1. Bellringer (9/16/14)
Brainstorm & explain 4 issues or problems the former colonists (now, Americans!) would face after winning the Revolutionary War and gaining their independence from Britain.

2. Today’s Class (9/16/14) Outcome Agenda
Be able to summarize and explain the main ideas of the preamble of the Declaration of Independence.
Agenda
Bellringer
Reminders:
Chapter 2 Section 3 Outline due tomorrow – use US History textbook on class website – mrcainhistory.weebly.com
Unit 2 Test & Notebook Check #2 on Friday, 9/19
Declaration of Independence Guided Notes
Declaration Preamble Summarizing Activity
Picking out key terms with partners
Restating Declaration Preamble in your own words.

3. Groundwork for the Declaration
One of the key Enlightenment thinkers during the 1760s and 1770s was John Locke.
Locke said that people have natural rights to life, liberty, and property.
Locke argued that society is based around a social contract (agreement) with the government.
If the contract is violated, people have the right to resist/overthrow their government.

4. Groundwork for the Declaration
By the summer of 1776, the Second Continental Congress was urging colonies to form their own government.
Thomas Jefferson was chosen by members to prepare the final draft of the Declaration of Independence.
On July 2, 1776, delegates from each state voted unanimously that the American colonies were free. On July 4th, 1776, states adopted the Declaration of Independence.

5. Language in the Declaration
Jefferson drew from Locke’s ideas of “unalienable” rights—rights than can never be taken away.
Examples: “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”
Jefferson asserted that a government’s power comes from the governed, and colonists have the right to “alter or abolish” a government that denies people their unalienable rights.
Jefferson also provided a long list of 27 violations and injustices committed by the King and Parliament.

6. About the Declaration “All men are created equal”
Free citizens were political equals; not everyone had the same ability or ought to have equal wealth.
Not meant to embrace women, Native Americans, or African American slaves.
Hypocritical?
Jefferson included language in his first draft that attacked the cruelty and injustice of the slave trade.
South Carolina and Georgia objected, and Jefferson dropped the language to make it more appealing.

7. Parts of the Declaration
The Preamble (Introduction)
States that there are certain unalienable rights that government should never violated.
Should the government fail to protect these rights, people have the right to overthrow the government.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal...”

8. Parts of the Declaration
The Indictments (Accusations)
Lists the numerous and repeated injuries that King George III placed upon the colonies.
King George III is accused of twenty seven specific abuses, such as quartering soldier and unfair court systems.

9. Parts of the Declaration
The Denunciation (Condemnation)
States the colonists case for separating from England.
This was one last plea by the colonists to avoid war and hope for peaceful resolution.
Colonists realize that war is basically inevitable.

10. Parts of the Declaration
The Conclusion
Restated the idea that the people of the colonies and their Continental Congress representatives had suffered under British rule and required that they declare their independence.

11. Chapter 2 Section 3 Outline
Write a two sentence summary of each paragraph using the outline structure on handout.
Example:
Experimenting with Confederation
Americans had to create their own political system. They united during the Revolutionary War, but did not want to unite under a strong central government.
Many Americans favored a republic, where citizens elect representatives to represent them. A democracy, a government by the people, was feared by the colonists due to lack of education among the colonists.
The Articles of Confederation
The Second Continental Congress created the Articles of Confederation, a new plan for government. It established an alliance between the 13 states.
Homework – due Wednesday 9/17
mrcainhistory.weebly.com – “U.S. History Textbook”

12. Summarizing the Declaration
Read over the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence and select 10 key words that you will use to create a summary of what Jefferson was saying.
Choose words that are important to understanding the text.
Typically nouns or verbs.
Do not pick words you do not know.

13. Summarizing the Declaration
Under “Summary”:
Use your 10 key words to write a sentence that restates or summarizes what was stated in the Preamble of the Declaration that you read.
Create sentence using Jefferson’s language & words.
For “In Your Own Words”:
After you’ve summarized the preamble section based on the 10 key words, summarize the part of the Declaration in your own words.
Using YOUR language.