn all the subordinate officers in the executive department. The reasons on which Montesquieu grounds his maxim are a further demonstration of his meaning. “When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person or body” says he, “there can be no liberty, because apprehensions may arise lest the same monarch or senate should enact tyrannical laws, to execute them in a tyrannical manner.” Again “Were the power of judging joined with the legislative, the life and liberty of the subject would be exposed to arbitrary controul, for the judge would then be the legislator. Were it joined to the executive power, the judge might behave with all the violence of an oppressor.” Some of these reasons are more fully explained in other passages; but briefly stated as they are here, they sufficiently establish the meaning which we have put on this celebrated maxim of this celebrated author. 72

If we look into the constitutions of the several states we find that notwithstanding the emphatical, and in some instances, the unqualified terms in which this axiom has been laid down, there is not a single instance in which the several departments of power have been kept absolutely separate and distinct. New-Hampshire, whose constitution was the last formed, seems to have been fully aware of the impossibility and inexpediency of avoiding any mixture whatever of these departments; and has qualified the doctrine by declaring “that the legislative, executive and judiciary powers ought to be kept as separate from, and independent of each other as the nature of a free government will admit; or as is consistent with that chain of connection, that binds the whole fabric of the constitution in one indissoluble bond of unity and amity.” Her constitution accordingly mixes these departments in several respects. The senate which is a branch of the legislative department is also a judicial tribunal for the trial of empeachments. The president who is the head of the executive department, is the presiding member also of the senate; and besides an equal vote in all cases, has a casting vote in case of a tie. The executive head is himself eventually elective every year by the legislative department; and his council is every year chosen by and from the members of the same department. Several of the officers of state are also appointed by the legislature. And the members of the judiciary department are appointed by the executive department. The constitution of Massachusetts has observed a sufficient though less pointed caution in expressing this fundamental article of liberty. It declares “that the legislative department shall never exercise the executive and judicial powers, or either of them: The executive shall never exercise the legislative and judicial powers, or either of them: The judicial shall never exercise the legislative and executive powers, or either of them.” This declaration corresponds precisely with the doctrine of Montesquieu as it has been explained, and is not in a single point violated by the plan of the Convention. It goes no farther than to prohibit any one of the entire departments from exercising the powers of another department. In the very constitution to which it is prefixed, a partial mixture of powers has been admitted. The Executive Magistrate has a qualified negative on the Legislative body; and the Senate, which is a part of the Legislature, is a court of impeachment for members both of the executive and judiciary departments. The members of the judiciary department again are appointable by the executive department, and removable by the same authority, on the address of the two legislative branches. Lastly, a number of the officers of government are annually appointed by the legislative department. As the appointment to offices, particularly executive offices, is in its nature an executive function, the compilers of the Constitution have in this last point at least, violated the rule established by themselves. I pass over the constitutions of Rhode-Island and Connecticut, because they were formed prior to the revolution; and even before the principle under examination had become an object of political attention. The constitution of New-York contains no declaration on this subject; but appears very clearly to have been framed with an eye to the danger of improperly blending the different departments. It gives nevertheless to the executive magistrate a partial controul over the legislative department; and what is more, gives a like controul to the judiciary department, and even blends the executive and judiciary departments in the exercise of this controul. In its council of appointment, members of the legislative are associated with the executive authority in the appointment of officers both executive and judiciary. And its court for the trial of impeachments and correction of errors, is to consist of one branch of the legislature and the principal members of the judiciary department. 73

The constitution of New-Jersey has blended the different powers of government more than any of the preceding. The governor, who is the executive magistrate, is appointed by the legislature; is chancellor and ordinary or surrogate of the state; is a member of the supreme court of appeals, and president with a casting vote, of one of the legislative branches. The same legislative branch acts again as executive council to the governor, and with him constitutes the court of appeals. The members of the judiciary department are appointed by the legislative department, and removable by one branch of it, on the impeachment of the other. According to the constitution of Pennsylvania, the president, who is head of the executive department, is annually elected by a vote in which the legislative department predominates. In conjunction with an executive council, he appoints the members of the judiciary department, and forms a court of impeachments for trial of all officers, judiciary as well as executive. The judges of the supreme court, and justices of the peace, seem also to be removeable by the legislature; and the executive power of pardoning in certain cases to be referred to the same department. The members of the executive council are made EX OFFICIO justices of peace throughout the state. In Delaware, the chief executive magistrate is annually elected by the legislative department. The speakers of the two legislative branches are vice-presidents in the executive department. The executive chief, with six others, appointed three by each of the legislative branches, constitute the supreme court of appeals: He is joined with the legislative department in the appointment of the other judges. Throughout the states it appears that the members of the legislature may at the same time be justices of the peace. In this state, the members of one branch of it are EX OFFICIO justices of peace; as are also the members of the executive council. The principal officers of the executive department are appointed by the legislative; and one branch of the latter forms a court of impeachments. All officers may be removed on address of the legislature. Maryland has adopted the maxim in the most unqualified terms; declaring that the legislative, executive and judicial powers of government, ought to be forever separate and distinct from each other. Her constitution, notwithstanding makes the executive magistrate appointable by the legislative department; and the members of the judiciary, by the executive department. The language of Virginia is still more pointed on this subject. Her constitution declares, “that the legislative, executive and judiciary departments, shall be separate and distinct; so that neither exercise the powers properly belonging to the other; nor shall any person exercise the powers of more than one of them at the same time; except that the justices of the county courts shall be eligible to either house of assembly.” Yet we find not only this express exception, with respect to the members of the inferior courts; but that the chief magistrate with his executive council are appointable by the legislature; that two members of the latter are triennially displaced at the pleasure of the legislature; and that all the principal offices, both executive and judiciary, are filled by the same department. The executive prerogative of pardon, also is in one case vested in the legislative department. The constitution of North-Carolina, which declares, “that the legislative, executive and supreme judicial powers of government, ought to be forever separate and distinct from each other,” refers at the same time to the legislative department, the appointment not only of the executive chief, but all the principal officers within both that and the judiciary department. 74

In South-Carolina, the constitution makes the executive magistracy eligible by the legislative department. It gives to the latter also the appointment of the members of the judiciary department, including even justices of the peace and sheriffs; and the appointment of officers in the executive department, down to captains in the army and navy of the state. In the constitution of Georgia, where it is declared, “that the legislative, executive and judiciary departments shall be separate and distinct, so that neither exercise the powers properly belonging to the other.” We find that the executive department is to be filled by appointments of the legislature; and the executive prerogative of pardon, to be finally exercised by the same authority. Even justices of the peace are to be appointed by the legislature. In citing these cases in which the legislative, executive and judiciary departments, have not been kept totally separate and distinct, I wish not to be regarded as an advocate for the particular organizations of the several state governments. I am fully aware that among the many excellent principles which they exemplify, they carry strong marks of the haste, and still stronger of the inexperience, under which they were framed. It is but too obvious that in some instances, the fundamental principle under consideration has been violated by too great a mixture, and even an actual consolidation of the different powers; and that in no instance has a competent provision been made for maintaining in practice the separation delineated on paper. What I have wished to evince is, that the charge brought against the proposed constitution, of violating a sacred maxim of free government, is warranted neither by the real meaning annexed to that maxim by its author; nor by the sense in which it has hitherto been understood in America. This interesting subject will be resumed in the ensuing paper. Publius 75

An Anti-Federalist Viewpoint by Federal Farmer (pseudonym) Text provided by the Constitution Society (www.constitution.org/afp/fedfarmer.txt) Anti-Federalist Papers, Constitution Society (www.constitution.org/afp.htm) Observations Leading to a Fair Examination of the System Of Government Proposed by the Late Convention; And to Several Essential and Necessary Alterations in It. In a Number of Letters from the Federal Farmer to the Republican Dear Sir, October 8th, 1787 My letters to you last winter, on the subject of a well balanced national government for the United States, were the result of free enquiry; when I passed from that subject to enquiries relative to our commerce, revenues, past administration, etc. I anticipated the anxieties I feel, on carefully examining the plan of government proposed by the convention. It appears to be a plan retaining some federal features; but to be the first important step, and to aim strongly to one consolidated government of the United States. It leaves the powers of government, and the representation of the people, so unnaturally divided between the general and state governments, that the operations of our system must be very uncertain. My uniform federal attachments, and the interest I have in the protection of property, and a steady execution of the laws, will convince you, that, if I am under any biass at all, it is in favor of any general system which shall promise those advantages. The instability of our laws increases my wishes for firm and steady government; but then, I can consent to no government, which, in my opinion, is not calculated equally to preserve the rights of all orders of men in the community. My object has been to join with those who have endeavoured to supply the defects in the forms of our governments by a steady and proper administration of them. Though I have long apprehended that fraudalent debtors, and embarrassed men, on the one hand, and men, on the other, unfriendly to republican equality, would produce an uneasiness among the people, and prepare the way, not for cool and deliberate reforms in the governments, but for changes calculated to promote the interests of particular orders of men. Acquit me, sir, of any agency in the formation of the new system; I shall be satisfied with seeing, if it shall be adopted, a prudent administration. Indeed I am so much convinced of the truth of Pope’s maxim, that “That which is best administered is best,” that I am much inclined to subscribe to it from experience. I am not disposed to unreasonably contend about forms. I know our situation is critical, and it behoves us to make the best of it. A federal government of some sort is necessary. We have suffered the present to languish; and whether the confederation was capable or not originally of answering any valuable purposes, it is now but of little importance. I will pass by the men, and states, who have been particularly instrumental in preparing the way for a change, and, perhaps, for governments not very favourable to the people at large. A constitution is now presented which we may reject, or which we may accept, with or without amendments; and to which point we ought to direct our exertions, is the question. To determine this question, with propriety, we must attentively examine the system itself, and the probable consequences of either step. This I shall endeavour to do, so far as I am able, with candor and fairness; and leave you to decide upon the propriety of my opinions, the weight of my reasons, and how far my conclusions are well drawn. Whatever may be the conduct of others, on the present occasion, I do not mean, hastily and positively to decide on the merits of the constitution proposed. I shall be open to conviction, and always disposed to adopt that which, all things considered, shall appear to me to be most for the happiness of the community. It must be granted, that if men hastily and blindly adopt a system of government, they will as hastily and as blindly be led to alter or abolish it; and changes must ensue, one after another, till the peaceable and better part of the community will grow weary with changes, tu- mults and disorders, and be disposed to accept any government, however despotic, that shall promise stability and firmness. 76

The first principal question that occurs, is. Whether, considering our situation, we ought to precipitate the adoption of the proposed constitution? If we remain cool and temperate, we are in no immediate danger of any commotions; we are in a state of perfect peace, and in no danger of invasions; the state governments are in the full exercise of their powers; and our governments answer all present exigencies, except the regulation of trade, securing credit, in some cases, and providing for the interest, in some instances, of the public debts; and whether we adopt a change, three or nine months hence, can make but little odds with the private circumstances of individuals; their happiness and prosperity, after all, depend principally upon their own exertions. We are hardly recovered from a long and distressing war: The farmers, fishmen, &c. have not yet fully repaired the waste made by it. Industry and frugality are again assuming their proper station. Private debts are lessened, and public debts incurred by the war have been, by various ways, diminished; and the public lands have now become a productive source for diminishing them much more. I know uneasy men, who wish very much to precipitate, do not admit all these facts; but they are facts well known to all men who are thoroughly informed in the affairs of this country. It must, however, be admitted, that our federal system is defective, and that some of the state governments are not well administered; but, then, we impute to the defects in our governments many evils and embarrassments which are most clearly the result of the late war. We must allow men to conduct on the present occasion, as on all similar ones. They will urge a thousand pretences to answer their purposes on both sides. When we want a man to change his condition, we describe it as miserable, wretched, and despised; and draw a pleasing picture of that which we would have him assume. And when we wish the contrary, we reverse our descriptions. Whenever a clamor is raised, and idle men get to work, it is highly necessary to examine facts carefully, and without unreasonably suspecting men of falshood, to examine, and enquire attentively, under what impres- sions they act. It is too often the case in political concerns, that men state facts not as they are, but as they wish them to be; and almost every man, by calling to mind past scenes, will find this to be true. Nothing but the passions of ambitious, impatient, or disorderly men, I conceive, will plunge us into commotions, if time should be taken fully to examine and consider the system proposed. Men who feel easy in their circumstances, and such as are not sanguine in their expectations relative to the consequences of the proposed change, will remain quiet under the existing governments. Many commercial and monied men, who are uneasy, not without just cause, ought to be respected; and, by no means, unreasonably disappointed in their expectations and hopes; but as to those who expect employments under the new constitution; as to those weak and ardent men who always expect to be gainers by revolutions, and whose lot it generally is to get out of one difficulty into another, they are very little to be regarded: and as to those who designedly avail themselves of this weakness and ardor, they are to be despised. It is natural for men, who wish to hasten the adoption of a measure, to tell us, now is the crisis — now is the critical moment which must be seized, or all will be lost: and to shut the door against free enquiry, whenever conscious the thing presented has defects in it, which time and investigation will probably discover. This has been the custom of tyrants and their dependants in all ages. If it is true, what has been so often said, that the people of this country cannot change their condition for the worse, I presume it still behoves them to endeavour deliberately to change it for the better. The fickle and ardent, in any community, are the proper tools for establishing despotic government. But it is deliberate and thinking men, who must establish and secure governments on free principles. Before they decide on the plan proposed, they will enquire whether it will probably be a blessing or a curse to this people. The present moment discovers a new face in our affairs. Our object has been all along, to reform our federal system, and to strengthen our governments — to establish peace, order and justice in the community — but a new object now presents. The plan of government now proposed is evidently calculated totally to change, in time, our condition as a people. Instead of being thirteen republics, under a federal head, it is clearly designed to make us one consolidated government. Of this, I think, I shall fully convince you, in my following letters on this subject. This consolidation of the states has been the object of several men in this country for some time past. Whether such a change can ever be effected in any manner; whether it can be effected without convulsions and civil wars; whether such a change will not totally destroy the liberties of this country — time only can determine. 77

To have a just idea of the government before us, and to shew that a consolidated one is the object in view, it is necessary not only to examine the plan, but also its history, and the politics of its particular friends. The confederation was formed when great confidence was placed in the voluntary exertions of individuals, and of the respective states; and the framers of it, to guard against usurpation, so limited and checked the powers, that, in many respects, they are inadequate to the exigencies of the union. We find, therefore, members of congress urging alterations in the federal system almost as soon as it was adopted. It was early proposed to vest congress with powers to levy an impost, to regulate trade, etc. but such was known to be the caution of the states in parting with power, that the vestment, even of these, was proposed to be under several checks and limitations. During the war, the general confusion, and the introduction of paper money, infused in the minds of people vague ideas respecting government and credit. We expected too much from the return of peace, and of course we have been disappointed. Our governments have been new and unsettled; and several legislatures, by making tender, suspension, and paper money laws, have given just cause of uneasiness to creditors. By these and other causes, several orders of men in the community have been prepared, by degrees, for a change of government; and this very abuse of power in the legislatures, which, in some cases, has been charged upon the democratic part of the community, has furnished aristocratical men with those very weapons, and those very means, with which, in great measure, they are rapidly effecting their favourite object. And should an oppressive government be the consequence of the proposed change, posterity may reproach not only a few overbearing un- principled men, but those parties in the states which have misused their powers. The conduct of several legislatures, touching paper money, and tender laws, has prepared many honest men for changes in government, which otherwise they would not have thought of — when by the evils, on the one hand, and by the secret instigations of artful men, on the other, the minds of men were become sufficiently uneasy, a bold step was taken, which is usually followed by a revolution, or a civil war. A general convention for mere commercial purposes was moved for — the authors of this measure saw that the people’s attention was turned solely to the amendment of the federal system; and that, had the idea of a total change been started, probably no state would have appointed members to the convention. The idea of destroying, ultimately, the state government, and forming one consolidated system, could not have been admitted — a convention, therefore, merely for vesting in congress power to regulate trade was proposed. This was pleasing to the commercial towns; and the landed people had little or no concern about it. September, 1786, a few men from the middle states met at Annapolis, and hastily proposed a convention to be held in May, 1787, for the purpose, generally, of amending the confederation — this was done before the delegates of Massachusetts, and of the other states arrived — still not a word was said about destroying the old constitution, and making a new one — The states still unsuspecting, and not aware that they were passing the Rubicon, appointed members to the new convention, for the sole and express purpose of revising and amending the confederation — and, probably, not one man in ten thousand in the United States, till within these ten or twelve days, had an idea that the old ship was to be destroyed, and he put to the alternative of embarking in the new ship presented, or of being left in danger of sinking — The States. I believe, universally supposed the convention would report alterations in the confederation, which would pass an examination in congress, and after being agreed to there, would be confirmed by all the legislatures, or be rejected. Virginia made a very respectable appointment, and placed at the head of it the first man in America: In this appointment there was a mixture of political characters; but Pennsylvania appointed principally those men who are esteemed aristocratical. Here the favourite moment for changing the government was evidently discerned by a few men, who seized it with address. Ten other states appointed, and tho’ they chose men principally connected with commerce and the judicial department yet they appointed many good republican characters — had they all attended we should now see, I am persuaded a better system presented. The non-attendance of eight or nine men, who were appointed members of the convention, I shall ever consider as a very unfortunate event to the United States. — Had they attended, I am pretty clear, that the result of the convention would not have had that strong tendency to aristocracy now discemable in every part of the plan. There would not have been so great an accumulation of powers, especially as to the internal police of the country, in a few hands, as the constitution reported proposes to vest in them — the young visionary men, and 78

the consolidating aristocracy, would have been more restrained than they have been. Eleven states met in the convention, and after four months close attention presented the new constitution, to be adopted or rejected by the people. The uneasy and fickle part of the community may be prepared to receive any form of government; but, I presume, the enlightened and substantial part will give any constitution presented for their adoption, a candid and thorough examination; and silence those designing or empty men, who weakly and rashly attempt to precipitate the adoption of a system of so much importance — We shall view the convention with proper respect — and, at the same time, that we reflect there were men of abilities and integrity in it, we must recollect how disproportionably the democratic and aristocratic parts of the community were represented — Perhaps the judicious friends and opposers of the new constitution will agree, that it is best to let it rest solely on its own merits, or be condemned for its own defects. In the first place, I shall premise, that the plan proposed is a plan of accommodation — and that it is in this way only, and by giving up a part of our opinions, that we can ever expect to obtain a government founded in freedom and compact. This circumstance candid men will always keep in view, in the discussion of this subject. The plan proposed appears to be partly federal, but principally however, calculated ultimately to make the states one consolidated government. The first interesting question, therefore suggested, is, how far the states can be consolidated into one entire government on free principles. In considering this question extensive objects are to be taken into view, and important changes in the forms of government to be carefully attended to in all their consequences. The happiness of the people at large must be the great object with every honest statesman, and he will direct every movement to this point. If we are so situated as a people, as not to be able to enjoy equal happiness and advantages under one government, the consolidation of the states cannot be admitted. There are three different forms of free government under which the United States may exist as one nation; and now is, perhaps, the time to determine to which we will direct our views. 1. Distinct republics connected under a federal head. In this case the respective state governments must be the principal guardians of the peoples rights, and exclusively regulate their internal police; in them must rest the balance of government. The congress of the states, or federal head, must consist of delegates amenable to, and removeable by the respective states: This congress must have general directing powers; powers to require men and monies of the states; to make treaties, peace and war; to direct the operations of armies, etc. Under this federal modification of government, the powers of congress would be rather advisary or recommendatory than coercive. 2. We may do away the several state governments, and form or consolidate all the states into one entire government, with one executive, one judiciary, and one legislature, consisting of senators and representatives collected from all parts of the union: In this case there would be a compleat consolidation of the states. 3. We may consolidate the states as to certain national objects, and leave them severally distinct independent republics, as to internal police generally. Let the general government consist of an executive, a judiciary, and balanced legislature, and its powers extend exclusively to all foreign concerns, causes arising on the seas to commerce, imports, armies, navies, Indian affairs, peace and war, and to a few internal concerns of the community; to the coin, post-offices, weights and measures, a general plan for the militia, to naturalization, and, perhaps to bankruptcies, leaving the internal police of the community, in other respects, exclusively to the state governments; as the administration of justice in all causes arising internally, the laying and collecting of internal taxes, and the forming of the militia according to a general plan prescribed. In this case there would be a compleat consolidation, quoad certain objects only. Touching the first, or federal plan, I do not think much can be said in its favor: The sovereignty of the nation, without coercive and efficient powers to collect the strength of it, cannot always be depended on to answer the purposes of government; and in a congress of representatives of sovereign states, there must necessarily be an unreasonable mixture of powers in the same hands. As to the second, or compleat consolidating plan, it deserves to be carefully considered at this time, by every American: If it be impracticable, it is a fatal error to model our governments, 79

directing our views ultimately to it. The third plan, or partial consolidation, is, in my opinion, the only one that can secure the freedom and happiness of this people. I once had some general ideas that the second plan was practi- cable, but from long attention, and the proceedings of the convention, I am fully satisfied, that this third plan is the only one we can with safety and propriety proceed upon. Making this the standard to point out, with candor and fairness, the parts of the new constitution which appear to be im- proper, is my object. The convention appears to have proposed the partial consolidation evidently with a view to collect all powers ultimately, in the United States into one entire government; and from its views in this respect, and from the tenacity of the small states to have an equal vote in the senate, probably originated the greatest defects in the proposed plan. Independant of the opinions of many great authors, that a free elective government cannot be extended over large territories, a few reflections must evince, that one government and general legislation alone, never can extend equal benefits to all parts of the United States: Different laws, customs, and opinions exist in the different states, which by a uniform system of laws would be unreasonably invaded. The United States contain about a million of square miles, and in half a century will, probably, contain ten millions of people; and from the center to the extremes is about 800 miles. Before we do away the state governments, or adopt measures that will tend to abolish them, and to consolidate the states into one entire government, several principles should be considered and facts ascertained: — These, and my examination into the essential parts of the proposed plan, I shall pursue in my next. Your’s &c. The Federal Farmer. 80

★ U. S. Constitution ★ Purpose rights, roles, and status of the individual in relation to the general welfare. B. The purpose of this lesson is for explain the purpose of government and analyze students to understand how historical how its powers are acquired, used, and documents including the Bill of Rights justified. C. analyze and explain ideas and and the U. S. Constitution have mechanisms to meet needs and wants of clarified and secured individual rights citizens, regulate territory, manage conflict, for citizens and outlined the role of establish order and security, and balance government in the United States in competing conceptions of a just society. order to insure that a just, free X. Civic Ideals and Practices A. Explain the society is maintained. origins and interpret the continuing influence of key ideals of the democratic republican form of government, such as individual Objective human dignity, liberty, justice, equality, and The student will 1) understand the the rule of law. B. Identify, analyze, American beliefs and principles interpret, and evaluate sources and examples reflected in the U. S. Constitution, 2) of citizens’ rights and responsibilities. understand the rights guaranteed by the U. S. Constitution, and 3) apply Time critical-thinking skills to organize and 1-4 days, 1 hour per session use information acquired from a variety of sources. Materials ★ K-W-L Chart Theme-Freedom ★ U. S. Constitution (see also U. S. Archives Historical documents of the United and Records Administration, States including the Declaration of www.archives.gov) Independence, the Bill of Rights, and ★ U. S. Constitution text analysis the U. S. Constitution clarify and ★ Declaration of Independence text (see secure individual rights and liberties “Declaration of Independence” unit)) and the role of government, laying ★ Understanding the Meanings and foundations for a just, free society. Purposes of Our National Documents by Dr. Richard J. Gonzalez (see “Our NCSS Standards National Documents” lesson unit) ★ Citizenship Day and Constitution Week II. Time, Continuity, & Change C. Identify and describe significant proclamation historical periods and patterns of change ★ Website - www.americanheritage.org within and across cultures.... VI. Power, Authority, and Governance A. Preparation Examine persistent issues involving the ★ Copy materials/handouts. Focus Have students brainstorm on K-W-L charts or write on the board what they know about the U. S. Constitution, its purpose, content, author(s), ideals and philosophy, main concepts, context of its creation, etc. Have students then write their questions regarding the 81

★ U. S. Constitution ★ Constitution and things they want to know. Discuss and/or write them board. Discuss colonial America before the Constitution including the social, cultural, and political climate before and at its creation. What articles were being read? What issues/ideas were being debated, considered? (See Links page on www.americanheritage.org for more resources on the Constitution.) Activity 1. “U. S. Constitution Text Analysis.” Students individually or in groups piece together cut “U. Te out, scrambled text segments or articles of the Constitution. Each student/group may take one excerpt/segment from the document and read, research/analyze, and discuss its meaning. Students share with the class the meaning and importance of that segment or article. 2. “U. S. Constitution: A Living Document.” A. Divide the class into pairs or small groups and assign each group an article (or articles) of the Constitution to review. Students consider the main ideas, concepts, issues, and rights addressed in each article and summarize the article(s) for the rest of the class in writing and in oral presentation. Copies of summaries may be distributed to other students for reference, or students may take notes. B. Students look in magazines or newspapers for illustrations and words relating to the article(s) they analyzed and make a picture or word collage reflecting the ideas of their article. Display these collages with the summaries in room to illustrate the Constitution “at work.” C. Students research the background of the original Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia and important members of that convention. Students may write essays related to an issue regarding the creation of the constitution and/or the context in which the Constitution was written. (See Links page on www.americanheritage.org for additional resources on the Constitu- tional Convention and the Constitution.) 3. “Fulfilling the Purposes.” Before or after this activity, have students read and discuss “Fulf ulfilling Purposes.” Understanding the Meanings and Purposes of Our National Documents by Richard Gonzalez (see “Our National Documents” lesson unit). Divide the students into six groups. Assign each group one of the six purposes of government discussed in the Preamble. Using a copy of the Constitution, each group should locate specific provisions in the Constitution which grant the government power to fulfill that particular purpose. Have each group write their findings with markers on butcher paper which can be displayed around the room. Have groups select a spokesperson to explain their findings to the class. As an extension of this activity, have students bring newspaper articles to class that reflect passages located in the Constitution. 4. “Picture the Purposes.” Referring to the essay by Dr. Richard Gonzalez, Understanding Purposes.” the Meanings and Purposes of Our National Documents (see “Our National Documents” lesson unit), have students cut out magazine or newspaper pictures and words or draw illustrations to create collages to illustrate the six purposes for government and the reasons for which the Constitution was written, as stated in the Preamble. This can be done in several different ways: a) Students work alone or in pairs to illustrate all six purposes on one collage, b) divide the class into six groups, and have each group create a collage that illustrates one of the six purposes, or c) have students bring in appropriate pictures and place them on the bulletin board that becomes a class collage. 82

★ U. S. Constitution ★ 5. “The Declaration of Independence vs. the U. S. Constitution.” A. Have students consider the similarities and differences between the Declaration and the Constitution including purpose and goal, ideals and philosophy, focus, time/date of writing, context of writing, author(s), main ideas, concepts, issues, etc. Discuss and create a T-chart or vend diagram on the board or have students do them individually or in pairs in order to organize comparisons and contrasts between the documents. Students may color code their own charts/diagrams and laminate them or encase them in plastic sleeves. B. Divide the class into small groups and give each a copy of the Declaration and the Constitu- tion. Read the charges against King George III, assign each group four or five grievances, and ask them to search the Constitution for specific provisions relating to these grievances. Each group shares its findings with the class. Make a list of each group’s responses. Example: King’s Offense Constitutional Provision 1) “...quartering large bodies of troops among us....” Amendment 3 2) “...Cutting off our trade....” Article I, Sec. 8, Clause 3 6. “Citizenship Day and Constitution Week.” Read and discuss the proclamation including its main points, purpose, and importance. Why is it important to remember, recognize and honor citizenship and the U. S. Constitution? (See Links page on www.americanheritage.org for additional resources on Citizenship Day and Constitution Week.) Closure Students write down on K-W-L charts what they learned about the U. S. Constitution, its context, principles, author(s), similarities and differences with and relationship to the Declaration of Independence, Citizenship Day and Constitution Week, etc. Discuss. Also discuss: What are some of the possible dangers of not having a written constitution? Can you think of real life examples in other countries? What are the benefits of having a written Constitution? How has it changed our lives? What rights do you most appreciate having? Why do we need to exercise our rights responsibly? Assessment Students write a composition or essay addressing one of the issues discussed in closure or a related issue. 83

84 K-W-L Chart What I Know What I Want to Know What I Learned

Day Week Proclamation Citizenship Day and Constitution Week Proclamation Citizenship Day and Constitution Week, 2001 The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release By the President of the United States of America September 17, 2001 A Proclamation www.whitehouse.gov As the delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia began working on what would become the United States Constitution, they grasped that a great democracy must be built on the twin foundations of national consent to a Federal Government and respect for individual rights. After more than two centuries of continual cultural, legal, and economic change, our unique experiment in self-government has borne successful witness to the prescient genius and timeless wisdom of our Founding Fathers. Throughout America’s history, in times of turmoil and peace, liberty and oppression, our faith in the Constitution’s promise of freedom and democracy has been a steadfast rock of national stability against the raging seas of political change. Today, in the face of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, we must call upon, more than ever, the Constitutional principles that make our country great. In creating our Nation’s Constitutional framework, the Convention’s delegates recognized the dangers inherent in concen- trating too much power in one person, branch, or institution. They wisely crafted a Government that balanced the functions and authority of a Federal system among three separate but equal branches: the Executive, the Legislative, and the Judicial. As a further check on central power, the Framers granted citizens the right to vote, giving them the power to express their political preferences peacefully and thereby to effect change in the Government. The Convention delegates ratified the Constitution on September 17, 1787, and submitted it to the States for approval. After much deliberation and discussion at the State level, the following two concerns emerged from among those who feared the Constitution’s proposed centralization of Federal power: (1) the threat of tyranny; and (2) the loss of local control. To address these fears, our Founders amended the Constitution by adding a Bill of Rights. These ten amendments provided a series of clear limits on Federal power and a litany of protective rights to citizens. This development under- scored the important and enduring Constitutional principle of enumerated powers, and it set our national course on a route that would eventually enhance and expand individual rights and liberties. Today, our Nation celebrates not only the longest-lived written Constitution in world history, but also the enduring commitment of our forebears who upheld the Constitution’s core principles through the travails of American history. They pursued a more perfect Union as abolitionists, as suffragists, or as civil rights activists, successfully seeking Constitutional amendments that have strengthened the protections provided to all Americans under law. In so doing, they rendered the moral resolve of our Nation stronger and clearer. Our Republic would surely founder but for the faith and confidence that we collectively place in our Constitution. And it could not prosper without our diligent commitment to upholding the Constitution’s original words and implementing its founding principles. From the noble efforts of public servants to the civic acts of local people, our continuous Constitu- tional engagement has proved to be an exceptional feature of our Nation’s prosperous development. To continue this legacy, each of us must recognize that we bear a solemn responsibility to promote the ideals of freedom and opportunity throughout our land. We each should serve our Nation by actively supporting and shaping our Government’s institutions, by working together to build strong communities, and by loving our neighbors. Doing this will ensure that the American dream will become real for every willing citizen; and, in fulfilling this call together, we will honor the spirit of our powerful and enduring Constitution. The Congress, by joint resolution of February 29, 1952 (36 U.S.C. 106), designated September 17 as “Citizenship Day,” and by joint resolution of August 2, 1956 (36 U.S.C. 108), requested that the President proclaim the week beginning September 17 and ending September 23 of each year as “Constitution Week.” NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 17, 2001, as Citizenship Day and Septem- ber 17 through September 23, 2001, as Constitution Week. I encourage Federal, State, and local officials, as well as leaders of civic, social, and educational organizations, to conduct ceremonies and programs that celebrate our Constitu- tion and reaffirm our commitment as citizens of our great Nation. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-sixth. GEORGE W. BUSH 85

The Preamble of the U. S. Constitution in Sign Language WE (right thumb pointing to chest) THE PEOPLE (arms outstretched) OF THE UNITED STATES (fingers of both hands interlocked), IN ORDER TO FORM (hands held as though moldling something) A MORE PERFECT UNION (fingers interlocked palm to palm), ESTABLISH (outstretched hands pressing down) JUSTICE (turn hands over and simulate balancing of scales) INSURE (cover left thumb with right hand as protection) DOMESTIC TRANQUILITY (folded hands to cheek simulating sleep), PROVIDE (open hands pushing outward as though offering something) FOR THE COMMON DEFENSE (fists doubled in posture of defense) 86

PROMOTE THE GENERAL (miilitary salute) WELFARE (hand over heart), AND SECURE (right hand grasping in air) THE BLESSINGS OF LIBERTY (right arm high in a Statue of Liberty pose) FOR OURSELVES (hand on chest) AND OUR POSTERITY (lift right hand stairstep fashion to indictae different heights), DO ORDAIN (laying on of hands) AND ESTABLISH (outstretched hands pressing down) THE CONSTITUTION (simulate unrolling a scroll) FOR THE UNITED STATES (fingers of both hands interlocked) OF AMERICA (arms outstretched simulating an eagle in flight). Source: Celebrating Constitution Week in Your Community. National Center for Constitutional Studies. 87

The Constitution of the United States U. S. National Archives and Records Administration www.archives.gov We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Consti- tution for the United States of America. Article. I. Section. 1. All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. Section. 2. The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature. No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hamp- shire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Providence Planta- tions one, Connecticut five, New-York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three. When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies. The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment. Section. 3. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote. Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year; and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies. 88

No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen. The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided. The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States. The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Jus- tice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present. Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law. Section. 4. The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day. Section. 5. Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may provide. Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member. Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the Journal. Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting. Section. 6. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place. 89

No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emolu- ments whereof shall have been encreased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office. Section. 7. All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills. Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States: If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjourn- ment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law. Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of Represen- tatives may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the Presi- dent of the United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representa- tives, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill. Section. 8. The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; To borrow Money on the credit of the United States; To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes; To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States; To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures; To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States; To establish Post Offices and post Roads; To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries; To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court; To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the 90

Law of Nations; To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years; To provide and maintain a Navy; To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces; To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions; To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress; To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;—And To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof. Section. 9. The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person. The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it. No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed. No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken. No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State. No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another; nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another. No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time. No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolu 91

ment, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State. Section. 10. No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility. No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it’s inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Controul of the Congress. No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Article. II. Section. 1. The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows: Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector. The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from each State having one Vote; A quorum for this purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice Presi- dent. But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice President. The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States. No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person 92

be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States. In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected. The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them. Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:—”I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” Section. 2. The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeach- ment. He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments. The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session. Section. 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States. Section. 4. The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misde- meanors. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Article III. 93

Section. 1. The judicial Power of the United States shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office. Section. 2. The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Author- ity;—to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls;—to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction;—to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party;—to Controversies between two or more States;— between a State and Citizens of another State;—between Citizens of different States;—between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects. In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make. The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed. Section. 3. Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court. The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Article. IV. Section. 1. Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceed- ings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof. Section. 2. The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime. 94

No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due. Section. 3. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress. The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitu- tion shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State. Section. 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened), against domestic Violence. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Article. V. The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amend- ments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Con- sent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Article. VI. All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation. This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding. The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ 95

Article. VII. The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same. The Word, “the,” being interlined between the seventh and eighth Lines of the first Page, the Word “Thirty” being partly written on an Erazure in the fifteenth Line of the first Page, The Words “is tried” being interlined between the thirty second and thirty third Lines of the first Page and the Word “the” being interlined between the forty third and forty fourth Lines of the second Page. Attest William Jackson Secretary Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth In witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our Names, George Washington President and deputy from Virginia Delaware George Read Gunning Bedford Jr. John Dickinson Richard Bassett Jacob Broom Maryland James McHenry Daniel of St Thomas Jenifer Daniel Carroll Virginia John Blair James Madison Jr. North Carolina William Blount Richd. Dobbs Spaight Hugh Williamson South Carolina J. Rutledge Charles Cotesworth Pinckney Charles Pinckney Pierce Butler Georgia William Few Abraham Baldwin New Hampshire John Langdon Nicholas Gilman Massachusetts Nathaniel Gorham Rufus King 96

Connecticut William Samuel Johnson Roger Sherman New York Alexander Hamilton New Jersey William Livingston David Brearley William Paterson Jonathan Dayton Pennsylvania Benjamin Franklin Thomas Mifflin Robert Morris George Clymer Thomas FitzSimons Jared Ingersoll James Wilson Gouverneur Morris 97

The Constitution of the United States Text Analysis --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Consti- tution for the United States of America. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article. I., Section. 1. All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article I, Section. 2. The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature. No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hamp- shire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Providence Planta- tions one, Connecticut five, New-York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three. When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies. The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article I, Section. 3. (1 of 2 cut outs) The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote. Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year; and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the 98

Article I, Section 3. (2 of 2 cut outs) Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies. No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen. The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided. The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States. The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Jus- tice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present. Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article I, Section. 4. The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article I, Section. 5. (1 of 2 cut outs) Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may provide. Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member. Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the Journal. Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting. 99

Article I, Section. 6. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place. No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emolu- ments whereof shall have been encreased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article I, Section. 7. All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills. Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States: If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjourn- ment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law. Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of Represen- tatives may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the Presi- dent of the United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representa- tives, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article I, Section. 8. (1 of 2 cut outs) The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; To borrow Money on the credit of the United States; To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes; To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States; To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures; 100

Article I, Section. 8. (2 of 2 cut outs) To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States; To establish Post Offices and post Roads; To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries; To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court; To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations; To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years; To provide and maintain a Navy; To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces; To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions; To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress; To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;—And To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article I, Section. 9. (1 of 2 cut outs) The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person. The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it. No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed. 101

Article I, Section. 9. (2 of 2 cut outs) No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken. No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State. No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another; nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another. No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time. No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolu- ment, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article I, Section. 10. No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility. No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it’s inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Controul of the Congress. No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article. II., Section. 1. (1 of 2 cut outs) The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows: Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector. The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The 102

Article. II., Section. 1. (2 of 2 cut outs) Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from each State having one Vote; A quorum for this purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice Presi- dent. But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice President. The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States. No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States. In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected. The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them. Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:—”I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article II, Section. 2. The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeach- ment. He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments. The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session. 103

Article II, Section. 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article II, Section. 4. The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misde- meanors. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article III., Section. 1. The judicial Power of the United States shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article III, Section. 2. The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Author- ity;—to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls;—to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction;—to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party;—to Controversies between two or more States;— between a State and Citizens of another State;—between Citizens of different States;—between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects. In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make. The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article III, Section. 3. (1 of 2 cut outs) Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court. 104

Article III, Section. 3. (2 of 2 cut outs) The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article. IV., Section. 1. Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceed- ings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article IV, Section. 2. The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime. No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article IV, Section. 3. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress. The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitu- tion shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article IV, Section. 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened), against domestic Violence. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article. V. (1 of 2 cut outs) The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amend- ments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to 105

Article. V. (2 of 2 cut outs) all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Con- sent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article. VI. All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation. This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding. The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article. VII. The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same. The Word, “the,” being interlined between the seventh and eighth Lines of the first Page, the Word “Thirty” being partly written on an Erazure in the fifteenth Line of the first Page, The Words “is tried” being interlined between the thirty second and thirty third Lines of the first Page and the Word “the” being interlined between the forty third and forty fourth Lines of the second Page. Attest William Jackson Secretary Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth In witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our Names, 106

★ Bill of Rights: Rights and Responsibilities ★ Purpose rights, roles, and status of the individual in The purpose of this lesson is to provide the relation to the general welfare. student with opportunities to describe how X. Civic Ideals and Practices A. Examine the written and unwritten laws and rules (plus origins and continuing influence of key ideals of mores and customs) of a society affect the democratic republican form of government, individual and group behavior. such as individual human dignity, liberty, justice, equality, and the rule of law. B. Identify, Objective analyze, interpret and evaluate sources and examples of citizens’ rights and responsibilities. The student will 1) consider the importance H. Evaluate the degree to which public policies of individual liberties found in the Bill of and citizen behaviors reflect or foster the Rights, 2) recognize the significance of the stated ideals of a democratic republican form Fifth through Eighth Amendments, 3) of government. recognize the significance of the Declaration of Independence, and 4) recognize that American citizens not only enjoy many rights Time guaranteed by the Constitution but also 2-5 days, 1 hour per session have many responsibilities associated with those rights. Materials ★ Bill of Rights handout Theme-Responsibility ★ Abridged Bill of Rights handout The Bill of Rights in the U. S. Constitution ★ My Bill of Rights handout guarantees citizens freedom through ★ Surveying the American People handout unalienable and established rights. With ★ Rights and Freedoms handout these rights also come our responsibility as ★ Instructor Magazine (Sept 1991, pp.42-43) citizens to understand their purpose and to ★ Website - www.americanheritage.org exercise them appropriately. Preparation NCSS Standards ★ Copy materials/handouts. VI. Power, Authority, and Governance A. Examine persistant issues involving the Focus Discuss: “What is so important about freedom?” Freedom is “the state or condition of being free.” John Locke, whose ideas provided Jefferson with the basis for the Declaration of Indepen- dence, described freedom as “...our being able to act or not act according as well shall we choose or will.” Two synonyms for freedom are liberty and independence. These denote being able to act without interference or control by another. Freedom emphasizes the power to exercise rights. Liberty emphasizes the responsibility that balances each freedom. (For example, freedom of speech does not mean the liberty to gossip or tell lies.) Independence emphasizes the power to stand alone--sometimes supported by, but never dependent upon, someone or something else. 107

★Rights and Responsibilities★ continued Activity 1. “The Bill of Rights: What Are Our Rights?” A. Students research and discuss the context and reasons for the creation of the Bill of Rights of 1791. Consider the order, placement, and significance of the Bill of Rights in the Constitution. (See Links page on www.americanheritage.org for additional resources on the Bill of Rights.) B. Students research and analyze each amendment’s meaning and significance. Consider their order and importance. Give some illustrations of these rights applied in students’ everyday lives. Students record the provisions of each amendment, writing each amendment in their own words and providing examples. Consider how these amendments and rights affect Americans today. C. The student chooses the amendment he or she thinks is the most important and writes an essay or composition defending his or her position. The student may use logic, ethics, and emotional appeal along with examples and other forms of support to defend his or her position/ opinion. These compositions can be shared with other classmates, perhaps in the form of a debate. 2. “Surveying the American People.” Distribute or present the following scenario, “Survey- ing the American People,” to students. Read the instructions and story and ask students to list the rights in order from most important to least important or from most impacting to least impacting. This may be done individually, in pairs, or in small groups. Ask students to defend their choices of why they ranked the amendments as they did. Further, have students provide three to five reasons why they chose as #1 one amendment as being the most important or having the most impact. Place these reasons in descending order of importance. Why did they like this amendment? Which rights do they most appreciate having? Why? After students have ranked their items, compile a list of the five highest-ranking items. Discuss the importance of all the rights. (Teachers may want to list rights on index cards and have students rank them accordingly.) 3. “Select an Amendment.” Students select a constitutional amendment that: 1) has the greatest impact on religious groups, 2) offers the greatest protection for school publications, 3) most effects voting days, 4) most effects term limits, 5) has the greatest impact on women, 6) represents the ideas of the progressive movement, 7) most effects a particular kind of industry (restaurant business, etc.) etc. Various criteria of selections can be chosen by the teacher. 4. “A Mock Trial.” This activity helps students understand the Fifth through Eighth amend- Trial.” ments as they conduct a mock trial. Decide on a good case appropriate for the grade level. Randomly select or appoint students to role play the judge, the lawyers, and the witnesses. Then review, discuss, and elaborate on the Fifth through Eighth amendments so that the students can understand the rules. Students prepare scripts in order to continue with the drama. Create crime scenarios for the case like: 1) young boys arrested for stealing, 2) teenagers flogged for vandalizing cars, etc. 108

5. “Rights and Responsibilities.” A. Put the following statement on the chalkboard: “Citizens of the United States have rights and responsibilities.” Have students define and think about the following terms: Right: a priviledge given to you by law, something to which you are entitled. Responsibility: something you are obligated to do. Examples: Citizens have a right to free speech. Citizens have a responsibility to speak truthfully. Students generate a T-chart or vend diagram, including in the left column their rights and in the right column one or more corresponding responsibilities. Students consider the possibility that an item might be both a right and a responsibility. Find examples in everyday life that illustrate each as well as possible violations of each. Compare and contrast rights and responsibilities. B. Discuss the balance and relationship between rights and responsibilities. How are they similar or different from one another? Why are they both important? Why is it important to exercise our rights responsibly? Have students write a brief response or a longer essay addressing one of these issues/questions and share it with the class. C. Students review some of the specific responsibilities that go along with each right. Then have students work in pairs to create a collage, chart, cartoon, drawing, or other visual that creatively illustrates one or more of these rights and responsibilities and their characteristic importance. Students may give their visual a tone which may be serious, inspiring, humorous, dramatic, patriotic, educational, etc. Publish a Bill of Rights class book using the illustrations/ visuals. Closure Discuss: What would life be like without the rights guaranteed in the Constitution? Students may write down or visualize through illustration their perceptions of life without a certain right or rights. What are some of the possible dangers of not having a national, agreed upon Bill of Rights and Constitution? What is or might life be like in other countries where such rights are not protected? Think about real-life historical or present-day examples. Assessment Students will write a composition/essay addressing one of the issues discussed in closure or a related issue. 109

The Bill of Rights: The Original (First) Ten Amendments of the Constitution Passed by Congress September 25, 1789. Ratified December 15, 1791 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 IV. 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. 110

An Abridged Bill of Rights: The Original (First) Ten Amendments of the Constitution ratified 1971 By Thomas Dyer First Amendment: Freedom of Religion, Assembly, and the Press. Congress cannot pass laws that take away the freedom to believe and worship as you wish, and shall not limit freedom of speech or freedom of the press (the ability to write what you want). The right of people to peacefully get together, and to ask the government to correct wrongs, shall be protected. Second Amendment: Freedom to Bear Arms. Because a fighting force of citizens might be necessary to protect a free state, states have a right to allow people to keep weapons in their homes. Third Amendment: Limits on the Quartering of Soldiers. People don’t have to allow soldiers to stay in their homes during peacetime, nor in time of war unless a special rule is made by the government. Fourth Amendment: Limits on Searches and Seizures. Unless the government (including the police) has good reason, people, their homes, and their things cannot be searched or taken away. To conduct a search, officials must have reason to believe they will find a stolen object or discover a person breaking the law. Fifth Amendment: The Right to Due Process of Law, Including Protection Against Incriminating Yourself. People don’t have to give evidence against themselves in court. If they have been found innnocent of a crime, they can’t be tried again for the same crime. People have to be treated fairly by the law, and cannot have their lives, liberty, or property taken from them unless it is fair. Sixth Amendment: The Right to Legal Counsel and a Fair Trial. People accused of a crime can have a lawyer and a trial by jury. They have to be told what they are accused of, and they can ask questions about it. Seventh Amendment: The Right to a Jury Trial in Civil Cases. If a disagreement between people is about something more than $20.00, then they can have a jury trial. Eighth Amendment: Unfair Punishment Is Forbidden. People arrested on a charge can be free while they wait for their trial if they pay money to the court as bail, which is a way of promising they will return for their trial. If they show up, they get this money back. Fines have to be fair. And people found guilty cannot be punished in a cruel or unusual way that is not allowed by law. Ninth Amendment: Other Rights Are Protected by the Constitution. The rights listed in Amendments 1-8 aren’t the only ones people have. Tenth Amendment: Any Powers that Do Not Belong to the National Government Belong to the States. The U. S. government has only those powers listed in the Constitution. 111

My Bill of Rights Use this form to write your own personal Bill of Rights! Be it known to all people that I,____________________________________, being a citizen in good standing of _____________________________________, and being of sound mind and body, do wish to state that every one of the following rights is mine and that I accept the responsibility that accompanies these rights. 1. The right to spend time with my friends ___________________ and ___________________, knowing it is my responsibility to return home in time to eat dinner and do homework. 2. The right to stay up and______________________________, knowing it is my responsibility to ____________________________________. 3. The right to___________________________________________, knowing it is my responsibility to ____________________________________. 4. The right to __________________________________________, knowing it is my responsibility to ____________________________________. 5. The right to _________________________________________, knowing it is my responsibility to ____________________________________. This Bill of Rights is hereby signed, sealed, and ratified this day of ______________________, in the year _______________________. Signed: Witnessed by: Excerpted with permission from “A Bill of Rights K-12 Resource Packet” published by the Michigan Commis- sion on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution. 112

Surveying the American People Scenario: You and your family recently read a story together about the formation of a new country. In the story, the leader of the country decides to survey the American people about their government and their rights. He makes a request: “We have looked at some of your laws and the way your government operates and have found that they seem to work very well and provide the right amount of freedoms and responsibilities for the individual so that everyone can get along and live together harmoniously and safely. Therefore, we would like to conduct a survey among the people of the United States to try and arrive at a decision about which rights would be important to adopt. Therefore, I have created a list of the Bill of Rights in your Constitution for you to rank in order. Please look over the list and decide which of the ten are most important to you and in what order. Make a note among yourselves of the top FIVE of the ten rights, the five which get the most votes from all the citizens of the United States.” To do this activity, you will need to think about each right and why it is important. Think about how each right functions and serves the American people. Consider what life would be like without these rights. Follow the directions for and complete the survey about our rights. 113

Rights and Freedoms You and your classmates are to rank the following rights in order of importance or in the order in which you would give them up, with 1 being the most important right (the right you would give up last) and 10 being the least important right (the one you would give up first). Discuss each right and why it is important. Think about how each right functions and serves the American people. Directions: Rank from 1 to 10 your most important rights (1-most important, 10-least important). _______ Right to bear arms _______ Right to freedom of speech _______ Right to legal counsel _______ Right to protection from cruel and unusual punishment _______ Right to freedom of the press _______ Right to jury trial _______ Right to freedom of religion _______ Right to peacefully assemble _______ Protection from self-incrimination _______ Right to protection from unreasonable searches and seizures 114

★ The First Amendment ★ Purpose individuality and efforts used to promote social conformity by groups and institutions. Students will examine the freedoms and Vg. analyze the extent to which groups and rights provided for in the First institutions meet individual needs and promote Amendment. the common good in contemporary and historical settings. Objective IXf. analyze or formulate policy statements The student will explore activities in which demonstrating an understanding of concerns, he or she participates daily that are standards, issues, and conflicts related to guaranteed under the First Amendment. universal human rights. Xb. identify, analyze, interpret, and evaluate sources and examples of citizens’ rights and Theme-Unity responsibilities. The First Amendment to the Constitution was written to provide for unity among the people and to prevent the persecution Time and disharmony that occurred when the 60 minutes king supported only one religion. Materials NCSS Standards ★ American Heritage handouts Ia. analyze and explain the ways groups, ★ Dictionaries & Art Supplies societies, and cultures address human ★ National News Magazines needs and concerns. ★ First Amendment Supreme Court decisions IIf. apply ideas, theories, and modes of ★ ”School House Rocks” song historical inquiry to analyze historical and ★ Website - www.americanheritage.org contemporary developmentss, and to inform and evaluate actions concerning public policy issues. Preparation Vd. identify and analyze examples of ★ Copy handouts tensions between expressions of ★ Gather supplies (as needed). Focus Students list their rights as citizens as expressed in the Bill of Rights and where they learned about these rights. Remind them of the video infomercial, “School House Rocks,” and how their sources of information might have been from television. The teacher may discuss any of the other rights. Show or play Bill of Rights song from “School House Rocks.” Discuss. Evaluate and think about our rights and how they affect our lives. Activity 1. Introduce the terms and readings associated with the First Amendment. Review main points and significance of rights addressed. Discuss and answer questions. What do they mean? (See Links page on www.americanheritage.org for additional resources on the First Amendment.) 2. Divide class into groups and pass out supplies to each group. Each group will create a collage displaying the rights the First Amendment guarantees them. Share and discuss. 3. Students review court cases examining First Amendment freedoms. What is the meaning of separation of church and state? Why is it important? What are examples representing the action, benefit, and possible misinterpretation of this idea? What about freedom of press, etc.? 115

Firs Amendment—Religion Clauses The Fir s t Amendment Historical Background 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. dissenters The refusal to conform to the authority or doctrine Early Roots for a Bill of Rights and Religious Liberty— of an established or “Toleration” national church, esp., a Many of the colonists settling in the New World during the Protestant who differs seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were refugees from religious with the Church of England oppression. Puritan, Catholic, Quaker, and other dissenters who emigrated to the Colonies had often suffered bitterly at the hands of the law—“Ruler’s Law.” Upon arrival in America, the religious dissenters ecclesiastical Of or pertaining to a tended to be particularly sensitive to the threat of ecclesiastical and church, esp., as an judicial tyranny. Whenever they had the opportunity, they sought to organized institution protect their civil and religious liberties through legal codes—man- made laws protecting themselves from government. These early codes established a tradition of “bills of rights” in America that eventually led to the Bill of Rights, the first ten Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Early bills of rights were deeply influenced by the principle of a “higher” or fundamental law that the religiously persecuted maintained came from God. They argued that man is called by God to obey a higher law than men can make. This further led them to believe that no magistrate had the power to deny this “higher law” to the people. The Puritans were the first English Protestants to adopt this revolutionary creed—and they suffered for their disobedience. When they arrived in Massachusetts Bay, the Puritans were determined that the civil government would not subvert their fundamental religious freedom. Quotations Regarding “Religious Toleration” “At length, sailing from this place [England], we reached the cape, which they call Point Comfort, in Virginia, on the 27th of February, full of apprehension . . . . On the day of the Ascension of the Most Holy Virgin Mary in the year 1634, we celebrated the mass for the first time, on the island. This had never been done before in this part of the world.” (italics in the original) Fr. Andrew White, S.J., “English America’s First Mass,” Gaustad, A Documentary History, pp. 113-14 “That there is such a thing as conscience, and the liberty of it, in reference to faith and worship towards God, must not be denied, even by those that are most scandalized at the ill use some seem to have made of such pretenses.” William Penn, “Liberty of Conscience,” Gaustad, A Documentary History, p. 119 116

★ The First Amendment ★ continued Although the Puritans disliked the established Church of England, it was the nature of the established religion, not the fact that it was established, that they deplored. When the opportunity arose in the Quakers Colonies, these Puritans established their own faith and persecuted all (Society of Friends) others—once again becoming a government over man. Interestingly, few Seemed to the vast of the first colonists valued the principle of “religious toleration.” majority of their seventeenth-century Others persecuted, such as the Quakers, suffered far worse than English countrymen an the Puritans for their beliefs. Although they had “no ministry, no example of religion gone sacraments, no liturgy, no structure, no weapons,” a number of unusual mad. They originated in England in 1651 under the practices—greetings of “thee” and “thou,” honoring neither man nor ministrations of George law, and taking no oaths against their conscience—made them obvious Fox. When the opportunity targets for persecution in an age of intolerance. Hundreds of Quakers, came in 1681 to establish including William Penn, suffered trial and imprisonment for exercising a refuge in the New World, William Penn their religious beliefs. When Penn set out to frame the government and seized the opportunity and laws of Pennsylvania, he was careful to include a fully developed bill of founded Pennsylvania. rights. In 1636, Penn issued “A Persuasive to Moderation to Church sacraments Dissenters in Prudence and Conscience,” wherein he pleads against the Formal Christian rites, prejudices of the times. such as baptism, esp., one considered to have been instituted by Jesus as a “Penn’s Holy Experiment [Pennsylvania, a Quaker refuge] means of grace rested upon the conviction that men and women were not to be coerced in matters of religion, for true religion flourished best where force was found least. . . . —he liturgy liturgy The prescribed form for a continued to argue that religious persecution was a costly religious service; ritual as well as a bloody business” (Edwin S, Gaustad, ed., A Documentary History of Religion in America: to the Civil War, oaths William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, A declaration or promise 1982, p. 119). to act in a certain way, made with God as witness Catholics were the most despised religious group in English society. Toleration was soon established by Lord Baltimore in Maryland, which was initially a refuge for Catholics. Knowing that not enough Catholics would come to establish the new Colony and that others would come, Baltimore made religious liberty and toleration a basic part of Maryland’s civil law. “Recognizing their minority status, Catholics under Baltimore invited Protestants to settle there; in 1649, the former even passed an ‘Act of Toleration’ to guarantee religious liberty to such Protestants. Unhappily, when Protestants later seized control of the colony, similar guarantees were not extended to Catholics” (Gaustad, A Documentary History, pp. 112-13). The first Colony to establish religious tolerance was Rhode Island. 117

★ The First Amendment ★ continued Anne Hutchinson “Massachusetts saw itself as pursuing a grand ‘errand into A Massachusetts dissident. the wilderness,’ creating there a model community and a Because she was a threat pure church. No one was to be allowed to frustrate that to the local ministers for claiming that only grace errand. When some tried, they were either exiled (Roger gained by faith brought Williams in 1635, Anne Hutchinson in 1638) or hanged salvation, an idea called (four Quakers in Boston, 1659-61). Roger Williams, exiled Antinomianism, they for contending that the puritans must separate themselves brought charges against her claiming her a threat from the impure Church of England and must separate their to local ministerial civil from their ecclesiastical estates, left Massachusetts to authority. She was first found Rhode Island in 1636. That beleaguered little colony exiled and then excommunicated. After was to become a religious refuge for religious liberty, with initial jailing, Hutchinson Williams himself continuing to be (for nearly half a century) fled with her husband and that liberty’s leading advocate” (Gaustad, A Documentary seven children to Williams’ History, p. 114). (italics added) Rhode Island and founded a new settlement. Early American Roots for the “Separation of Church and State” The origins, development, and practice of “separation of church and state” in the New World during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are important for at least two primary reasons. First, the practice of “separation” was an anomaly in that this had never occurred in England, in other European countries, or on any other continent. These institutions, church and state, had usually been mutually supportive, except when one attempted to control the other. Countries having “established churches,” that is, churches approved of, sponsored, funded, and protected, to the exclusion of others, by the host government, always demanded sworn allegiance to the national church. The radical American “experiment” became something much different. And second, Supreme Court decisions to this day are supposed to reflect and interpret the intended meanings of statements and extant documents including letters, pamphlets, the Constitution with the Bill of Rights (the first ten Amendments) of the “Founding Fathers” and “Framers” and other eminent earlier men, laws of the individual states, and the extant “customs of the people.” Following the establishment of earlier Supreme Still existing, such as Court decisions, the Court Justices, interpreting the above tradition and documents law, then began to place a much stronger emphasis on “precedence”— previous Court decisions. 118

★ The First Amendment ★ continued Further, the concept and convention of the “separation of church and state” had its beginnings in colonial America long before the Founding Fathers penned the Constitution and the Bill of Rights in the late eighteenth century. But it was usually rejected as heretical or as the wailing of heretical heretical nonconforming dissidents such as Roger Williams. Of, or relating to, an Paradoxically, many of those who had fled Europe and come to opinion or doctrine at America to escape the established and intolerant religions believed deeply variance with established religious beliefs that it was natural for religion and state to embrace each other. They established institutional relations much like those they had left behind, including religious intolerance. The church and state were likewise intertwined in the new American Colonial settlements. With few exceptions (such as Penn and Baltimore, noted above), those that fled European persecution were no more tolerant of religious dissenters than those from whom they had fled. These dissenters were seen as heretical—a threat to both the state and religious orthodoxy—and were shunned, banished, and/ or excommunicated. The result was that established churches became the norm in early colonial British America. But America’s religious history is not quite so simple. Although excommunicated establishment was the standard practice, there were aberrations. The first Excluded from was that brought about by Roger Williams. He had accepted an membership in a church appointment as minister at the Puritan Boston Church. He then by ecclesiastical authority immediately admonished church members that there must be a radical separation between the church and the material world. He had little success in Boston. Williams thought that he might fare better at Plymouth because these Puritan “separatists” (Pilgrims) had stressed and adhered to an absolute separation from the Church of England. He discovered upon arrival that the Pilgrim separation was not as clear-cut as he had thought. Williams retreated back to Massachusetts. For the next two years, Roger Williams was in one predicament after another with the General Court in Boston. For Williams, the difference between the church and the world was absolute, one pure, one impure, with every part of worship kept separate from the world. He was so uncompromising about the principle of separation that he was deemed a liability and threat to the civil order. This threat could not be tolerated. Boston pastor John Cotton voiced thoughts of various colonial authorities regarding Williams, and referred to Williams’ “violent and tumultuous disposition; his condemnation of the Puritan State—Church system; his conscientious objection to certain oaths; his statement that the civil authorities had no power to 119

★ The First Amendment ★ continued enforce the religious injunctions of the ten commandments;” (Anson Phelps Stokes, Church and State in the United States, Harper & Brothers, New York, 1950, p. 195). After being charged and confronted by the General Court, Roger Williams responded with his own opening salvo and charged that when God’s people open “a gap in the hedge or wall of separation between the garden of the church and the wilderness of the world, God hath ever broke down the wall itself . . . and made his garden a wilderness, as at this day. And that there fore if He will eer please to restore His garden and paradise again, it must of necessity be walled in peculiarly unto Himself from the world . . .” (John Eidsmore, Christianity and the Constitution: The Faith of the Founding Fathers, Baker Books, Grand Rapids, p. 243). (italics added) He further told the Court, more pointedly Rev. John Cotton, that the whole of the dispute was that they had “allowed the world to invade and corrupt the church.” Roger Williams was ordered exiled from the New World and back to England. After banishment on October 9, 1635, Roger Williams slipped away and founded a new colony, Providence (Rhode Island). He wanted a colony which would shelter all “distressed in conscience”; Although Williams’ authority for the doctrine of “separation of church and state” was based on various biblical texts, Cotton Mather, another Bay Colony minister, nevertheless claimed that Williams was the “first rebel against the divine church-order established in the wilderness [Colonial America].” Williams’ theory of the church was that of a “voluntary association” and in which civil government, which rested on the consent of the people, ought only concern itself with civil affairs because any attempt by the state to force uniformity of religion caused civil wars. For him, religious liberty and freedom of conscience had never been surrendered to the state but was something retained by the people when they formed their government—not a gift of the government. And regardless of the fact that reactionary contemporaries referred to Williams’ colony of Rhode Island as “Rogues Island,” history has recorded his vital contribution to American freedom (Eidsmore, pp. 196-97). For Williams, the chief function of the State was the protection of the individual in all his natural and civil rights and 120

★ The First Amendment ★ continued liberties. Williams thought that the realms of Church authority and State authority belonged in, and must remain in, two separate spheres: “All Civill States with their Officers of justice in their respective constitutions and administrations are proved essentially Civill, and therefore not Judges, Governors or Defendours of the Spirituall or Christian State and Worship” (Eidsmore, pp. 196-97). Roger Williams was the most radical and critical intellect in the early Colonies. He was the first to found a colony upon the principle of “separation of church and state.” Church Anglican Church Regardless, 140 years later at the beginning of the American The Church of England and the churches in Revolution in 1776, nine of the thirteen colonies had “established” other nations that are in churches. The Anglican Church had been first established in the New complete agreement World in Virginia in 1609, later in New York’s lower counties in 1693, in with it as to doctrine Maryland in 1702, in South Carolina in 1706, and nominally in North and discipline and are in communion with the Carolina and Georgia in 1711 and 1758, respectively. The Congregational Archbishop of Church was established in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Canterbury Hampshire upon settlement. But a new mood was developing by the time of the Constitutional Congregational Church Congregational Church Convention in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787. Eleven years later, The autonomous only five states still retained religious “establishment”: Connecticut, churches formed in New Georgia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. The England by the non- separatist Puritans who Anglican Church had been disestablished in Virginia, New York, and North sought to reform the Carolina during the Revolutionary War and then in Maryland in 1786. Church of England The continuing elimination of established churches after ratification of the Federal Constitution in 1789 culminated in the disestablishment of the Anglican Church in Georgia in 1789 and the Congregational Church in Connecticut in 1818, in New Hampshire in 1819, and finally in Massachusetts in 1833, the last hold-out (Richard B. Morris, The Encyclopedia of Modern History, Harper and Row, New York, Bicentennial Edition, 1976, p. 82). After two hundred years of “established” churches in America, with the first in Virginia in 1609 and for those claiming a “separation of church and state,” beginning with Rhode Island in 1636, the nation was free of formal establishment of religion, and liberty of conscience was in place. Or was it? Additional Reading ★ Ball, William Bentley. Mere Creatures of the State?: Education, Religion, and the Courts: A View Bentley from the Courtroom. Notre Dame, IN: Crisis Books, 1994. ★ Curry, Thomas J. The First Freedoms: Church and State in America to the Passage of the First Curry Amendment. New York: Oxford University Press, 1986. . New Yor ork: Oxfor University ord niver 1986. ★ Gaustad, Edwin. Liberty of Conscience: Roger Williams in America. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. . Eerdmans Compan 199 pany 991 Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1991 . ★ Goldwin, Robert A. From Parchment to Power: How James Madison Used the Bill of Rights to Save Rober A. obert the Constitution. Washington, D.C.: The AEI Press, 1997. . Washingt ashington, 199 997 ★ Lowenthal, David. No Liberty for License: The Forgotten Logic of the First Amendment. Dallas: Low David. . Compan 199 pany 997 Spence Publishing Company, 1997. 121

★ The First Amendment ★ continued Purpose of Amendments Because of the opposition to the adoption of the Constitution by anti-Federalists, several states proposed amending the document to better protect the states as well as individuals from the incursions of the newly proposed centralized federal government. The people were frightened and suspicious of new and untried national control. This anti-Federal sentiment was particularly strong in Rhode Island. This state did not bother to send a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. The Rhode Island government refused to call for a ratifying convention until the spring of 1790, more than one year after the Federal government had begun operating in New York. As citizens of the smallest state, Rhode Island saw little advantage in a consolidated government in which the views of the larger states would naturally dominate. But its chief objection was the lack of a “bill of rights.” When the state government finally called for a ratifying convention, several amendments were attached. Protection of the right of religious liberty was most prominent among the other proposals. Rhode Island finally ratified the U.S. Constitution and became the last of the original thirteen states to enter the Union. Thus, ten additional Articles were drafted, debated, and eventually adopted. They became the first ten Amendments to the Constitution and were finally ratified on December 15, 1791. We will examine the First Amendment, in part. Article I (First Amendment—Religion Clauses) “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; . . . .” The American civil “experiment” is indeed radical. Its citizens have not only created a democratic republic but have built into the Constitution through the First Amendment not only freedom of religion but freedom from religion. Eventually the Supreme Court gave a title to each of these clauses—“The Establishment Clause” and “The Free Exercise Clause.” The Court has made some dramatic decisions during these past five decades, since its decision in Everson v. Board of Education (1947). Lawyers, educators, jurists, and others have written many volumes about the first sixteen words of Article I and the Court’s interpretations. Note: Because of the breadth and depth of work, especially by the Supreme Court, this discussion regarding the “Religion Clauses” of the First Amendment can be divided into three parts as follows: Part I The “wall of separation between church and state” Part II The Establishment Clause Part III The Free Exercise Clause A discussion of Part I is included here. 122

★ The First Amendment ★ continued The “wall of separation between church and state” This phrase is so common that it is usually thought to be part of the First Amendment. This phrase is found nowhere in the U.S. Constitution. The Supreme Court has so often used this phrase and attributed it to Thomas Jefferson that many Americans think they know its origin and meaning. There are at least three different meanings for this phrase: the Supreme Court’s, Thomas Jefferson’s, and Roger Williams.’ The Supreme Court has explained in part: “[It] means at least this: Neither a state nor the Federal Government can set up a church. Neither can pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another. Neither can force nor influence a person to go to or remain away from church against his will or force him to profess a belief or disbelief in any religion. No person can be punished for entertaining or professing religious beliefs or disbelief, for church attendance or nonattendance. No tax, in any amount, large or small, can be levied to support any religious activities or institutions, whatever they may be called, or whatever form they may adopt to teach or practice religion. Neither a state or the Federal Government can, openly or secretly, participate in the affairs of any religious organizations or groups and vice versa. In the words of Jefferson, the Clause against establishment of religion by law was intended to erect a “wall of separation between church and state.” . . . That wall must be kept high and impregnable. We could not approve the slightest breach” (Everson v. Board of Education, 330 US 1, 91 L ed 711 (1947), pp. 15-16). (italics added) In this case, the Court has taken only a few words of Jefferson’s—keeping them out of context—and twisted this short phrase to mean something entirely different than what he intended or would have imagined. These words were taken from a once obscure letter written in 1802 by Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Church. This letter was written to inform the Baptists that he would not proclaim a national church, imposing it on the citizenry. Jefferson used language that he knew they would be familiar with, the words of the first American Baptist Roger Williams: “a gap in the hedge or wall of separation between the garden of the church and the wilderness of the world, God hath ever broke down the wall itself . . . and made His garden a wilderness, as at this day. And that there fore if He will eer please to restore His garden and paradise again, it must of necessity be walled in peculiarly unto Himself from the world . . .” (Eidsmore, p. 243). (italics added) Seventy years before the Everson (1947) decision, in Reynolds v. United States (1878), the Supreme Court used this same letter to support an opposite decision. The Court claimed that Jefferson’s letter made it clear that he was not claiming a strict “separation of church and state.” 123

★ The First Amendment ★ continued “Using Jefferson’s letter, the Court showed that while the government was not free to interfere with opinions on religion, which is what frequently distinguishes one denomination from another, it was responsible to enforce civil laws according to general Christian standards. In other words, separation of church and state pertained to denominational differences, not to basic Christian principles” (David Barton, The Myth of separation: What is the correct relationship between Church and State?, WallBuilder Press, Aledo, Texas, 1992, p. 43). (emphasis in the original) There are still other reasons to believe that Thomas Jefferson was not a strict-separationist, and therefore his meaning for the “wall of separation” is different than that of the Supreme Court that ruled for complete separation. Another part of his letter states: “Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions . . . ” (Merrill D. Peterson, ed., “Reply to the Danbury Baptist Association, in Connecticut, January 1, 1802,” The Political Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, 1993, p. 145). In an earlier document written by Jefferson, Kentucky Resolutions, he stipulates that the U.S. Constitution delegates “no power over the freedom of religion” and that the First Amendment guards the freedom of religion” (Peterson, “Draft of the Kentucky Resolutions (1798),” p. 127). In a later letter to Reverend Samuel Miller, January 23, 1808, Jefferson claims that the federal government is prohibited by the Constitution from “intermeddling with religious institutions, their doctrines, disciplines, or exercises.” His argument is against a nationally prescribed “day of fasting & prayer”: “But it is only proposed that I should recommend, not prescribe a day of fasting & prayer [Jefferson was the President of the U.S.]. That is, that I should indirectly assume to the U.S. an authority over religious exercises which the Constitution has precluded them from” (Peterson, “Religious Freedom,” p. 159). (italics in original) But it was not only Jefferson that thought that the church was to be protected from the government. Others did not view the “separation” as the contemporary Supreme Court does. To wit: the armed forces have always had chaplains, “In God We Trust” is still on all U.S. currency, “One nation under God” is still a part of “The Pledge of Allegiance,” and every session of Congress is opened with prayer. Even at the beginning of the Constitutional Convention, five hours of prayer came first. 124

★ Our National Documents ★ complexity to explain, analyze, and show Purpose connections among patterns of historical The purpose of this lesson is for students to change and continuity. gain an understanding of the significant V. Individuals, Groups, and Institutions historical documents that contributed to or G. Analyze the extent to which groups and played a role in the formation and institutions meet individual needs and promote development of the United States. the common good in contemporary and Students will be able to identify the main historical settings. purposes, characteristics, and time frame X. Civic Ideals & Practices A. Explain the of each of these documents and how they origins and continuing influence of key ideals of related to and/or differed from one the democratic republican form of government, another. such as individual human dignity, liberty, justice, equality, and the rule of law. Objective The student will understand 1) traditional Time historical points of reference in U. S. history 1-4 days, 1 hour per session through 1877, 2) the foundations of representative government in the United States, and 3) the American beliefs and Materials principles reflected in important historic ★ K-W-L Chart documents. ★ Bill of Rights (for text see “Rights and Responsibilities” lesson unit.) ★ U. S. Constitution (for text see “U. S. Theme-Progress Constitution” lesson unit or U. S. Archives Each of the founding documents of the and Records Administration, United States contributed to, furthered, or www.archives.gov.) secured the development and progress of ★ Declaration of Independence (for text see the country with regard to individual “Declaration of Independence” lesson unit liberties, government, and society. for text or www.archives.gov.) ★ Understanding the Meanings and Purposes of Our National Documents by Dr. Richard NCSS Standards J. Gonzalez I. Culture A. Analyze and explain the ways ★ Website - www.americanheritage.org groups, societies, and cultures address human needs and concerns. II. Time, Continuity, and Change Preparation B. Apply key concepts such as time, ★ Copy materials/handouts. chronology, causality, change, conflict, and Focus Have students brainstorm and discuss all the major founding documents and related events that come to mind in the United States’ history (particularly early or colonial history). Jot these items on the board. Develop a K-W-L for the whole class or have students each do one on their own. Explore and discuss with students what they know about each of these documents and what they want to know. 125

★Our National Documents★ continued Activity “An Introductor y or Conclusive Over view of Our National Documents” Introductory oductor Conclusive Over view ervie 1. “The Big Picture.” Before or after students explore and analyze each historical document in detail, have students read/discuss Understanding the Meanings and Purposes of Our National Documents by Richard Gonzalez. Introduce and discuss the major primary documents that serve as foundations for the establishment and functioning of our nation, including the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of 1787, and the first ten amendments approved in 1791 known as the Bill of Rights. Discuss the general purposes, concepts, qualities, and parts/sections of the documents. (See Links page on www.americanheritage.org for additional resources on America’s founding and important documents.) 2. “Create a Timeline.” Have students individually or in small groups create a timeline of major historical events in the U. S. and include on it dates of the development of significant national documents. Students may color code or illustrate timelines, laminate them or encase them in plastic sleeves, and/or display them. Have some students or groups present and/or discuss with the class the major points on their timeline. 3. “Compare, Contrast, and Highlight.” Have students individually or in small groups create outlines or charts to differentiate, compare, and contrast these major historical documents from and/or with one another. Highlight each document’s author(s), context and time in which it was written, focus, purpose and goal, ideals and philosophy, format, characteristics, and key points or concepts. Students may color code these charts, laminate them or encase them in plastic sleeves, and/or display them. Discuss/review as a class the components of students’ charts, creating on the board a chart for the whole class to review. Closure Have students complete the K-W-L chart, writing down what they learned about each of the significant historical events and documents of the United States. Discuss as a whole class what was learned about our national documents, writing them on the board for a class K-W-L chart. Tell students where these original documents are on display and where one can access them to read and study. Assessment Students will write an analysis or essay comparing and contrasting significant historical documents of the United States. Students may also develop their own thesis for an essay relating to one or more of the historical documents and an aspect of its/their development, significance, characteristics, historical impact, or philosophy. 126

K-W-L Chart What I Know What I Want to Know What I Learned 127

Understanding the Meanings and Purposes of Our National Documents By Richard J. Gonzalez Senior Research Fellow, University of Texas at Austin The United States’ basic and important national documents include the Declaration of Indepen- dence of 1776, the Constitution of 1787, and the first ten amendments to the Constitution approved in 1791 known as the Bill of Rights. To understand our heritage from these documents, we must know their purposes and meanings and the reasons for use of key words and terms at that time. Such knowledge is essential for continuing appreciation of and adherence to the principles of government responsible for the remarkable progress achieved by the people of this nation in two centuries. The Declaration of Independence established the reasons and philosophical basis for a new form of government based on the principles that all people have equal rights and that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the people. The Constitution of 1787 enumerated the specific limited rights of the national government. The Bill of Rights emphasized the limited authority of the national government by stating that all other powers are reserved to the states or to the people. (Article X) The Declaration of Independence A New Form of Government Through the eighteenth century, many countries were ruled by kings. Kings were believed to have “Divine Rights” from God, and the people had only the limited rights granted to them by the king as their ruler. The powers of the king of Great Britain at that time had been limited by the Magna Carta of 1215 and the English Bill of Rights of 1689 but were still very great. The British government also supported the national Church of England. During this time, many people initially traveled to the English colonies in America in order to find religious, social, and economic freedoms and opportunities and a new, better way of life. When the colonial founders of the United States of America declared their independence from Great Britain, they knew that they were starting a new form of government that had never existed before in order to replace the traditional form of government up to that time in many countries. Such an unprecedented idea was later reflected and printed on U. S. money in the Latin words, “NOVUS ORDO SECLORUM,” meaning “a new order of the ages.” Equal and Inalienable Rights The Declaration of Independence departed from the traditional idea of special rights for the king and the aristocracy and their children and expressed the principle of equal rights for all by birth. The British Parliament, for example, consisted of a House of Lords and a House of Commons, a system reflecting differences in the rights of a hereditary aristocracy from those of the common people. Trial by jury of peers meant that commoners could not try members of the aristocracy since a peer in that case meant another member of the British nobility. (Today the common meaning of the word “peer” now is quite different from that during the eighteenth century.) The Declaration set forth a new principle, holding it 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.” This revolutionary statement expressed the principle and belief of the equal rights of all men and that freedom itself was, philosophically, a gift from God and not “parceled out” by a king or government as a vested right that could be withdrawn at the whim of a monarch or government. Understanding the Meanings and Purposes of Our National Documents  American Heritage Education Foundation, Inc. pg 1 128

A Nation Under God Referring to “Nature’s God,” to a “Creator” who endows everyone with the same fundamental rights, to the “Supreme Judge of the world,” and to “Divine Providence,” the Declaration of Inde- pendence expressed an accepted belief in or acknowledgement of a Creator and Supreme Judge of nature and mankind. This belief or acknowledgement became a premise for establishing a government and country where all human beings have the same rights (and accountabilities) granted by and under God, not by another man. As such, through the Declaration, the founders of this nation established a new government founded on and respecting the equal rights of all the people. The U. S. Constitution The Purpose of the Constitution of 1787 In 1787 representatives or delegates from the states came together for a Constitutional Conven- tion to develop a constitution for the new nation. George Washington called the work of the Constitutional Convention a miracle. The miracle of the convention was that thirteen states with widely divergent interests agreed on a constitution providing for an effective but strictly limited federal government that would protect the nation and the rights of the people and of the states. The Constitution was ratified in 1788. The Constitution specifies how it may be amended by Congress or by action of the states as when amendments are ratified by three-fourths of the states. Today, Constitution Week celebrates the anniversary of agreement in 1787 on the Consti- tution submitted to the thirteen states for ratification. The Constitution was intended to provide for national unity without authorizing the federal government to impose uniform national standards which fail to take into account significant differences among the states and among the multitude of local government units that warrant reasonable local regulation in keeping with local conditions and the will of the people. Many people wanted to be assured that the federal government would not encroach on the rights of the states. The Constitution was designed to protect the liberty of the people by placing strict limits on the authority granted to the federal government and by reserving all other authority to the state and local governments which would be subject to better control by the people. In keeping with the basic principles of the Declaration of Independence that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, the Preamble, which introduces the Constitu- tion, states six purposes of the Constitution and, consequently, the reasons for establishing a federal government and defining its limited authority and the way it is to operate: “We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish the Constitution for the United States of America.” Conditions prevailing at the time are the basis for understanding the meaning of these purposes. 1. To Form a More Perfect Union The first purpose of the Constitution is “in order to form a more perfect union.” Under the previous national governing agreement, the Articles of Confederation, the states had granted little authority to the Continental Congress and acted practically as independent nations, with some states imposing restrictions on trade with other states. The War of Independence, for instance, had been conducted under the Articles of Confederation. The agreement made the federal government dependent on the willingness of each state to pay its share of the cost of the war. Article III of the Constitution later called the Confederation a “league of friendship” for common defense. Failure of the states to provide sufficient funds forced the use of paper money to finance the war Understanding the Meanings and Purposes of Our National Documents  American Heritage Education Foundation, Inc. pg 2 129

and caused a sharp decline in the value of the dollar, which led to the expression, “Not worth a Continental.” Some national leaders recognized the need for a stronger national government. A convention at Annapolis in 1786 adopted a resolution calling for a meeting “to render the constitution of the federal government adequate to the exigencies of the Union.” In February 1787, the Continental Congress invited all states to send delegates to a convention at Philadelphia in the spring of that year for the purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation. All the states except Rhode Island sent delegates to the Constitutional Convention which met in Philadelphia in May and completed its work in four months on September 17, 1787. The Constitution was ratified on 1788. The Constitution was designed to create a federal system of government to replace the weak central government that had previously united the thirteen states. The Constitution defined and limited the powers of the national government. The Constitution authorized the federal government to levy taxes to pay for carrying out the duties assigned to it in order to form a more perfect union. It also defined what the states could and could not do and guaranteed “to every State in the Union a republican form of government.” (Article IV, Section 4) Thus, we regularly pledge as citizens “allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands.” By the term “republic” the Constitution means the system of government in which legislative authority is entrusted by the voters to elected representatives who are expected to use their best judgment as to what serves the interests of all the people. Congress is charged with acting in the national interest by serving the interests of its people consistent with the national interest. The War Between the States prevented the secession of the southern states and established that the national interest is supreme in case of a conflict with the interest of a state. Our system provides for democratic elections of responsible representatives charged with serving the best interests of the people of this nation and of the states by the decision-making process of a republican form of government limited by a Constitution. 2. To Establish Justice The second purpose of the Constitution is to “establish justice” which would apply uniformly to people in all of the states. The Constitution provided for trial by jury and for a system of federal courts, including a Supreme Court, as part of the system of division of authority among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government. This system of checks and balances was designed to prevent concentration of power which could endanger the rights of the states and of the people. The Constitution established federal courts to supplement the work of state courts and deal with all cases arising under the Constitution and laws of the United States. The inscrip- tion carved above the entrance to the Supreme Court, “Equal Justice Under Law,” indicates the concept of a government operating under constitutional laws and equal justice for all. 3. To Insure Domestic Tranquility The third purpose of the Constitution is to “insure domestic tranquility” in order to protect people against civil disorder. Insurrection in Massachusetts in 1786 led by Daniel Shays was a factor contributing to awareness of the need for a national government that would establish justice and insure domestic tranquility. In what became known as Shay’s Rebellion, farmers objecting to high taxes on land and debtors seeking to prevent foreclosure on mortgages participated in armed insurrection. They interfered with and prevented the sitting of state courts and attacked a federal arsenal. The federal government was granted authority by the Constitution to protect the states against domestic violence and civil disorder on application by the legislature or the executive of the state when a state called for help maintaining order. 4. To Provide for the Common Defense The fourth purpose of the Constitution is “to provide for the common defense.” Failure of the Understanding the Meanings and Purposes of Our National Documents  American Heritage Education Foundation, Inc. pg 3 130

states to provide adequate financial support for the military forces in the War of Independence had made clear the weakness of a national government that could only ask the states for money but could not levy direct taxes. To correct this problem, the Constitution provided that Congress had power to collect taxes to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States. It also provided that measures to raise revenue for the national government should be uniform throughout the United States. 5. To Promote the General Welfare The fifth purpose of the Constitution is to “promote the general welfare.” It was designed to emphasize that all actions of the federal government should serve the interests and promote the general welfare of all of the people of the United States rather than favor the interests of any particular state, region, or class of citizens. This provision was designed to require that legislation by Congress should give people in all of the states the opportunity to fare well in their efforts to improve life for themselves and their posterity. At the time of the Constitution, the term “welfare” did not have the meaning that it has acquired in recent decades in this century as governmental aid to the needy. Before and for a long time after adoption of the Constitution, charity and taking care of the poor, sick, and elderly who were unable to support themselves was considered the responsibility of families, neighbors, churches, and local governments and committees, not of the federal government. 6. To Secure the Blessings of Liberty The sixth important purpose of the Constitution is to “secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.” The term liberty meant freedom from the oppressive taxation and regulation of the people by governments such as that which had caused the colonies to declare their independence from Great Britain. This purpose affirmed the principle of the Declaration of Independence that we are all endowed by our Creator with the same unalienable rights, including life, liberty, and the opportunity to seek happiness through our own efforts without interfering with the rights of others. The Constitution made clear that the only power of the government was that granted to it by the people. The people rejected the theory prevalent in other countries at that time of the “Divine Right” of kings and that people had only such rights as the king, as head of the state, granted to them. Based on principles set forth in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution rejected the concept of an aristocracy with special rights by providing that “No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States.” (Article I, Section 9) The Constitution provided for election of national and state officials by the people. It also limited the power of democratically elected officials to make sure that majorities could not deprive minorities of their constitutional rights. The Constitution required that the states also should define the limited authority of elected officials in order to protect the rights of the people. At the time the Constitution was written, the quest for and value of freedom was prominent in the minds of many leaders and as displayed on national symbols. In a speech in Parliament favoring conciliation with the Colonies, Edmund Burke said, “In the character of the Americans, a love of freedom is the predominating feature which marks and distinguishes the whole.” In a statement on the rights of British America in 1774, Thomas Jefferson said, “The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time.” The Liberty Bell installed at Philadelphia in Independence Hall in 1753 had inscribed on it these words from the Bible: “Proclaim Liberty throughout all the land to all the inhabitants thereof” (Leviticus 25:10). The Constitution also granted to Congress the power “to promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.” Copyrights and patents issued by the federal government were intended to reward people for special contributions considered of benefit to the nation. The Understanding the Meanings and Purposes of Our National Documents  American Heritage Education Foundation, Inc. pg 4 131

combination of freedom for people to decide how to work for improvement of their lives with minimum government interference and taxation and of opportunity to enjoy the reward of good efforts unleashed the creative and productive powers of the people, attracted the most enterprising people from other countries, and produced remarkable economic progress that raised the nation to a position of leadership in the world in the first quarter of the 20th century. Limits on the Role of Government in Religion In the eighteenth century, it was common practice for governments to have an official national church supported with tax revenues, such as the Church of England. People could be punished for being dissenters from the “established” church. In early America, nine of the colonies had official churches, and Connecticut and Massachusetts kept their established churches until 1819 and 1833. But while some states in early America had state-supported churches, none of the states wanted to grant congress the right to establish a church which all of them would have to support. As different religions were dominant in the thirteen states, the people did not want the national government to interfere with their free exercise of their chosen religions. For these reasons, Article VI of the Constitution was created and provides that “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” Later, in 1791, the First Amendment of the Constitution, as part of the Bill of Rights, was approved, stating, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” This amendment protected the people against the establishment of an official national church supported by their taxes and assured their freedom in practicing any religion if they wished to do so. Eventually, official churches in various states were done away with. Current references to separation of church and state are often based not on the Constitution but on a statement in a letter written by Thomas Jefferson in 1802 in which he offered, given the conditions of his time, that the church should be separate from the state and that no specific religion should be supported by the state. Jefferson’s letter was to the Danbury, Connecticut Baptist Convention and was intended to calm the Baptists’ concern, assuring that the national government and congress would not 1) establish a national religion or 2) interfere with the business or activities of any religious group. The founders of our nation and authors of our Declara- tion did not want government to interfere with religious liberty but agreed on the importance of religion and religious principles for good government and human happiness. The First Amend- ment protects the free exercise of religion. Nothing in the Constitution exists about the separation of church and state often referred to by people who do not understand the meaning of the words “establishment of religion.” In fact, since the writing in the Declaration of a “Creator,” a national recognition of faith in a Creator, in God has continued throughout the history of the United States under the right of the free exercise of religion guaranteed by the First Amendment of the Constitution. The Northwest Ordinance of July 1787 included the statement that good government and the happiness of mankind depend on “religion, morality, and knowledge.” President Washington proclaimed the first national Thanksgiving in 1789, the year of his inauguration. Thanksgiving has been an official national holiday since 1863 when President Lincoln set the last Thursday of November for this celebration. He chose Thursday rather than Sunday or Saturday to encourage all people to join in a national day of thanksgiving and faith separate from sectarian religious beliefs. President Lincoln also used the words “this nation under God” in his Gettysburg Address in 1863. Congress added the words “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954. The words “In God We Trust” appear on the coins and bills issued by the United States Treasury. The Bill of Rights To secure approval of the proposed Constitution, promises were made that a Bill of Rights would be added to the Constitution to protect people against actions by the national government similar to the abuses experienced under eighteenth-century British rule. In ratifying the Constitution, Understanding the Meanings and Purposes of Our National Documents  American Heritage Education Foundation, Inc. pg 5 132

Massachusetts, New York, and Virginia proposed amendments to insure protection of individual rights and liberties, which later became the basis for the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments submitted to the states by the first Congress and ratified in 1791. Also to encourage approval of the Constitution, the founders and early colonists had to accept the ownership of slaves in the southern states, but they expected the practice to be abolished in time because it was not consistent with the principles of the Constitution. (The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 limited the spread of slavery across the country by prohibiting slavery in territory west of the Appalachians controlled by the national government.) Ratified by the states in 1791, the first ten amendments to the Constitution are known as the Bill of Rights because they define clearly the rights of people and the states which the federal government must respect. For example, the First Amendment assured freedom of religion, speech, the press, peaceable assembly, and the right to petition government for the redress of grievances. The Fifth Amendment provided protection against self-incrimination; being deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; the taking of private property for public use without just compensation; excessive bail and fines; and cruel and unusual punishment. Other amendments assured the right of the people to keep and bear arms and to a speedy public trial by jury in criminal cases. They also protected people against double jeopardy for the same offense and against peacetime quartering of troops without consent. The final amendments emphasized that the people retained all rights not specifically granted to the national government. The Tenth Amendment in the Bill of Rights makes clear the limits placed on the federal government by providing that “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.” Number 45 in the Federalist papers published to encourage approval of the proposed Constitution stated, “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution are few and limited” and “will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation and foreign commerce.” It also stated, “The powers reserved to the several states will extend to all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberty, and properties of the people, and the internal order, improvement and prosperity of the State.” This Constitutional division of authority placed responsibility on local and state governments for such matters affecting the public as education, public health, and laws about control of traffic, gambling, and the sale of alcoholic beverages. For example, some counties prohibited the sale of liquor. Conclusion We seldom give much thought to the importance of our national documents such as the Declara- tion of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights in the remarkable progress of the people of the United States in two centuries. We as a people would be wise to devote more attention to the key role of the Declaration of Independence, the U. S. Constitution, and our other important national documents in the progress and prosperity of the people of this great nation. To secure continuation of the blessings of liberty and progress to ourselves and our posterity, all of us should improve our knowledge and understanding of the meanings and significances of our national documents and dedicate ourselves to support and defend their basic principles. Understanding the Meanings and Purposes of Our National Documents  American Heritage Education Foundation, Inc. pg 6 133

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★ Entrepreneurs in History ★ Purpose about the study of human growth and The purpose of this lesson is to teach the development.... philosophical roots of the United States of VIg. evaluate the role of technology...as it America that released the ingenuity of the contributes to or helps resolve conflicts. individual. The biographies of Vanderbilt, VIIh. apply economic concepts and reasoning Carnegie, Hill, and Rockefeller illustrate when evaluating historical and contemporary the impact of providing freedom of social developments and issues. expression to entrepreneurs, allowing VIIIa. identify and describe...current and them to gain or lose economically based on historical examples of the interaction and interdependence of science, technology, and the response of the market. society.... VIIIb. make judgements about how science Objective and technology have transformed the physical The student will identify the contributions world and human society and our of entrepreneurs from United States understanding of time, space, place, and history. human-environment interactions. VIIIc. analyze how science and technology influence the core values, beliefs, and Theme-Progress attitudes of society, and how...values...shape The captains of industry were interested in scientific and technological change. economic progress for the nation. The change in industry that occurs over time is a result of the decisions people make, and Time laws can be written to deal with new and 2 class periods different issues that occur because of the progress of the nation. Materials ★ Entrepreneurs in History biographies NCSS Standards ★ Group Activity instruction sheets IIc. identify and describe significant historical ★ Art supplies periods and patterns of change within and ★ Website - www.americanheritage.org across cultures.... IIIg. describe and compare how people create places that reflect culture, human Preparation needs, government policy, and current ★ Copy biographies and group instruction values and ideals.... sheets for individual or groups. IVd. apply concepts, methods, and theories ★ Gather art supplies. Focus Write the word “entrepreneur” on the board. Ask students to tell what they know about the word. Have them look it up in the dictionary. List examples of famous contemporary entrepreneurs and their businesses. Discuss the kinds of entrepreneurs that students might find in their own communities. Explain to students that entrepreneurial activity has contributed to the growth and prosperity of the United States throughout its history. In this lesson, students will learn about important entrepreneurs from the past that have contributed to our growth and success as a nation. (See Links page on www.americanheritage.org for additional resources on entreprenuership and important American entreprenuers.) 135

Activity 1. Introduce the biographies to the students. Have students read the biographies either individually or in groups. Discuss characteristics of entrepreneurs and innovators. Students may think of additional entrepreneurs in history or in contemporary American life that reflect these characteristics. What do students learn from these individuals? 2. Divide students into groups to work, and assign or have students choose the entrepreneur they will focus on in their project. Distribute the Entrepreneur Group Project instruction sheets. Read and discuss the instructions with the class and complete the project accordingly. Students present and answer questions. (See Links page on www.americanheritage.org for additional resources on entrepreneurs.) 3. Discuss the concepts and value of creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Students may write in a journal entry or essay their definition and view of one or more of these concepts and/or how they are a part of the American way of life. 4. Discuss basic principles of American capitalism and market economy. Can any relationships be identified between the American economic approach and entrepreneurship and innovation? Between the American economic approach and democratic ideals? Students may hold a forum to discuss these issues and identified relationships. Students may write a journal entry response or essay on one of these issues. (See Links on www.americanheritage.org for additional resources on American economics.) Closure Remind students that entrepreneurial activity is an important part of our history. Entrepreneurs past and present have contributed much to the growth and prosperity of our nation. Assessment Write an essay describing characteristics of entrepreneurs from the past that would still contribute to success in the 21st century. 136

Entrepreneur Group Project 1. Read and discuss. Research and read the biography and other resources of your entrepreneur. Discuss interesting and important information with your group. Define unfamiliar vocabulary and terms. Make a list of other things you would like to know about the entrepreneur. Develop a resarch plan and project idea presenting the entrepreneur creatively and informatively, including points or features of signficance or noteworthiness. Students may choose oneof the four entrepreneurs in the readings or another important entrepreneur in American history. 2. Choose a format. Discuss with your group the format for your project. You might create a magazine article, a newspaper, a textbook chapter, or something else. As a group, agree on the format you will use. 3. Assign roles and responsibilities. Decide who will be responsible for each part of the project. Remember to include research, writing, design, layout, artwork, graphics, editing, and any other aspects important to your project. 4. Draft design. Do a rough draft of the design. Decide how many pages you will need. Decide where to place text, titles, pictures, and graphics. Be sure to know who will be responsible for each part. 5. Gather materials. Gather everything you will need to create your project including any resource materials and art supplies. 6. Produce final project. Do the actual writing and other work. Each person needs to complete the work that he or she was assigned. Begin with a rough draft of each section and work through to the final product. Be sure to check each other’s work. 7. Present to class. Decide how you will present your project to the class. Be sure to include important and interesting information about the entrepreneur you researched. If the final product can be copied, you may want to provide copies for the class. 137

Cornelius Vanderbilt The Monopoly Buster (1794—1877) M any people know about Robert to run faster, last longer, and consume Fulton, the man who built and less fuel. As a result, he was able to charge operated America’s first lower rates and attract more passengers steamboat, the Clermont. But do they know than most of his competitors. In the 1830s the rest of the story of how America he cut the standard New York to Albany conquered the waves? In 1817, a young man fare from $3.00 to $1.00, and finally to named Cornelius Vanderbilt piloted the nothing! He sold meals on his boats and first steamboat line to compete with found he could make a better profit from Fulton’s. The state of New York had full boats of hungry passengers than he granted Fulton an exclusive privilege to could by charging for the passage. Always run steamboats on the Hudson River, but looking for ways to satisfy the customer Vanderbilt and his better, Vanderbilt boss Thomas actually helped Gibbons thought invent the potato such a monopoly chip to serve as a was unfair. snack on his boats. Eluding the law By the 1840s, for sixty days, boatbuilding V a n d e r b i l t technology had s p e e d e d improved so much passengers up that steamboats had and down the become steamships, Hudson for fares many times bigger much lower than than Fulton’s Fulton’s. As a Clermont and sturdy statement of civil enough to cross the disobedience to the unfair law, he flew a Atlantic. Edward Collins wanted to be the flag that read “New Jersey Must Be Free.” first American to carry passengers between Thanks to his legal challenge, the New York and England entirely under Supreme Court ruled that the law that steam power, and he had an idea of how gave Fulton a monopoly was he might accomplish the difficult (and unconstitutional. Citizens living along the costly) feat. He approached Congress with Hudson hailed Vanderbilt as a hero, and an offer: for $3 million down and $385,000 he decided to leave his job as a pilot to a year, he would build five ships and make start his own steamboat line. He bimonthly trips carrying constantly researched better designs that would allow his boats 138

★ Cornelius Vanderbilt: The Monopoly Buster Vanderbilt anderbilt: ★ continued mail and passengers. This was perhaps the fuel. To keep his revenues high, he equivalent of a businessman today asking introduced low third class fares that even Congress for a few billion dollars to build people of modest income could afford, so he his own space shuttle. But Congress was not packed his ships with passengers. to be outdone by the English government, Collins became desperate. Two of his which was already subsidizing an accident-prone ships sank, killing almost Englishman named Cunard to run a 500 passengers. Congress reluctantly paid transatlantic line. They approved the deal him over a million dollars to build a gigantic and Collins started building an impressive replacement. Meanwhile, Vanderbilt fleet. continued to lower his fares and improve his Commodore Vanderbilt watched as service. When Collins’ poorly constructed Collins built four luxurious steamliners (not ship had to be scrapped at a $900,000 loss the promised five) and started carrying after only two trips, Congress finally realized wealthy passengers to England and back. He their mistake. “The whole system was wrong,” noticed that Collins’ ships were poorly built said Senator Robert Hunter of Virginia: “it (though elegant and fabulous to look at) and ought to have been left, like any other trade, that they burned too much coal to be to competition.” They revoked Collins’ aid profitable, even with the government and left him to compete with Vanderbilt on subsidies. In fact, Collins had to plead for his own. Says historian Burton Folsom, bigger subsidies every few years in order to “Collins quickly went bankrupt, and keep his line afloat. Vanderbilt became the leading American This situation bothered Vanderbilt. steamship operator.” He offered to run his own line to England With the California Gold Rush in with less than half of the government money 1849, thousands of men headed West and Collins was accepting. But Congress did not Vanderbilt saw a new opportunity. With the want to admit it was wrong about supporting conviction that there was more gold to be Collins, who lavishly dined and entertained made in steamships than in the hills of Washington politicians on several occasions. California, he set out to establish a new line The subsidies continued to increase. Finally, from New York to San Francisco. Congress Vanderbilt decided to challenge Collins had quickly forgotten any lessons that might without any subsidy at all. To keep costs have been learned from the Collins subsidies, low he built seaworthy ships that required and Vanderbilt found himself in competition little maintenance and sliced through the with two heavily subsidized competitors that waves without as much carried passengers and 139

★ Cornelius Vanderbilt: The Monopoly Buster Vanderbilt anderbilt: ★ continued mail through the Panama Canal. He stage in his career. Once the Civil War slashed his fares to one fourth of those had ended, he sold his steamships and that the subsidized lines charged and cut began to invest in railroads. His business 500 miles off the route by building a canal philosophy remained the same: seek out through Nicaragua. Hoping to demonstrate markets that are poorly served by other once and for all the corruption and companies and inject new competition by foolishness of using the taxpayers’ money offering lower rates and better service. to fund inefficient There is little doubt that he enterprises, Vanderbilt was found his share of corrupt appalled to learn that the competitors, many of which competition had tested his entrepreneurial successfully lobbied skills to their limits. Congress for an 80 percent Vanderbilt invested increase in their subsidy! heavily in the Erie Railroad, run The Commodore was by financiers James Fisk, Daniel undaunted, even when Drew, and Jay Gould, whose political instability in main strategy to keep the line Nicaragua forced him to profitable was to use politics to abandon his canal. He keep competitors at bay. switched to the longer Vanderbilt wanted a different Panama route and cut his approach and he began to buy fares even more aggressively. up stock so that he would have But when he was offered a controlling interest in the Erie. $672,000 by his competitors Gould, Fisk, and Drew would if he would quietly leave the have nothing of it and New York-California route, he manipulated the company’s accepted the offer. This stock to prevent Vanderbilt from uncharacteristic move drew gaining control. They “watered criticism. However, it is likely down” the stock by flooding the that Vanderbilt thought that market with new illegitimate this was the best way to shares that Vanderbilt would expose the corruption of the have to buy up if he wanted the subsidy system, since the company. This practice was, of payment he was offered was course, illegal, but they managed fully three-fourths of what to get away with it by pulling Congress paid the other lines strings in the legislature. A each year. Congress ended special law was passed that the subsidies when it saw the glaring effectively legalized their action contrast between Vanderbilt’s efficient and stopped Vanderbilt’s “hostile” takeover service to consumers and the back-room of the Erie. dealing the other lines engaged in at the Never one to be daunted by such public’s expense. tactics, the Commodore took a different It is also likely that Vanderbilt was approach. Buying up several smaller lines starting to leave the steamship industry and building some new ones, he assembled anyway because he saw a new business the New York Central railroad to compete frontier to explore and was preparing a new head 140

★ Cornelius Vanderbilt: The Monopoly Buster Vanderbilt anderbilt: ★ continued to head with the Erie on the profitable New York Evening Post dubbed him “the York to Chicago route. Adopting his classic greatest practical anti-monopolist in the tactic of undercutting the competition’s country.” This in many respects describes rates, Vanderbilt forced the Erie to play his his entire life as a businessman. If he could game. With each successive month the be said to be “ruthless” (and he was often Central and the Erie announced new so described) his ruthlessness was only rounds of rate cuts. Each line tried to toward those who thought to profit through capture the market for freight and inefficiency or extortion of the public. passengers and to force its competitor to Vanderbilt’s wealth was always a reward relent. Soon the going rate for shipping for giving the common man choices cattle from the Chicago stockyards to New previously available mainly to the York had fallen from several dollars per wealthier classes, including opportunities head to only 25 cents. No matter how to travel to start a new life in a land of efficient they were, neither railroad was opportunity, or simply to find a market for likely to have kept its rates this low for long, the fruits of his labor. so when the Erie dropped its rate to 10 Vanderbilt was not a perfect man. cents a head, Vanderbilt let them believe His manner was often vulgar and coarse they had won the price war. What Gould and he mistreated his family, disinheriting and company soon learned, though, was his own son and once committing his wife that Vanderbilt had bought every head of to an asylum for a time following an cattle he could get his hands on in Chicago argument. But much can be learned from and shipped them all over the Erie—making his business integrity and “can-do” an enormous profit, thanks to the 10 cent persistence, which defined true rate! Although the rates went back up entrepreneurship for generations of when the Erie owners realized they had businesspeople to come. These character been outsmarted, they stayed much lower traits enabled Vanderbilt to become the than before Vanderbilt’s arrival in the wealthiest man of his day, accumulating market, and commerce between New York an estate worth almost $100 million. In and Chicago prospered. addition to his service as an entrepreneur, Cornelius Vanderbilt was a fearsome he also set a precedent as a great competitor and a tenacious businessman, philanthropist in his later years. Among but the public at large was always the his many endowments was one of a million beneficiary of his drive to succeed. Early dollars to establish Vanderbilt University, in Vanderbilt’s career as a boatman, the still one of the finest universities in the New country. Additional Readings ★ Croffut, William A. The Vanderbilts and the Story of Their Fortune. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1962. ★ Folsom, Jr., Burton, W. The Myth of the Robber Barons. Herndon, VA: Young America’s Foundation, 1991. ★ Lane, Wheaton J. Commodore Vanderbilt: An Epic of the Steam Age. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1942. 141

Andrew Carnegie The Steel King (1835-1919) freedom even the poorest had a chance to W hen twelve-year-old Andrew Carnegie stepped off the ship succeed. What accounts for Carnegie’s with his parents onto the extraordinary success? Many of the bustling, chaotic streets of New York City in characteristics that distinguished him as the 1848, there was not much to distinguish him head of Carnegie Steel can be observed in from the other 150,000 Scottish immigrants his teenage years. Within a few weeks of who made the arduous 50-day voyage that arriving at their destination in Pittsburgh, year. Like most of those who came, he and Pennsylvania, the young Carnegie found a his family were destitute and weak from job as a bobbin boy in a local textile mill for hunger, but they carried a hope of building $1.20 a week. “I have made millions since,” a better life in America. His father, like the Carnegie later wrote, “but none of these gave fathers of many other Scottish boys his age, me so much happiness as my first week’s was a weaver whose skills with a handloom earnings. I was now a helper of the family, a had once commanded a respectable income; bread winner.” But he was determined to however, machines could now do the work do better. So after a twelve-hour day tending of weavers more cheaply. boilers and oil vats in the mill, Carnegie took While most of the immigrants of his night classes in bookkeeping. generation would succeed in finding Soon he found a job as a messenger boy economic opportunity and a better living for a telegraph company—the first of many standard in their adopted country, the young career moves that illustrated Carnegie’s Carnegie would prove himself quite special unfailing knack for recognizing new products in this regard. Where his father saw only or services that would open still greater hopelessness in the changing economy, possibilities for him in the future. The Andy saw boundless opportunity. By the age telegraph was the electronic “nervous of 28, Carnegie would have an annual system” of the new industrial world, much income of over $48,000 (comparable to like the Internet in today’s economy. In his someone making $400,000 a year today). At rounds delivering telegrams, he made it his retirement in 1901, his holdings in America’s goal to learn about every business in largest steel company, Carnegie Steel, would Pittsburgh and to know the name and face be valued at about one sixtieth of what the of every proprietor. He spent his time in the entire population of the United States would office learning the art of telegraphy. Still a earn that year, and he would be called “the young teenager, he quickly surpassed the richest man in the world.” older operators by becoming one of the first Andrew Carnegie defined the American Americans to read telegraph code by ear as dream: the belief that in an atmosphere of it came over the line rather than by 142

Andrew ★ Andrew Carnegie: The Steel King ★ continued reading the tape. Bright and observant, sophisticated railroad operation in the Carnegie soon had an encyclopedic country. Within a year, Carnegie was knowledge of the commercial affairs of nearly regularly entrusted with the operation of the every businessman in the city—who railroad and was rapidly becoming succeeded, who failed, and how it all indispensable to his boss. happened—since this information passed Scott taught the young Carnegie some through his hands daily. At the same time important lessons about business and he continued his schooling, studying history money. Businesses in those days were at night and reading the classics on the mostly run according to traditions and rules weekends. of thumb. Railroads were far too complex If the telegraph was the nervous system and far-flung to operate on such a basis, as of the new American economy, its circulatory shown by the many railroads that failed in system was the the early years of the industry. The railroads. Railroads Pennsylvania’s pumped workers success lay in its and capital from care to record the cities to the every revenue countryside while and expenditure raw materials in minute detail circulated from the so that business countryside back to practices and the cities. It wasn’t performance long before could constantly Carnegie was be evaluated and working as a improved. Scott telegraph operator used the data to for the western promote and fire division of the supervisors as Pennsylvania well. Those who Railroad, where he found ways to caught the eye of reduce costs were its superintendent, Tom Scott. One morning, rewarded with higher pay and greater Carnegie arrived early at the office to find responsibility, while those who failed to do that a derailment had brought all rail traffic so were told to find a way to save money or to a standstill. Scott had not appeared yet, to get a new job. When Carnegie formed his so the nineteen-year-old operator quickly own company later in life, he was well-known sized up the situation and fired off several for rewarding workers for their productivity orders that got the traffic moving again. Only without regard for their family background the superintendent was authorized to give or the length of time they had been employed such orders, so he signed the messages by him. Anyone who was alert, hard working, “T.A.S.” When Scott arrived at the office he and creative in dealing with problems had was shocked to realize that the young man the opportunity to excel in this environment. not only had mastered the telegraph Charles Schwab, a poor but ambitious young operations, but also had a mental blueprint immigrant who started as a dollar-a-day of every track, siding, switch, and station on stake driver in one of Carnegie’s steel mills, the most became an assistant 143

Andrew ★ Andrew Carnegie: The Steel King ★ continued to the supervisor in six months, and a building, and iron, it was steel that would partner in the company soon after that. become Carnegie’s life—steel for rails, steel Carnegie’s time with the Pennsylvania for shipbuilding, and steel for constructing Railroad taught him another principle that the new buildings that were reaching for the contemporaries like Cornelius Vanderbilt sky. His tireless attention to cost-cutting and and John D. Rockefeller were learning. endless innovation made Carnegie Steel a Profits were made not by charging the formidable competitor that soon became the highest price the market would bear, but largest steel company in the world. His motto by keeping prices low and demand high. was “mind the costs and the profits will take Whether he was running trains or blast care of themselves.” He expected—and furnaces, this idea helped him to “run them rewarded—creativity in discovering new ways full and run them fast” so that he got the to make better steel with less waste. most out of his investment. While some Employees who proved themselves to be entrepreneurs of his day tried to form “pools” problem-solvers were not only promoted; to reduce competition and they were made partners in keep prices high, Carnegie the company—a practice typically foiled their plans unheard of in the corporate by “scooping the market” America of his day. and stealing their Carnegie’s attitude customers with his low toward wealth was also prices. He was among the unusual. He rarely allowed first businesses to hire Carnegie Steel to pay scientists to perform dividends to him or any of the research and development other stockholders, despite in order to be able to offer the enormous profits that the best products and were generated by the services at the lowest company’s efficiency and prices. creativity. Instead, these Carnegie was not only profits were plowed back into an extraordinary the company to buy better businessman but was also equipment and acquire new a brilliant capitalist. By facilities. Carnegie was far 1865, when he was offered the position of more interested in becoming the best general superintendent to the entire steelmaker the world had known than to lead Pennsylvania Railroad system, he had a life of extravagant leisure. To a large extent, parlayed his money into investments that it was his love of the process of making paid him an annual income many times the money, not the love of the money itself, which amount of his salary with the railroad. He made him such a success. resigned from the railroad and for a time Most surprising to the workers and devoted his attention to financing other businessman of his day, Carnegie was a vocal peoples’ ventures. Although he was champion of labor rights. In his day, labor successful at finance, Carnegie wanted to unions were widely considered to be be making things himself, not merely dangerous intrusions on the rights of factory profiting from helping others to make things. owners. If workers went on strike to demand After successful, but short-term higher wages or shorter hours, it experiments in oil, railroading, bridge- 144

Andrew ★ Andrew Carnegie: The Steel King ★ continued was normal for owners to hire new workers to help bring in replacement workers— rather than to negotiate with the unions. apparently with Carnegie’s support. When Carnegie wrote that workers had as much the strikers were tipped off about Frick’s right to organize as did businessmen, and action, a violent clash between the publicly objected to the practice of breaking Pinkertons and the strikers erupted. Three strikes by hiring new workers. He invented strikers and seven Pinkertons were killed, the concept of profit sharing as a method of and dozens of other guards were savagely encouraging productivity and maintaining beaten when they tried to enter the factory. harmony between his own workers and the The violence of the strikers dampened public Carnegie Steel partners. This is not to say sympathy for the labor movement, but the he was soft in his bargains with labor, greatest target of public anger was Carnegie, however. High wages were reserved for those who was viewed as a hypocrite and a moral who performed exceptionally—they were not coward. a right that anyone could claim, certainly not Carnegie was deeply hurt, both by the by striking or threatening violence as some appalling violence of the fight and by his own workers were doing elsewhere. If workers disgrace in the public eye. Only when he took went on strike, Carnegie instructed his men his most extraordinary step many years later to lock the plant down and wait until the did the public again remember him for his workers were ready to accept a settlement benevolence rather than for the Homestead on his own terms. Such a policy toward labor incident. When Carnegie Steel had reached seems harsh by comparison with modern the peak of its success, Carnegie fulfilled a labor relations, but in the 19 th century promise he had made many years earlier. Carnegie’s willingness to lose hundreds of He sold his entire controlling interest in thousands of dollars during a shutdown Carnegie Steel to financier J. P. Morgan, left rather than hire strikebreakers was business completely, and occupied himself considered extraordinary. full-time with philanthropy. Carnegie never Unfortunately, as much as Carnegie touched the money he made in the sale of wanted to be admired for his enlightened Carnegie Steel. As he had promised, he gave attitude toward labor, he did not always every penny of it away to the worthiest demonstrate the courage of his convictions. causes he could find. Carnegie built many His idealistic publications and speeches were dozens of university buildings, concert halls, an embarrassment to many of his partners and churches, but free libraries especially who considered his views to invite more labor appealed to his belief in self-improvement trouble. When a strike occurred at the and were among the greatest recipients of Homestead steelworks, Carnegie was his generosity. In the end, his fondest hope travelling abroad, and Chairman Henry Clay was that others would be able to share the Frick handled the dispute in his own way. American dream—a dream that Carnegie Frick hired 300 armed guards from the himself had pioneered. notorious Pinkerton Detective Agency Additional Readings ★ Hendrick, Burton J. The Life of Andrew Carnegie. New York, 1932. ★ Livesay, Harold C. Andrew Carnegie and the Rise of Big Business. Glenview, IL: Scott Foresman and Co., 1975. ★ Wall, Joseph Frasier. Andrew Carnegie. New York: Oxford University Press, 1970. 145

James J. Hill The Empire Builder (1838—1916) T he story of the first and greed were simply the price of having a transcontinental railroads is “free market” system—and justification for a dramatic tale that is familiar even more government intervention in the to many. Two great railroad lines—the Union economy. Pacific building from the East and the This argument ignores the fact that Central Pacific building from California—laid government financing and regulation kept thousands of miles of track, battling the first transcontinentals from operating in marauding Indians, brutal weather, rugged anything remotely like a free market. But mountains, and each other. Despite even more so, it ignores the history of enormous obstacles, the two lines met at America’s most successful transcontinental Promontory Point, Utah, and celebrated the railroad and its founder James J. Hill. Hill’s completion of America’s first Great Northern Railroad was constructed transcontinental railway by driving a golden without the aid of subsidies or land grants railroad spike. The western frontier opened from the government, and according to up as a place for Americans to find new historian Burton Folsom, it was “the best opportunity and led to great economic built, the least corrupt, the most popular, growth in the 20th century. and the only transcontinental never to go This story also has a darker, less bankrupt.” How did Hill accomplish with noble side: the notorious graft, corruption, his own resources what others backed by and waste of the Union Pacific and Central the vast power of the federal government Pacific defrauded the public and poisoned could not? national politics for decades to come. Hill’s story says a great deal about Leaders of both companies collected millions how a free market system really works and of dollars in government subsidies and land the kind of character required to succeed in grants and then constructed elaborate such a system. Born in a log cabin in schemes to pour the money into their own Ontario, Canada, and beset by the early pockets rather than into the operation of the death of his father, the young James railroads. Despite the fact that federal supported his mother with a $4.00-a-month subsidies attracted more quick-buck artists job at a grocery store. After losing the use of than good railroad men, many historians his right eye in an accident, most would have argue that government support was said that his prospects for success were necessary if the first transcontinental rather bleak, but he was a risk-taker with a railroad was ever to be built. Corruption knack for creating his own opportunities. 146

★ James J. Hill: The Empire Builder ★ continued At age 17, he set out to seek his Pacific Railroad from a group of European fortune as a trader and adventurer in the bondholders who were happy to get back Orient. At first, his ambitious plan met with even a fraction of their original investment predictable obstacles and he found himself in the failed enterprise. Consisting of scarcely standing with empty pockets on a street in ten miles of patched together track, the St. St. Paul, Minnesota, instead of the deck of a Paul and Pacific had no better chance of ship to Shanghai. So, in St. Paul he took a reaching its destination in Winnipeg, Canada job as a shipping clerk and began to learn than it did of reaching the moon—or so the transportation business. thought the critics, who dubbed it “Hill’s Hill learned to buy and sell goods at a Folly” when they learned of his intention to profit, soon recognizing that finding cheaper complete it. Undaunted, Hill bought rails, ways to move them to market allowed him rolling stock, and locomotives with the seed to set attractive prices for customers while capital he and his partners had invested. He doing well for himself. With the money he hired workers and personally supervised began to save, Hill invested first in shipping them much of the time. With Hill driving and then in steam ships, but soon it was them on, the workers laid more than a mile the railroad business that caught his of track a day, reaching a branch line from imagination. Working as an agent for the Winnipeg in only a year. Two years of good struggling St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, he harvests and burgeoning immigration from saw the possibility of fueling train engines Norway and Sweden helped the new line to with coal instead of wood. Soon he found a prosper, but Hill had already set his sights partner to start a successful fuel, freighting, on a bigger goal. He took his crews west merchandising, and warehouse company. into North Dakota with plans to eventually Hill discovered that he had a talent for reach the pacific coast. recognizing opportunities in the Hill had a three-part business strategy transportation business. that set him apart from other railroad In 1878, he made a fateful leap. With builders. First, he saw that the success of the help of some Canadian friends, Hill his business depended on the success of the bought the now bankrupt St. Paul and farms and towns along his 147

★ James J. Hill: The Empire Builder ★ continued route. So he actively invested in building Finally, a major difference between the exports of each new community he Hill’s strategy and that of his competitors to linked to his line before moving farther the south was that Hill refused to seek west. The Northwest was cold, dry, and government aid in building his railroad. The barren—part of what pioneers called the Union Pacific, Central Pacific, and Northern Great American Desert. Hill was not Pacific all received millions of dollars in building his line toward thriving capital from the taxpayers, in addition to communities with warehouses of grain enormous grants of public land. Hill paid ready to be shipped—he had to help create cash for the right-of-way he used and these communities with each new length criticized those who wanted taxpayers to foot of track he laid. So he offered passage to the bill for the land and capital they required. immigrants for only $10 on the He knew that their attention to politics rather understanding that they would settle along than the efficient operation of their railroads his route. Then he invested his would ultimately be their undoing— own funds to give them every and he was right. When a sharp possible advantage for success. depression hit the nation in 1893 it From what he learned on was Hill’s line, now called the Great experimental farms that he Northern Railway Company, that established, Hill promoted the best best weathered the economic storm. farming techniques of the day. He The UP, the NP, and the Santa Fe also supplied new settlers with free cattle, railroads all went bankrupt. Meanwhile, seed, and fertilizers. “You are now our Hill continued to cut his costs and supply children,” Hill would tell them, “but we the most competitive rates. are in the same boat with you, and we Not only did Hill receive no aid from have got to prosper with you or we have the government, but the legislature was got to be poor with you.” even used as a weapon against him by his The second part of his business less-scrupulous competitors. The Northern strategy was a commitment to durability Pacific, a federally funded transcontinental and long-run efficiency in everything he run by Henry Villard, had a special did. He paid extra to import the highest dispensation to pass through Indian land. quality Bessemer rails from Europe, Hill had no such privilege, and though he knowing that the strongest rails would cut was willing to pay fair market value to the costs in the long run, resulting in a more Indians for the right-of-way, he had to seek efficient, smooth-running line. Long before permission from Congress first. Villard and his line reached the Rocky Mountains, Hill others urged their supporters in Congress had men searching the mountains for the to block Hill by denying him the right-of- route that would yield the best gradient way, and succeeded in delaying him several with the least curvature. Rediscovering times on this issue. Hill later wrote, “It the legendary Marias Pass, first described really seems hard, when we look back at by the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1805, what we have done in opening the country he cut almost one hundred miles off his and carrying at the lowest rates, that we route through western Montana. Later, should be compelled to fight political Hill’s care in finding the shortest, flattest adventurers.” who have never done route would pay off by cutting the time anything but pose and draw a salary.” required to ship goods and passengers between the coasts. 148

★ James J. Hill: The Empire Builder ★ continued Hill never lost his youthful desire manufacturers whose businesses to become a modern-day Marco Polo, benefitted. Unable to match his efficiency fostering trade between the West and in the free marketplace, they sought to exotic East Asia. When the Great Northern defeat him again in the political arena. finally reached the west coast of the The Interstate Commerce Commission and United States, he put his mind to how this the Sherman Anti-trust Act were laws that might be done. In 1900, he plowed six had been enacted to thwart monopolists million dollars of his earnings from the and the high rates they were able to impose railroad into the Great Northern on the public. Despite the fact that Hill Steamship Company, which established built his shipping empire by continually routes between Seattle, cutting his rates, these Japan, and Hong Kong. laws were now used to His goal was to sell “...success prevent Hill from midwestern wheat, offering special rates in Southern cotton, and New in business certain markets and England textiles in Asia. from buying up new lines His “pump-priming” for oneself to add to his railroad. philosophy made him often requires The ICC forced him to enormously successful. give all shippers He shipped these products first creating anywhere the same at drastically reduced opportunities special discounts he rates—sometimes for was offering the Asians free—to convince the for others to capture their Chinese and Japanese to business. He could not try these unfamiliar to be successful.” afford these discounts, Western products. As a so he eventually sold his result of this aggressive marketing, exports ships and almost completely abandoned to Japan increased seven fold in only nine the trade with Asia. years. Many of the products he carried over Despite these setbacks, by the end his railroad and steamship lines were of his life James Hill could truly be judged items that could not possibly have been the hero in the story of the sold competitively had he not been willing transcontinental railroads. His example to offer lower rates to encourage these demonstrated a principle that still bears markets. greater attention today: that success in Unfortunately, Hill’s competitors did business for oneself often requires first not view this success with the same creating opportunities for others to be appreciation as the farmers and successful. In building America’s best-run railroad, Hill never lost sight of this principle. Additional Readings ★ Folsom, Jr., Burton W. The Myth of the Robber Barons. Herndon, VA: Young America’s Foundation, 1991. ★ Holbrook, Stewart. James J. Hill: A Great Life in Brief . New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1955. ★ Martin, Albro. James J. Hill and the Opening of the Northwest. New York: Oxford University Press, 1976. 149

John D. Rockefeller Champion for Cheap Oil (1839-1937) Cleveland, Ohio as an assistant bookkeeper J ohn D. Rockefeller was almost for 50 cents a day. He quickly gained a a billionaire during a time reputation as an honest and methodical when a dollar was worth many businessman. By age 19 he had started his times what it is today. He has been ranked own business shipping grain on Lake Erie. as the wealthiest man in American history. In the early 1860s, Rockefeller At its peak, his company Standard Oil owned became fascinated with the booming oil 90 percent of the oil refining capacity in the industry that was centered in United States and controlled nearly northwest Pennsylvania, not far every aspect of its business from from Cleveland. In 1855, a chemist exploration to delivery of the final named Benjamin Silliman had product. Rockefeller has been both discovered that the sticky black goo admired and vilified for his success. could be distilled and purified to Was he a “robber baron” who produce kerosene, a substitute for enriched himself by unfairly whale oil, which was the major monopolizing the industry and illuminant used in lamps at the forcing consumers to pay him time. When “Colonel” Edwin L. tribute? Or was he a hero that put Drake succeeded in drilling the first heat and light within reach of the oil well in 1859, the new industry common man through unparalleled sprung up like a Pennsylvania efficiency and entrepreneurial gusher. Drilling equipment was vision? cheap and oil land abundant, so Rockefeller certainly did not prospectors soon cluttered the area begin life with any special with derricks, pipes, and tanks. advantages. His father was a peddler Some became rich, some were who had difficulty supporting a wife ruined, and many met both fates in and six children, of which John was rapid succession. Rockefeller was the eldest. Rockefeller learned the more interested in how the oil might value of hard work and saving from be refined and turned into useful products his father, while his mother gave him an than in the wildly speculative drilling enduring religious faith that under-girded business. So he found a partner named his sense of fairness and desire to help Samuel Andrews and together they built others throughout his life. At age 16, he got their first refinery. his first job in 150

★ John D. Rockefeller: Champion for Cheap Oil ★ continued Refining oil was not without its less maintenance, or developing a method financial risks. Although the equipment was to extract a little more kerosene from each not complicated or expensive in the early barrel of crude—these were all a regular part 1860s, the price of the product fluctuated of doing business for Rockefeller. Each time wildly from less than a penny a gallon to as Standard lowered its production costs, it much as 33 cents. When prices were high, passed the savings on to consumers in order new refineries sprung up everywhere, but to expand its market. This growth, in turn, when prices fell, many of these hastily allowed Standard to take advantage of certain constructed operations failed. Rockefeller “economies of scale.” The railroads that was convinced that he and Andrews could shipped the oil, for example, customarily weather these stormy markets by keeping offered special rebates to those who made costs down and eliminating waste. Since large, regular shipments. This practice, kerosene and lubricants were the most which dated back to the earliest days of the valuable products of the distilling process, oil industry, reflected the fact that large, many refiners threw away the “waste” predictable shipments were cheaper for the products such as gasoline, naphtha, tar and railroads than smaller, less predictable ones. paraffin. On a few occasions the Cuyahoga It also reflected the desire by railroaders such River became so polluted with refinery waste as Cornelius Vanderbilt to attract the that it ignited and burned for days. business of high-volume shippers. Standard Rockefeller and Andrews deplored this was the largest shipper and also provided aspect of the business and found ways to its own loading and unloading services, so turn these wastes into products that could Vanderbilt extended it the biggest rebates. be profitably sold. Rockefeller’s success has sometimes By 1870, Rockefeller and Andrews been attributed to the “unfair” advantage he had become the largest refiners in Cleveland. had over his competitors in shipping his They took on new partners, reorganized the product—an advantage that some historians business, and named it Standard Oil. Under argued almost assured him a monopoly Rockefeller’s leadership, they followed a position in his market. Certainly it was business strategy that focused on difficult for many smaller refiners to compete continually improving the efficiency of with a company that was able to sell at turning crude oil into valuable products and continually lower prices and still make a services. As the business became more profit. Some went out of business and many profitable, most of the profits were plowed sold their refineries to Rockefeller and went back into better equipment and personnel. to work for Standard, which always paid well Especially important to Standard were the for talent and hard workers. researchers who developed three hundred The claim that Standard succeeded useful by-products of oil, ranging from paints because of unfair competition and could, as and varnishes, to anesthetics. one history text put it, “crush any remaining Rockefeller concentrated on finding competitors at will,” overlooks many ways to cut the cost of producing and important facts, though. In the first place, marketing their main product, kerosene. Rockefeller did not receive the best rates from Inventing cheaper ways to make strong the railroads until after he had already barrels, building machinery that required beaten the competition in the efficiency 151

★ John D. Rockefeller: Champion for Cheap Oil ★ continued game, playing on a level field. Secondly, Rockefeller knew that new oil had Standard never occupied a position in the been found near Lima, Ohio, but the oil market where an increase of more than a contained so much sulfur that it stank like penny or two in the price of its rotten eggs, making it completely unusable. product couldn’t have turned Many chemists had tried to the market over to formidable purify the oil, but none had competitors overseas. succeeded. Nevertheless, Standard was only able to Rockefeller staked Standard’s maintain its dominant position future on the Lima fields, through steady improvements buying leases and stockpiling in its product, its service, and more than 40 million barrels its prices. of the worthless oil. Even In the early 1880’s, Standard’s Board of Directors when Standard had either was skeptical and voted built or bought most of the against Rockefeller’s proposal refining capacity in the to expand investment in that country, Rockefeller faced the region. Rockefeller replied, greatest challenge of his “Very well, gentlemen. At my career. Difficulties seemed to own personal risk, I will put come from every direction. up the money to care for this First of all, the Pennsylvania product: $2 million—$3 oil fields were running dry, and million, if necessary.” His the discovery of oil fields on the willingness to risk his own Texas Gulf Coast was still money persuaded the board many years away. Electricity to support him, and the was beginning to compete with search for a way to clarify the kerosene as an illuminant, sour oil went on with feverish thanks to the inventions of intensity. Thomas Edison. Few at this The secret to clarifying time suspected that the the oil was finally uncovered, gasoline engine would be the cries of “Eureka” went up, and power source of the future. As the Lima oil changed if these were not enough overnight from useless sludge trouble for Standard, the to black gold. But this alone Russians had discovered the was not enough to meet the richest oil field in the world Russian challenge. The and were beginning to export Russian wells in Baku it cheaply throughout Europe, produced on average 280 one of Standard’s largest barrels per well per day, markets. So daunting were compared to the 4.5-barrel these challenges that many average of American wells. predicted the demise of the The Baku oil was easier to American oil industry. Even refine and much nearer to the loyal officers of Standard started to sell some European markets, but of their stock in the company. Europe was not the only concern: the enormous natural 152

★ John D. Rockefeller: Champion for Cheap Oil ★ continued advantages possessed by the Russians impressively in pushing oil prices down from raised questions about whether Standard 58 cents to eight cents a gallon. When would even be able to hold on to the Rockefeller entered the scene, burning lamps American market. to read, work or socialize by in the evenings Standard had to watch every cost was a luxury for the rich—working class without sacrificing the reputation for quality people simply went to bed when it got dark. that was one of the few advantages they held When Standard reached the peak of its over the Russians. Rockefeller’s engineers dominance even the poor could afford the and scientists one cent an hour it cost to perfected the light their homes. It is steamship oil tanker, “By the time doubtful that the invented “cracking” automobile could have technology to extract of his death been much more than a even more useful at age 98, novelty for the upper class product from a barrel except for Rockefeller’s of crude, and Rockefeller tireless efforts to cut costs implemented dozens of and boost efficiency. c o s t - s a v i n g had given away Rockefeller’s innovations. His men about $550 million— contribution to society studied the foreign didn’t end with his markets and spied on more money than entrepreneurial genius. He the competition to was the greatest any American philanthropist the world ensure that the quality, price and before him had ever known. By the service provided by time of his death at age 98, Standard Oil was had ever owned.” Rockefeller had given away appropriate to local about $550 million—more demands and surpassed what his money than any American before him had competitors were offering. ever owned. This generosity wasn’t a trait The battle with Russian oil lasted that emerged only in his later, wealthier almost 30 years. Standard finally won the years, however. Giving had been a way of war by meeting the low prices of the Baku life for Rockefeller from his very first $2.50 product while providing higher, more paycheck at age 16. Perhaps his greatest consistent quality than his less efficient legacy is not his $900,000,000 net worth, competitors could match. Rockefeller but the enormous impact he had on the reminded his partners that “we are refining quality of life experienced by millions of oil for the poor man, and he must have it others. cheap and good.” They succeeded Additional Readings ★ Chernow, Ron. Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. New York: Random House, 1998. ★ Folsom, Jr., Burton W. The Myth of the Robber Barons. Herndon, VA: Young America’s Foundation, 1991. ★ Nevins, Allan. Study in Power: John D. Rockefeller. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1953. 153

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★ The American’s Creed ★ Purpose Xa. explain the origins and interpret the The purpose of this lesson is for students continuing influence of key ideals of the to gain an understanding of the creed democratic republican form of government.... that was written in response to a Xd. practice forms of civic discussion and contest to provide a summary of the participation consistent with the ideals of fundamentals of American history and citzens in a democratic republic. tradition. The American’s Creed Xh. evaluate the degree to which public provides a summary of the freedoms and policies and citizen behaviors reflect or foster the stated ideals of a democratic republican history of the nation. form of government. Objective Time The student will be able to discuss the elements of American history and 2 class periods tradition found in the American’s Creed. Materials Theme- Responsibility ★ The American’s Creed reading Citizens have both personal and civic ★ Dictionaries responsibilities which need to be ★ Poster paper, tape and glue recognized and upheld. The American’s ★ Website - www.americanheritage.org Creed is a citizen’s statement of his or her responsibility, care, and service for Preparation our nation. ★ Copy handouts ★ Arrange a location in the community to NCSS Standards post the posters. IVa. articulate personal connections to time, place, and social/cultural systems. Focus Students will gain an understanding of the American’s Creed and the ideas represented within it. The creed was commissioned as a tool to be used to reinforce the freedoms of the nation at a time when half of the world was at war. The creed is not an official government document, but it was created as a gift to the nation by the people of Baltimore, Maryland. (See Links page on www.americanheritage.org for additional resources on the American’s Creed.) Activity Students divide into four groups, and each group creates a paragraph that represents a brief summary of American political faith as it is founded upon the fundamentals of American history and tradition. Students will read, compare, and explain their creed to the other class members. Ask students to make a comparison between the creed they write and the version by William Tyler Page. Clo s u re su Students can enter into a discussion about the creed and identify an order of importance for the ideas and principles expressed in it. 155

The American's Creed In 1916, when half the world was at war, there were many in America who believed that citizens should think more about their blessings, privileges, and obligations as Americans. By 1917, magazines and newspapers from coast to coast were announcing a contest for the writing of the best national creed, a “brief summary of American political faith . . . founded upon the fundamentals of American history and tradition.” In March, the city of Baltimore offered the prize of $1,000 for the winning creed. Every state in the Union responded. In all, 3,000 entries were submitted. Judges chose a 100 word creed by William Tyler Page compiled from phrases found in American documents and in the words of American patriots. The American’s Creed by William Tyler Page, 1918 I believe in the United States of America as a government of the people, by the people, for the people; whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed; a democracy in a republic, a sovereign nation of many sovereign States; a perfect union one and inseparable; established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes. I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to love it, to support its constitution, to obey its laws, to respect its flag, and to defend it against all enemies. Appel, David H., ed. An Album for Americans: A Treasury of American Patriotism. New York: Triangle Publications, Crown Publishers, 1983, pp. 132 and 170. 156

★ The United States Flag ★ Purpose IXa. explain how language, art, music, belief systems, and other cultural elements can Students gain an understanding that the U. facilitate global understanding.... S. flag is both a symbolic representation of Xa. explain the origins and interpret the the historical founding of the United States continuing influence of key ideas of the and a representation of freedoms earned democratic republican form of government. by its citizens. The U. S. flag is a known Xd. practice forms of civic discussion and symbol in the world representing our participation consistent with the ideals of nation’s freedoms and ideas. citizens ina democratic republic. Xj. participate in activities to strengthen the Objective “common good,” based upon careful evaluation 1. The student will be able to discuss the of possible options for citizen action. importance and meaning of freedom represented by the United States Flag. Time 2. The student will examine and practice 2 class periods elements of the United States Flag Code. Theme-Freedom Materials The flag represents the freedom provided ★ The U. S. Flag reading and Flag Code to all citizens of the fifty states. The flag ★ Poster paper, tape, glue, and dictionaries serves all of the people of the nation as a ★ Two or three U.S. flags common symbol that represents our ★ Website - www.americanheritage.org collective presence anywhere in the world. The flag represents the freedoms earned Preparation by citizens through conflict and persuasion. ★ Copy handouts ★ Find a location in the community where NCSS Standards students can hang their posters. Ve. describe and examine belief systems basic to specific traditions and laws in contemporary and historical movements. Focus Students gain an understanding of the rules regulating display of the American flag as it represents American freedoms. The rules for display of the flag are designed to provide and maintain a standard of respect for this national symbol and for the people who have died fighting for the freedoms that it represents. (See Links page on www.americanheritage.org for additional resources on the U. S. flag.) Have the students brainstorm (make a list) of the top three symbols of America. Discuss their decisions/choices. Have the class vote on the top three nominations. (Hopefully the flag will be in the top 3.) Consider the U. S. flag as an American symbol and why it is so important. (See Links page on www.americanheritage.org for additional resources on the U. S. flag.) 157

Activity 1. Students read and complete the group activity on the U. S. flag handout to define and discuss terms related to the flag and what it represents including meanings/symbolisms in the design of the flag. Discuss the American colonies and ideals that are represented. 2. A. Have students define the word “code.” Explain the Federal Flag Code to students including its purpose, significance, and relevance. B. Students will divide into several groups to read, understand, and share sections of the Federal Flag Code. Suggestions for how sections might be used are listed below: Sec. 2: Students could list important flag days on a chart. Students could demonstrate the raising and/or lowering of the flag. Sec. 3: (3 groups) Students could divide by the number of letters in this section and draw/demonstrate each part of the section. Example: A-E Sec. 4: (2 groups) Draw or demonstrate the “nevers” of flag use. Sec. 5-7: (1 group) Same as above. 4. Students write an opinion paragraph on one of the following topics: A. The flag may be worn as shirts, shorts, hats, or scarves. B. The flag may be burned in protest. C. The flag is our most important symbol. Consider what the flag code means socially and legally. Think about and discuss why we have a flag code and why it is important. 5. Students individually or in pairs create a design, drawing, cartoon or other creative visual representation of the section of the flag code which they selected or were assigned to learn. Students can create a tone for their visual that is, for example, inspiring, patriotic, serious, emotional, informative, respectfully humorous, etc. The visuals can be shared, compiled into a visual flag code booklet, or posted around the class, building, or community. 6. Have students collect magazine and/or newspaper pictures to create a collage or an interesting, creative visual interpretation of the flag to illustrate their reverence for the U. S. flag. Students may present their collages to the class and/or display them. 7. Ask the students to create a drama or skit, short story, or infomercial about and/or including the display of the flag. Closure Students can enter into a discussion about the freedoms that the flag represents. Students may create/write and possibly present reports or journal entries on topics related to the flag, its symbolism or representations, history, significance, function, use, or a related subject. 158

Te h United States Flag The flag of the United States is a symbol of our country. To salute the flag and to say the Pledge of Allegiance are ways of showing patriotism. The colors, number of stars, and number of stripes are all significant because they tell about the history of the United States and what Americans value. The first flag had thirteen red and white stripes with thirteen white stars on a field of blue to represent the original thirteen states. When two new states were added in 1792, the flag was changed to fifteen stripes and fifteen stars. Since 1818, the flag has had thirteen stripes which represent the original thirteen states, and only stars have been added for new states. The colors used in the national flag are significant. White stands for purity, blue for perseverance, and red for valor. The United States flag was given the nickname “Old Glory” by William Driver. Driver lived in Tennessee during the Civil War. When Union forces captured the capitol in Nashville, Driver said, “Thank God, I have lived to raise Old Glory over the capitol of Tennessee.” Group Activity Step 1: Each person in the group will read part of the story above to other members of the group. Step 2: Each person will use a dictionary to write definitions for at least three bold words. Every bold word must be defined by at least one member of the group. Step 3: When the group is finished defining all the bold words, each student will read aloud their definitions to the others in the group. Step 4: Discuss as a group why you think purity, valor, and perseverance are qualities that might represent the American people. Also discuss why it is important for citizens to show respect for the flag. Report to the class the meaning of the number of stars, stripes, and colors of the flag and how they are symbols of our nation. 159

Federal Flag Code Source: Veterans of Foreign Wars Americanism Department The following document is known as the Federal Flag Code. It prescribes proper display of and respect for the United States Flag. This code does not impose penalties for misuse of the United States Flag. Enforcment of the code is left to the states and to the District of Columbia. Each state has its own flag law. The Federal Flag Code is the guide for all handling and display of the Stars and Stripes. Here is the code in its entirety: LAW PUBLIC LAW 94-344 94th CONGRESS, S. J. Res. 49 July 7, 1976 JOINT RESOLUTION To amend the joint resolution entitled “Joint resolution to codify and emphasize existing rules and customs pertaining to the display and use of the flag of the United States of America.” Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the joint resolution entitled “Joint resolution to codify and emphasize existing rules and customs pertaining to the display and use of the flag of the United States of America,” as amended (36 U.S.C. 171-178), is amended — SEC 1 That the following codification of existing rules and customs pertaining to the display and use of the flag of the United States of America be, and is hereby, established for the use of such civilians or civilian groups or organizations as may not be required to conform with regulations promulgated by one or more executive departments of the Government of the United States. The flag of the United States for the purpose of this chapter shall be defined according to title 4, United States Code, Chapter 1, section 1 and section 2 and Executive Order 10834 issued pursuant thereto. SEC 2 (a) It is the universal custom to display the flag only from sunrise to sunset on buildings and on stationary flagstaffs in the open. However, when a patriotic effect is desired, the flag may be displayed twenty-four hours a day if properly illuminated during the hours of darkness. (b) The flag should be hoisted briskly and lowered ceremoniously. (c) The flag should not be displayed on days when the weather is inclement, except when an all-weather flag is displayed. 160

Federal Flag Code (d) The flag should be displayed on all days, especially on: New Year’s Day January 1 Inauguration Day January 20 Lincoln’s Birthday February 12 Washington’s Birthday Third Monday in February Easter Sunday Variable Mother’s Day Second Sunday in May Armed Forces Day Third Saturday in May Memorial Day (half-staff until noon) Last Monday in May Flag Day June 14 Independence Day July 4 Labor Day First Monday in September Constitution Day September 17 Columbus Day Second Monday in October Navy Day October 27 Veterans Day November 11 Thanksgiving Day Fourth Thursday in November Christmas Day December 25 and such other days as may be proclaimed by the President of the United States; the birthdays of States (date of admission); and on State holidays. (e) The flag should be displayed daily on or near the main administration building of every public institution. ( f ) The flag should be displayed in or near every polling place on election days. (g) The flag should be displayed during school days in or near every schoolhouse. SEC 3 That the flag, when carried in a procession with another flag or flags, should be either on the marching right; that is, the flag’s own right, or, if there is a line of other flags, in front of the center of that line. (a) The flag should not be displayed on a float in a parade except from a staff, or as provided in subsection (i). (b) The flag should not be draped over the hood, top, sides, or back of a vehicle or of a railroad train or a boat. When the flag is displayed on a motor car, the staff should be fixed firmly to the chassis or clamped to the right fender. (c) No other flag or pennant should be placed above or, if on the same level, to the right of the flag of the United States of America, except during church services conducted by naval chaplains at sea, when the church pennant may 161

Federal Flag Code be flown above the flag during church services for the personnel of the Navy. (See Public Law 107, page 4.) (d) The flag of the United States of America, when it is displayed with another flag against a wall from crossed staffs, should be on the right, the flag’s own right, and its staff should be in front of the staff of the other flag. (e) The flag of the United States of America should be at the center and at the highest point of the group when a number of flags of States or localities or pennants of societies are grouped and displayed from staffs. ( f ) When flags of States, cities, or localities, or pennants of societies are flown on the same halyard with the flag of the United States, the latter should always be at the peak. When the flags are flown from adjacent staffs, the flag of the United States should be hoisted first and lowered last. No such flag or pennant may be placed above the flag of the United States or to the United States Flag’s right. (g) When flags of two or more nations are displayed, they are to be flown from separate staffs of the same height. The flags should be of approximately equal size. International usage forbids the display of the flag of one nation above that of another nation in times of peace. (h) When the flag of the United States is displayed from a staff projecting horizontally or at an angle from the window sill, balcony, or front of a building, the union of the flag should be placed at the peak of the staff unless the flag is at half-staff. When the flag is suspended over a sidewalk from a rope extending from a house to a pole at the edge of the sidewalk, the flag should be hoisted out, union first, from the building. ( i ) When displayed either horizontally or vertically against a wall, the union should be uppermost and to the flag’s own right, that is, to the observer’s left. When displayed in a window, the flag should be displayed in the same way, with the union or blue field to the left of the observer in the street. ( j ) When the flag is displayed over the middle of the street, it should be suspended vertically with the union to the north in an east and west street or to the east in a north and south street. (k) When used on a speaker’s platform, the flag, if displayed flat, should be displayed above and behind the speaker. When displayed from a staff in a church or public auditorium, the flag of the United States of America should hold the position of superior prominence, in advance of the audience, and in the position of honor at the clergyman’s or speaker’s right as he faces the audience. Any other flag so displayed should be placed on the left of the clergyman or speaker or the right of the audience. 162

Federal Flag Code (l) The flag should form a distinctive feature of the ceremony of unveiling a statue or monument, but it should never be used as the covering for the statue or monument. (m) The flag, when flown at half-staff, should be first hoisted to the peak for an instant and then lowered to the half-staff position. The flag should be again raised to the peak before it is lowered for the day. On Memorial Day the flag should be displayed at half-staff until noon only, then raised to the top of the staff. By order of the President, the flag shall be flown at half-staff upon the death of principal figures of the United States Government and the Governor of a State, territory, or possession, as a mark of respect to their memory. In the event of the death of other officials or foreign dignitaries, the flag is to be displayed at half-staff according to Presidential instructions or orders, or in accordance with recognized customs or practices not inconsistent with law. In the event of the death of a present or former official of the government of any State, territory, or possession may proclaim that the National flag shall be flown at half-staff. The flag shall be flown at half-staff: • thirty days from the death of the President or a former President • ten days from the day of death of the Vice-President, the Chief Justice or a retired Chief Justice of the United States, or the Speaker of the House of Representatives • from the day of death until interment of an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, a Secretary of an executive or military department, a former Vice-President, or the Governor of a State, territory, or possession • on the day of death and the following day for a Member of Congress. As used in this subsection: 1. the term ‘half-staff’ means the position of the flag when it is one-half the distance between the top and bottom of the staff; 2. the term ‘executive or military department’ means any agency listed under sections 101 and 102 of title 5, United States Code; and 3. the term ‘Member of Congress’ means a Senator, a Representative, a Delegate, or the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico. (n) When the flag is used to cover a casket, it should be so placed that the union is at the head and over the left shoulder. The flag should not be lowered into the grave or allowed to touch the ground. (o) When the flag is suspended across a corridor or lobby in a building with only one main entrance, it should be suspended vertically with the union of the flag to the observer’s left upon entering. If the building has more than one main entrance, the flag should be suspended vertically near the center of the corridor or lobby with the union to the north, when entrances are to the east 163

Federal Flag Code and west or the east when entrances are to the north and south. If there are entrances in more than two directions, the union should be to the east. SEC 4 That no disrespect should be shown to the flag of the United States of America, the flag should not be dipped to any person or thing. Regimental colors, State flags, and organization or institution flags are to be dipped as a mark of honor. (a) The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property. (b) The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water, or merchandise. (c) The flag should never be carried flat or horizontally, but always aloft and free. (d) The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery. It should never be festooned, drawn back, nor up, in folds, but always allowed to fall free. Bunting of blue, white,and red, always arranged with the blue above, the white in the middle, and the red below, should be used for covering a speaker’s desk, draping the front of the platform, and for decoration in general. (e) The flag should never be fastened, displayed, used, or stored in such a manner as to permit it to be easily torn, soiled, or damaged in any way. ( f ) The flag should never be used as a covering for a ceiling. (g) The flag should never have placed upon it, nor on any part of it, nor attached to it any mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture, or drawing of any nature. (h) The flag should never be used as a receptacle for receiving, holding, carrying or delivering anything. ( i ) The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever. It should not be embroidered on such articles as cushions or handkerchiefs and the like, printed or otherwise impressed on paper napkins or boxes or anything that is designed for temporary use and discard. Advertising signs should not be fastened to a staff or halyard from which the flag is flown. (j) No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform. However, a flag patch may be affixed to the uniform of military personnel, firemen, policemen, and members of patriotic organizations. The flag represents a living country and is itself considered a living thing. Therefore the lapel flag pin being a replica, should be worn on the left lapel near the heart. 164

Federal Flag Code (k) The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning. SEC 5 During the ceremony of hoisting or lowering the flag or when the flag is passing in a parade or in review, all persons present except those in uniform should face the flag and stand at attention with the right hand over the heart. Those present in uniform should render the military salute. When not in uniform, men should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. Aliens should stand at attention. The salute to the flag in a moving column should be rendered at the moment the flag passes. SEC 6 During rendition of the national anthem when the flag is displayed, all present except those in uniform should stand at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. Men not in uniform should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. Persons in uniform should render the military salute at the first note of the anthem and retain this position until the last note. When the flag is not displayed, those present should face toward the music and act in the same manner they would if the flag were displayed there. SEC 7 The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag: “I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all,” should be rendered by standing at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. When not in uniform men should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. Persons in uniform should remain silent, face the flag and render the military salute. SEC 8 Any rule or custom pertaining to the display of the flag of the United States of America, set forth herein, may be altered, modified, or repealed, or additional rules with respect thereto may be prescribed, by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States, whenever he deems it to be appropriate or desirable, and any such alteration or additional rule shall be set forth in a proclamation. 165

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★ Religious Expression in Public Schools ★ Purpose development of personal identity. Students will gain an understanding that Ve. describe and examine belief systems religious expression is a historical factor in basic to specific traditions and laws in the founding of the United States. The contemporary and historical movements. tolerance of religious expression is known Vg. analyze the extent to which groups and around the world as a key element in the institutions meet individual needs and founding freedoms and ideas of our promote the common good in contemporary nation. and historical settings. Xb. identify analyze, interpret, and evaluate sources and examples of citizens’ rights and Objective responsibilities. 1. The student will discuss the importance Xh. evaluate the degree to which public and meaning of religious freedom as policies and citizen behaviors rflect or foster represented in the letter and guidelines the stated ideals of a democratic republican provided by the U. S. Department of form of government. Education. Xj. participate in activities to strengthen the 2. The student will evaluate the impact “common good,” based upon careful of the 1995 letter on Religious Expression evaluation of possible options for citizen in Public Schools and the legal guidelines action. provided by the U. S. Department of Education. Time 2 class periods Theme-Unity Religious freedom was one of the major forces that drew people to America in Materials the colonial period. The principle of ★ Riley Letter and “Legal guidelines” from tolerance in religious expression exists in the U. S. Secretary of Education all areas of society including the public ★ Religious Freedom Day proclamation schools. The nation was unified in its ★ Paige Letter and “Guidance on Protected beginning to allow religious expression in Prayer in Schools” all areas of society consistent with the ★ Dictionaries First Amendment. ★ Poster paper, tape, and glue ★ KWL Charts ★ Website - www.americanheritage.org NCSS Standards Ie. demonstrate the value of cultural diversity, as well as cohesion, within and Preparation across groups. ★ Copy handouts IVf. analyze the role of perceptions, ★ Find a location in the community where attitudes, values, and beliefs in the students can hang posters. Focus Ask students to complete the “Know” and “Want to Know” sections on the KWL Chart in considering the issue of religious expression in public schools. Students should respond to the issues of: teaching about religion, official neutrality regarding religious activity, graduation prayer, student dress, and other issues where they have a knowledge base. 167

Religious Expression in Public Schools continued Students are to gain an understanding of the voluntary guidelines that regulate religious expression in public schools. The guidelines represent one method that government has used to communicate the impact of the First Amendment of the Constitution on the issue of religious expression in public schools. (See Links page on www.americanheritage.org for additional resources on the First Amendment and religious expression in public schools.) Activity 1. A. Students divide into pairs or small groups. Each pair takes one of the sections of the letter from Secretary Riley, “Legal Guidelines on Religious Expression in Public Schools,” the letter from Secretary Paige, and the document “Guidance on Constitutionally Protected Prayer in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools” to read and explain to the other class members. B. Students in small groups then take sections of the “Legal Guidelines” and the “Guidance on Constitutionally Protected Prayer” to read, analyze, and explain. Ask students to summarize in writing in their own words the main points and meaning of the sections they selected or were assigned to analyze. How and why are these guidelines signficant? What do they mean for students and public schools? Students share their analyses with the class. 2. Students can perform additional research on religious expression and prayer in public schools and report their findings. Students may also consider related court cases and discuss or debate various circumstances. What examples, court cases, experiences, events, or other associations come to mind? 3. Students write one or more journal entries or reflective essays related to their personal thoughts, feelings, experiences, comments, and insights related to the department of education documents. Do they or someone they know have personal experiences relating to some of the issues and rights being examined? 4. Students make a poster size drawing, collage, chart, cartoon, or other visual aid that represents sections of one or both of the department of education documents they were assigned to learn or the whole document. The pairs or groups can explain to the class their section of the religious expression guidelines, share their posters, and then hang their posters around the class, building, or community. 5. Students read about and research Religious Freedom Day and consider what it means for religious freedom as expressed by students in public school. Students write a reflection journal entry or essay on this or a related issue such as how it affects them individually or as a whole school, what it means to them, and why it is important. How does this tie in or relate to the department of education documents and the issues and rights it addresses. 6. Students can enter into a discussion to create campus guidelines based on the Education Department’s religious expression guidelines as they are evidenced or considered in the context of their school and classrooms. These guidelines could be written on a poster or on letterhead, signed by the students, and presented to a campus administrator in a formal forum in the class. Closure Students complete the “Learned” section of the KWL chart, thinking about the new insights, issues, facts, etc. they have gained from readings, research, discussion, and projects. 168

K-W-L Chart What I Know What I Want to Know What I Learned 169

Religious Freedom Day Fr Day January 16th January 16t 6th In 1993, President George H. W. Bush with Congress designated January 16th as National Religious Freedom Day, recognizing the First Amendment right of the Bill of Rights that provides for the American’s freedom to believe and worship as he or she wishes. Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush have also recognized and proclaimed Religious Freedom Day throughout their presidencies. In his 2002 proclamation, President George W. Bush states: “Religious freedom is a cornerstone of our Republic, a core principle of our Constitution, and a fundamental human right. Many of those who first settled in America, such as Pilgrims, came for the freedom of worship and belief that this new land promised. ...Our Founders constitutionally limited our Federal Government’s capacity to interfere with religious belief by prohibiting the Congress from passing any law ‘respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.’ These constitutional limits have allowed the flourishing of faith across our country, which greatly blesses our land.... ...I urge all Americans to observe this day by asking for the blessing and protection of Almighty God for our Nation, and to engage in appropriate ceremonies and activities in their homes, schools, and places of worship as a sign of our resolve to protect and preserve our religious freedom.” President George W. Bush Proclamation of Religious Freedom Day January 16, 2002 www.whitehouse.gov In 1992, President H. W. Bush also designated Human Rights Day, Bill of Rights Day, and Human Rights week. Find out when these days are! Additional Reading: “Religion and the Public Schools: State of Freedom or Fear?” Family Research Council www.frc.org Issue No.: 245 by: Miriam Moore & Crystal Roberts May 2, 2006 The paper summarizes student religious rights, including rights under the U.S. Constitution and the Equal Access Act of 1984. It also answers frequently asked questions regarding student religious rights, such as whether students are allowed to share their faith with classmates, wear religious articles, or pray during school hours or at a graduation ceremony. The paper also discusses released time education, celebration of religious holidays in schools, and teaching about religion. 170

U. S. Department of Education Letters & Guidelines on Religious Expression www.ed.gov In 1995, President William Clinton directed U. S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley, in consultation with the Attorney General, to provide public school districts in America with guidelines on the extent to which religious expression and activity are allowed in public schools, so as to end confusion on the issue. The guidelines were revised in 1998. In 2003, U. S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige, under President Bush, updated the guidelines by outlining specific occasions when prayer in public school is protected. ST DEPAR ARTMENT EDUCA UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION SECRETAR ARY THE SECRETARY “...Schools do more than train children’s minds. They also help to nurture their souls by reinforcing the values they learn at home and in their communities. I believe that one of the best ways we can help out schools to do this is by supporting students’ rights to voluntarily practice their religious beliefs, including prayer in schools.... For more than 200 years, the First Amendment has protected our religious freedom and allowed many faiths to flourish in our homes, in our work place, and in our schools. Clearly understood and sensibly applied, it works.” President Clinton May 30, 1998 Dear American Educator, Almost three years ago, President Clinton directed me, as U.S. Secretary of Education, in consultation with the Attorney General, to provide every public school district in America with a statement of principles addressing the extent to which religious expression and activity are permitted in our public schools. In accordance with the President’s directive, I sent every school superintendent in the country guidelines on Religious Expression in Public Schools in August of 1995. The purpose of promulgating these presidential guidelines was to end much of the confusion regarding religious expression in our nation’s public schools that had developed over more than thirty years since the U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1962 regarding state sponsored school prayer. I believe that these guidelines have helped school officials, teachers, students, and parents find a new common ground on the important issue of religious freedom consistent with constitutional requirements. In July of 1996, for example, the Saint Louis School Board adopted a district wide policy using these guidelines. While the school district had previously allowed certain religious activities, it had never spelled them out before, resulting in a lawsuit over the right of a student to pray before lunch in the cafeteria. The creation of a clearly defined policy using the guidelines allowed the school board and the family of the student to arrive at a mutually satisfactory settlement. In a case decided last year in a United States District Court in Alabama (Chandler v. James) involving student initiated prayer at school related events, the court instructed the DeKalb County School District to maintain for circulation in the library of each school a copy of the presidential guidelines. 171

Religious Expression in Public Schools continued The great advantage of the presidential guidelines, however, is that they allow school districts to avoid contentious disputes by developing a common understanding among students, teachers, parents, and the broader community that the First Amendment does in fact provide ample room for religious expression by students while at the same time maintaining freedom from government- sponsored religion. The development and use of these presidential guidelines were not and are not isolated activities. Rather, these guidelines are part of an ongoing and growing effort by educators and America’s religious community to find a new common ground. In April of 1995, for example, thirty-five religious groups issued “Religion in the Public Schools: A Joint Statement of Current Law” that the Department drew from in developing its own guidelines. Following the release of the presidential guidelines, the National PTA and the Freedom Forum jointly published in 1996 “A Parent’s Guide to Religion in the Public Schools” which put the guidelines into an easily understandable question and answer format. In the last two years, I have held three religious-education summits to inform faith communities and educators about the guidelines and to encourage continued dialogue and cooperation within constitutional limits. Many religious communities have contacted local schools and school systems to offer their assistance because of the clarity provided by the guidelines. The United Methodist Church has provided reading tutors to many schools, and Hadassah and the Women’s League for Conservative Judaism have both been extremely active in providing local schools with support for summer reading programs. The guidelines we are releasing today are the same as originally issued in 1995, except that changes have been made in the sections on religious excusals and student garb to reflect the Supreme Court decision in Boerne v. Flores declaring the Religious Freedom Restoration Act unconstitutional as applied to actions of state and local governments. These guidelines continue to reflect two basic and equally important obligations imposed on public school officials by the First Amendment. First, schools may not forbid students acting on their own from expressing their personal religious views or beliefs solely because they are of a religious nature. Schools may not discriminate against private religious expression by students but must instead give students the same right to engage in religious activity and discussion as they have to engage in other comparable activity. Generally, this means that students may pray in a nondisruptive manner during the school day when they are not engaged in school activities and instruction, subject to the same rules of order that apply to other student speech. At the same time, schools may not endorse religious activity or doctrine, nor may they coerce participation in religious activity. Among other things, of course, school administrators and teachers may not organize or encourage prayer exercises in the classroom. Teachers, coaches, and other school officials who act as advisors to student groups must remain mindful that they cannot engage in or lead the religious activities of students. And the right of religious expression in school does not include the right to have a “captive audience” listen or to compel other students to participate. School officials should not permit student religious speech to turn into religious harassment aimed at a student or a small group of students. Students do not have the right to make repeated invitations to other students to participate in religious activity in the face of a request to stop. 172

Religious Expression in Public Schools continued The statement of principles set forth below derives from the First Amendment. Implementation of these principles, of course, will depend on specific factual contexts and will require careful consideration in particular cases. In issuing these revised guidelines I encourage every school district to make sure that principals, teachers, students, and parents are familiar with their content. To that end I offer three suggestions: First, school districts should use these guidelines to revise or develop their own district wide policy regarding religious expression. In developing such a policy, school officials can engage parents, teachers, the various faith communities, and the broader community in a positive dialogue to define a common ground that gives all parties the assurance that when questions do arise regarding religious expression the community is well prepared to apply these guidelines to specific cases. The Davis County School District in Farmington, Utah, is an example of a school district that has taken the affirmative step of developing such a policy. At a time of increasing religious diversity in our country such a proactive step can help school districts create a framework of civility that reaffirms and strengthens the community consensus regarding religious liberty. School districts that do not make the effort to develop their own policy may find themselves unprepared for the intensity of the debate that can engage a community when positions harden around a live controversy involving religious expression in public schools. Second, I encourage principals and administrators to take the additional step of making sure that teachers, so often on the front line of any dispute regarding religious expression, are fully informed about the guidelines. The Gwinnett County School system in Georgia, for example, begins every school year with workshops for teachers that include the distribution of these presidential guidelines. Our nation’s schools of education can also do their part by ensuring that prospective teachers are knowledgeable about religious expression in the classroom. Third, I encourage schools to actively take steps to inform parents and students about religious expression in school using these guidelines. The Carter County School District in Elizabethton, Tennessee, included the subject of religious expression in a character education program that it developed in the fall of 1997. This effort included sending home to every parent a copy of the “Parent’s Guide to Religion in the Public Schools.” Help is available for those school districts that seek to develop policies on religious expression. I have enclosed a list of associations and groups that can provide information to school districts and parents who seek to learn more about religious expression in our nation’s public schools. In addition, citizens can turn to the U.S. Department of Education web site (http://www.ed.gov) for information about the guidelines and other activities of the Department that support the growing effort of educators and religious communities to support the education of our nation’s children. Finally, I encourage teachers and principals to see the First Amendment as something more than a piece of dry, old parchment locked away in the national attic gathering dust. It is a vital living 173

Religious Expression in Public Schools continued principle, a call to action, and a demand that each generation reaffirm its connection to the basic idea that is America--that we are a free people who protect our freedoms by respecting the freedom of others who differ from us. Our history as a nation reflects the history of the Puritan, the Quaker, the Baptist, the Catholic, the Jew, and many others fleeing persecution to find religious freedom in America. The United States remains the most successful experiment in religious freedom that the world has ever known because the First Amendment uniquely balances freedom of private religious belief and expression with freedom from state-imposed religious expression. Public schools can neither foster religion nor preclude it. Our public schools must treat religion with fairness and respect and vigorously protect religious expression as well as the freedom of conscience of all other students. In so doing our public schools reaffirm the First Amendment and enrich the lives of their students. I encourage you to share this information widely and in the most appropriate manner with your school community. Please accept my sincere thanks for your continuing work on behalf of all of America’s children. Sincerely, Richard W. Riley U. S. Secretary of Education 174

ST DEPAR ARTMENT EDUCA UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION LEGAL GUIDELINES ON RELIGIOUS EXPRESSION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS www.ed.gov Student prayer and religious discussion : The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment discussion: does not prohibit purely private religious speech by students. Students therefore have the same right to engage in individual or group prayer and religious discussion during the school day as they do to engage in other comparable activity. For example, students may read their Bibles or other scriptures, say grace before meals, and pray before tests to the same extent that they may engage in comparable nondisruptive activities. Local school authorities possess substantial discretion to impose rules of order and other pedagogical restrictions on student activities, but they may not structure or administer such rules to discriminate against religious activity or speech. Generally, students may pray in a nondisruptive manner when not engaged in school activities or instruction, and subject to the rules that normally pertain in the applicable setting. Specifically, students in informal settings, such as cafeterias and hallways, may pray and discuss their religious views with each other, subject to the same rules of order as apply to other student activities and speech. Students may also speak to, and attempt to persuade, their peers about religious topics just as they do with regard to political topics. School officials, however, should intercede to stop student speech that constitutes harassment aimed at a student or a group of students. Students may also participate in before or after school events with religious content, such as “see you at the flag pole” gatherings, on the same terms as they may participate in other noncurriculum activities on school premises. School officials may neither discourage nor encourage participation in such an event. The right to engage in voluntary prayer or religious discussion free from discrimination does not include the right to have a captive audience listen, or to compel other students to participate. Teachers and school administrators should ensure that no student is in any way coerced to participate in religious activity. Graduation prayer and baccalaureates : Under current Supreme Court decisions, school baccalaureates: officials may not mandate or organize prayer at graduation, nor organize religious baccalaureate ceremonies. If a school generally opens its facilities to private groups, it must make its facilities available on the same terms to organizers of privately sponsored religious baccalaureate services. A school may not extend preferential treatment to baccalaureate ceremonies and may in some instances be obliged to disclaim official endorsement of such ceremonies. Of ficial neutrality regarding religious activity : Teachers and school administra- Official activity: tors, when acting in those capacities, are representatives of the state and are prohibited by the establishment clause from soliciting or encouraging religious activity, and from participating in such activity with students. Teachers and administrators also are prohibited from discouraging activity because of its religious content, and from soliciting or encouraging antireligious activity. 175

Religious Expression in Public Schools continued Teaching about religion: Public schools may not provide religious instruction, but they may teach eaching religion: about religion, including the Bible or other scripture: the history of religion, comparative religion, the Bible (or other scripture)-as-literature, and the role of religion in the history of the United States and other countries all are permissible public school subjects. Similarly, it is permissible to consider religious influences on art, music, literature, and social studies. Although public schools may teach about religious holidays, including their religious aspects, and may celebrate the secular aspects of holidays, schools may not observe holidays as religious events or promote such observance by students. Student assignments : Students may express their beliefs about religion in the form of home- assignments: work, artwork, and other written and oral assignments free of discrimination based on the religious content of their submissions. Such home and classroom work should be judged by ordinary academic standards of substance and relevance, and against other legitimate pedagogical concerns identified by the school. Religious literature : Students have a right to distribute religious literature to their school- literature: mates on the same terms as they are permitted to distribute other literature that is unrelated to school curriculum or activities. Schools may impose the same reasonable time, place, and manner or other constitutional restrictions on distribution of religious literature as they do on nonschool literature generally, but they may not single out religious literature for special regulation. Religious excusals : Subject to applicable State laws, schools enjoy substantial discretion to excusals: excuse individual students from lessons that are objectionable to the student or the students’ parents on religious or other conscientious grounds. However, students generally do not have a Federal right to be excused from lessons that may be inconsistent with their religious beliefs or practices. School officials may neither encourage nor discourage students from availing themselves of an excusal option. Released time: Subject to applicable State laws, schools have the discretion to dismiss students time: to off-premises religious instruction, provided that schools do not encourage or discourage participation or penalize those who do not attend. Schools may not allow religious instruction by outsiders on school premises during the school day. Teac hing values : Though schools must be neutral with respect to religion, they may play an eaching values alues: active role with respect to teaching civic values and virtue, and the moral code that holds us together as a community. The fact that some of these values are held also by religions does not make it unlawful to teach them in school. Student garb: Schools enjoy substantial discretion in adopting policies relating to student dress garb: and school uniforms. Students generally have no Federal right to be exempted from religiously- neutral and generally applicable school dress rules based on their religious beliefs or practices; however, schools may not single out religious attire in general, or attire of a particular religion, for prohibition or regulation. Students may display religious messages on items of clothing to the same extent that they are permitted to display other comparable messages. Religious messages may not be singled out for suppression, but rather are subject to the same rules as generally apply to comparable messages. 176

Letter on Constitutionally Protected Prayer in Lett tter Constitutionall Pro ected Pra titutionally Public Elementary and Secondary Schools Elementar ary Secondary Schools www.ed.gov UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION THE SECRETARY February 7, 2003 Dear Colleague: As part of the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), I am issuing guidance today on constitutionally protected prayer in public elementary and secondary schools. The purpose of this guidance is to provide State educational agencies (SEAs), local educational agencies (LEAs) and the public with information on this important topic. The guidance also sets forth and explains the responsibilities of SEAs and LEAs with respect to this aspect of the NCLB Act. Most significantly, as a condition of receiving funds under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), an LEA must certify in writing to its SEA that it has no policy that prevents, or otherwise denies participation in, constitutionally protected prayer in public schools as set forth in this guidance. The guidance clarifies the rights of students to pray in public schools. As stated in the guidance, “...the First Amendment forbids religious activity that is sponsored by the government but protects religious activity that is initiated by private individuals” such as students. Therefore, “[a]mong other things, students may read their Bibles or other scriptures, say grace before meals, and pray or study religious materials with fellow students during recess, the lunch hour, or other noninstructional time to the same extent that they may engage in nonreligious activities.” Public schools should not be hostile to the religious rights of their students and their families. At the same time, school officials may not “compel students to participate in prayer or other religious activities.” Nor may teachers, school administrators and other school employees, when acting in their official capacities as representatives of the state, encourage or discourage prayer, or participate in such activities with students. In these challenging times, it is more important than ever to recognize the freedoms we have. I hope that this guidance can contribute to a common understanding of the meaning of the First Amendment in the public school setting. I encourage you to distribute this guidance widely in your community and to discuss its contents and importance with school administrators, teachers, parents, and students. Sincerely, Rod Paige U. S. Secretary of Education 177

Guidance on Constitutionally Protected Prayer Constitutionall Pro ected Pra titutionally Elementar ary Secondary Schools in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools www.ed.gov February 7, 2003 Introduction Section 9524 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (“ESEA”) of 1965, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, requires the Secretary to issue guidance on constitutionally protected prayer in public elementary and secondary schools. In addition, Section 9524 requires that, as a condition of receiving ESEA funds, a local educational agency (“LEA”) must certify in writing to its State educational agency (“SEA”) that it has no policy that prevents, or otherwise denies participation in, constitutionally protected prayer in public schools as set forth in this guidance. The purpose of this guidance is to provide SEAs, LEAs, and the public with information on the current state of the law concerning constitutionally protected prayer in the public schools, and thus to clarify the extent to which prayer in public schools is legally protected. This guidance also sets forth the responsibilities of SEAs and LEAs with respect to Section 9524 of the ESEA. As required by the Act, this guidance has been jointly approved by the Office of the General Counsel in the Department of Education and the Office of Legal Counsel in the Department of Justice as reflecting the current state of the law. It will be made available on the Internet through the Department of Education’s web site (www.ed.gov). The guidance will be updated on a biennial basis, beginning in September 2004, and provided to SEAs, LEAs, and the public. The Section 9524 Certification Process In order to receive funds under the ESEA, an LEA must certify in writing to its SEA that no policy of the LEA prevents, or otherwise denies participation in, constitutionally protected prayer in public elementary and secondary schools as set forth in this guidance. An LEA must provide this certification to the SEA by October 1, 2002, and by October 1 of each subsequent year during which the LEA participates in an ESEA program. However, as a transitional matter, given the timing of this guidance, the initial certification must be provided by an LEA to the SEA by March 15, 2003. The SEA should establish a process by which LEAs may provide the necessary certification. There is no specific Federal form that an LEA must use in providing this certification to its SEA. The certification may be provided as part of the application process for ESEA programs, or separately, and in whatever form the SEA finds most appropriate, as long as the certification is in writing and clearly states that the LEA has no policy that prevents, or otherwise denies participation in, constitutionally protected prayer in public elementary and secondary schools as set forth in this guidance. By November 1 of each year, starting in 2002, the SEA must send to the Secretary a list of those LEAs that have not filed the required certification or against which complaints have been made to the SEA that the LEA is not in compliance with this guidance. However, as a transitional matter, given the timing of this guidance, the list otherwise due November 1, 2002, must be sent to the Secretary by April 15, 2003. This list should be sent to: 178

Office of Elementary and Secondary Education Attention: Jeanette Lim U.S. Department of Education 400 Maryland Avenue, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20202 The SEA’s submission should describe what investigation or enforcement action the SEA has initiated with respect to each listed LEA and the status of the investigation or action. The SEA should not send the LEA certifications to the Secretary, but should maintain these records in accordance with its usual records retention policy. Enforcement of Section 9524 LEAs are required to file the certification as a condition of receiving funds under the ESEA. If an LEA fails to file the required certification, or files it in bad faith, the SEA should ensure compliance in accordance with its regular enforcement procedures. The Secretary considers an LEA to have filed a certification in bad faith if the LEA files the certification even though it has a policy that prevents, or otherwise denies participation in, constitutionally protected prayer in public elementary and secondary schools as set forth in this guidance. The General Education Provisions Act (“GEPA”) authorizes the Secretary to bring enforcement actions against recipients of Federal education funds that are not in compliance with the law. Such measures may include withholding funds until the recipient comes into compliance. Section 9524 provides the Secretary with specific authority to issue and enforce orders with respect to an LEA that fails to provide the required certification to its SEA or files the certification in bad faith. Overview of Governing Constitutional Principles The relationship between religion and government in the United States is governed by the First Amendment to the Constitution, which both prevents the government from establishing religion and protects privately initiated religious expression and activities from government interference and discrimination. [ 1 ] The First Amendment thus establishes certain limits on the conduct of public school officials as it relates to religious activity, including prayer. The legal rules that govern the issue of constitutionally protected prayer in the public schools are similar to those that govern religious expression generally. Thus, in discussing the operation of Section 9524 of the ESEA, this guidance sometimes speaks in terms of “religious expression.” There are a variety of issues relating to religion in the public schools, however, that this guidance is not intended to address. The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the First Amendment requires public school officials to be neutral in their treatment of religion, showing neither favoritism toward nor hostility against religious expression such as prayer. [ 2 ] Accordingly, the First Amendment forbids religious activity that is sponsored by the government but protects religious activity that is initiated by private individuals, and the line between government-sponsored and privately initiated religious expression is vital to a proper understanding of the First Amendment’s scope. As the Court has explained in several cases, “there is a crucial difference between government speech endorsing religion, which the Establishment Clause forbids, and private speech endorsing religion, which the Free Speech and Free Exercise Clauses ate privat protect.” [ 3 ] 179

The Supreme Court’s decisions over the past forty years set forth principles that distinguish impermis- sible governmental religious speech from the constitutionally protected private religious speech of students. For example, teachers and other public school officials may not lead their classes in prayer, devotional readings from the Bible, or other religious activities. [ 4 ] Nor may school officials attempt to persuade or compel students to participate in prayer or other religious activities. [ 5 ] Such conduct is “attributable to the State” and thus violates the Establishment Clause. [ 6 ] Similarly, public school officials may not themselves decide that prayer should be included in school- sponsored events. In Lee v. Weisman [ 7 ], for example, the Supreme Court held that public school officials violated the Constitution in inviting a member of the clergy to deliver a prayer at a graduation ceremony. Nor may school officials grant religious speakers preferential access to public audiences, or otherwise select public speakers on a basis that favors religious speech. In Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe [ 8 ], for example, the Court invalidated a school’s football game speaker policy on the ground that it was designed by school officials to result in pregame prayer, thus favoring religious expression over secular expression. Although the Constitution forbids public school officials from directing or favoring prayer, students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate,” [ 9 ] and the Supreme Court has made clear that “private religious speech, far from being a First Amend- ment orphan, is as fully protected under the Free Speech Clause as secular private expression.” [ 10 ] Moreover, not all religious speech that takes place in the public schools or at school-sponsored events is governmental speech. [ 11 ] For example, “nothing in the Constitution ... prohibits any public school student from voluntarily praying at any time before, during, or after the school day,” [ 12 ] and students may pray with fellow students during the school day on the same terms and conditions that they may engage in other conversation or speech. Likewise, local school authorities possess substantial discretion to impose rules of order and pedagogical restrictions on student activities, [ 13 ] but they may not structure or administer such rules to discriminate against student prayer or religious speech. For instance, where schools permit student expression on the basis of genuinely neutral criteria and students retain primary control over the content of their expression, the speech of students who choose to express themselves through religious means such as prayer is not attributable to the state and therefore may not be restricted because of its religious content. [ 14 ] Student remarks are not attributable to the state simply because they are delivered in a public setting or to a public audience. [ 15 ] As the Supreme Court has explained: “The proposition that schools do not endorse everything they fail to censor is not complicated,” [ 16 ] and the Constitution mandates neutrality rather than hostility toward privately initiated religious expression. [ 17 ] Applying the Governing Principles in Particular Contexts Prayer During Noninstructional Time Students may pray when not engaged in school activities or instruction, subject to the same rules designed to prevent material disruption of the educational program that are applied to other privately initiated expressive activities. Among other things, students may read their Bibles or other scriptures, say grace before meals, and pray or study religious materials with fellow students during recess, the lunch hour, or other noninstructional time to the same extent that they may engage in nonreligious activities. While school authorities may impose rules of order and pedagogical restrictions on student activities, they may not discriminate against student prayer or religious speech in applying such rules and restrictions. 180

Organized Prayer Groups and Activities Students may organize prayer groups, religious clubs, and “see you at the pole” gatherings before school to the same extent that students are permitted to organize other non-curricular student activities groups. Such groups must be given the same access to school facilities for assembling as is given to other non-curricular groups, without discrimination because of the religious content of their expression. School authorities possess substantial discretion concerning whether to permit the use of school media for student advertising or announcements regarding non-curricular activities. However, where student groups that meet for nonreligious activities are permitted to advertise or announce their meetings—for example, by advertising in a student newspaper, making announcements on a student activities bulletin board or public address system, or handing out leaflets—school authorities may not discriminate against groups who meet to pray. School authorities may disclaim sponsorship of non-curricular groups and events, provided they administer such disclaimers in a manner that neither favors nor disfavors groups that meet to engage in prayer or religious speech. Teac her s, A dminis trat or s, and o ther Sc hool Em plo y ees eacher Adminis trator hers, dministrators, other School Emploploy When acting in their official capacities as representatives of the state, teachers, school administrators, and other school employees are prohibited by the Establishment Clause from encouraging or discouraging prayer, and from actively participating in such activity with students. Teachers may, however, take part in religious activities where the overall context makes clear that they are not participating in their official capacities. Before school or during lunch, for example, teachers may meet with other teachers for prayer or Bible study to the same extent that they may engage in other conversation or nonreligious activities. Similarly, teachers may participate in their personal capacities in privately sponsored baccalaureate ceremonies. Moments of Silence If a school has a “minute of silence” or other quiet periods during the school day, students are free to pray silently, or not to pray, during these periods of time. Teachers and other school employees may neither encourage nor discourage students from praying during such time periods. Accommodation of Prayer During Instructional Time It has long been established that schools have the discretion to dismiss students to off-premises religious instruction, provided that schools do not encourage or discourage participation in such instruction or penalize students for attending or not attending. Similarly, schools may excuse students from class to remove a significant burden on their religious exercise, where doing so would not impose material burdens on other students. For example, it would be lawful for schools to excuse Muslim students briefly from class to enable them to fulfill their religious obligations to pray during Ramadan. Where school officials have a practice of excusing students from class on the basis of parents’ requests for accommodation of nonreligious needs, religiously motivated requests for excusal may not be accorded less favorable treatment. In addition, in some circumstances, based on federal or state constitutional law or pursuant to state statutes, schools may be required to make accommoda- tions that relieve substantial burdens on students’ religious exercise. Schools officials are therefore encouraged to consult with their attorneys regarding such obligations. 181

Religious Expression and Prayer in Class Assignments Students may express their beliefs about religion in homework, artwork, and other written and oral assignments free from discrimination based on the religious content of their submissions. Such home and classroom work should be judged by ordinary academic standards of substance and relevance and against other legitimate pedagogical concerns identified by the school. Thus, if a teacher’s assignment involves writing a poem, the work of a student who submits a poem in the form of a prayer (for example, a psalm) should be judged on the basis of academic standards (such as literary quality) and neither penalized nor rewarded on account of its religious content. Student Assemblies and Extracurricular Events Student speakers at student assemblies and extracurricular activities such as sporting events may not be selected on a basis that either favors or disfavors religious speech. Where student speakers are selected on the basis of genuinely neutral, evenhanded criteria and retain primary control over the content of their expression, that expression is not attributable to the school and therefore may not be restricted because of its religious (or anti-religious) content. By contrast, where school officials determine or substantially control the content of what is expressed, such speech is attributable to the school and may not include prayer or other specifically religious (or anti-religious) content. To avoid any mistaken perception that a school endorses student speech that is not in fact attributable to the school, school officials may make appropriate, neutral disclaimers to clarify that such speech (whether religious or nonreligious) is the speaker’s and not the school’s. Prayer at Graduation School officials may not mandate or organize prayer at graduation or select speakers for such events in a manner that favors religious speech such as prayer. Where students or other private graduation speakers are selected on the basis of genuinely neutral, evenhanded criteria and retain primary control over the content of their expression, however, that expression is not attributable to the school and therefore may not be restricted because of its religious (or anti-religious) content. To avoid any mistaken perception that a school endorses student or other private speech that is not in fact attributable to the school, school officials may make appropriate, neutral disclaimers to clarify that such speech (whether religious or nonreligious) is the speaker’s and not the school’s. Baccalaureate Ceremonies School officials may not mandate or organize religious ceremonies. However, if a school makes its facilities and related services available to other private groups, it must make its facilities and services available on the same terms to organizers of privately sponsored religious baccalaureate ceremonies. In addition, a school may disclaim official endorsement of events sponsored by private groups, provided it does so in a manner that neither favors nor disfavors groups that meet to engage in prayer or religious speech. 182

Notes: [ 1 ] The relevant portions of the First Amendment provide: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech . . . .” U.S. Const. amend. I. The Supreme Court has held that the Fourteenth Amendment makes these provisions applicable to all levels of government—federal, state, and local—and to all types of governmental policies and activities. See Everson v. Board of Educ., 330 U.S. 1 (1947); Cantwell v. Connecticut, 310 U.S. 296 (1940). [ Return to text ] [ 2 ] See, e.g., Everson, 330 U.S. at 18 (the First Amendment “requires the state to be a neutral in its relations with groups of religious believers and non-believers; it does not require the state to be their adversary. State power is no more to be used so as to handicap religions than it is to favor them”); Good News Club v. Milford Cent. Sch., 533 U.S. 98 (2001). [ Return to text ] [ 3 ] Santa Fe Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Doe, 530 U.S. 290, 302 (2000) (quoting Board of Educ. v. Mergens, 496 U.S. 226, 250 (1990) (plurality opinion)); accord Rosenberger v. Rector of Univ. of Virginia, 515 U.S. 819, 841 (1995). [ Return to text ] [ 4 ] Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (1962) (invalidating state laws directing the use of prayer in public schools); School Dist. of Abington Twp. v. Schempp, 374 U.S. 203 (1963) (invalidating state laws and policies requiring public schools to begin the school day with Bible readings and prayer); Mergens, 496 U.S. at 252 (plurality opinion) (explaining that “a school may not itself lead or direct a religious club”). The Supreme Court has also held, however, that the study of the Bible or of religion, when presented objectively as part of a secular program of education (e.g., in history or literature classes), is consistent with the First Amendment. See Schempp, 374 U.S. at 225. [ Return to text ] [ 5 ] See Lee v. Weisman, 505 U.S. 577, 599 (1992); see also Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U.S. 38 (1985). [ Return to text ] [ 6 ] See Weisman, 505 U.S. at 587. [ Return to text ] [ 7 ] 505 U.S. 577 (1992). [ Return to text ] [ 8 ] 530 U.S. 290 (2000). [ Return to text ] [ 9 ] Tinker v. Des Moines Indep. Community Sch. Dist., 393 U.S. 503, 506 (1969). [ Return to text ] [ 10 ] Capitol Square Review & Advisory Bd. v. Pinette, 515 U.S. 753, 760 (1995). [ Return to text ] [ 11 ] Santa Fe, 530 U.S. at 302 (explaining that “not every message” that is “authorized by a government policy and take[s] place on government property at government-sponsored school-related events” is “the government’s own”). [ Return to text ] [ 12 ] Santa Fe, 530 U.S. at 313. [ Return to text ] [ 13 ] For example, the First Amendment permits public school officials to review student speeches for vulgarity, lewdness, or sexually explicit language. Bethel Sch. Dist. v. Fraser, 478 U.S. 675, 683-86 (1986). Without more, however, such review does not make student speech attributable to the state. [ Return to text ] [ 14 ] Rosenberger v. Rector of Univ. of Virginia, 515 U.S. 819 (1995); Board of Educ. v. Mergens, 183

496 U.S. 226 (1990); Good News Club v. Milford Cent. Sch., 533 U.S. 98 (2001); Lamb’s Chapel v. Center Moriches Union Free Sch. Dist., 508 U.S. 384 (1993); Widmar v. Vincent, 454 U.S. 263 (1981); Santa Fe, 530 U.S. at 304 n.15. In addition, in circumstances where students are entitled to pray, public schools may not restrict or censor their prayers on the ground that they might be deemed “too religious” to others. The Establishment Clause prohibits state officials from making judgments about what constitutes an appropriate prayer, and from favoring or disfavoring certain types of prayers—be they “nonsectarian” and “nonproselytizing” or the opposite—over others. See Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421, 429-30 (1962) (explaining that “one of the greatest dangers to the freedom of the individual to worship in his own way lay in the Government’s placing its official stamp of approval upon one particular kind of prayer or one particular form of religious services,” that “neither the power nor the prestige” of state officials may “be used to control, support or influence the kinds of prayer the American people can say,” and that the state is “without power to prescribe by law any particular form of prayer”); Weisman, 505 U.S. at 594. [ Return to text ] [ 15 ] Santa Fe, 530 U.S. at 302; Mergens, 496 U.S. at 248-50. [ Return to text ] [ 16 ] Mergens, 496 U.S. at 250 (plurality opinion); id. at 260-61 (Kennedy, J., concurring in part and in judgment). [ Return to text ] [ 17 ] Rosenberger, 515 U.S. at 845-46; Mergens, 496 U.S. at 248 (plurality opinion); id. at 260-61 (Kennedy, J., concurring in part and in judgment). [ Return to text ] 184

★ What is An American? ★ Purpose experiences may be interpreted by people from diverse cultural perspectives and frames The purpose of this lesson is for of reference. students to develop an understanding IVb. describe personal connections to place-- of what it means to be an American as associated with community, nation, and and to stress the idea of individual world. responsibility. The idea of IVc. describe the ways family, gender, ethnicity, responsibility was a central concept of nationality, and institutional affiliations the Founding Fathers as they discussed contribute to personal identity. the formation of the United States. IVh. work independently and cooperatively to Students will evaluate their role as accomplish goals. students to uphold, protect, and Xb. identify and intepret sources and demonstrate to the world the American examples of the rights and responsibilities of idea of individual responsibility. citizens. Objective Time The student will define responsibility in 2 class periods terms of the acts of individuals and, collectively, of the people of a nation. Materials Theme- Responsibility ★ ★ Rolls of butcher paper Contemporary magazines, Americans are responsible for newspapers, and copies of communicating a blueprint to future historical documents (to be cut up) generations the ideas of how the ★ Poster paper, tape, and glue country was formed, how it gained freedom, and how its citizens unite and progress toward a better life for ALL Preparation people. ★ Gather art supplies ★ Find a location in the community where NCSS Standards students can hang their posters. Ib. explain how information and Focus Write “What is an American?” on the board. Have students think about/reflect on what they have learned about America and its history and heritage, democratic ideals, philosophy, etc.. Discuss American themes (freedom, unity, progress, and responsibility) and ideals and possible brainstorming about what it means to be “American.” Consider reasons why various groups have come to America. Discuss with the students the fact that while there is much diversity among Americans, there are important things that we share. 185

Activity Teachers may select one or more of these activities for their students: 1. Have students compare the “American family” of 281,000,000 citizens to their own families. They can do a T-chart, vend diagram, collage of all members in their families, or other activity to brainstorm and note unique as well as American traits of their families. Students can brainstorm answers in two columns labeled “Different” and “Similar.” Remind students that just as each of them is a vital member of their own families, so also is each citizen a vital member of the American family. Furthermore, just as individual family members can draw strength from one another, so can American citizens of one nation draw strength from all other citizens to enjoy and improve each of their lives. 2. Students may work in groups to create collages titled “What is an American?” Remind students to include images and symbols that represent the diversity of individuals living together as a united “American family” in one nation. Students may present their collages to the class when they are finished. 3. A. Group the students into cooperative work groups. Each student, with the help of others in the group, uses butcher paper to draw a full-size outline of his or her body. Using magazines, articles, documents, illustrations, or their own drawing skills, students create or cut out concepts that represent themselves and paste them on the inside of their body outline. They then draw a line from each article to a space outside of the body outline and label articles as one of the four themes it represents: Freedom, Unity, Progress, or Responsibility. Students should also label characteristics of other articles that demonstrate their individuality. Students can title the poster “What is an American?” Display the posters around the school and area businesses. 4. B. The goal of this activity is for students to be able to see how they are interconnected with others and to show how, even as individuals, they possess characteristics similar to those of others. Students place their posters in front of themselves on the ground and sit in a large circle. A student holds a ball of yarn and, while taking a thread of the yarn, passes the ball to another student across the circle with an identical characteristic. That student in turn passes the yarn to yet another student. When all of the students with that characteristic are holding the string, select another characteristic and repeat the process. The activity will result in a web of people holding string and showing they are connected or unified in many different ways. Ask the students to state how a responsible person demonstrates one of the characteristics they have on their posters. For example, a driver is responsible for obeying traffic laws. 5. Ask the students to write a poem titled or themed “What is an American?” Poem format: Line 1 One of the four themes Line 2 Two adjectives Line 3 Three action verbs Line 4 Write a sentence about the theme Line 5 A synonym for the theme 186

Closure 1. Review the brainstorming and list made in the Focus as well as the other activities to find things Americans have in common. Discuss. 2. Think about and discuss what was learned about America and its heritage and history. Students should consider American Heritage themes and what they learned through lessons and activities about America and its history and heritage including its democratic ideals, philosophy, founding and important documents, national symbols, significant events, important individuals and leaders, citizenship, national identity, etc. Assessment To answer the question, “What is an American?,” students will write an essay defining an Ameri- can, describing both differences and similarities among Americans. Students should consider American Heritage themes and what they learned through lessons and activities about America and its history and heritage including its democratic ideals, philosophy, founding and important documents, national symbols, significant events, important individuals and leaders, citizenship, national identity, etc. What is an American? 187

Americas Heritage High School Edition Homeschool

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