Revolutionary War UnitBig Idea #7: Loyal

LoyalDefinition: having or showing complete and constant support for someone or something

Build-a-WordAffix New Word Meaning

-ty

Dis-

-ly

Un- & -ly

Dis- & -ty

TwoAntonyms

Think Pair Share: Where Does Your Loyalty Lie?1

Revolutionary War UnitBig Idea #7: Loyal

Rank the following groups of people from 1-10 based on who you are most likely to be loyal to.

Police Parents Teachers Best Friend Aunt/Uncle Sibling Childhood Friend/“Cousin” The President of the U.S. Principal of your school Grandparent

Compare Two Quotes

Compound Words: If you combine the word Loyalty or some form of the word) with other words to form compound words, it creates a new phrase with a new definition. This new definition is more specific, but still related to the original word, loyalty. Fill in the following chart by combining the words with “Loyalty.”

Word Compound Word

Definition

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“Be with a leader when he is right, stay with him when he is still right, but, leave him when he is wrong.”

-Abraham Lincoln

“I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot someone and not lose a single vote.”

-Donald Trump

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Family

Divided

Opposition

Blind

Political

Vocabulary:a. Treason: the crime of trying to overthrow your country's

government or of helping your country's enemies during war

b. Allegiance: loyalty to a person, country, group, etc.

c. Subject: a person who lives in a country that is ruled by a king or queen, a citizen of a monarchy

Treason in the RevolutionBy David Maxey

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Reading #1

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Treason is a political crime committed against a state or government to which the person charged with treason owes a duty of allegiance.  The dictionary defines treason as “a violation of allegiance toward one’s country or [King], especially the betrayal of one’s country by waging war against it or by consciously and purposely acting to aid its enemies.”  (American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language) 

The men signing the Declaration of Independence were aware of the risk they ran of committing treason against the British King to whom, but a short time before, they were firmly bound as subjects.  They listed in the Declaration a long list of abuses which they argued dissolved all political connections between the former colonies and Great Britain and released them from any obligation to be loyal to the British government. 

The truth of that claim was to be determined by the Revolutionary War.  As Thomas McKean, a signer of the Declaration and later Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, observed in an early case that came before him as a judge, “In civil wars, every man chooses his party; but generally that side which prevails [has] the right of treating those who are [defeated]

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as rebels.”  Benjamin Franklin made the point more tellingly when, as he was about to sign the Declaration, he remarked, “We must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall hang separately.” 

In suggesting that hanging might be the fate of those who signed the Declaration, Franklin was choosing an easier death than the one traditionally meted out in England to traitors.  Traitors were subject to the ferocious and gruesome punishment of being hanged, drawn, and quartered, reflecting the ancient judgment that a single death was an inadequate response to the crime of plotting the king’s death or seeking to overturn the established order.

Drawing and quartering was the grisly punishment for the crime of treason. The full punishment for a traitor could include several steps. First he was drawn, that is, tied to a horse and dragged to the gallows. Sometimes they were dragged on a sledge, but this wasn’t a means of mercy. Rather, it was a way to make sure the body was still alive when it was delivered to the hangman. The rest of the punishment might include hanging (usually not to the death), live disemboweling, burning of the entrails, beheading, and quartering. This last step was sometimes accomplished by tying each of the four limbs to a different horse and spurring them in different directions. Knowing that this would be the punishment, it seems incredible that the Founding Fathers were all willing to sign their name to the treasonous Declaration of Independence.

https://www.nps.gov/revwar/unfinished_revolution/treason.htmhttps://www.britannica.com/topic/drawing-and-quartering

1.Journal Write: The word “Treason” was a vocabulary word previously in this unit. How did this reading expand, or deepen your

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understanding of the word? How is the word treason related to the word loyalty? Give specific details from the reading.

Vocabulary:d. Necessary: so important that you must do it or have

it : absolutely needed

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e. People (singular): ALL the men, women, and children of a particular tribe, nation, country or ethnic group, speaking of them as a UNIT

f. Usurp: to take and keep power in a forceful or violent way, especially without the right to do so

The Declaration of Independence Part 1

[1. Introduction]

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

[2. Preamble]

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.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath

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Reading #2

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shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

Source: http://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/1765-thomas-hutchinson-moves-milton-involuntarily/

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2. Major Ideas in the Preamblea. All Men Are .

b. They are endowed by with

.

c. Among these are ,

, and

.

d. To these rights,

.

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e. If the government becomes

, it is the right of the people to

.

3. Frame it!This is the part of the Declaration of Independence that talks about the rights of people, and the role of government. Make a compare/contrast frame that compares this document to John Locke’s theory of natural rights.

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Declaration of Independence Part 2

[3. Indictment of George III]

Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

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Reading #3

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He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders

which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States: For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury: For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences

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For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

[4. Criticism of the British People]

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Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

[5. Conclusion]

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

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Do Republicans' loyalties lie with

America — or with Trump?

Joe ScarboroughSpecial to the Washington Post

This week's story line out of Washington is of great concern. Despite daily reminders that President Donald Trump holds democratic traditions in deep contempt, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and his Republican caucus are allowing themselves to become co-conspirators in the president's push to compromise U.S. constitutional norms. While no one expects the GOP to take grisly cues from Shakespeare, is it too much to ask that Ryan place grave national security concerns from the Justice Department ahead of his political peonage to Trump?

Has Ryan noticed that the president is executing an erratic but effective plot to undermine the independence of America's law enforcement agencies?

Do Capitol Hill Republicans even care that Trump has taken on the nasty habit of demanding loyalty oaths from FBI agents and Justice Department officials who happen to be investigating his White House?

Is Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., even slightly concerned that former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, like former director James Comey before him, was driven from his job after being administered — and apparently failing — a loyalty test?

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Reading #4

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Whom did you vote for? That's what the petulant president asked McCabe. The FBI officer told Trump he didn't vote. But even asking the question was highly inappropriate. Retiring House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., told CNN that McCabe should not have even answered. "It's nobody's business," Gowdy said.

This week we learned that the commander in chief's loyalty demands even extended to the man overseeing Robert Mueller's investigation. At a White House meeting in December, Trump asked Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein whether he was on the president's "team." Rosenstein replied that "we're all on your team, Mr. President" — instead of rightly telling the president that his only loyalty is to the U.S. Constitution. But there is no doubt Trump would have considered that the wrong answer. For this president, loyalty to Constitution and country is considered less important than loyalty to himself.

In November, Trump told a radio host that the most frustrating thing about being president was his inability to influence FBI and Justice Department investigations. This week, the president breezed past those constitutional boundaries and told aides that he was working to undermine Mueller's Justice Department probe and damage the FBI's reputation. He would compromise America's premier law enforcement agencies by working with House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., to release a misleading memo that both the Justice Department and FBI condemned as inaccurate. Doing so would be "extraordinarily reckless," wrote Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd. But Trump pressed for the memo's release regardless of those dire warnings, and Ryan and his corrupted caucus cheered him on.

The president's enablers must believe that it is their unfortunate fate to blindly follow him. But they are misreading the stars, and they are underestimating themselves. No one expects grand Shakespearean gestures from this Republican Party. All that is required is the courage to push back

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against this president's most dangerous moves. Republicans took an oath to the Constitution and their country. They must be reminded that their most enduring loyalties lie there and not with Donald Trump.

Washington Post

Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman from Florida, hosts the MSNBC show “Morning Joe."

Question: As Americans, do we owe President Trump our loyalty, even if we do not support his goals? Keep the following questions in mind…

Do you feel like President Trump is your president?

Is there a difference between feeling loyalty toward a country and

feeling loyalty toward its president?

Can we be loyal to the office of the presidency without respecting the

person in the office?

How much do we have to agree with someone before we are loyal to

them?

Do the people who work for him have to agree to support his goals out

of loyalty?

Do people have to keep quiet about things they see and disagree with

out of loyalty?

The colonists decided that they were not loyal to King George or

England. What would need to happen for Americans to feel the same

way about President Trump?

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4. Make Connections. We have spent the last several weeks looking at seven big ideas and how

they affect both the world of the 1700s, as well as the world of today.

Reread the Declaration. Choose seven different colors and while you are

rereading it, mark up the Declaration of Independence based on when it

talks about each of the seven ideas we examined in class. You will use

this as your notes to write your essay. Show below what colors you used

for each idea. (Do the Preamble carefully, skim the rest.)

oColony

oGovernment

oRepresentation

oPolice

oRights18

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oResistance

oLoyalty

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