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fandomhigh2006-09-27 10:07 am
professor-lyman.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh2006-09-27 10:07 am
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US Government (Wednesday, September 27, 4th period)
Josh had gone through four cups of coffee since his first period class, so he was way more awake.
Not quite at Caf-Pow levels of crazed, though.
"As promised, today we have our first test of the semester," he said. "I'm sure you're all thrilled. If you're not, well, fake it."
Josh stood up from his desk and passed out test papers.
1. The word "democracy" comes from two Greek words. What are they and what do they mean?
2. What year was the Magna Carta signed? Why is it important in terms of the American government?
3. What three things did John Locke believe we have a right to? Which one did Jefferson change?
4. If you had been King George, how would you have reacted to reading the Declaration of Independence?
5. How does the Declaration of Independence begin (initial phrase only: Jefferson loved the compound sentence)?
"Question or concerns that aren't 'what's the answer to number 4?' Ask away."
[OOC: Answer the questions IC or handwave what your grade would've been]
Not quite at Caf-Pow levels of crazed, though.
"As promised, today we have our first test of the semester," he said. "I'm sure you're all thrilled. If you're not, well, fake it."
Josh stood up from his desk and passed out test papers.
1. The word "democracy" comes from two Greek words. What are they and what do they mean?
2. What year was the Magna Carta signed? Why is it important in terms of the American government?
3. What three things did John Locke believe we have a right to? Which one did Jefferson change?
4. If you had been King George, how would you have reacted to reading the Declaration of Independence?
5. How does the Declaration of Independence begin (initial phrase only: Jefferson loved the compound sentence)?
"Question or concerns that aren't 'what's the answer to number 4?' Ask away."
[OOC: Answer the questions IC or handwave what your grade would've been]
Sign in (Sept 27 USG)
Take the test
After class
OOC
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2. 1066. It ain't.
3. Life, liberty, and property. Jefferson said it was Life, liberty, and the persuit of happiness, thereby establishing the long tradition of vagary and obfuscation that is our country's amazing heritage.
4. I would have shot them.
5. We hold these truths to be self-evident that blahblahblah war with Mexico.
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2. 1215. It's important because it claimed that no one is above the law, not even a king. The Declaration of Independence totally copied this.
3. Life, liberty and property. Jefferson changed property to pursuit of happiness which sounds so much better.
4. I probably would have called them all whiney babies and declared war. Or something.
5. "We hold these truths to be self-evident"
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2. 1215. It put the idea into people's head that no man (like opressive kings and stuff) was above the law. So, when the king started acting like he was, the early American's were allowed to be all, "Now, wait a second here..." and start their revolution.
3. Life, liberty and... . Well, the third one was the one Jefferson changed, changing it to the pursuit of happiness.
4. I would have laughed at the
whiney little bitches in wigs and heelsAmericans and thrown troops at them to show them what I thought of their accusations.5. We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men were created equal...
[[*kick computer* sorry if this goes through repeated times....]]
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2. The Magna Carta was signed by King John at Runnymede in 1215. It established Parliament and the idea that not even the King is above the law.
3. John Locke believed that people have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of property. Thomas Jefferson changed the last to 'pursuit of happiness.'
4. If I were King George III, I would not have let the situation get to the point where the Colonials believed a Declaration of Independence was their only option. But then, I am not mad.
5. "When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have..."
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It comes from the words "demos" or people and "kratia" or authority. This meant rule by the people, as opposed to the few, where the few were the people who had managed to get their way to the top of the authority chain through divine right and/or stabbing enough people who happened to be standing in the way of them and the throne. Though it should be noted not all leaders did this. Some used poison.
2. What year was the Magna Carta signed? Why is it important in terms of the American government?
The Magna Carta, (literally "Great Charter" or "Great Paper" or, more literally, "Significant Thing Put Down On Wood That Has Been Chipped And Pressed Into Sheets. Or Possibly Sheepskin If That's What Was More Common At The Time.") was signed in 1215. It was significant in that it laid the groundwork for things like the US Constitution, and also showed that not only could the will of the king be bound by law, but that for years he'd feel really stupid for actually writing that down and agreeing to it, because written contracts totally trump keeping your fingers crossed behind your back no matter how much you try to argue otherwise.
3. What three things did John Locke believe we have a right to? Which one did Jefferson change?
Of the many things that John Locke (1632-1704 and, apparently, a Virgo) believed that people had a right to life, liberty, and property. One assumes the rights to food, water, and occasionally going to the bathroom were either not written down or felt by Locke to be strongly implied. Thomas Jefferson (1743-1846, Aries) changed "property" to "pursuit of happiness" possibly because it sounded better, possibly because if you're going to be having sex with your slaves willy-nilly and are trying to write down some new guidelines for the country, you may as well try to put in a couple of clauses to cover your immoral backside.
4. If you had been King George, how would you have reacted to reading the Declaration of Independence?
Of course it is difficult to extrapolate given time and the different points of view of history, but if I had to make an educated guess as to what I would have done if I was King George III I suppose there's a high likelihood I would've thought the Declaration of Independance was crawling with bugs, possibly ant-like in nature, and would've dropped it to the ground swatting myself while accusing everyone around me of being a potted plant. I might have then spoken in words not identifiable in English, or any other, language, wondered why I seemed to be followed by fanged mittens riding on eight-legged camels, then passed out in a puddle of my own drool. At some point there may have also been a check on the color of my urine.
5. How does the Declaration of Independence begin (initial phrase only: Jefferson loved the compound sentence)?
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. We will also discover later that these words are very easily put into a catchy song that will air during the commercial breaks of Saturday morning cartoons.
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2. The Magna Carta was signed in 1215. It was important because it said that no one was unaccountable for bad things that happened in a country, not even the king. So when the colonists wanted to fight against King George, they used the Magna Carta as the basis for their argument.
3. John Locke said we have the right to life, liberty, and property. Jefferson changed it to life, liberty, and the persuit of happiness, because he was awesome and smart like that.
4. If I had been King George, I would have declared that the Declaration was clearly a sign that the colonists were smart, self-sufficient, and capable of handling their own country, and I would have washed my hands of them peacefully, and focused on keeping England running well. But then, I'm not as crazy as King George was.
5. The Declaration begins: We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal...
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2. The Magna Carta was signed by King John (see: Robin Hood) in 1215 and it made that the king was not above the law. The US constitution is based off of it.
3. Life, liberty and property. Jefferson changed property to persuit of happiness.
4. If I was George III, I would go and have a conversation with a nearby tree, since George III was very crazy. If I was one of his advisors, I'd start getting a military together
5. "We hold these truths to be self evident."
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2. 1215. The U.S constitution is based upon it.
3. Life, liberty, and property. Pursuit of happiness.
4. If I were King George in terms of historical context I would have been most displeased and angry. If I were King George myself, I would have been able to at least not be surprised by the independence and would have been able to have seen the event coming.
5. We hold these truths to be self evident ...