14 Labor’s Response to Industrialism 1870–1920 157 Was the rise of industry good for American workers?
16 Uncovering Problems at the Turn of the Century 1890–1920 181 What social, political, and environmental problems did Americans face at the turn of the 20th century?
1492–1896RepublicanEstablishingAmerican 1 What Is History? 1 What is history, and why should we study it? 2 Defining and Debating America’s Founding Ideals 9 What are America’s founding ideals, and why are they important? 3 Setting the Geographic Stage 17 How has geography influenced the development of the United States? 4 The Colonial Roots of America’s Founding Ideals 1607–1754 29 How did the colonial period help shape America’s five founding ideals? 5 Americans Revolt 1754–1783 39 Were the American colonists justified in rebelling against British rule? 6 Creating the Constitution 1776–1791 51 What is the proper role of a national government? 7 An Enduring Plan of Government 1789–Present 63 Does the Constitution support the ideals in the Declaration of Independence? 8 Changes in a Young Nation 1790–1860 79 Did changes in the young nation open the door to opportunity for all Americans? 9 A Dividing Nation 1819–1861 93 Was the Civil War inevitable? 10 The Civil War 1860–1865 105 How did the Civil War affect the United States and its people? 11 Reconstruction 1864–1896 119 How was the nation’s commitment to its founding ideals tested during Reconstruction? 1840–1920andIndustrialismReform 12 Change and Conflict in the American West 1840–1896 131 What opportunities and conflicts emerged as Americans moved westward? 13 The Age of Innovation and Industry 1840–1920 143 Was the rise of industry good for the United States?
18 Progressivism on the National Stage 1890–1920 205 How well did Presidents Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson promote progressive goals in national policies?
17 The Progressives Respond 1890–1920 195 Who were the progressives, and how did they address the problems they saw?
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15 Through Ellis Island and Angel Island: The Immigrant Experience 1840–1920 167 What was it like to be an immigrant to the United States around the turn of the century?
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32 The Human Impact of the Great Depression 1929–1939 351 How did ordinary Americans endure the hardships of the Great Depression? The New Deal and Its Legacy 1933–1944 363 How did the expansion of government during the New Deal affect the nation?
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26 Understanding Postwar Tensions 1914–1930 287 What effects did postwar tensions have on America’s founding ideals?
1796–1921InfluenceAmericanExpandingGlobal 19
27 The Politics of Normalcy 1914–1930 299 Did the Republican Era of the 1920s bring peace and prosperity to all Americans? 28 Popular Culture in the Roaring Twenties 1914–1933 309 What social trends and innovations shaped popular culture during the 1920s?
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From Neutrality to War 1914–1917 247 Was it in the national interest of the United States to stay neutral or declare war in 1917?
The Course and Conduct of World War I 1915–1918 257 How was World War I different from previous wars? The Home Front 1914–1919 267 How did Americans on the home front support or oppose World War I? The Treaty of Versailles: To Ratify or Reject? 1918–1921 277 Should the United States have ratified or rejected the Treaty of Versailles?
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Foreign Policy: Setting a Course of Expansionism 1796–1896 215 Was American foreign policy during the 1800s motivated more by realism or idealism? The Spanish-American War 1895–1902 225 Why did the United States go to war against Spain in 1898, and why was the outcome significant? Acquiring and Managing Global Power 1890–1917 235 Were U.S. interventions abroad between 1890 and 1917 motivated more by realism or idealism?
30 The Causes of the Great Depression 1929–1933 335 What caused the most severe economic crisis in American history? 31 The Response to the Economic Collapse 1932–1933 343 How did the federal government respond to the economic collapse that began in 1929?
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The TwentiesRoaringand the Great 1914–1944Depression
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The Clash TraditionalismBetweenandModernism 1916–1933 325 How did social, economic, and religious tensions divide Americans during the Roaring Twenties?
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34 Origins of World War II 1917–1941 379 Could World War II have been prevented? The Impact of World War II on Americans 1941–1945 393 What kinds of opportunities and hardships did the war create for Americans at home and abroad? Fighting World War II 1939–1945 409 What military strategies did the United States and its allies pursue to defeat the Axis powers in World War II?
43 Segregation in the Post-World War II Period 1945–1954 487 How did segregation affect American life in the postwar period?
42 Two Americas 1950–1962 481 Why did poverty persist in the United States in an age of affluence?
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The Aftermath of World War II 1943–1955 423 Did the United States learn from past mistakes at the end of World War II? 38 Origins of the Cold War 1945–1949 431 How did the United States and the Soviet Union become Cold War adversaries? 39 The Cold War Expands 1948–1960 443 Were the methods used by the United States to contain communism justified? 40 Fighting the Cold War at Home 1945–1960 457 How did the anxieties raised by the Cold War affect life in the United States?
41 Peace, Prosperity, and Progress 1945–1960 465 Why are the 1950s remembered as an age of affluence?
45 Redefining Equality: From Black Power to Affirmative Action 1965–1980 511 How did civil rights activists change their strategies and goals in the 1960s and 1970s, and how successful were they in achieving racial equality?
The Search for a Better 1945–1990Life
44 The Civil Rights Revolution: “Like a Mighty Stream” 1955–1965 497 How did civil rights activists advance the ideals of liberty, equality, and opportunity for African Americans?
46 The Widening Struggle 1960–1990 523 Why and how did the civil rights movement expand?
World War II and the Cold 1917–1960War
challenges
The Making of Modern the Revolution the effects of Ronald Reagan’s and George H. W. Bush’s foreign Domestic Politics at the of the 21st Century recent presidents tried to fulfill Foreign Policy have U.S. foreign policy decisions the of the United States Vietnam War
impact the nation? 56 Ending the Cold War 1980–1991 637 What were
Reagan
global age? 59 Moving Forward: Debating America’s Founding Ideals 2008–Present 687 How does our nation define and debate progress as we work to preserve American ideals? Resources Atlas 696 The Declaration of Independence 702 The Constitution of the United States 706 Glossary 726 Index 751 Notes 777 Credits 787 1954–1980TimesTumultuous 47 The Age of Camelot 1961–1963 537 Was John F. Kennedy a great president? 48 The Great Society 1963–1968 549 What is the proper role of government in shaping American society? 49 The Emergence of a Counterculture 1962–1969 559 What was the impact of the counterculture on American society? 50 The United States Gets Involved in Vietnam 1954–1967 565 Why did the
Turn
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increase its military involvement in Vietnam? 51 Facing Frustration in Vietnam 1965–1971 577 What made the
difficult to win? 52 Getting Out of Vietnam 1969–1975 589 What lessons for Americans emerged from the Vietnam War? 53 The Rise and Fall of Richard Nixon 1968–1974 599 What events influenced Richard Nixon’s rise to and fall from power? 54 Politics and Society in the “Me Decade” 1974–1980 609 How should historians characterize the 1970s? x
their domestic policy goals? 58 U.S.
policy actions? 57 U.S.
1980–PresentAmerica 55 A Shift to the Right Under Reagan 1980–1993 625 How did
1992–Present 649 How have
in a Global Age 1991–Present 669 How well
What are America’s founding ideals, and why are they important?
In these two sentences, Jefferson established a vision of a new nation based on ideals—principles or standards of perfection that we are always trying to achieve. In the years preceding the Declaration, the ideals that Jefferson mentioned had been written about and discussed by many colonists. Since that time, Americans have sometimes fought for and sometimes ignored these ideals. Nevertheless, Jefferson’s words have continued throughout the years to provide a vision of what it means to be an American. In this lesson, you will read about our nation’s founding ideals, how they were defined in 1776, and how they continue to be debated today.
In many ways, Thomas Jefferson, shown here with his fellow committee members Benjamin Franklin (left) and John Adams (center), was an odd choice to write the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson was not only young and inexperienced, but he was also a slaveholder. Despite his fine words about liberty and equality, Jefferson proved unwilling to apply his “self-evident” truths to the men and women he held in bondage.
This is an early edited draft of the Declaration of Independence.
Lesson Defining2 and Debating
America’s Founding Ideals
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Introduction On a June day in 1776, Thomas Jefferson set to work in a rented room in Philadelphia to draft a document that would explain to the world why Great Britain’s 13 American colonies were declaring themselves to be “free and inde pendent states.” The Second Continental Congress had appointed a five-man committee to draft this declaration of independence. At 33, Jefferson was one of the committee’s youngest and least experienced members, but his training in law and political philosophy had prepared him for this task. He picked up his pen to write words that would change the world. Had he been working at home, Jefferson might have referenced his sizable library for inspiration. Instead, he relied on what was in his head to make the declaration “an expression of the American mind.” He began, 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.
—Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence, 1776
1. The First Founding Ideal: Equality “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”
Achieving equality, however, has been a tremendous struggle. This photograph shows a woman, some 60 years later, still marching for the right to vote. For much of American history, African Americans have been treated as less than equal to whites. This was understood by the participants of this civil rights march in Washington, D.C., in 1963. Their signs reminded the nation that each individual in our society should be treated with equal respect.
In 1848, a group of women used the Declaration of Independence as a model for their own Declaration of Sentiments on women’s rights, in which they declared that “all men and women are created equal.”
This view of equality, however, ignored the ranks below “freeman.” In 1776, there was no equality for the half million slaves who labored in the colonies, nor was there equality for women, who were viewed as inferior to men in terms of their ability to participate in society.
Debating Equality Today Throughout time, Americans have made great progress in expanding equality. Since the nation’s founding, constitutional amendments have been created that have abolished slavery (1865) and have guaranteed all American women suffrage, or the right to vote (1920). Many laws today ensure equal treatment of all citizens, regardless of age, gender, physical ability, national background, or race.
Yet some people—both past and present—have argued that achieving equal rights does not necessarily coincide with achieving equality. Americans will not achieve equality, they argue, until we address differences in wealth, education, and power. This “equality of condition” extends to all aspects of life, including living standards, job opportunities, and medical care. Is equality of condition an achievable goal and, if so, how might it best be achieved? This and other questions about equality will probably continue to be intensely debated for years to come.
Defining Equality in 1776 For many Americans of Jefferson’s time, the ideal of equality was based on the Christian belief that all people are equal in God’s eyes. The colonists believed they were rooting this ideal in American soil, since they shunned Europe’s social system, with its many ranks of nobility, and prided themselves on having “no rank above that of freeman.”
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When Jefferson wrote these words, this “truth” was anything but self-evident, or obvious. Throughout history, almost all societies had been divided into unequal groups, castes, or social classes. Depending on the location and time, the divisions were described in different terms, such as patricians and plebeians, lords and serfs, nobles and commoners, or masters and slaves. Wherever one looked, some people had far more wealth and power than others, and equality, or the ideal situation in which all people are treated the same way and valued equally, was the exception, not the rule.
The debate over what rights our government should pre serve began more than two centuries ago, with the writing of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and continues to this day. The Constitution (and its amend ments) specifies many basic rights, including the right to vote, to speak freely, to choose one’s faith, and to receive fair treatment and equal justice under the law. However, some people argue that the government should also protect certain economic and social rights, such as the right to affordable health care or to a clean of rights be expanded to include new privileges, or are there limits to the number of rights a government can protect? Either way, who should decide which rights are right for today?
The idea that people have certain rights, or powers or privileges granted to people either by an agreement among themselves or by law, would have seemed self-evident to most Americans in Jefferson’s day. Because they lived in British colonies, Americans believed that they were entitled to the “rights of Englishmen.” These rights, such as the right to a trial by jury or to be taxed only with the people’s consent, had been established gradually over hundreds of years. The colonists believed, with some legitimacy, that having these rights set them apart from other peoples in the world.
Defining and Debating America’s Founding Ideals 11
2. The Second Founding Ideal: Rights
Debating Rights Today
This celebration of the Bill of Rights was painted by Polish American artist Arthur Szyk in 1949, and includes a number of Revolutionary War-era symbols, such as flags, Minutemen, and America’s national bird, the bald eagle. Szyk wanted his work to promote human rights. “Art is not my aim,” he maintained, “it is my means.”
Defining Rights in 1776 Jefferson, however, was not referencing specific legal or political rights when he wrote of “unalienable rights.” Instead, he intended this phrase to address rights so basic and so essential to being human that no government should deny them. Such rights were not, in his opinion, limited to the privileges won by the English people, but were rights belonging to all humankind. This universal definition of rights was strongly influenced by the English philosopher John Locke, who had argued that all people earned certain natural rights simply by being born. Writing a century earlier, Locke identified these natural rights as the rights to life, liberty, and property, and further debated that the main purpose of governments was to preserve and protect these rights. When a government failed in this duty, citizens had the right to overthrow it.
Shouldenvironment.ourdefinition
Debating Liberty Today If asked to define liberty today, most Americans would probably respond that it means the freedom to make choices about who we are, what we believe, and how we live. For people to maintain complete freedom, there must be no restrictions on how they think, speak, or act. Furthermore, they must be conscious of what their choices are and have the power to decide among those choices. However, most Americans would prob ably also agree that liberty is not absolute, and that in all societies, there are limitations on liberty. Americans are not, for example, free to ignore laws or to recklessly endanger others.
3. The Third Founding Ideal: Liberty
“That among these [rights] are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Precisely how liberty should be limited is a matter of debate. For example, most of us support freedom of speech, especially when it coincides with speech we agree with. But what about speech that we disagree with or that hurts others, such as hate speech? Should people be at liberty to say anything they please, no matter how hurtful it is to others, or should liberty be limited at times to serve a greater good? If so, who should decide how, why, and under what circum stances liberty should be limited?
Every year, millions visit the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia’s Independence National Historic Park. The huge bell was commissioned by the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1753, and its every peal was meant to proclaim “liberty throughout all the land.” Badly cracked and battered, the bell is now silent; however, it remains a beloved symbol of freedom.
When Jefferson started writing the Declaration, the colonists had been at war with Britain for more than a year—a war waged in the name of liberty, or freedom. Every colony had its liberty trees, its liberty poles, its Sons and Daughters of Liberty (groups organizing against the British), and its flags that proclaimed “Liberty or Death.” A recently arrived British immi grant to Maryland said of the colonists, “They are all liberty mad.”
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Defining Liberty in 1776 Liberty was defined differ ently by different colonists. For many, liberty meant political freedom, or the right to participate in public affairs. Additionally, it meant civil liberty, or protection from power of the government to interfere in people’s lives. Other colonists perceived liberty as moral and religious freedom. In reality, liberty meant all of this and Regardlessmore. of how colonists defined liberty, the majority agreed on one point: the opposite of liberty was slavery. “Liberty or slavery is now the question,” declared a colonist arguing for independence in 1776. Such conversation raised a disturbing question: If so many Americans were angry about liberty, what should this mean for the one-fifth of the colonial population who labored as slaves? On the controversial issue of slavery in a land of liberty, there was no consensus.
For all Americans, the ideal of opportunity raises important ques tions. Has the United States offered equal opportunity to all of its people, or have some enjoyed more opportunity to pursue their dreams than others? Is it enough to “level the playing field” so that everyone has the same chance to succeed in life, or should special efforts be made to expand opportunities for the least fortunate among us?
“That among these [rights] are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Something curious happened to John Locke’s definition of natural rights in Jefferson’s hands. Locke had included property as the third and final right in his list, but Jefferson replaced property with “the pursuit of Happiness.” The noted American historian Page Smith observed of this decision,
4. The Fourth Founding Ideal: Opportunity
The destiny that Jefferson imagined was one of endless opportunity, or the chance for people to pursue their hopes and dreams.
Defining and Debating America’s Founding Ideals 13
—Page Smith, A New Age Now Begins, 1976
Horatio Alger Jr., author of Strive and Succeed, wrote more than 100 “dime novels” in the late 1800s. Many of these inexpensive books were about opportunity, like this one titled Luck and Pluck. Many people come to America searching for opportunities to achieve the American dream, or the concept that people can become successful through hard work, courage, and concern for others.
Debating Opportunity Today
The change was significant and very American . . . The kings and poten tates, the powers and principalities of this world [would not] have thought of including “happiness” among the rights of a people . . . except for a select and fortunate few. The great mass of people were doomed to labor by the sweat of their brows, tirelessly and ceaselessly, simply in order to survive . . . It was an inspiration on Jefferson’s part to replace [property] with “pursuit of happiness” . . . It embedded in the opening sentences of the declaration that comparatively new . . . idea that a life of weary toil . . . was not the only possible destiny of “the people.”
Defining Opportunity in 1776 The idea that America was a land of opportu nity was as old as the colonies themselves. Very soon after colonist John Smith first arrived in Jamestown in 1607, he proclaimed that here “every man may be master and owner of his owne labour and land.” Although Jamestown did not live up to this promise, opportunity was the great lure that drew colonists across the Atlantic to pursue new lives in a new land.
More than two hundred years after the Declaration of Independence was penned and signed, the ideal of opportunity still draws newcomers to our shores. For most, economic opportunity and the hope of finding work at a decent wage is the most substantial draw. For others, oppor tunity means the chance to reunite families, acquire an education, or live in peace by escaping poor conditions in other countries.
In these few words, Jefferson described the basis of a democracy—a system of government founded on the simple principle that the power to rule derives from the consent of the governed. Power is not inherited by family mem bers, as in a monarchy, nor is it seized and exercised forcefully, as in a dictatorship. In a democracy, the people retain the power to select their leaders and influence the laws that govern them.
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Debating Democracy Today The debate regarding who should speak for the governed was long and arduous. It took women more than a century of tenacious struggle to attain voting rights, and democracy was denied to many minority groups for even longer. Today, the right to vote is universal for all American citizens over the age of 18.
Despite having gained the right to vote, many people today do not use it, and their lack of participation raises challenging and compelling questions. Why do so many Americans choose not to make their voices heard? Can democracy survive if large numbers of citizens decide not to participate in public affairs?
5. The Fifth Founding Ideal: Democracy “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
First, could democracy be adjusted to function in a country spread over more than 1,000 miles? In 1776, many people were unsure that it could be done.
The right to vote is so instrumental to a democracy that most Americans today think little about it. For much of our history, however, this right was denied to women and most African Americans because their “consent” was not considered important to those who governed.
Defining Democracy in 1776 The people had run their local governments for many generations, so colonists were familiar with the workings of democracy. In town meetings and colonial assem blies, colonists had learned to collaborate to solve common problems. They were confident that democracy worked on a small scale, but two questions remained.
The second question was this: Who should speak for “the governed”? In colonial times, only white, adult, property-owning men were permitted to vote or hold office, and this narrow definition of voters did not please many Americans. “How can a Man be said to [be] free and independent,” protested citizens of Massachusetts in 1778, “when he has not a voice allowed him” to vote? As for women, their voices were not yet considered in any way.
“Ideals are like stars,” observed Carl Schurz, a German American politician in the late 1800s. “You will not succeed in touching them with your hands, but like the seafaring man on the ocean desert of waters, you choose them as your guides, and, following them, you reach your destiny.” In this program, the ideals found in the Declaration of Independence will serve as your guiding stars. You will encounter these ideals repeatedly—sometimes as points of pride, sometimes as prods to progress, and sometimes as sources of sorrow.
Rights
Defining and Debating America’s Founding Ideals 15
Opportunity This ideal lies at the heart of the “American dream.” Additionally, it raises difficult questions about how the U.S. government should promote equal opportunities for all Americans.
The Declaration states that we are all born with “certain unalienable Rights.” Exactly what these rights should be has been the subject of never-ending debates.
The Declaration of Independence asserts that “all men are created equal.” During the past two centuries, this definition of equality has broadened to include women and minority groups. However, Americans continue to debate the role of government in promoting equality today.
One of the rights mentioned in the Declaration is liberty—the right to speak, act, think, and live freely. However, liberty is never absolute or unlimited. Defining the proper limits and restrictions to liberty is a constant challenge to a free people.
Living up to these ideals has never been a simple task, as ideals represent the absolute highest standards, and human beings are far too complex to easily achieve such perfection. No one illustrates that complexity more clearly than Jefferson.
Liberty
Soon after the Second Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence, it appointed a committee to design an official seal for the United States. The final design appears on the back of the one-dollar bill. One side displays an American bald eagle holding symbols of peace and war, with the eagle facing toward peace. The other depicts an unfinished pyramid, symbolizing strength and endurance. Perhaps another reason for the unfinished pyramid was to illustrate that a nation built on ideals is a work in progress. As long as our found ing ideals endure, the United States will constantly be striving to meet them.
6. In Pursuit of America’s Ideals
Throughout our history, Americans have been inspired and guided by the ideals in the Declaration of Independence—equality, rights, liberty, opportunity, and democracy.
Although Jefferson believed passionately in the Declaration’s ideals, he was a slaveholder. Hypocritically, equality and liberty stopped at the borders of his Virginia plantation. Jefferson’s pursuit of happiness depended on depriving the people who labored for him as slaves the right to pursue happiness of their own.
The front of the Great Seal features a bald eagle and a shield with 13 red and white stripes, representing the original 13 states. The scroll in the eagle’s beak contains our national motto, E Pluribus Unum, which means “Out of Many, One,” referring to the creation of one nation from 13 states.
Each generation has struggled with these ideals, and the narrative of their conflict lies at the heart of our nation’s history and who we are as Americans.
Equality
The Declaration of Independence states that governments are created by people in order to “secure these rights.” Governments receive their “just powers” to rule from the “consent of the governed.” Today, we define such governments as democracies.
Summary
Democracy
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Notebook Handouts
INTERACTIVE STUDENT NOTEBOOK © Teachers’ Curriculum Institute Defining and Debating America’s Founding Ideals 1 Defining and Debating America’s Founding Ideals What are America’s founding ideals, and why are they important? PREVIEW Survey on American Ideals Write the following five statements in your notebook, and record the answer that best represents your views on each. 1. All Americans are equal. a. strongly disagree b. mildly disagree c. mildly agree d. strongly agree 2. Some Americans have more rights than others. a. strongly disagree b. mildly disagree c. mildly agree d. strongly agree 3. Americans have all the freedoms they deserve. a. strongly disagree b. mildly disagree c. mildly agree d. strongly agree 4. All Americans have the same opportunities to suc ceed in life. a. strongly disagree b. mildly disagree c. mildly agree d. strongly agree
7. Why is the Declaration of Independence an important document?
8. Where did founders like Thomas Jefferson get inspiration for the ideals in the Declaration of Independence? Vocabulary Terms you complete the Reading Notes, use these Vocabulary Terms in your answers: libertyrightsequality democracyopportunity
As
6. Where in the Declaration of Independence can you find references to equality, rights, liberty, opportunity, and democracy?
5. Wealthy people have a more powerful voice in American democracy than do others. a. strongly disagree b. mildly disagree c. mildly agree d. strongly agree
Opportunity “That among these [rights] are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Equality
INTERACTIVE STUDENT NOTEBOOK © Teachers’ Curriculum Institute Defining and Debating America’s Founding Ideals 2 READING NOTES Sections 1 to 5 Copy the table onto a full page of your notebook. Then read Sections 1 to 5 and complete the table. Ideal and Excerpt from the Declaration of Independence Definition Influence of the Ideal in 1776 and Today
Liberty “That among these [rights] are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
“All men are created equal.” Rights “They are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.”
Democracy “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
Write a five-paragraph essay that answers the following question:
Section
• at least two pieces of evidence (visual details, facts, data, examples, or quotations) that support the topic sentence. For the first two body paragraphs, use evidence from Placards A through R. For the third body paragraph, use evidence from current events or from your own experience.
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INTERACTIVE STUDENT NOTEBOOK
Debating
© Teachers’ and America’s
Liberty “That among these [rights] are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
An introduction, including • a hook that creates interest in the topic of your essay.
Three body paragraphs that each include
A conclusion that includes • a reworded version of your thesis statement.
• a one- or two-sentence explanation of how each piece of evidence supports the topic sentence or thesis statement.
Democracy “That to secure these rights, Governments are insti tuted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
The following is a list of America’s founding ideals and excerpts from the Declaration of Independence that correspond with those ideals.
Opportunity “That among these [rights] are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
• a thesis statement that clearly states your perspective on the essay question.
Have Americans lived up to the ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence? Your essay must include the following elements:
Rights “They are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.”
Equality “All men are created equal.”
Write a short definition for each ideal. Then describe the influence of the ideal in 1776 and its influence in the United States today.
PROCESSING
• a topic sentence that clearly states one argument supporting your thesis statement.
• a brief summary of your main arguments.
Founding Ideals 3
Curriculum Institute Defining