Ch. 4: Path to Democracy
"Give me liberty or give me death" - Patrick Henry
The Story Matters:
In 1776, a group of determined American colonists met. Risking their freedom and perhaps their lives, they defied Great Britain, the world's most powerful nation. Most of these men had come from Great Britain, or had British ancestors. They had grown up valuing the English traditions of law and limited government. As a result, when they felt that their freedoms were being denied, they took decisive action.
America's political leaders came together to write a document explaining their desire for and right to freedom. Their words became a unique political statement in history - the Declaration of Independence.
America's political leaders came together to write a document explaining their desire for and right to freedom. Their words became a unique political statement in history - the Declaration of Independence.
It Matters Because:
Lesson 1: Influences on American Colonial Government - Ancient peoples and the great thinkers of the Enlightenment influenced how the Founders shaped our government in ways that still affect us today.
Lesson 2: Settlement, Culture, and Government of the Colonies - The reasons early settlers came to America and the economies and governments that grew helped to shape the new United States and continue to influence American culture today.
Lesson 3: Disagreements with Great Britain - The events that led American colonists to declare independence affected the choices they made about a new government.
Lesson 1: Influences on American Colonial Government - Ancient peoples and the great thinkers of the Enlightenment influenced how the Founders shaped our government in ways that still affect us today.
Lesson 2: Settlement, Culture, and Government of the Colonies - The reasons early settlers came to America and the economies and governments that grew helped to shape the new United States and continue to influence American culture today.
Lesson 3: Disagreements with Great Britain - The events that led American colonists to declare independence affected the choices they made about a new government.
Content to be covered:
- Enlightenment Thinkers
- Events leading to the Declaration of Independence
- Discussion about taxation without representation, limited monarchy, self-government, & natural rights
- Documents including the Articles of Confederation Magna Carta, the English Bill of Rights, and the Mayflower Compact, & Common Sense
- Declaration of Independence
- Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the origins and purposes of government, law, and the American political system by integrating visual information with corresponding evidence, data, and facts found within print and digital text.
Enlightenment Thinkers Learning Scale:
4.0: Students will be able to. . . create a classroom social contract. Include basic rights and responsibilities of students and the teacher.
3.0: Students will be able to. . . understand how Enlightenment ideas influenced the thinking of our nation's Founders.
The student will:
3.0: Students will be able to. . . understand how Enlightenment ideas influenced the thinking of our nation's Founders.
- Students will identify how the key elements of the philosophies of Locke and Montesquieu influenced the development of American legal, political, and governmental systems
- Students will examine the natural rights found in the Declaration of Independence
The student will:
- Describe Montesquieu's ideas about government
- Describe Locke's ideas about government
Documents Learning Scale:
4.0: Students will be able to. . . compare and contrast the English Bill of Rights with the U.S. Bill of Rights
3.0: Students will be able to. . . analyze how the ideas of the Magna Carta, English Bill of Rights, and the Mayflower Compact influenced the ideas of the Articles of Confederation and later the U.S. Constitution.
3.0: Students will be able to. . . analyze how the ideas of the Magna Carta, English Bill of Rights, and the Mayflower Compact influenced the ideas of the Articles of Confederation and later the U.S. Constitution.
- Trace specific ideas within the Articles of Confederation and the U.S. Constitution back to their original source documents (Magna Carta, English Bill of Rights, and Mayflower Compact).
- The student will: identify the main ideas within the Magna Carta, English Bill of Rights, and the Mayflower Compact.
Path to Democracy Learning Scale:
4.0: The students will be able to. . . write an editorial from the viewpoint of the British explaining the reasons why the colonists should follow the policies set forth by Parliament or write a skit depicting a debate between a member of parliament and one of the Founders regarding the need for/error of the disputed British policies.
3.0: The student will be able to. . . understand how the colonial response to English policies led to the writing of the Declaration of Independence.
3.0: The student will be able to. . . understand how the colonial response to English policies led to the writing of the Declaration of Independence.
- Explain how the British response to colonial grievances, led to the writing of the Declaration of Independence
- Recognize the colonial complaints that are identified in the Declaration of Independence (imposing taxes without the colonial representation, suspending trial by jury, limiting judicial powers, quartering soldiers, and dissolving local legislatures.
- Students will be able to . . . trace the events in the colonies that led to the growing resentment of the Colonists toward the British monarchy.
- SS.7.C.1.1: Recognize how Enlightenment ideas including Montesquieu’s view of separation of powers and John Locke’s theories related to natural law and how Locke’s social contract influenced the Founding Fathers..
- SS.7.C.1.2: Trace the impact that the Magna Carta, English Bill of Rights, Mayflower Compact, and Thomas Paine’s Common Sense had on colonists’ views of government.
- SS.7.C.1.3: Describe how English policies and responses to colonial concerns led to the writing of the Declaration of Independence.
- SS.7.C.1.4: Analyze the ideas (natural rights, role of the government) and complaints set forth in the Declaration of Independence.
Content Vocabulary:
Academic Vocabulary:
Pictures:
The signing of the Mayflower Compact and the first settlement at Jamestown, Virginia.
Nope, Not the Cartoon Tiger (the other Hobbes)Thomas Hobbes was an English scholar and philosopher. He was born in 1588 and later became a tutor to a very wealthy family. As a tutor Hobbes had access to many books, traveled often, and met many important thinkers. Hobbes lived in Paris through the English Civil Wars and was interested in the nature of government. He wrote about many topics, including politics, geometry, physics, religion, and history. Hobbes was one of many scholars who tried to answer the question, “Why do we have government?”
Poor, Nasty, Brutish, and Short
Hobbes saw humans as naturally selfish and quick to fight. He believed that before there were governments, people lived in a state of nature. In a state of nature, everyone had a right to everything. In order to get what they wanted, people would always be at war with everyone else. Nobody would produce anything like inventions, art, or even crops or tools because they would be afraid other people would take them away. Hobbes didn't paint a very pretty picture of life without government.
Social Contract
Hobbes lived at a time when many philosophers were thinking about the nature of government. He was one of the first of his era to discuss the idea of a social contract between people and their government. A contract is an agreement in which both sides agree to something in order to reach a shared goal. In Hobbes’ view, people agreed to give up some rights and power in exchange for protection. But for Hobbes, the social contract was no two-way street. He believed that once the people agreed to hand over power in exchange for protection, they lost the right to overthrow, replace, or even question the government.
Leviathan
Hobbes wrote a book called Leviathan (luh-VI-uh-then) to explain how he thought governments should work. Hobbes wrote Leviathan during the English Civil War. He wrote about the social contract, and he spent much of the book trying to show that a strong central authority was the only way to avoid the evils of war. Hobbes believed a single sovereign, or ruler, should have total authority over the people. He believed in a monarchy led by a king. That’s because he thought that government would work best if all the power rested in one place. No three branches for Hobbes!
Monarchy? Not Democracy?
Many political thinkers—including America’s Founding Fathers—built on Hobbes’ ideas, especially the idea of a social contract. Hobbes was more concerned with protection and order than rights. But people like John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau changed the focus from monarchy to democracy—power with the people instead of a sovereign. They began to see that people have rights that must be protected even from government.
A Man with Many Hats
John Locke was born in England in 1632, at about the same time that Hobbes was about to begin his life’s work as a philosopher. Locke considered becoming a minister, started his career as a doctor, but ended up as a philosopher and political scientist. He had many interests and produced a number of writings that influenced future leaders. One of those leaders was Thomas Jefferson, who helped America gain independence from Britain nearly 150 years after Locke was born. Jefferson studied Locke’s writings, and Locke’s ideas show up in our own Constitution.
The Blank Slate
One of Locke’s books, called An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, took over 18 years to write! In it, he says that people are born with a mind like a tabula rasa, which means a blank slate or page. During life, that blank slate gets filled up with the things a person experiences with the five senses. He said people learn and develop differently because they are exposed to different things. The one thing people have in common is that they are human and share a human nature that is the same for all people everywhere.
Natural Rights
Locke imagined a set of natural rights that human beings share. These are the right to life, liberty, and property. Life refers to the fact that people want to live and will fight to survive. Liberty means that people want to be as free as possible to make their own decisions. Property represents the fact that people want to own things that help them survive, such as land, food, and tools. Locke believed these rights aren't given to people—people are born with them.
Why do we need a government?
Locke also wondered what life would be like if people didn’t have a government. Like Hobbes, he believed this would lead to a state of nature with no rules, no one in charge, and no way for people to protect their natural rights. He believed the purpose of government is to end the state of nature and give people certain protections. But Locke also believed that governments should protect people’s natural rights.
Social Contract
Locke believed a government can only be legitimate, or valid, if it is based on a social contract with citizens. For Locke, the social contract between a government and its people worked both ways: The people agree to give up some freedoms, but only if the government agrees to protect everyone’s rights. If the government fails to deliver, the people have the right to revolt like the colonists did during the American Revolution. This two-way exchange between citizens and government was very different from Hobbes’ view.
Poor, Nasty, Brutish, and Short
Hobbes saw humans as naturally selfish and quick to fight. He believed that before there were governments, people lived in a state of nature. In a state of nature, everyone had a right to everything. In order to get what they wanted, people would always be at war with everyone else. Nobody would produce anything like inventions, art, or even crops or tools because they would be afraid other people would take them away. Hobbes didn't paint a very pretty picture of life without government.
Social Contract
Hobbes lived at a time when many philosophers were thinking about the nature of government. He was one of the first of his era to discuss the idea of a social contract between people and their government. A contract is an agreement in which both sides agree to something in order to reach a shared goal. In Hobbes’ view, people agreed to give up some rights and power in exchange for protection. But for Hobbes, the social contract was no two-way street. He believed that once the people agreed to hand over power in exchange for protection, they lost the right to overthrow, replace, or even question the government.
Leviathan
Hobbes wrote a book called Leviathan (luh-VI-uh-then) to explain how he thought governments should work. Hobbes wrote Leviathan during the English Civil War. He wrote about the social contract, and he spent much of the book trying to show that a strong central authority was the only way to avoid the evils of war. Hobbes believed a single sovereign, or ruler, should have total authority over the people. He believed in a monarchy led by a king. That’s because he thought that government would work best if all the power rested in one place. No three branches for Hobbes!
Monarchy? Not Democracy?
Many political thinkers—including America’s Founding Fathers—built on Hobbes’ ideas, especially the idea of a social contract. Hobbes was more concerned with protection and order than rights. But people like John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau changed the focus from monarchy to democracy—power with the people instead of a sovereign. They began to see that people have rights that must be protected even from government.
A Man with Many Hats
John Locke was born in England in 1632, at about the same time that Hobbes was about to begin his life’s work as a philosopher. Locke considered becoming a minister, started his career as a doctor, but ended up as a philosopher and political scientist. He had many interests and produced a number of writings that influenced future leaders. One of those leaders was Thomas Jefferson, who helped America gain independence from Britain nearly 150 years after Locke was born. Jefferson studied Locke’s writings, and Locke’s ideas show up in our own Constitution.
The Blank Slate
One of Locke’s books, called An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, took over 18 years to write! In it, he says that people are born with a mind like a tabula rasa, which means a blank slate or page. During life, that blank slate gets filled up with the things a person experiences with the five senses. He said people learn and develop differently because they are exposed to different things. The one thing people have in common is that they are human and share a human nature that is the same for all people everywhere.
Natural Rights
Locke imagined a set of natural rights that human beings share. These are the right to life, liberty, and property. Life refers to the fact that people want to live and will fight to survive. Liberty means that people want to be as free as possible to make their own decisions. Property represents the fact that people want to own things that help them survive, such as land, food, and tools. Locke believed these rights aren't given to people—people are born with them.
Why do we need a government?
Locke also wondered what life would be like if people didn’t have a government. Like Hobbes, he believed this would lead to a state of nature with no rules, no one in charge, and no way for people to protect their natural rights. He believed the purpose of government is to end the state of nature and give people certain protections. But Locke also believed that governments should protect people’s natural rights.
Social Contract
Locke believed a government can only be legitimate, or valid, if it is based on a social contract with citizens. For Locke, the social contract between a government and its people worked both ways: The people agree to give up some freedoms, but only if the government agrees to protect everyone’s rights. If the government fails to deliver, the people have the right to revolt like the colonists did during the American Revolution. This two-way exchange between citizens and government was very different from Hobbes’ view.
Bet You Didn't Know:
Benjamin Franklin is the only founding father to have signed all four of the key documents establishing the United States: the Declaration of Independence (1776); the Treaty of Alliance with France (1778); the Treaty of Paris (1783), establishing peace with Great Britain; and the U.S. Constitution (1787).
Benjamin Franklin is the only founding father to have signed all four of the key documents establishing the United States: the Declaration of Independence (1776); the Treaty of Alliance with France (1778); the Treaty of Paris (1783), establishing peace with Great Britain; and the U.S. Constitution (1787).
Comprehension and Study Guide:
Ch. 4 Comprehension Guide | |
File Size: | 19 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Vocabulary:
Ch. 4 Who Am I | |
File Size: | 107 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Progress Checks:
Ch. 4 Progress Checks | |
File Size: | 130 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Word Scatter:
Ch. 4, Section 1 | |
File Size: | 38 kb |
File Type: | docx |
QOD's:
ch._4_qod.docx | |
File Size: | 14 kb |
File Type: | docx |
In-Class Activities:
ch._4_magna_carta_activity.docx | |
File Size: | 28 kb |
File Type: | docx |
ch._4_big_ideas_activity.docx | |
File Size: | 20 kb |
File Type: | docx |
ch._4_from_big_ideas_to_the_constitution.docx | |
File Size: | 43 kb |
File Type: | docx |
ch._4_john_locke_activity.docx | |
File Size: | 24 kb |
File Type: | docx |
ch._4_montesquieu_activity.docx | |
File Size: | 24 kb |
File Type: | docx |
ch._4_hey_king_get_off_back_activity.docx | |
File Size: | 20 kb |
File Type: | docx |
PowerPoint Reviews:
colonial_influences_review.pptx | |
File Size: | 1445 kb |
File Type: | pptx |
forms_and_systems_of_government_review_2.pptx | |
File Size: | 226 kb |
File Type: | pptx |
Chapter Summary:
civics_ch._4_summary.pdf | |
File Size: | 585 kb |
File Type: |
civics_ch._4_spanish_summary.pdf | |
File Size: | 209 kb |
File Type: |
Graphic Novel:
Washington's America Graphic Novel | |
File Size: | 875 kb |
File Type: |
Declaration of Independence:
Jefferson Writes the Declaration of Independence:
Colonists Protest British Policies:
Deconstructing History: The American Flag
Deconstructing History: The Mayflower
American Revolution:
Mystery at Roanoke:
Jamestown Founded in 1607:
Death at Jamestown: