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Democracy and Citizenship:
The Principles of Freedom
Teacher's Student Activities
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American History, Government, Law Integrate with: American Literature, Architecture, Debate, Music, Philosophy/Ethics and Public Speaking
Students "meet" principals of freedom from the Colonial Era: Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington and compare and contrast them with today's leaders.
Students get a "behind the scenes" tour of Thomas Jefferson's beloved Monticello and George Washington's home Mount Vernon and discuss the homes with the curator from each residence.
Students comprehend the many facets of freedom: emancipation, independence, liberty, license, liberation, rights and responsibilities.
Students gain an appreciation for those documents in our history that reflect the principles of freedom for us as individual Americans.
Students analyze the "Bill of Rights" and Declaration of Independence - context, language and meaning.
The featured guest will be two-time recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for History, Professor Bernard Bailyn.
Throughout American history, the principles of freedom served as the foundation for the three branches of government - executive, legislative, and judicial - at the local, state, and national levels. They have framed, also, the philosophical tenets of our society and shaped the civil rights debate on a worldwide scale, including foreign policy.
The written documents and doctrines that have evolved from the principles of freedom vary in scope, tone, and philosophy. Freedom documents and doctrines have included the Monroe Doctrine and the related Roosevelt Corollary, Eisenhower Doctrine, and Nixon Corollary; the Atlantic Charter; the Emancipation Proclamation; the Articles of Confederation; the Constitution; the Bill of Rights; and the Declaration of Independence.
Jefferson was not content to influence the course of democracy for the United States, he was concerned with maintaining it for the future. The educational system proposed for Virginia was also a part of Jefferson's comprehensive republican government. The lower schools would provide literacy for the entire population, which, combined with a free press, was necessary for an informed public opinion. Graduates of the upper schools or colleges would supply the leadership so essential to a representative government, while scholarships awarded on the basis of merit would prevent identification of educational opportunity with economic privileges. Jefferson did not believe that an ignorant people could make rational and responsible decisions about public affairs. Jefferson's fellow Virginians were not prepared for so comprehensive a system of free public education, however, and the only part of it that he secured was the University of Virginia.
Thomas Jefferson, an influential political leader and philosopher, is a man for the 21st Century. The principles and beliefs set forth by Jefferson are still admired today as new countries struggle to formulate a constitution or establish a democratic system of government. Jefferson's fundamental political tenets or achievements: democratic government, international order, religious freedom, and education are as relevant today as they were in Jefferson's day. We hope that a greater understanding of Thomas Jefferson, the man and his ideas, will assist students in appreciating Jefferson as an "American Genius" with a legacy that lives on.
Assignment: Have your students research Franklin's and Washington's views on democracy and education.
1. What did Jefferson mean when he said that people "are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?" How would you explain these rights, these "principles of freedom" to someone from another country?
2. Did the Continental Congress create a weak national government? Defend your answer. Explain why controversy over federal power continues today.
3. Why do you think representatives at the Constitutional Convention decided to use the electoral college as a method of electing the President?
4. What are the powers of the office of the President? What was the rationale behind this decision?
5. What is the role of the Supreme Court and/or the Legislature (Congress) in the preservation of our principles of freedom?
1. Debate or write an essay about the merits of one or more of the following quotations: What is freedom? Freedom is the right to choose: the right to create for yourself the alternative of choice. - MacLeish Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better. - Albert Camus A free society is one where it is safe to be unpopular. - Adlai Stevenson Liberty means responsibility. That is why most [people] dread it. - GB Shaw The purpose of freedom is to create it for others - Bernard Malamud Order is the first requisite of liberty. - Hegel
2. Freedom songs, freedom literature, protest songs and literature, as well as art depicting the fights for freedom, have been part of our nation's heritage. Create an original "freedom song," political cartoon, art or sculpted piece, or a "freedom" essay that depicts some concept(s) of freedom that you consider very important.
3. Pick a pressing issue of global freedom that has surfaced in the past two years, and discuss how you would handle it based upon study and understanding of the principles of freedom outlined in the U.S. Constitution.
4. List persons who are voices for freedom today and outline their unique contributions.
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