LAD #21: Carnegie's Gospel of Wealth

He leads off by stating that due to the change in the times, the gap between the rich and the poor has greatly expanded. This is not to be frowned upon though, as the refinement of civilization is better to be safeguarded by a minority than none at all. The times have improved the lives of both "the master and the servants". Under these conditions, society is more benefited overall, but the question remains on how to distribute this wealth that the laws of nature have already organized? There are 3 ways in which to do this, make it an inheritance, give it out for public purposes, or dispose of it entirely during your lifetime. Leaving it to the care of your children does nothing for society and allows for its slow disentegration at the hands of inadequate possessors. It is even worse to hold on to this fortune with no way to put it to use, specifically in the hands of the community. By utilizing your wealth in life, one can evolve society and close the gap between the rich and poor. The fortune of one can be placed in the hands of the many and serve a higher purpose for the advancement of civilization. A man of wealth is therefore required to use this wealth to improve the lives of the poor beneath him and improve society through his financial distribution.

LAD #20: Emancipation Proclamation

Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation states that at the advent of 1863 all slaves in the states or the parts of states which are in open rebellion with the Union will henceforth be free. He declares that by the power vested in him as Commander-in-Chief he will both militarily and politically, as well as the federal government, support the rights and liberties of these free men against the rebellious states. He then goes on to define what states are in open rebellion which were Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, excluding certain counties, regions and other slave states not in open rebellion, including New Orleans. He also urges freed slaves to avoid violence and become members of society and labor peacefully for wages. As a final blow, he says that the military will accept these freed slaves and they may join the Union army and man stations against those in rebellion. This was his executive proclamation.

LAD #19: Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

To start off his second inaugural Lincoln declares that his speech will be short and concise, contrary to his first as the issues of that day constituted an outline of the path he was going to take the nation. The events currently consuming the nation have made his job and the subsequent outline clear and vivid to the American people. He offers no prediction for the outcome of the war. He states that at the time of his first inaugural, all sought to avoid war and the goal was to preserve the Union, but some sought to dissolve this Union without from within the government. Eventually, some sought to dissolve the Union at the cost of war (South) and the others sought to save the Union through war (North). The issue of the minority slaves was the South's constitution for war, while the Republicans sought only to restrict its "territorial enlargement". They are all Americans of the same God, yet each invokes God's will against the others. Yet, if slavery is the issue God has requested to be revoked and he has sent this war upon those who are to have it pulled form their grasp and if he continues this war until the United States ceases to exist, then it shall be. He concludes by saying, let us make God's will different and finish what we have started, fix our wounds, and welcome back the great Union which was torn from the Earth.

LAD #18: Dred Scott Decision

In 1857 the Supreme Court was back at the task of giving the decision to the controversial Dred Scott vs Sanford case. At first, what was believed to be the majority called for the decision to avoid the touchy subjects of black citizenship and the constitutionality of the Missouri Compromise and make sure they were left unaddressed by the decision. After seeing minority justices takes these into account, the majority put Justice Roger Taney in charge to oversee that these issues were put to the test in the decision. Even President Buchanan highlighted the overarching influence of the Supreme Court in this matter. On the day of the decision, Justice Taney first addressed the question of black citizenship, asking if one who was once property might be able to become a citizen of the Union. He actually stated that the right to sue to the Supreme Court was a right reserved under the Constitution for American citizens, which Dred Scott was not making his case in the court unconstitutional. Next he turned to the Missouri Compromise stating that the federal government in these territories could not works outside its means and violate the right to property American citizens held. As a result, the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional as it had no right to determine the rights to property of an American who just happened to reside there. Dred Scott's last hope of being deemed free was shot down by the ambiguous ruling that the freedom of a slave is ruled by the state he brought suit in, which was the slave state Missouri. In the end, the Supreme Courts decision was upheld in favor of Sanford, a landmark case.

LAD #17: Truth's "Ain't I a Woman?" Speech

Sojourner Truth begins her speech by stating that all the talk of women's rights and abolition is surely to cause a ruckus amongst the hierarchy of white men. She states though  "But what's all this here talking about?'. The white man supposedly is to cater to the woman so that she is comfortable, but Truth has never had such an experience. She has had to live the life of slave hard at work and has borne many a children. Still though, through all this she asks "Ain't I a woman" because she is still seen as nothing more than a Negro. All these women are seeking for equal rights with man, but Truth is still searching for her own equal rights among her own sex. She says that intellect has nothing to do with it, whether true or not, only that women and blacks may have their chance too. She believes there is no reason for women or blacks to be subordinate and they should strive not to be. Amusingly, she ends her moving speech by stating she has nothing more to say.

LAD #16: Douglass's "5th of July" Speech

Frederick Douglass starts off his speech by asking the questions of to what extent are the rights that the white population holds extended to the black or slave population. He wonders who there is that could be so wronged and evil to be against such freedom and joy that is coupled with the abolition of slavery. An irony is provoked in this speech, an irony on how he was called upon to speak about the great independence celebrated in July of our nation, when in fact its independence does not reach to him and his demographic. He even compares this woe to that of the Jews leaving Jerusalem and the despair they felt along the way. His disgust in the joyous cheers of independence is astounding and the American map "never looked blacker to me than on this Fourth of July!", in an ironic sense. He senses that America has also be contradictory and false, in the past, present, and seemingly the future. He will remain movingly adamant in his stance against the American atrocity. He states that he is fighting for the life of men without being made into submissive brutes, while this population is free to their own endeavors and joyous celebrates false "liberty". He concludes that the Fourth of July to a slave is nothing more than a despicable lie and a false sense of egalitarianism that is supposedly a base to a wonderful "democracy". He believes America is not rivaled in its brutality and violation of humanity anywhere on the globe.

LAD #15: Lincoln's Gettysburg Address

The Gettysburg Address was a short speech delievered at Gettysburg by President Lincoln to commerorate and consecrated the bruial ground construction for the brave Union men who had died on that ground. He states that the nation once conceived in liberty is now stuck in a grave and divisive conflict. The battlefield they stand upon and the died whom have died upon it are being dedicated in the right and proper way he states. But what they had done and the blood they had spilled on those hills was the true consecration of the ground which surpassed our feeble ability to do so in remembrance. He states that what may be dedicated here today may be forgotten, but the men who have died must not be forgotten by history. This is because they are to be remembered by the living and used as the dedication for which they must undertake the remaining portion of the great task ahead. It is to make sure that the dead give to the people the same devotion to achieve that they "gave (as) the last full measure of devotion". It must be made so that they might not die in vain and that the democratic principles of government live on in the world.

LAD #14: Lincoln's First Inaugural Address

Lincoln begins his inaugural address by stating southern concerns regarding their rights under his Republican administration will be safeguarded as is defined by the constitution. On the topic of fugitive slaves, he will stand by the constitutional rights of property that the southerners call for. Lincoln stresses that his administration will strictly follow the document that unifies the nation, the Constitution, and that in a time were disruption of the federal union is threatened he will strive to keep the Union in tact. He questions the authority of the Constitution though, if one state has the right to destroy the federal union as outlined in the Constitution, obviously taking an indirect jab at how one state's secession is in fact not legally acceptable and that the Constitution is truly unifying. Eventually, he comes to the specific point of slavery, with which he has been hinting at throughout. At this point he makes sure to state that the Union and the Constitution must be asserted through all the states to ensure its binding effects. But it must be literally used as a guide for union, in that it gives no authority for the government over the abolition or the support of slavery, that is a states right previously noted not to be violated through treasonous military actions of the federal authority. Although the slavery issue may never be settled, he believes that unity amongst the states is paramount as the issues will become ingrained permanently if the union dissolves and the slave issue becomes truly divisive. Although he union of the states is strained, it always has been one of compromise and tension, but these tensions have been put aside in the past for the sake of mutual benefit in the form a union. Secession may lead to the loss of the goal of democracy fought for by the founding fathers. All in all, the speech concludes by again reiterating that the nation must be one of friends with conflicting opinions as a opposed to enemies sharing in each others demise.

LAD #13: Calhoun's Speech

Calhoun starts off bluntly, stating that the Union, or rather disunion, is on the brink of collapse. This is mainly because the South is agitated by the issues of slavery. The masses actually are the source of Southern discontent and have been sought to be quieted by the leaders of both parties in the South, consequentially weakening the party ties they have with the other sections. Still though, Northern pressures on the slave issue have roused a belief that the South can no longer bear the weight of these injustices. This is because the North has gained supremacy and altered the equilibrium of the Constitutional government, which takes away the southern ability to fight oppression. This equilibrium will be permanently destroyed by the admittance of several new "northern" states as well as the next census. He believes this rift was caused by northern control over new territories, the protective tariff, and legislation which favors the North. He states that the North is exerting control over the Mexican Cession, that the protective tariff has reached beyond its original duties, for the benefit of northern business, and that the Land Ordinance of 1787 and the Missouri Compromise have benefited the North. All of these contribute to a Northern control of government as well as increased population and states. Nevertheless, the North has continued to attack the southern institution of slavery, the most divisive topic of all. The cords of democracy have slowly been ripped by the northern agitation of the south and the abolition of slavery will not be the cause of southern secession, it is approaching to fast. In fact, the issue of California will show Northern intentions  in regard to restricting southern influence in the territories. He concludes by stating that this inevitable march toward sectional division has made him give this digression and he has pleaded his case on the subject. In the end he states that when secession finally arrives "I am free from all responsibility".

LAD #12: Polk's War Message

Polk is bringing attention of the current state of affairs between the United States and Mexico, basically a call for the declaration of war. He introduces the topic by outlining the situation, in which the United States, under his guidance, sent an envoy to the Mexico with full powers vested in him to redraw their borders, but was denied diplomatic proceedings by the Mexicans, who in turn have begun to launch attacks on American soil. Next, he addresses the proceedings in depth, telling how following the Mexican affirmation of acceptance he sent John Slidell as an envoy to work on the diplomatic issues of the Texas boundary and the compensation of the citizens of Texas. Following the revolutionary usurpation of the Mexican government, the military leader General Herrera denied Slidell's request on behalf of the new regime of General Paredes. Again, he asked Paredes, who denied his request and left the envoy to go home. Mexican aggression forced Polk to station troops in annexed Texas and protect American interests in the region. Eventually, armed conflict occurred between the belligerent armies. He concludes by stating that Mexican disregard for governmental practice, their odd notion that Texas is somehow theirs, and their general disregard for American safety, commerce, and rights have justified a war between the states, which America must partake in for the good of its liberty and privileges.

LAD #11: Seneca Falls Declaration

The Seneca Falls Declaration of 1848 begins by almost exactly mimicking the Declaration of Independence's introduction and merely adds women into the equation. It states that inalienable rights of man also apply to women and they have to the right to shrug off these abuses by government in favor of a government which supports the rights of women as well. Next, in the style of the original Declaration, the state their "sentiments" or grievances which have led them to meet and draft this document. They include, the lack of the right to vote or partake in the legislative process, the hindering effect marraige has on them, their inability to own private property, their overall subservient nature to men, the unfairness of divorce laws, their inability to gain high-paying professions, the inequality in education, and not being allowed to partake in the actions of the Church. They state that women deserve to be shed of these impediments and that they will do everything in their power to further the rights of women in the future, and proceed to state these issues to be resolved by the natural law of the universe set forth by God. These include, equality of women in government and in regard to men, ending the obedient degradation of women in favor of progressive fighting, the moral authority of women, that men should be just as moral in government as women already are, that women may address the public without ridicule, that women themselves shall move forward as designated by God, women's suffrage, and the combined efforts of men and women to usurp the patrimonial society that they live in.

LAD #10: Monroe Doctrine

The Monroe Doctrine leads off by stating that through peaceful diplomatic negotiations with both Great Britain and the Czar of Russia disputes regarding American continental territory have been settled, specifically the Pacific Northwest. As a result, Monroe declares the American continent closed to future European colonization. Next, he addresses the situation of war within the Iberian Peninsula, in which America has once again found itself spectating with eagerness. He states that American involvement in trans-Atlantic affairs was been nonexistent and the policy of neutrality in regard to the present situation is to continue; only if American rights "are invaded or seriously menaced" will the government take a military stance against belligerents in Europe. In essence, the European system of governments is different and harmful in comparison to the system adopted in the western hemisphere and America shall remain amicable and neutral towards European powers so as not to bring about the implementation of the European alliances in American affairs. Also, in regard to the recent revolutions in the West Indies, America will not seek to oppress or assert any control over these new nations, but will defend them in the instance of European attempts to reassert control over their prior colonies. Meanwhile, Monroe guarantees that present European protectorates will not be interfered and maintains that the United States will remain neutral in regard to European conflicts until American rights are violated by European powers. The United States has no reason to meddle in the affairs of "de facto" European governments and will continue to cultivate relations with the existing regimes in that they respect the established governments in the western hemisphere.
 

LAD #9: Jefferson's First Inaugural Address

Jefferson starts out his inaugural address by first accepting his role as president, although his modest skills are not fit for the task. He still tells the American people that he will virtuously lead the nation on the same principles as the Constitution as it continues its incredibly journey of progress. He then goes on to state that the Union is run by the legislators and himself on the grounds of sound principles, not ideologies. The ideas of the minority who believe the government to be weak will be protected as intolerance is the ground on which a government cannot stand. All have to adhere to the American principles of tolerance and those who battle against the republic will be fought with reason. He believes American to be the greatest government of all, "where every man, at the call of the law, would fly to the standard of the law, and would meet invasions of the public order as his own personal concern" and that abandoning the solid base republicanism has provided on the grounds of a theory that states it is not strong enough would be both foolish and preposterous. Then he goes on to describe the great pride and prosperity that is happening in America at that time that is paralleled nowhere else in the world, which each man has a right to practice in happiness within this tolerant nation. One more great stride can be achieved though, and that is the implementation of wise and helpful government that will protect the rights of the people, both personally and propertied. Then he says it is right for him to explain to them, whose rights he is protecting, what his values and expectations of government are. These include the keeping of justice for all men in their endeavors, maintaining peaceful relations abroad without alliances, protecting the rights of States to further the blockade against anti-republican tendencies, and to protect the vigor to the government provided by the pride of the Constitution. Also, he believes in strengthening the militia, supporting agriculture to stimulate the economy from the ground up, and to protect the rights of Americans guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. He concludes by asking for the American populace to support him through thick and thin, whether he missteps or others claim he has misstepped and by stating that he will work to his greatest extent until he is relieved of his duties or the peace and prosperity of the American people is compromised.

Columbus Blog #8

With Columbus Day in the near future, it is important to not only look at Columbus as the hero many perceive him to be, but also as the villainous person he actually was. Personally, it is my belief that Columbus was much more of an evil figure than he was the positive light we celebrate today. Many associate his name with genocide and social Darwinism, too terrible traits of the human race. When he first arrived at Hispaniola there have been reports of him mass murdering large groups of the native Taino Indians, enslaving their women, and separating families from their children. At one point, the Taino saw Columbus's advance into their homeland as destroying their future and they conducted mass suicides by jumping off cliffs or poisoning each other. Also, Columbus was not held in high regard as a captain and was known for nurturing mutinous feelings among his crew. Reports of his atrocities in Hispaniola even appalled Ferdinand and Isabella, known for their inhumane actions during the Spanish Inquisition, when they read them first hand. Obviously Columbus did open the door to the New World for Europe, but his actual character must much darker and more horrific than it was heroic as represented by our celebration of his holiday to this day. Some states have even ended their recognition of Columbus Day for these very reasons.

LAD #7: Washington's Farewell Address

A Summary of Washington's Farewell Address

Washington starts his address by formally withdrawing from the Presidential race and thanks the American populace for their support and the experiences they have given him. He could not have succeed in his policies without their support. Then Washington states that he has a few notes for the Americans to consider that are the enemy of the government and if not addressed or followed, will result in the undoing of the American government. He stresses that the Americans are all bound the same love of liberty and that the union of the nation far surpasses any other alliance or community in importance and strength. All components of America (North, South, East, and West) are bound by stronger ties than any alliance possible. He warns against foreign influence that could create factions that may drive a wedge into this American unity. He stands very strongly against the division of the American government into parties or factions which is the death of American unity, what binds them into the strong nation that they are. These influences can be checked by American leaders who are attached to the notion of nation before self and how important unity really is. He also stresses religious piety in order to promote national morality which is the driving force behind the republican United States government.

LAD #6: Washington's Proclamation of Neutrality

Summary of Washington's Proclamation of Neutrality

In this proclamation Washington states that in regard to the war between numerous powers of Europe the United States will take a neutral and impartial stance. Washington says that the United States will not take any action either with or against the "belligerant" powers of Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, Sardinia, and the Netherlands in regard to revolutionary France. Washington also declares that any American that decides to become involved in any of the foreign hostilities will be unprotected by the United States and subject to foreign prosecution as well as most likely prosecuted domestically.

Republican Motherhood Blog

1. The Revolutionary War completely changed the role of women from just being housewives, to actually being cultivators of the next generation through Republican Motherhood.  Following the war many men saw the highest calling of the woman to be educating the future leaders of the country at home, "Is she a patriot? It is here she can best serve her country, by training up good citizens, just, human, and enlightened legislators." as described in Document A. Women were no longer asked to menially make sure the household operated smoothly, but were actually called upon to be thoroughly educated to ensure they can teach their children to be sound American citizens (Document B). Now people saw the household as less of a physical thing, and more of a symbolic representation of the nurture of the future generations that would lead the nation and it would be the woman's job to ensure that her household instilled the correct values within its inhabitants (Document D).

2. Some consequences, in regard to women, did exist as a result of Republican Motherhood. One main one was that this ideology constricted the social mobility of women and forced them to focus on their singular domain, the household. "... whenever she neglects these duties, or goes out of this sphere of action to mingle in any great public movements of the day, she is deserting the station which God and nature have assigned to her." (Document A). Now women were expected to focus even harder on their station at home and avoid become a more pivotal figure in the social workings of the nation. Still though, women were now expected to be educated as a result of Republican Motherhood to ensure the correct nurture of their children (Document B). Women were eventually even called upon to become the caretakers of American society because "She is fitted by nature to cheer the afflicted, elevate the depressed, minister to the wants of the feeble and diseased..." (Document D).

3. The ideology of Republican Motherhood was a significant step in the socialization of American women. Mainly because women took that first, and very important, step from just housewives, to actual educators, caretakers, and cultivators of the American population. "The first remark that I shall make upon this subject is that female education should be accommodated to the state of society, manners, and government of the country in which it is conducted." (Document B). Suddenly women were now getting calls for education to further their ability to nurture, which would eventually set the stage for further social and educational progress for women. Looking even by 1780 women were then capable to voice their opinions within writing, and very strong writing at that (Document C). A woman's role in society  even further escalated as Republican Motherhood set the stage for even people calling for women to be let into the social process and serve as the mediators and the caretakers not just domestically, but also in society (Document D).

1. A mother and her two sons are seated on a couch in a fairly dull room. The sons seem to be drawn to the stately portrayed mother in the portrait and are strangely dressed in women's attire.

2. At the center of the portrait is the mother. She is drawn quite distinctly with strong posture and an aura of a peaceful and nurturing spirit. She is more republican as opposed to the Old War aristocracy in the sense that she is dressed more humbly and muted while she also emanates the caring, but still strong nature of the republican principle in contrast to the pompous and haughty gloating of the aristocracy.

3. Her sons seem to be drawn to the mother and portray the values that associate the role of the nurturing mother with Republicanism. The boys seem to be under control which can be connected to moral stability, most likely stemming from the ideals and representing Republican Motherhood.

4. The significance of Mrs. Tilgham's arm being positioned around one of her sons is to show how women are supposed to guide and protect their children to instill the values associated with the American ideals. By showing how the mother guides her children with gentle control it shows how the caring nature of the notion behind Republican Motherhood is portrayed within this portrait.

LAD #5: Federalist #10

1. Factions are so difficult to eliminate because of their connection to the inevitability of human animosity and liberty. Factions are tied to how each human has his or her own bias, opinion, or stance based on an issue and each holds the right or liberty to that notion. The only way these factions could be removed if people removed people's liberty and took away their freedom to determine their own opinion, which goes against the idea of what government should represent. Also, the only other way would be to make everyone join the same faction or believe in the same idea, which is also impossible as human nature is to give each human his or her unique opinion on a topic which will make inevitably different factions within government. So therefore factions are so impossible to rid off because they are tied to an idea which government is based on and can not rid of either.

2. Factions can only be controlled by one of two ways, either making everyone believe the faction's ideas or vice verse, which is implausible by human nature, or by checking the faction's power through democracy. Through the vote a minority faction can be suppress by the majority, making sure it doesn't oppress the government. In the case of the majority faction a pure democracy is ineffective, whereas a well-structured republic is able to control the faction. Through a republic built on happy mediums, which make sure those representing the governed have the best state of mind for governing as well as the best correlation between national and local objections the faction can be controlled. By opening government away from smaller and more distinct sections, the possibility of a smaller, but still a majority, faction becomes more real as it can institute its oppressive ideas without much resistance. Within a republican government these smaller and more effective majority factions are able to be controlled by the broad representation of a voting people. All together, republicanism provides the most effective means to control the inevitable faction which may challenge the rights of the governed.

LAD #4: Revolution Article

1. The Civil War is considered more horrific than the War of Independence for various reasons that are common misconceptions about the War. These misconceptions revolved around the fact that the War of Independence was overshadowed by the larger number of causalities in the Civil War and the politics behind the American Revolution and the founding of the United States.

2. Civilians were actually more effected by the war than most people think. .5% of the civilian population was killed during the Revolutionary War and Loyalists were highly persecuted. Loyalists lost almost all their land to confiscation and upwards of 100,000 Loyalists went into exile following the war.

3. The South played a much larger role in the Revolutionary War and was the sight of more bloodshed than most believe to have occurred there. The British Colonel Tarleton massacred 75 percent of a surrendered American legion in Virginia in what is known as the Waxhaws Massacre. Even more blatant killing took place in the South following the rebel victory at King's Mountain and Colonel Henry Lees assault on Loyalist Cavalry in Hillsborough N.C.

4. Revolutionary War battlefields were just as bloody and littered with corpses as the Civil War although not perceived that way. Countless accounts of the War of Independence describe how severe the devastation was on the battlefields and just how many causalities lie dead or dying on the battlefield. Some accounts described the crushing of corpses beneath retreating wagons of the revolutionaries and others say the bodies "lay as thick as the stones on a stony plowfield".

5. The immortal figures of George Washington, Ben Franklin, and others were substantially aided by biographies and history's interpretation of the Revolutionary War. The people history remembers from the Revolution are political figures like John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick Henry, as opposed to war figures that are honored by the Civil War. Washington, shortly after his death, had his famous biography published by Parson Weems that made his persona seem to be the epitome of honor and valor, making him seem all the more great than he actually was.

This represents how Washington is immortalized as a figure more than the actual battles of the Revolutionary War. This makes the War of Independence seem less deadly than the Civil War as it is conceived as more of a struggle of honor and famous figures, than bloody battles that left countless dead.

LAD #3: Declaration of Independence

1. The first portion of the Declaration of Independence basically says that over time it happens that a group of people feel the need to break off from their former nation and these are the reasons why. It says that all men are entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and government is instituted, by the people, to preserve these rights. When these rights are violated by the government it is the right of the people to abolish the government and set up a new one tailored to their rights. It also says that men are more inclined to suffer under a bad government than to overthrow it, but in the case of the colonies so many abuses have taken place that it is their duty to overthrow the tyrannical regime that controls them. Then it proceeds to list these abuses that justify their "abolition" of the government.

2. The Declaration in its second third is a list of all the grievances they have against the King. First it says that the King has failed to institute good and just laws and has prevented the colonies from making, for themselves, such laws. Then it says that in several instances the King either doesn't allow legislative bodies in the colonies, makes them inoperable,  or even dissolves them. Next it states that he controls immigration to the colonies and won't allow them to set up their own courts, while making the judges loyal to him through a royal salary. The King made many new offices in the colonies that harass the people and has kept an army, out of civil control, in the colonies in times of peace. Then it says he has instituted a series of laws that were not agreed upon by the colonial peoples in a legislature that they are not represented in.  These laws include, having to quarter British troops in private homes, allowing British troops trials in Britain for their crimes, as well as trials for Americans in Britain, not allowing colonists a trial by jury, cutting off their foreign trade, and taxing the colonies without their consent. Next it lists more of these laws, such as making a neighboring colony an absolute government that tries to impose this on the American colonies, editing American laws and governments, and controlling American legislatures. Then it states how George has started a war on the Americans, hiring mercenaries and destroying American lives.

3. In conclusion, the Declaration states that the colonies have humbly tried to address these oppressions and gain their rights, which George has denied and has been deemed a tyrant. It says they even appealed to their British brethren who have not heeded the calls of the American populace. So as a result, the Declaration ends by saying by these wrongs the American people have decided to dissolve all ties to Britain and become free and independent states capable of governing the American people.

LAD #2 John Peter Zenger

1. John Peter Zenger was a German immigrant to New York that had been trained in printing. Following Governor William Cosby's prosecution of the prior interim governor and removal of a popular court justice he was selected by a rich opposition party to run a news circulation against the governor called The New York Weekly Journal. He published many vicious works towards the governor until he was arrested, jailed for 10 months and brought before the court under charges of seditious libel. He was found not guilty and set an early American standard for freedom of the press.

2. The controversy was that the governor claimed that the fact that he was publishing seditious works in his paper was enough grounds to convict him while many were against the governor in his claims and thought that Zenger had the right to speak out. Alexander Hamilton was the defense attorney in the trial and argued that although Zenger had written seditious works he had the right to because it was truthful. However seditious or rebellious one's speech could be if it could be proved a fact one had the right to speak it because it was the truth. That was the grounds Hamilton argued on and won the case because Zenger was in fact speaking the truth, however seditious it may sound.

3. The case had a profound impact on latter American government and its traditions. It set the precedent  for freedom of the speech and not allowing the government to limit anyone from speaking the truth however viciously it might attack the government. This idea was later included in the Bill of Rights while our founding fathers molded the Constitution. It also made sure that the judiciary system did not have too much power over the courts, that the power still rested in the hands of the jury as the judge had continually shot down the defense, but in the end the jury issued the verdict after an appeal by Hamilton.

4.The lasting significance of the trial is that it allowed for all future Americans to speak freely what they chose, on the grounds that it had a factual basis, whether or not it was in open criticism of the government. This is now an integral part of what makes America the country it is today and the freedom it gives its citizens. It also set the precedent for during the revolution that allowed for pro-Revolutionary papers and propaganda that might have given the revolutionary cause that extra push toward actual victory.

LAD #1 Mayflower Compact and Fundamental Orders of Connecticut

1. Included in the Mayflower Compact are several concepts that actually mirror many in the Declaration of Independence. First off, the writers acknowledge that they are creating this colony in the name of and for the glory of God as loyal subjects of the King. The main purpose of the the compact though was to create a binding document ensuring that the people of this new colony considered themselves and acted as a "civil Body Politick". This newly created state would be composed for the good of the people and would call assembly and pass laws and acts for the good of the colony. This is the concept that the Mayflower Compact was all about.

2. The Mayflower Compact shows a true connection between the Old and New worlds. Namely, to start of the writers state that they are still loyal subjects to their king. Also, to culminate the speech to make sure to mention this was written during the reign of King James. This shows how although across the ocean, they still were held by traditions and the ruling bodies of the motherland.  Still though they are still eager to mention that they are setting off on a voyage to found the first colony in northern Virginia and obviously show a level of pride in their expedition to the New World.

3. The Fundamental Orders were much different from the Mayflower Compact mainly in the sense that the Orders were a set of actually decreed laws while the Compact was more or less a declaration of how their colony would be more or less setup, without the specific laws and acts being stated. The Orders were specific laws instituted that were the exact rules to be followed in the governing of the colony, such as election procedures and abilities of those elected, while the Compact simply stated that some form of government with the power to enforce law would be set up in the new colony.

4. The citizens of Connecticut were obviously inclined to instituting this form of government because they had come from a more conservative government in Britain and were a more liberal society themselves. They opted to write a constitution because it obviously put in place "fundamental" laws and set in stone how the government should be operated. The writing of a constitution left little doubt as to how the colony should be governed.

5. The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut show a blatant fear and protection against the rise of power of one part of the government, basically the basis behind the checks and balances of our government today. They make sure to make provisions for the inability to hold the position of governor for consecutive years and make sure that all magistrates are elected fairly and properly in annual elections. Also, the local townships have the ability to call their own General Councils and send delegates to the main councils for the good of each town respectively. If a local government sees the need to amend the law to the towns liking, it has the ability to, therefore preventing a tyrannical or all powerful state which they feared would be to similar to that in Britain.

Hello.