The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America, Homework Help

n celebration of our discussion of the nation’s founding documents over on Facebook, I want you to respond to a Blackboard prompt that focuses on the Declaration of Independence. As we discussed in class, the Declaration was written and signed in 1776, and represented the formal break of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain. This precipitated the official start of the Revolutionary War.
Response to this post is due March 30th by 11:59pm??Here is the document’s text:
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.?He has forbiIDen his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.?He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. ?He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. ?He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.?He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.?He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.?He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.?He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.?He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.?He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.?He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.?He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:?For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:?For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:?For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:?For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: ?For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:?For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences?For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:?For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:?For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.?He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.?He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. ?He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.?He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands. ?He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
(End of document)????Here’s the thing: if you’re like most students, and even adults, the Declaration, while important, is not that interesting. In the spirit of Schoolhouse Rock (I’m just a bill on Capitol Hill), I’d like to explore how to make the Declaration of potentially greater interest to you (and the millions who likely do not find much to get excited about regarding the document).??For the discussion post, I want you to listen to this musical presentation of the entire second paragraph in the Declaration (in bold italics above) at the YouTube link below. You may find it corny and dumb, but I don’t care. Some of you will likely find that it’s an effective way to memorize the words. ??http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYlKPK48cjk??Be sure to NOT watch the video as you listen–just close your eyes and listen. The song was recorded in the early 1970s, so the video is just a cheap YouTube creation.  ??Having listened to the song, respond to the following questions in your post. Then, reply to posts from two other students regarding Number 6 from the list below.
?1) What is your overall reaction to the song???2) If you starting laughing and rolling your eyes when the video started, comment on why you think you did so.??3) Did you end up re-watching, listening to the video???4) How “catchy” did you find the tune (even if you laughed at it).??5) Was it easier for you to start remembering bits of the Declaration text having heard it performed musically???6) Do you think other aspects of PLS 101 would make good candidates for the “performance” treatment (e.g., putting concepts to music). If so, which ones???7) Would people become more interested in politics if the topic was subject to more artistic presentation of information? ??8) At what point might artistic presentation of political information go too far and make politics almost complete farce (think Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, Saturday Night Live, etc.)

This first discussion post is intended to get you thinking and writing about political power. Note that, though we call this a “discussion post”, you’re really only “discussing” these topics and questions with me via Blackboard. We’re using Facebook for you to make reply posts to different topical items. Here, you simply submit answers to the questions I pose, and following the format and other specs I list.
Speaking of which, your job is to provide written responses to each of the questions below. You must write your answers in complete and grammatically correct sentences (if you push this with me, I will tank your grade). I don’t care how much you write, so long as you answer each question as completely and well as you can. When drawing on material from the textbook to answer all or part of a question, you need to cite the page from which you obtained the information. To do so, use the parenthetical approach. It’s simple; here’s an example. If you take material for an answer from page 15 of your text, write (15) at the end of the sentence containing this information—between the last word and the period. You do not need to include direct quotes from the text, but, if you do, do so sparingly. The idea is for you to write out your thoughts on these items in your own words.
The first set of readings from your textbook set the context for writing this post. Specifically, pages 1-15 discuss the changing nature of the American public, especially in terms of vocational activity. There is also discussion of the changing nature of American citizenship types, which you will recall us discussing during the first week of class. Then there is the PPT and video lecture on political power, which has (hopefully) got you thinking a bit differently about what it means to have “power” in politics, be it in government or between people. Finally, there is the very interesting set of posts on Facebook that you provided in the past week.
In this first discussion post, I want you to take these different source materials and respond to the following items:
1.    Define political legitimacy
2.    Define political power
3.    Explain “consent of the governed” as a concept (pretend you’re trying to give a friend not in our class a summary)
4.    List the three population changes described on pages 1-15 that you perceive are the most influential in determining the amount of political power that you (and those your age) have in 2014. In other words, the population shifts illustrated in each figure may provide certain advantages and disadvantages to the 18-29 demographic (which includes all of you) in terms of exercising political power in your lives, so pick three that you perceive to have the greatest impact. Note that this answer is more about the political power that you as an age group have in the American political system, not the interpersonal/relationship (actor A, actor B) definition we saw in the lecture.
5.    Speaking of political power as an interpersonal dynamic, how is it that we can truly say that “politics is all about relationships”? This is where you should discuss from the interpersonal/relational aspect of political power.
6.    What type of citizenship does your text suggest that your age cohort tends toward? Do you see this as increasing or decreasing the political power of 18-29 year olds?
Tie this post back to the Facebook interactions on the student debt cartoon. What are the implications for 18-29 year old political power given the large debt load (and economic prospects) you’re confronting in 2014 and beyond?

1. Political Legitimacy is the moral obligation that people have to follow certain people in leadership and authoritative roles. Political legitimacy is a variant of power.
2. Political power is the influence that one, or a group of people have over another individual or group to persuade them or shape their thinking and or behaviors.
3. Consent of the governed is a phrase that is used that  is supposed to sum up our current democracy. It means that we as citizens run the government and that the government is supposed to listen to the people.
4. Some of the most influential population changes that concern my generation are the Generational change because as the older generations die off many values and ideals that formed the country that are considered “old fashion” die off as well and the young people are left to create and carry on traditions. Another change is the educational change. Majority of my generation are either college graduates and soon to be gradates. This is a huge deal because in the past many were barely getting their high school diploma. It is also a big deal because with so many people seeking higher education we are facing a crisis with student loan debt. The last and most influential to me would be the technological change. In just my lifetime alone the country has seen great technological advances and are still coming with new inventions daily. We are a generation that SOLEY depends on technology. Many people in my generation would not know how to survive 3 days in the wilderness or just without technology period. New advances in technology has changed and shaped our society and our way of thinking

5.Politics is purely about relationships. We base our opinions of politicians from their personal relationships with their family and organizations, and we base our political views from the relationships that we have with our friends, family and various organization. Politicians are always trying to appeal to the people and make it seem like they have reputable relationships so that their character is more likable and so that we will give them our support.

6. The text suggests that we are an engaged citizen, however  based on the definition on page 7 of what an engaged citizen is, I believe that most people want to be or would like to think of themselves as engaged citizens when really they only care for 5 minutes when they are told to care by the media. Once the media moves on so does the people.

7.The implications are that 18-29 year olds are seeking higher education because the people before us have paved the way for us to do so, but in doing so we are creating LARGE amounts of debt. Because the Declaration of Independence states that the government runs under the “consent of the governed” we as citizens have the right to approach  the government and tell them to change and do something about the interest rates on student loans because we do not like it. But because the vast majority of people aged 18-29 “do not care” about politics presumably nothing will be done. ?It is unfortunate that we are spending all this money on being “educated” yet many are not acting like they are.

This first discussion post is intended to get you thinking and writing about political power. Note that, though we call this a “discussion post”, you’re really only “discussing” these topics and questions with me via Blackboard. We’re using Facebook for you to make reply posts to different topical items. Here, you simply submit answers to the questions I pose, and following the format and other specs I list.
Speaking of which, your job is to provide written responses to each of the questions below. You must write your answers in complete and grammatically correct sentences (if you push this with me, I will tank your grade). I don’t care how much you write, so long as you answer each question as completely and well as you can. When drawing on material from the textbook to answer all or part of a question, you need to cite the page from which you obtained the information. To do so, use the parenthetical approach. It’s simple; here’s an example. If you take material for an answer from page 15 of your text, write (15) at the end of the sentence containing this information—between the last word and the period. You do not need to include direct quotes from the text, but, if you do, do so sparingly. The idea is for you to write out your thoughts on these items in your own words.
The first set of readings from your textbook set the context for writing this post. Specifically, pages 1-15 discuss the changing nature of the American public, especially in terms of vocational activity. There is also discussion of the changing nature of American citizenship types, which you will recall us discussing during the first week of class. Then there is the PPT and video lecture on political power, which has (hopefully) got you thinking a bit differently about what it means to have “power” in politics, be it in government or between people. Finally, there is the very interesting set of posts on Facebook that you provided in the past week.
In this first discussion post, I want you to take these different source materials and respond to the following items:
1.    Define political legitimacy
2.    Define political power
3.    Explain “consent of the governed” as a concept (pretend you’re trying to give a friend not in our class a summary)
4.    List the three population changes described on pages 1-15 that you perceive are the most influential in determining the amount of political power that you (and those your age) have in 2014. In other words, the population shifts illustrated in each figure may provide certain advantages and disadvantages to the 18-29 demographic (which includes all of you) in terms of exercising political power in your lives, so pick three that you perceive to have the greatest impact. Note that this answer is more about the political power that you as an age group have in the American political system, not the interpersonal/relationship (actor A, actor B) definition we saw in the lecture.
5.    Speaking of political power as an interpersonal dynamic, how is it that we can truly say that “politics is all about relationships”? This is where you should discuss from the interpersonal/relational aspect of political power.
6.    What type of citizenship does your text suggest that your age cohort tends toward? Do you see this as increasing or decreasing the political power of 18-29 year olds?
Tie this post back to the Facebook interactions on the student debt cartoon. What are the implications for 18-29 year old political power given the large debt load (and economic prospects) you’re confronting in 2014 and beyond?