Tuesday, Feb 10

Quiz today!! Make sure if you were out to make up the quiz ASAP while the info is still fresh in your minds.

After the quiz we ended our discussions on the American Revolution by talking about Yorktown. You should have read handout #17 and answered the questions on handout #18. In addition, it is very helpful for you to draw a picture of this event. Handout #17 gives you a map but on your diagram think about what is would like if this was a mapquest picture and you hit the zoom button about 5 or 6 times. You map should have the location of the British, the location of the French fleet and the location of Washington's army all shown. In regards to Yorktown make sure you understand the role geography played in the battle. Also understand how important the French fleet was in the battle and in helping to force a British surrender.

We also started today our learning on the Declaration of Independence. I showed a slide with a picture of colonists toppling a statue of King George and talked about why this act alarmed both revolutionaries and loyalists. It is because throwing off a ruling government even if it is an unjust one can be a scary thing. Who will rule next? What laws will they have? Will they be able to protect the people? These are all questions that need to be answered. Think of the American military taking down a statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad, Iraq back in 2003. President Bush said that night that the "war had been won". Still six years later we are still struggling in Iraq to help establish a new government that can protect the people's rights.

We started the notes outline on the Declaration of Independence. We completed about half of handout #19. Reasons the colonists wanted to separate were: colonial bloodshed, tyranny of the King, chance for foreign aid. A reason they were hesitant to separate was: fear of mob rule. We talked about one "cause" of the Declaration. Thomas Paine's Common Sense was very instrumental in getting the colonists to act on independence. Paine was a very effective writer and urged people to declare independence. He did this by making his readers feel some emotion if they read Common Sense.

You should read an excerpt from Common Sense on handout #20. Hi-lite or underline words, phrases or sentences where you feel Paine is trying to make readers feel some emotion. At the end there are two questions for you to answer.