LAD # 7: Washington's Farewell Address

Summarized:

Washington issued many warnings and words of wisdom on how to keep America how the founding fathers wanted it during his farewell address when he left office. First of all he talks about how the federal government was put in place for a reason and it should be kept in power. He discusses how the government, which the people are responsible for, needs to be a solid foundation because that will help all the other aspects of national and international life. Then he goes on to a warning about government. He warns that political parties should not form; if they did form then it would divide the nation and put brothers and against each other. This is exactly what happened once political parties were created. The opposition of brothers in one nation could tear the nation apart. Then Washington stresses the importance of religion and morality. He says without these two things there is no security or reputation for living. He goes on to talk about how to cherish public credit and warned against permanent foreign alliances. He encouraged neutrality because Washington was afraid of what a permanent alliance would mean for the country in the long run. Finally Washington advises to avoid needing a large army. This is because it may form a hostile environment. Overall the warnings and advertisements were either heard and seized or went unheard and the nation suffered the consequences.

LAD #6: Washington's Proclamation of Neutrality 1793

Summarized:

America was a brand new nation during 1793 after just completing a war with Britain. Though America was in a fragile, but good standing Europe was in war all over the continent. The first and great president George Washington observed these and then made this statement of neutrality. In his statement he explained that there were wars in Austria, Prussia, Sardinia, Great Britain, Netherlands and France. He advised anyone who had any relationship to the United States to stay out of any of the conflict. He disclaimed anyone who helped or did anything having to do with any of those wars. He goes on to say that officers may even be able to prosecute anyone who does not remain neutral. This was all in attempts to keep America stable.

LAD #5: Federalist #10

1. Why are factions so difficult to eliminate?

Factions are very difficult to eliminate because according to the Federalist Papers #10 if you get rid of factions then you have the chance of eliminating liberty. America was founded on the belief of liberty, without it America would be extremely different. Liberty is essential to political life. So even though sometimes factions are destructive to society without them we would losing something with much greater purpose.

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

Everyone has the right to think individually and seemingly factions can be controlled as long as his opinions and the rest of his life balance each other out. The government needs to control by dividing different subjects into different spheres of government. One man cannot regulate himself either because it would obviously be a biased answer. So in order to prevent this the government had set up legislation bodies to make sure that if we keep factions, everything is fair and there is as little bias as possible.

LAD # 4: Rethinking the Revolution

When comparing the Civil War to the Revolutionary War I learned a few things about the Revolutionary War.

1. History is skewed and not completely true depending on who tells it and how they want it to be told. After the Revolution in the early 1800s some Bostonians tried to not play up the role of the working class people of Boston and their participation in great revolts and protests, like those because of the Stamp Act.

2. When the article was written in 2007 the Revolutionary War was recognized as America's longest war, lasting longer than 8 years. There were also massive numbers of casualties. The most accurate numbers were estimated to have lost 30,000 in a population of 2.5 million. This may not seem like a lot, but compared to the growing populations during later wars, the Revolutionary War was even more deadly than the Civil War; compare 1:4 dying in the Revolution to 1:5 dying in the Civil war.

3. If one thinks about it, comparing it to any other war, especially the civil war, it is difficult to think of a revolutionary solider. You have Washington, Arnold and Jones. Compare that to Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, Grant, and Sherman. Many people can name people who had a great deal to do with the revolution, but were never military; Jefferson, Adams, Henry and Hancock to name a few. But the real soldiers names were kind of lost in history and not as well remembered.

4. History is also shaped by art, such as the inaccurate paintings of the revolution. None show any true battles, though the theme of each is war. Each painting makes the revolution seemingly glamorous. The artists leave out the dead bodies littering the field and the manual labor of shooting a time period gun among others Comparing these paintings to the pictures of the Civil War, it makes the Revolutionary War seem relatively small and calm.

5. Historians accounts do not help bring the true goriness of the war to light. This is because they focus on the two large meetings for the decision of independence and the Constitutional Convention which occurs after the war is over. By skipping some of the battles and not talking in as much detail it makes it seem like the war itself may have been more trivial than it actually was.

LAD #3 : Declaration of Independence

1. Democratic Principles
  In the introduction, the colonists and writers of the Declaration of Independence spoke about how they needed to stray from the mother country. They say that they have the right to form a  new nation just as much as any other nation or colony. The primary reason they are deciding to stray is because of the way the king was treating the colonies. Not only was he instilling laws and taxes without consulting or have representation from the colonies but he ignored the attempts at a treaty. They state how the government was formed to protect the people, not take away certain rights which all people have. But the British government had failed to look after what the colony wanted and so together, the colonies formed a list of grievances towards Britain as an explanation as to why they wanted their independence.

2. Grievances
 There were many reasons that the colonies wanted to separate from Britain. Most all of these had to do with the way the British were treating the colonies and in what ways they were being taken advantage of. Many of the grievances spoke about how the king was controlling most parts of government in the colonies though he was across the ocean and unaware of the the colonists wanted in government. He also would not let them pass laws on their own and sent in the British army to occupy the colonies when there was no war. The colonists eventually saw this as against their rights and began to think that they had the right to rule themselves for they were far more in tune with what the people wanted and what they needed.

3. Conclusion
The colonists expressed their attempts of negotiations. They stated that whenever they tried to negotiate they were wronged by the king more than they had previously been. So they finally declared themselves politically free from any ties with England. They were fully aware of the consequences and the idea of England and an enemy at least for that time period. But they also hoped that God saw that they were doing what was right in their minds. With the political freedom they had the rights to do whatever other political monarchies could do including declaring war, initiating peace, make alliances and trade with foreign nations.

LAD #2: John Peter Zenger

1. Who was John Peter Zenger?

John Peter Zenger was a new yorker who moved from Germany in the early 1700s. He became an apprentice to the impressive William Bradford who was a printer for The New York Gazette. While working for Bradford, the Governer William Cosby accused the interm governer of a controversy which caused Zenger to print a paper in opposition of the new polocies Cosby put in place. When Cosby started to go after the giants in the papers, they formed a opposition paper and hired Zenger as printer and editor. Though the papers were printed for a while, Cosby eventually arrested Zenger.


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

Zenger was charged with seditious libel, but Hamilton saw that this was not a valid charge. There was controversy over whether or not the allegations were valid. Hamilton argued that the allegations were not valid unless what Zenger wrote was false. By proving everything Zenger wrote was true and using the law to reason with the jury, they decided to deem Zenger not guilty.

3. What influence did his case have on American governmental tradition?

When the jury voted not guilty regarding Zenger's trials it set a standard for future governmental tradition. It not only established that truth could be used as a defense mechanism when arguing libelity, but it also prevented juries and judges of the future from dtermining verdicts in an unfair manner. Hamilton also helped set a precedent of freedom of the press, even when it had not been officially written down.


4. What is the lasting significance of his trial? Explain.

His trail greatly impacted the freedom of what the press was allowed to say, write and publish. Before the trail there were no real precedents set nor laws created about what newspapers could print. There was also the realization the you cannot say that just because it was published meant that it could be enough to convict anyone of any charge. 

LAD #1: " Mayflower Compact and Fundamental Orders of Connecticut"

1. What concepts are included in the Mayflower Compact?

The Mayflower Compact conveyed a few concepts which were important to the signers of the compact. The opening sentence as well as the repetitive mentions to God and His glory made it clear that religion and a relationship to God were important to the orginal signers. They also showed great respect and love to the King of England when they wrote "...Loyal Subjects..." in the begininng and then refered to maintaining the King's honor and his supremacy. In addition, and possibly most importantly, the Mayflower Compact is an agreement to form a colony with equal laws in attempts to form the world's first recorded democratic government.


2. How does the Mayflower Compact reflect an attachment to both the "Old" and "New" worlds?

 When the Compact mentions the sovereignty of their king, the King of England, as well as the deep love for God and loyalty to Him, the document was connecting to the Old World. But in the same document, the people intend to establish the first recorded democratic colony, a colony which would be located in the new North America. This is a newly formed attachment to the New World.


3. How did the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut differ from the Mayflower Compact?

Some differences between the Fundamental Orders and the Compact include the fact the the Mayflower Compact mentioned the King as sovereign and the Fundemental Orders focused more on the colony as a whole. Also, the Fundamental Orders had a list of 11 laws stating how the colony was going to be run, sometimes being considered as the first constitution. The Mayflower Compact does not list any laws but rather is stating the establishment of a colony. Finally, the Compact never says anything about voting for laws or people in off ic while the Orders clearly stated much of what is decided is voted upon by those who are eligible.


4. What prompted the colonists of Connecticut to take this approach to government, i.e.: us of a wirtten Constitution?

Even though England itself had an assumed consitiution, but nothing in writing, some settlers did not trust that they would be heard without something in writing. These fears stemmed from the recent actions of England in the colony which were authortarian in intent. This compelled a few men to write out their rights and form of a Constitution for Connecticut.


5. In what significant way(s) does the Fundamental Orders reflect a fear of and safegaurd against the usurping of power by one person or a chosen few?

The Orders worked to safe gaurd against the power of one person or a chosen few by making sure there are elections instead of a sucession of or to power. They also showed fear by then increasing the restrictions in the later part of the document stating that the person in the position of Secretary cannot nominate any person and no one who has already been in power can run again for another 2 years. Finally, there were two asemblies formed to balence the power and each town sends a represenitive so their voices are heard. 

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