Civics in Action: Rights and Responsibilities of Citizens

Stay tuned for a detailed exposition of our various roles as a member of American society. The material to be included is from The American Journey (an 8th grade history textbook) from Glencoe, McGraw-Hill, and associated with the National Geographic Society. I used this for several years and found it one of the better books available. This will be the first of several installments; some will be regular posts (the shorter ones I'm less likely to loose) and other more lengthy episodes will be attached pdf. files… you may comment as you see fit, however, this is not a debate as much as a lesson. I actually used most of this in my classes.Prologue "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."If the truths were so self-evident why did they write such a detailed laundry list of grievances?If all men are created equal why did they have slaves?What, besides life, liberty, and the pursuit of (my italics) happiness, are our unalienable rights?To the first question the answer is pretty simple... they had to explain why a fairly successful and free group of colonies would split from England. This was written less for themselves and England as an rational to the rest of the civilized world. The document is a perfect example of the Enlightment Era mindst. It was the sum total of logical thought to that point in time.To the second question: this question has lots of people in a stew. The basic point is that all souls were equal according to the Church; all Englishmen had certain rights (via the Magna Carta and English Bill of Rights); that all His creations being equal to God should be equal to their gov't.The third is a bit more difficult and continues to be a sticky item today. Life and liberty aren't to difficult to figure. People have the right not to be killed... they have the right to go about their business without interference... as long as they don't break with the norms established by their society. While one may counter that the colonists were breaking the societal norms of England, that argument only proves that one has not recognized that the colonies had become (already) a different sort of society than the mother counrty.As for the pursuit of happiness: we are allowed to pursue of but not assured happiness; this point is something that has vexed us from the very beginning of our country. The basic plan is and always has been that the individual controls his fate in this area. Over the years we have sought to level the playing field a bit and in many cases there hasa been a positive gain. Often however these efforts have resulted in the gaming of the system... folks come along that aren't satisfied to have a level pitch but will work to tilt it in there favor. Many of the government efforts to level the field have become entitlement programs that suffer this gaming. Generally though, most folks stay inside the lines and pursue their dreams.Preview of Coming Attractions: Types of rights we have; what they give us and limits on them.Post Script:I am taking this lesson out of order, normally I cover the basics of the Constitution and the organization of the government first. I cover the Bill of Rights along with the Citizenship Handbook because the BofR is our warranty so-to-speak. Then if time permits I cover, in greater detail, the Constitution (Article by Article) and the 3 branches of the government (each, individually, and their conjuctions).