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Unit 1

What was American Democracy and How has it Evolved?

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1.2 How did Native American Traditions Influence American Democracy? Notes

The Haudenosaunee (or Iroquois) Confederacy is a group of five Native American tribes (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca) that agreed long ago to live by common laws

Historians believe these tribes formed the confederacy circa 1500 AD in what is now the northeastern United States

Our document is the Great Law of Peace, an oral constitution of the confederacy, which was written down by historians.

Some historians believe that the confederacy and its constitution influenced the writers of the U.S. Constitution.

Benjamin Franklin witnessed the constitution in action when he was sent to persuade the Iroquois Confederacy to switch sides during the French and Indian War (aka 7 Years War) – the men spoke in favor or against switching sides, but the women voted.

Similar principles can be found in both documents, including popular sovereignty, separation of powers, limited government, checks and balances and federalism.

Vocabulary

Document – The Great Law of Peace, Dekanawidah, circa 1500

I am Dekanawidah and with the Five Nations' Confederate Lords I plant the Tree of Great Peace…

Roots have spread out from the Tree of the Great Peace, one to the north, one to the east, one to the south and one to the west. The name of these roots is The Great White Roots and their nature is Peace and Strength. If any man or any nation outside the Five Nations shall obey the laws of the Great Peace and make known their disposition to the Lords of the Confederacy… The Council of the Mohawk shall be divided into three parties as follows:… The third party is to listen only to the discussion of the first and second parties and if an error is made or

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the proceeding is irregular they are to call attention to it, and when the case is right and properly decided by the two parties they shall confirm the decision of the two parties and refer the case to the Seneca Lords for their decision. In all cases the procedure must be as follows: when the Mohawk and Seneca Lords have unanimously agreed upon a question, they shall report their decision to the Cayuga and Oneida Lords who shall deliberate upon the question and report a unanimous decision to the Mohawk Lords. The Mohawk Lords will then report the standing of the case to the Firekeepers, who shall render a decision as they see fit in case of a disagreement by the two bodies, or confirm the decisions of the two bodies if they are identical. The Fire Keepers shall then report their decision to the Mohawk Lords who shall announce it to the open council. If at any time it shall be manifest that a Confederate Lord has not in mind the welfare of the people or disobeys the rules of this Great Law, the men or women of the Confederacy, or both jointly, shall come to the Council and upbraid the erring Lord through his War Chief. If the complaint of the people through the War Chief is not heeded the first time it shall be uttered again and then if no attention is given a third complaint and warning shall be given. If the Lord is contumacious the matter shall go to the council of War Chiefs. The War Chiefs shall then divest the erring Lord of his title by order of the women in whom the titleship is vested… The women will then select another of their sons as a candidate and the Lords shall elect him. Then shall the chosen one be installed by the Installation Ceremony.

Five arrows shall be bound together very strong and each arrow shall represent one nation. As the five arrows are strongly bound this shall symbolize the complete union of the nations. Thus are the Five Nations united completely and enfolded together, united into one head, one body and one mind. Therefore they shall labor, legislate and council together for the interest of future generations. Comprehension Questions

1) Identify the sections that illustrates the five common principles listed in the notes section.

2) Research the Constitution. How does the US constitution differ from the Iroquois Constitution? Be specific.

1.3 How did Thomas Paine Argue for Independence from Britain? Notes

Thomas Paine was a political philosopher who was born in England and moved to the colonies just before the American Revolution.

In the American Revolution, American colonists rebelled against King George III of Britain and won independence.

Paine’s ideas were part of the Enlightenment, an 18th century philosophical and political movement that promoted reason and science.

Paine believed that popular government (by the people) was better than absolute governments like monarchies (in which kings and queens had all the power).

Our document is from Common Sense, which was widely read in 1776 and played a key role in creating support for independence.

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Vocabulary

Document – Common Sense, Thomas Paine, 1776

But there is another and great distinction for which no truly natural or religious reason can be assigned, and that is the distinction of men into KINGS and SUBJECTS. Male and female are the distinctions of nature, good and bad the distinctions of Heaven; but how a race of men came into the world so exalted above the rest, and distinguished like some new species, is worth inquiring into, and whether they are the means of happiness or of misery to mankind…

I have heard it asserted by some, that as America has flourished under her former connection with Great Britain, the same connection is necessary towards her future happiness, and will always have the same effect. Nothing can be more fallacious than this kind of argument. We may as well assert that because a child has thrived upon milk, that it is never to have meat, or that the first twenty years of our lives is to become a precedent for the next twenty. But even this is admitting more than is true; for I answer roundly that America would have flourished as much, and probably much more, had no European power taken any notice of her. …

I challenge the warmest advocate for reconciliation to show a single advantage that this continent can reap by being connected with Great Britain. I repeat the challenge; not a single advantage is derived. Our corn will fetch its price in any market in Europe, and our imported goods must be paid for buy them where we will.

But the injuries and disadvantages which we sustain by that connection, are without number; and our duty to mankind at large, as well as to ourselves, instruct us to renounce the alliance: because, any submission to, or dependence on, Great Britain, tends directly to involve this Continent in European wars and quarrels, and set us at variance with nations who would otherwise seek our friendship, and against whom we have neither anger nor complaint. …

But where says some is the King of America? I'll tell you Friend, he reigns above, and doth not make havoc of mankind like the Royal Brute of Britain. Yet that we may not appear to be defective even in earthly honors, let a day be solemnly set apart for proclaiming the charter; let it be brought forth placed on the divine law, the word of God; let a crown be placed thereon, by which the world may know, that so far as we approve as monarchy, that in America THE LAW IS KING. For as in absolute governments the King is law, so in free countries the law ought to be King; and there ought to be no other. Comprehension Questions

1) According to Paine, how is the difference between kings and subjects different from the difference between men and women?

2) In Paine’s analogy about the child in paragraph two, what does milk symbolize and what does meat symbolize?

3) According to Paine, who should be king of America, God or the law? Cite evidence to back up your position.

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1.4 What was James Madison’s Argument for Representative Democracy? Notes

James Madison wrote most of the Constitution (he is called the Father of our Constitution) and was president from 1809 to 1817.

The Constitution was written in 1787, and it came into effect in 1789 after the states ratified it.

James Madison and two other founders, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, wrote 85 essays – the Federalists Papers - under the pseudonym “Publuis” to convince state to ratify the Constitution.

Our Document is Federalist Paper #10, which discusses direct democracy and representative democracy.

In direct (or pure) democracy, citizens vote on which laws to pass.

In representative democracy, citizens elect representatives who then make laws. This form of government is called a republic.

The US is a representative democracy, or a republic, but some laws are passed by the direct democracy (ballot initiatives) at the state and local levels.

Vocabulary

Document - Federalist No 10, James Madison, 1787

AMONG the numerous advantages promised by a well constructed Union, none deserves to be more accurately developed than its tendency to break and control the violence of faction…

By a faction, I understand a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adversed to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community…

To secure the public good and private rights against the danger of such a faction, and at the same time to preserve the spirit and the form of popular government, is then the great object to which our inquiries are directed. Let me add that it is the great desideratum by which this form of government can be rescued from the opprobrium under which it has so long labored, and be recommended to the esteem and adoption of mankind.

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From this view of the subject it may be concluded that a pure democracy, by which I mean a society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the government in person, can admit of no cure for the mischiefs of faction. A common passion or interest will, in almost every case, be felt by a majority of the whole; a communication and concert result from the form of government itself; and there is nothing to check the inducements to sacrifice the weaker party or an obnoxious individual. Hence it is that such democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.

A republic, by which I mean a government in which the scheme of representation takes place, opens a different prospect, and promises the cure for which we are seeking. Let us examine the points in which it varies from pure democracy, and we shall comprehend both the nature of the cure and the efficacy which it must derive from the Union.

The two great points of difference between a democracy and a republic are: first, the delegation of the government, in the latter, to a small number of citizens elected by the rest; secondly, the greater number of citizens, and greater sphere of country, over which the latter may be extended.

The effect of the first difference is, on the one hand, to refine and enlarge the public views, by passing them through the medium of a chosen body of citizens, whose wisdom may best discern the true interest of their country, and whose patriotism and love of justice will be least likely to sacrifice it to temporary or partial considerations. Under such a regulation, it may well happen that the public voice, pronounced by the representatives of the people, will be more consonant to the public good than if pronounced by the people themselves, convened for the purpose. On the other hand, the effect may be inverted. Comprehension Questions

1) Put Madison’s definition of faction into your own words. 2) According to Madison, what are two advantages of a republic over a direct

democracy? 1.5 What did Thomas Jefferson believe were the Main Responsibilities of Government? Notes

Thomas Jefferson wrote most of the Declaration of Independence (he is called the Father of the Declaration of Independence), the Constitution and was president of the United States.

He supported the idea of “limited government,” which means that the government should not have too much power over people’s lives.

The document is from Jefferson’s inaugural address.

Although Jefferson talked about “equal justice and exact justice for all men he owned slaves and expressed racist views.

Jefferson tried endlessly to end slavery in his native state of Virginia, but every time his attempts were thwarted and slave laws were made even stricte.

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If Jefferson had freed his slaves during his lifetime, they could have been hunted down and forced into slavery by a harsh master.

If Jefferson had freed his slaves in his will, they again could have been hunted down and forced into slavery by a harsh master,

It was also illegal for Jefferson to transport his slaves out of state and free them. Vocabulary

Document – First Inaugural Address, Thomas Jefferson, 1801

Still one thing more, fellow-citizens -- a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities.

About to enter, fellow-citizens, on the exercise of duties which comprehend everything dear and valuable to you, it is proper you should understand what I deem the essential principles of our Government… Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political; peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none; the support of the State governments in all their rights, as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns and the surest bulwarks against antirepublican tendencies; the preservation of the General Government in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad; a jealous care of the right of election by the people -- a mild and safe corrective of abuses which are lopped by the sword of revolution where peaceable remedies are unprovided; absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority, the vital principle of republics, from which is no appeal but to force, the vital principle and immediate parent of despotism; a well-disciplined militia, our best reliance in peace and for the first moments of war till regulars may relieve them; the supremacy of the civil over the military authority; economy in the public expense, that labor may be lightly burthened; the honest payment of our debts and sacred preservation of the public faith; encouragement of agriculture, and of commerce as its handmaid; the diffusion of information and arraignment of all abuses at the bar of the public reason; freedom

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of religion; freedom of the press, and freedom of person under the protection of the habeas corpus, and trial by juries impartially selected. Comprehension Questions

1) In the first paragraph, what does bread symbolize? 2) List ten things Jefferson says the government should do. 3) Would Jefferson approve of the following policies?

a. Make an alliance of mutual defense with three other countries so that “an attack on one is an attack on all.”

b. Tax wealthy citizens’ income and redistribute it to the poor. c. Enforce laws that keep every citizen safe. d. Presidents can overrule the decisions of state governments. e. Protect the rights of the people whose opinions are different from the

majorities. 1.6 How did Andrew Jackson Represent the Common Man? Notes

Andrew Jackson was president from 1829 to 1837.

Unlike previous presidents, who were all wealthy, well educated, and from the Northeast, Jackson grew up in a poor family in the Waxhaws area of North Carolina and did not attend a prestigious university.

It was said he stood up to British soldiers as a child in the Revolutionary War.

Jackson fought in the War of 1812 and was a hero for saving the city of New Orleans from the British.

Jackson’s nickname was “Old Hickory,” was a populist; he promised to fight for the “common man” instead of the wealthy elite.

Once Jackson was in office, some people accused him of taking too much power for himself.

Jackson forced Native Americans to move from their ancestral lands to reservations in Oklahoma. Their journey was called the Trail of Tears, because so many people died along the way.

Jackson thought the Constitution did not give Congress permission to charter a national bank, and he vetoed Congress’s decision to recharter the bank; Nicholas Biddle, president of the Second Bank of the United States, opposed him.

Vocabulary

Documents

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Comprehension Questions

1) Match each political cartoon with the way it portrays Andrew Jackson.

a. Jackson was a tyrant who did not respect the Constitution.

b. Jackson bravely stood up to a British soldier.

c. Jackson fought against the national bank.

d. Jackson took care of the Native Americans.

2) For each cartoon, find three adjectives to describe how the cartoonist portrays Jackson. Do you agree with the cartoonists’ views? Why or Why not?

3) For each cartoon find two objects that have symbolic meaning. What do they symbolize?

1.7 How did Frederick Douglass Criticize American Democracy? Notes

Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in Maryland; his mother was a slave and his father was an unknown white man

Unlike most slaves, he learned to read and write as a child.

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In 1838, he escaped to Massachusetts and became involved with the abolitionist (antislavery) movement there.

He wrote an autobiography expolaining what he had suffered as a slave.

Our document is from a speech he gave in New York to an abolitionist meeting. Vocabulary

Document – What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?, Frederick Douglass, 1852

Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? and am I, therefore, called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us?

Would to God, both for your sakes and ours, that an affirmative answer could be truthfully returned to these questions! Then would my task be light, and my burden easy and delightful…

But, such is not the state of the case. I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. — The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth [of] July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn. To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony.

What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade, and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy — a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices, more shocking and bloody, than are the people of these United States, at this very hour. Comprehension Questions

1) Who is the “you” that Douglass addresses in his speech?

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2) Why does Douglass mourn on the Fourth of July? 3) Write out a dialogue between Thomas Jefferson and Frederick Douglass in which

they try to describe American democracy.