Activity One: Voices
of Freedom – The American Revolution[1]
General Information:
·
A
quiz and discussion on this activity will be on September 1. 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
5: “Independence?” – “”Blacks in the Revolution” (pp. 184 – 192)
·
Chapter 6: Slavery and the Revolution
& Daughters of Liberty (pp. 220 – 234)
Chapter 5: Voices of Freedom – The
American Revolution
·
Thomas
Paine – Common Sense (1776)
·
James Chalmers – Plain Truth, Addressed to
the Inhabitants of America (1776)
Questions:
1.
What
does Paine see as the global significance of the American struggle for
independence?
2.
Why does Chalmers equate independence with
slavery?
3.
How does the language (use of words &
terms) of these two writers differ, and what does this tell us about their
views of politics?
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?