TEXT ANALYSIS "The Declaration of Independence"

Declaration of Independence

What is the author arguing?

The authors of this declaration are arguing several points; the main point being all men are created equal, by God the creator, and should therefore have freedoms to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It also argues the King of England is no longer a suitable tyrant over the colonies and the people deserve the right to elect the representatives who will govern them, and when they feel the elected officials no longer have the interest of the people, they should have the right to oust them and elect new ones. Along with that argument, one is being made for a complete separation from England and total independence by way of privatizing the colonies in to self governing states. 

How does the author appeal to logos, pathos, and ethos with his argument?

The declaration starts out very logically. All are created equal so all should be equal. It is not right to have one ruler over many kingdoms especially when that ruler has done nothing but suppress and take advantage of the people. Every man should have the individual right to seek security for his future. Emotional quality is brought to the declaration by more than 20 examples of what the King has done to hurt the colonists and their communities. It is difficult to interpret the character of the writer. The declaration was written mostly by Thomas Jefferson with help from Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman. After the first draft was complete, it went before congress for final changes and approval. 

What is the historical significance/relevance of this document?

It gave the people of the colonies something they had never experienced before: the right to revolt against their own government. The declaration condemned the abuse of power the king exercised and was an example for other nations to follow. When the colonists were finally fed up with the taxation by the British, the Declaration of Independence gave them the right to go to war against England. 

Do you find the author’s argument convincing? Why or why not?

I absolutely find it convincing. It was what everyone had wanted (in one way or another) since the first settlers stepped foot on the New World soil: freedom. People fled poverty, religious persecution, and many other things in the hopes to start anew in America. What they found was a British government who still controlled the colonists and even the taking of freedoms from those native to the land. What confuses me is how the slaves didn’t seem to be counted as people created by God, just like the colonists. It was nearly 100 years until Lincoln drew up the Emancipation Proclamation (1863) freeing the slaves.

How long did the Seven Year War last in Indian country?

The "Seven Year War" began in 1754 and blood was shed all over the Ohio Valley for many years. In 1764, the war began to fade as the Indians were running out of supplies to fight and the British were broke. However, the war did not end there. Fighting between British, French, and Indians lasted much longer and continued in the late 1770s. Sporadic fighting and raids broke out between these groups for years after the war had ended, thus leading up to the Indians joining the British to fight against the Americans in the Revolutionary War. When the fighting finally came to an end in 1815, the Indians had been fighting on their own land for over 60 years.

1. Did the Fort Pitt commander instigate continued fighting with the Indians and what was the catalyst he used?

2. Name two things the M.G. Amherst could have done differently to settle the land disputes in the Ohio Valley more peacefully than it turned out?

The Arbella Sermon

In 1630 on board a ship of Puritans seeking to spread the reformed message of the Church of England, John Winthrop delivered a speech to the passengers that would become one of the most famous passages in American history: The Arbella Sermon. Winthrop spoke of the mission once they would arrive in the New World, specifying the actions and behavior of the colonists. He stressed the importance of a close community, one that suffers, serves, and thrives together. Winthrop also discussed the need for their actions to be an example to those who are not familiar with their beliefs, as they were to be as a "city upon a hill." Winthrop wanted all eyes to be on them, and this was made clear to his fellow Puritans by modeling his speech after a passage of scripture in the Bible, the Sermon on the Mount. Unlike immigrants who came before the Puritans, the goal was not to ravage land, slaughter nonbelievers, and get rich, it was to set up a new life in the church in a place free from religious persecution and be an example to all.

1. Why did John Winthrop press the issue of a close knit community and family in the New World?

2. How would the development of the Massachusetts Bay differ if the Puritan's primary goal was wealth and land?

Text Analysis - Destruction of the Indies - April 5, 2011

   

Destruction of the Indies

                Before attempting to understand the text “Destruction of the Indies,” it is important to know a little of the author’s background. Bartelome de Las Casas did not start out as the Protector of the Indians. He, along with other colonists in Mexico, lived as an encomendero, owning much property and slaves. He witnessed firsthand the horrific acts of violence and oppression committed against the indigenous people; natives were tortured, raped, and murdered. Shortly after the Conquest of Cuba, Las Casas had a dramatic change of heart. As a bishop, he began preaching the atrocities of the Spaniards imposed on the Indians and became their prime advocate. 

                The excerpt from “The Destruction of the Indies” serves as a detailed account of some of the acts by the Spaniards. Las Casas’s matter-of-fact delivery and unbiased report of facts gives a solemn tone to the piece and offers the reader a firsthand insight to the despicable crimes against man. Chilling phrases such as, “who should with a sword at one blow cut, or divide a man in two; or which of them should decollate or behead a man with the greatest dexterity,” gives a vivid image to which was typical and inflicted on thousands. Las Casas succeeds in using gruesome language to relay the urgency of a change in policy. Las Casas’s emotion in felt through the graphic language and is relayed to the reader.

                Early colonizers labeled the Indians as worthless, unable to learn, slow, and expendable. It was this type of ignorance that led to the destruction of a people and ultimately a change of heart in Las Casas. It is said history repeats itself and no cases are more evident than this. Because of the torture and mistreatment of the natives, their populous was slowly dying off; there became fewer and fewer Indians to labor. To offset this impending catastrophe, new African slaves were soon brought into replace the natives, thus starting the cycle of cruelty again. It wouldn’t be until the slaves had representatives and order to stand up and lead the fight against this oppression that the cycle would ever end in the New World, hundreds of years later.