The “Hidden Side” of the American Revolution AND What kind of The “Hidden Side” of the American Revolution AND What kind of revolution.

Hollitz, Chapter 4

Common everyday people just like us with lives to live – children to raise, jobs to work, bills and taxes to pay, elderly parents to care for, joys and depression, sickness, and absolute fatigue – “tired to death” as one colonist (Mary Cooper) wrote. This was the world of the eighteenth century, a world of inequities, slavery, vast differences in wealth and social classes, and rights that were still dreams for many.

Will you see yourself in these people? Do their frustrations with government and merchants parallel our own in our contemporary world? Why did they react as they did? We laud the revolutionaries that claimed America’s freedom from the British, but what groups actually made up those who revolted? Were these revolutionaries only the well-known men such as Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington? How thoroughly disgusted with the British government did average colonists have to be to revolt as they did?

What does it take to “radicalize” people – to get them out of their homes and businesses into the streets in active, even violent protests? How bad does it have to get before we will leave our comfort zones and become radicals willing and even eager to destroy property as well as threaten political authority? This module will take you to a world quickly becoming radicalized for change for the common man.

Motivation in History – The Founding Fathers and the Constitution

Hollitz, chapter 5

Here they come to save the day!!

So, what do we know about the founding fathers and mothers of our country?

George Washington had wooden false teeth, chopped down a cherry tree, and threw a silver coin across the Potomac. (All false)

Northerners as well as southerners owned slaves. (True)

Some of the founding dads are pictured on our money, carved into a mountain, and have states and cities named after them. (All true)

President’s day is celebrated with great sales! (True. All hail corporate America who can convince us to buy anything to celebrate just about anything!)

Betsy Ross sewed the first flag. (Most likely false)

History can be distorted by perspective and the dominance of one cultural view over another. We generally accept the headline figures as the history makers and relegate any subsequent story to the margins. The common people are sometimes viewed or portrayed as fickle and rebellious and they can act outside of their own interest. With the creation of the Constitution, we created a relative story about the participants and created heroes and legends to describe the people involved in this epic. We rarely examine the economic aspect to this document and as some historians indicated we rarely examine the ramifications to the social structure that it created. When historians review these accounts they sometimes include new characters and new perspectives and some people are offended by these “revisions”. The journey back to our controversial beginnings may be a bit painful! It’s just easier to believe that little George chopped down the cherry tree and couldn’t tell a lie about it. Yet as historians, we owe our founders and ourselves a genuine, honest picture of the past – however cloudy, dark, or even shocking it turns out to be.

Assignment:

Hollitz, Chapter 5, Secondary Source / Document 1

FOCUS on Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution by Woody Holton (2007).

Critical Thinking Analysis (CTA

History 1301

In most history texts, the founding fathers are viewed as altruist men who established the Constitution to galvanize their ideals in a formal document “that all men are created equal.” But the question of motivation is usually valid in any events that deal with human beings. Could the motivation of the founding fathers be something different than what we have been taught? Did class divisions prompt the Founding Fathers to action? Do we fully understand the structure and mechanics of our government?

Make sure to actively and thoroughly READ Hollitz chapter 5, Motivation in History: The Founding Fathers and the Constitution. Pay close attention to the Secondary Source 1. Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution (2007) by Woody Holton. Your assignment is to complete the Critical Thinking Analysis (CTA) rubric (2 to 3 pages in length). Be critical and use complete sentences to address each item. From the primary sources (pg. 94-109), select three primary sources that support the main conclusion by Woody Holton. In a paragraph for each source, indicate your reasoning for the selection.
I have loaded the rubric – Critical Thinking Analysis in this module. Remember that the “Important Information” will be the longest part of your CTA; Document 1 in Hollitz, Chapter 5 is a 7-page reading so you will have a rather long list of supporting evidence under “Important Information.” However, do not include every single little detail just to fill the page. You must demonstrate that you can pick out key information and explain it in a clear way.
This CTA on Hollitz, Chapter 5, Secondary Source / Document 1, will be approximately 2 ½ to 3 pages, double-spaced.revolution.

Hollitz, Chapter 4

Common everyday people just like us with lives to live – children to raise, jobs to work, bills and taxes to pay, elderly parents to care for, joys and depression, sickness, and absolute fatigue – “tired to death” as one colonist (Mary Cooper) wrote. This was the world of the eighteenth century, a world of inequities, slavery, vast differences in wealth and social classes, and rights that were still dreams for many.

Will you see yourself in these people? Do their frustrations with government and merchants parallel our own in our contemporary world? Why did they react as they did? We laud the revolutionaries that claimed America’s freedom from the British, but what groups actually made up those who revolted? Were these revolutionaries only the well-known men such as Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington? How thoroughly disgusted with the British government did average colonists have to be to revolt as they did?

What does it take to “radicalize” people – to get them out of their homes and businesses into the streets in active, even violent protests? How bad does it have to get before we will leave our comfort zones and become radicals willing and even eager to destroy property as well as threaten political authority? This module will take you to a world quickly becoming radicalized for change for the common man.

Motivation in History – The Founding Fathers and the Constitution

Hollitz, chapter 5

Here they come to save the day!!

So, what do we know about the founding fathers and mothers of our country?

George Washington had wooden false teeth, chopped down a cherry tree, and threw a silver coin across the Potomac. (All false)

Northerners as well as southerners owned slaves. (True)

Some of the founding dads are pictured on our money, carved into a mountain, and have states and cities named after them. (All true)

President’s day is celebrated with great sales! (True. All hail corporate America who can convince us to buy anything to celebrate just about anything!)

Betsy Ross sewed the first flag. (Most likely false)

History can be distorted by perspective and the dominance of one cultural view over another. We generally accept the headline figures as the history makers and relegate any subsequent story to the margins. The common people are sometimes viewed or portrayed as fickle and rebellious and they can act outside of their own interest. With the creation of the Constitution, we created a relative story about the participants and created heroes and legends to describe the people involved in this epic. We rarely examine the economic aspect to this document and as some historians indicated we rarely examine the ramifications to the social structure that it created. When historians review these accounts they sometimes include new characters and new perspectives and some people are offended by these “revisions”. The journey back to our controversial beginnings may be a bit painful! It’s just easier to believe that little George chopped down the cherry tree and couldn’t tell a lie about it. Yet as historians, we owe our founders and ourselves a genuine, honest picture of the past – however cloudy, dark, or even shocking it turns out to be.

Assignment:

Hollitz, Chapter 5, Secondary Source / Document 1

FOCUS on Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution by Woody Holton (2007).

Critical Thinking Analysis (CTA

History 1301

In most history texts, the founding fathers are viewed as altruist men who established the Constitution to galvanize their ideals in a formal document “that all men are created equal.” But the question of motivation is usually valid in any events that deal with human beings. Could the motivation of the founding fathers be something different than what we have been taught? Did class divisions prompt the Founding Fathers to action? Do we fully understand the structure and mechanics of our government?