Activity Two: Voices of Freedom – Forging a New Nation[1]

General Information:

·        A quiz and discussion on this activity will be on September 8. You must be in class for credit.

·        This activity is worth 20 points.

·        To prepare for the quiz & discussion read the pages listed in “Historical Context” and the primary sources from Voices of Freedom in chapters 5 & 6.

·        The information listed in Historical Context and the questions in the Voices of Freedom will be the information used for the questions on the quiz and class discussion.


Historical Context:

·        Chapter 7: The Ratification Debate and The Origin of the Bill of Rights (pp. 251 – 257)

·        Chapter 8: The Expanding Public Sphere to The Adams Presidency (275 – 281)

Chapter 7: Voices of Freedom – Founding a National Government

  1. James Madison, The Federalist no. 51 (1787)
  2. James Winthrop, Anti-Federalist Essay Signed “Agrippa (1787).

Questions:

  1. Why does Madison make an analogy between the security of civil and religious rights?
  2. Why does Winthrop believe that a bill of rights is essential in the Constitution?
  3. How do Madison and Winthrop differ concerning the political implications of the large geographical size of the American republic?

 

Chapter 8: Voices of Freedom – Challenging the Status Quo

  1. From Address of the Democratic-Republican Society of Pennsylvania (December 18, 1794)
  2. From Judith Sargent Murray, “On the Equality of the Sexes” (1790)

Questions:

  1. Why does the Democratic-Republican society insist on the centrality of “free communication of opinions "in preserving American liberty?
  2. How does Murray answer the argument that offering education to women will lead them to neglect their “domestic employments”?
  3. How do these documents reflect expanding ideas about who should enjoy the freedom to express one’s ideas in the early republic?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.       

Chapter 6: Voices of Freedom – The Revolution From Within

·        Abigail Adams to John Adams, Braintree,  Massachusetts (March 31, 1776)

·        Petitions of Slaves to the Massachusetts Legislature (1773 and 1777)

Questions:

1.      What does Abigail Adams have in mind when she refers to the “unlimited power” husbands exercise over their wives?

2.      How do the slaves employ the principles of the Revolution for their own aims?

3.      What do these documents suggest about the boundaries of freedom in the era of the American Revolution?


 


[1] Created: 9/2/09; updated: 9/2/2009