Activity- Compare influential documents to the Declaration of Independence
Compare and contrast documents that may have influenced the Declaration of Independence. (begins on page 141 in your textbook)
- Each group was given one of the following documents to skim for similarities:
The Magna Carta (June 1215), The Mayflower Compact (November, 1621), English Bill of Rights (1689), The Royal Proclamation (October 7, 1763), (October 19, 1765), The Articles of Association (October 20, 1774), The Virginia Declaration of Rights (June 12, 1776)
- Each group identified/recorded five similarities between the Declaration of Independence (pg. 141) and the document they were assigned. These similarities could be in structure, in common phrasing, in content/purpose, or in the people, place, or entities involved.
- Each group will have the spokesperson/leader present and explain their findings to the class
** If you were absent, just choose ONE of the documents to compare to the Declaration of Independence.
Activity- Writing the Group Preamble (Groups)
- Reviewed the preamble to the D of I on pg. 141 (see yesterday's handout)
- Discussed how short the preamble is and how to model the group preamble based on the D of I's preamble (see handout)
- Each group wrote their 1-2 sentence preamble about the class topic
Class Activity- Writing a Class Preamble
- "When in the course of human events" was written on the board. The class was given the opportunity to make changes to this beginning phrase, but had to vote on every change.
- A volunteer group continued this beginning phrase. They used their wording and added 6-7 words. The class voted on this addition.
- A volunteer group finished the preamble. They used their wording and the class voted (one group at a time-- democratic process) again.
Note: Groups did not change their own preambles. We will have a class declaration and each group will also have their own declaration.
Discussion- The Process
- We discussed how long it took us to agree on one or two sentences.
- We discussed how this was similar to Jefferson and the committee hashing it out and how Jefferson must have felt when they were thrashing some of his writing.
- We discussed the democratic process involved in the ratification of this document.
Next time- Statement of Beliefs (see handout)