In my previous post, I talked about WHY it is important to read and understand the Declaration of Independence; WHY it is important for our children to also know and understand.
What about the Constitution? What do you know about the Constitution? Why was it necessary for the new nation? What was wrong with our first attempt at government, under the Articles of Confederation? Again, the answer was written into the document itself; to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common Defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.
Under the Articles, there was no real federal, or national government. The Founding Fathers did not want to replace one tyrant with another, so they purposely left the national government very weak. An ineffective Congress existed, which couldn't even collect taxes to pay off the war debt or raise an army to protect the new nation; the states were squabbling with each other over trade and territory instead of cooperating; it looked as if the infant nation would fall apart. The leaders knew they had to do something, so another Convention was called in Philadelphia with the stated purpose of changing the Articles of Confederation.
Some of the men at the Convention knew, however, that the Articles could not satisfactorily be changed to create an effective government. BUT, they really wrestled with the idea of creating a strong central government; they had just fought a war to free themselves from a tyrannical one! The compromise would be to create a limited federal government, one with very restricted authority, preserving the rights of the people. That is WHY the Constitution contains a list of what the government is allowed to do, and why the Bill of Rights (amendments added after the Constitution was ratified) is a list of what Rights the people have, and what the government cannot do to us to take them away. The Constitution is a great, well-thought-out document that was designed to keep the government in check.
Well-thought-out? Great document? How can I say that when our Founding Fathers would only count slaves as three-fifths persons? Wow! That seems very racist of those rich, old, white, men, doesn't it? But what is the reality? WHY would they do that? Well, the North and the South couldn't agree on how to count slaves for the purposes of representation in the House of Representatives. Although the Southern slave owners considered slaves property (like horses and cattle), not people, the Southern states wanted to be allowed to count their slaves as people so they could have more influence in the Congress, and thus keep slavery and their way of life preserved forever. They also wanted slavery made legal in the Constitution. Those in the Northern states who wanted to end slavery did not want to count the slaves at all, giving more Representatives to the Northern states. After all, the slave owners considered their slaves to be property! They couldn't have it both ways! The North also wanted slavery outlawed in the Constitution.
So, in order to make sure the Union survived, a compromised was reached. Slavery would be legal (to appease the South), but the Articles dealing with slavery could be amended after 20 years (to appease the North - 20 years wasn't a long time), and all slaves would be counted as three-fifths persons for the purposes of representation (a compromise for both). The United States of America almost dissolved over the slavery question way back in 1787, a full 74 years before the Civil War! Only the wisdom of the men in the Philadelphia Convention averted the disaster.
Did you learn that in school? I know I hadn't heard that! My children hadn't either. And we've all heard about the rich, old, white, racist men who were our Founding Fathers. How they only counted black people as three-fifths person. And how evil that was....without any context. This demeans the rest of the process and the document to skew it this way. There are many, many provisions in the Constitution that our government can easily over-look, degrade, demean, corrupt, or just plain ignore...IF the citizens (that would be us!) do not read and understand them! Our government has been bending, stretching and violating the Constitution for years now. Do you know which provisions have been ignored?
When you don't understand the WHY of the Constitution...it just becomes just a boring old piece of parchment with absolutely no modern-day relevance! And, when you don't understand the WHY of the idea of America...it becomes just another nation among many with absolutely no differences!
"A Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever." -- John Adams in a Letter to Abigail Adams (July 7, 1775)
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Why is the WHY of our history important? Part One - The Declaration of Independence
"Freedom is never more than one generation from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free." -- Ronald Regan.
I will agree that it is very important for students to learn when and where the Declaration of Independence was written, and who signed it. And, of course, it's important for them to remember the dates, places and names attached to other significant historical events, such as the Constitution, Revolutionary War, Civil War, etc. But, we don't have century upon century of traditions, buildings, ruins and relics for our children to see and touch in order to understand American history. America is an idea.
In order for America to remain America, we need to know the WHY of the idea of America. It's not enough for our children to memorize...
1776 - "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."
... and ...
1787 - "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, Provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Prosperity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
... but what do these, and the rest of the words in these documents actually MEAN? What are the reasons behind them? What makes America different from other nations?
Why was the Declaration written? Why was it necessary to spend time to write out the Declaration of Independence? You don't have to look very far for the answer. You just have to read the Declaration. The reasons for the Declaration are written right there in the document itself. The Founding Fathers included a whole litany of reasons why they found it necessary to declare their independence from England. They also saw the revolution as a last resort, after years of attempting to get along. Most children don't know that, however. Frankly, most adults don't either. What they remember from school is the Boston Tea Party, maybe the Stamp Act, the Declaration and the Revolutionary War.
What many people don't remember, or were never taught, is this: Because the colonies had been largely left to themselves, they had developed a rather natural free market and free trade system of capitalism based on private land ownership, individual initiative, competition, and supply and demand. Freedom of religion was also a key component of colonial life. However, because of the French and Indian Wars (1754-1763), the British national debt doubled, and by the 1760's England was about to go broke. Parliament, looking for a way to increase the treasury, looked over to the colonies after years of virtually ignoring them, and decided the colonies had money the English government needed to pay down the war debt. They began to seriously enforce the Navigation Acts from back in the 1650's and 1660's. Then, the Proclamation Line of 1763, the Sugar Act (1764), the Currency Act (1764), the Stamp Act (1765), the Townsend Acts (1767), the Quartering Acts (1766 & 1774), and the Quebec Act (1774) were all attempts by the British to replenish its treasury and also to gain absolute control of the colonists and their growing colonial economy.
All of this information is right there in the Declaration itself, along with a statement that the Signers had seriously contemplated this step before taking it. After all, these men were literally pledging their "Lives, Fortunes, and Sacred Honor" by signing the document! They also thought it necessary that other nations know all of the reasons for their decision. WHY? If the new nation was to be taken seriously in the world, the Founding Fathers knew they must show that the revolution was legitimate.
Since a FREE nation was created, one that actually respects the Unalienable Rights of the people, the various "people's revolutions" which installed tyrannies in Cuba, China, Venezuela and the USSR cannot honestly be compared to the revolution fought here to create the United States of America. But, when the students in schools do not learn the WHY of our revolution and Declaration, it becomes possible to pretend all revolutions are equal, and legitimize people like Castro and Mao.
The best way to learn about and teach the Declaration of Independence is to read it and translate it into modern-day language. Even my 9-year-old could do that last year as a 3rd grader. She now understands the birth of our country.
When you don't understand the WHY of the Declaration ... it becomes just a boring old piece of parchment with absolutely no modern-day relevance!
And when you don't understand the WHY of the idea of America ... it becomes just another nation among many with absolutely no differences.
I will agree that it is very important for students to learn when and where the Declaration of Independence was written, and who signed it. And, of course, it's important for them to remember the dates, places and names attached to other significant historical events, such as the Constitution, Revolutionary War, Civil War, etc. But, we don't have century upon century of traditions, buildings, ruins and relics for our children to see and touch in order to understand American history. America is an idea.
In order for America to remain America, we need to know the WHY of the idea of America. It's not enough for our children to memorize...
1776 - "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."
... and ...
1787 - "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, Provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Prosperity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
... but what do these, and the rest of the words in these documents actually MEAN? What are the reasons behind them? What makes America different from other nations?
Why was the Declaration written? Why was it necessary to spend time to write out the Declaration of Independence? You don't have to look very far for the answer. You just have to read the Declaration. The reasons for the Declaration are written right there in the document itself. The Founding Fathers included a whole litany of reasons why they found it necessary to declare their independence from England. They also saw the revolution as a last resort, after years of attempting to get along. Most children don't know that, however. Frankly, most adults don't either. What they remember from school is the Boston Tea Party, maybe the Stamp Act, the Declaration and the Revolutionary War.
What many people don't remember, or were never taught, is this: Because the colonies had been largely left to themselves, they had developed a rather natural free market and free trade system of capitalism based on private land ownership, individual initiative, competition, and supply and demand. Freedom of religion was also a key component of colonial life. However, because of the French and Indian Wars (1754-1763), the British national debt doubled, and by the 1760's England was about to go broke. Parliament, looking for a way to increase the treasury, looked over to the colonies after years of virtually ignoring them, and decided the colonies had money the English government needed to pay down the war debt. They began to seriously enforce the Navigation Acts from back in the 1650's and 1660's. Then, the Proclamation Line of 1763, the Sugar Act (1764), the Currency Act (1764), the Stamp Act (1765), the Townsend Acts (1767), the Quartering Acts (1766 & 1774), and the Quebec Act (1774) were all attempts by the British to replenish its treasury and also to gain absolute control of the colonists and their growing colonial economy.
All of this information is right there in the Declaration itself, along with a statement that the Signers had seriously contemplated this step before taking it. After all, these men were literally pledging their "Lives, Fortunes, and Sacred Honor" by signing the document! They also thought it necessary that other nations know all of the reasons for their decision. WHY? If the new nation was to be taken seriously in the world, the Founding Fathers knew they must show that the revolution was legitimate.
Since a FREE nation was created, one that actually respects the Unalienable Rights of the people, the various "people's revolutions" which installed tyrannies in Cuba, China, Venezuela and the USSR cannot honestly be compared to the revolution fought here to create the United States of America. But, when the students in schools do not learn the WHY of our revolution and Declaration, it becomes possible to pretend all revolutions are equal, and legitimize people like Castro and Mao.
The best way to learn about and teach the Declaration of Independence is to read it and translate it into modern-day language. Even my 9-year-old could do that last year as a 3rd grader. She now understands the birth of our country.
When you don't understand the WHY of the Declaration ... it becomes just a boring old piece of parchment with absolutely no modern-day relevance!
And when you don't understand the WHY of the idea of America ... it becomes just another nation among many with absolutely no differences.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Check your premise!
When something just doesn't make sense . . . when an explanation provided by elected officials, leaders, or the press just doesn't seem quite right . . . stop for a minute . . . and check your premise.
What is a premise? Webster's calls it "a previous statement or assertion that serves as the basis for an argument." In other words, it's the stated reason behind the action. But is it the real reason?
Public schools keep asking the tax-payers for more and more money to "improve the quality of education", and on average the private schools operate on much less per student and do a much better job. Children educated at home score higher on those "all-important" standardized tests, and yet spend even less money. You don't understand why the public school system hasn't really improved, and fails to teach children how to think?
Check your premise.
In the proposed health care reform, private insurance companies could be required to accept everyone, lower their premiums, pay for everything for everyone, and not put a cap on lifetime benefits. You can't see how they will stay in business? Although suggested, there isn't any provision to allow interstate competition among the insurance companies to help drive down costs. However, the so-called public option would be a "nationwide option, to provide competition" and help drive down costs. You don't understand that? And remember, every one of us pays extra for the uninsured person who has an accident and winds up in the emergency room. Yet, the lawmakers want to impose fines on people who only need to purchase catastrophic insurance to cover those emergencies. Does that confuse you?
Check your premise.
Any time you see or hear something that just doesn't seem right . . . check your premise. It's amazing what your eyes can see when they can't pull the wool over them anymore!
What is a premise? Webster's calls it "a previous statement or assertion that serves as the basis for an argument." In other words, it's the stated reason behind the action. But is it the real reason?
Public schools keep asking the tax-payers for more and more money to "improve the quality of education", and on average the private schools operate on much less per student and do a much better job. Children educated at home score higher on those "all-important" standardized tests, and yet spend even less money. You don't understand why the public school system hasn't really improved, and fails to teach children how to think?
Check your premise.
In the proposed health care reform, private insurance companies could be required to accept everyone, lower their premiums, pay for everything for everyone, and not put a cap on lifetime benefits. You can't see how they will stay in business? Although suggested, there isn't any provision to allow interstate competition among the insurance companies to help drive down costs. However, the so-called public option would be a "nationwide option, to provide competition" and help drive down costs. You don't understand that? And remember, every one of us pays extra for the uninsured person who has an accident and winds up in the emergency room. Yet, the lawmakers want to impose fines on people who only need to purchase catastrophic insurance to cover those emergencies. Does that confuse you?
Check your premise.
Any time you see or hear something that just doesn't seem right . . . check your premise. It's amazing what your eyes can see when they can't pull the wool over them anymore!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
My Main Reasons for Home Educating
It is a very sunny October afternoon in East Tennessee, and my children are playing outside with their friends in our quiet neighborhood. As I thought about what to post on my first attempt at this "blogging thing", I remembered we no longer have to struggle with homework and they can stay outside all evening if they wish. And...bing...the light bulb came on. I have my first post.
One of the main reasons we home-educate now has nothing to do with the teachers or administrators we encountered in our old school district. I knew many of them personally, as I was a "PTA mom" for 5 years. The teachers I know are hard-working, caring people, who really do want the children to succeed. The problem for me wasn't the teachers, it was the system. Our children, all of our children, are being under-served in the current public school system. And, since the passage of Mr. Bush's "No Child Gets Ahead" Bill, the situation grew worse. The teachers' hands are tied. If it can't be tested and reported on, it must be cut back or eliminated. Unfortunately for my children, they both fall into the "gifted and talented" category, and so more and more of the funding for their programs was cut. And because there are so many layers of administration, and so much more money is being spent on "Administrating" the new rules and regulations, most programs were being cut for most students. More money doesn't equal better schools.
Another main reason we felt we needed more control of our children's education is that school is designed to teach them WHAT to think, not HOW to think. The Department of Education has actually admitted to this in the past. We believe that "a person who learns WHAT will always be able to find a job, while a person who learns HOW will be able to provide that job." We have always tried to allow our children the freedom to question, and not just follow blindly. This doesn't sit well in most public school classroom situations!
Finally, for today at least, we wanted control of what they were exposed to on a daily basis. While we aren't home-educating for religious reasons, as I know many people do, we have brought our children home for "moral reasons". The changes that have taken place in the public school in the past years has become frightening. I know many parents who were upset with our schools teaching DARE, or sex ed in health, or other things that are considered "controversial". But, very few people were aware of the re-writing of history and other textbooks, and the subtle undertones of secular humanism that was sneaking into the classroom materials.
Thank you for allowing me to share today!
One of the main reasons we home-educate now has nothing to do with the teachers or administrators we encountered in our old school district. I knew many of them personally, as I was a "PTA mom" for 5 years. The teachers I know are hard-working, caring people, who really do want the children to succeed. The problem for me wasn't the teachers, it was the system. Our children, all of our children, are being under-served in the current public school system. And, since the passage of Mr. Bush's "No Child Gets Ahead" Bill, the situation grew worse. The teachers' hands are tied. If it can't be tested and reported on, it must be cut back or eliminated. Unfortunately for my children, they both fall into the "gifted and talented" category, and so more and more of the funding for their programs was cut. And because there are so many layers of administration, and so much more money is being spent on "Administrating" the new rules and regulations, most programs were being cut for most students. More money doesn't equal better schools.
Another main reason we felt we needed more control of our children's education is that school is designed to teach them WHAT to think, not HOW to think. The Department of Education has actually admitted to this in the past. We believe that "a person who learns WHAT will always be able to find a job, while a person who learns HOW will be able to provide that job." We have always tried to allow our children the freedom to question, and not just follow blindly. This doesn't sit well in most public school classroom situations!
Finally, for today at least, we wanted control of what they were exposed to on a daily basis. While we aren't home-educating for religious reasons, as I know many people do, we have brought our children home for "moral reasons". The changes that have taken place in the public school in the past years has become frightening. I know many parents who were upset with our schools teaching DARE, or sex ed in health, or other things that are considered "controversial". But, very few people were aware of the re-writing of history and other textbooks, and the subtle undertones of secular humanism that was sneaking into the classroom materials.
Thank you for allowing me to share today!
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