The Declaration of Independence W hen in the Course of hum an events 1 it becom es necessary for one people to dissolve 2 the political bands w hich have connected them w ith another and assum e 3 am ong the pow ers of the earth, the separate and equal station 4 to w hich the L aw s of N ature and of N ature s G od entitle 5 them, a decent respect to the opinions of m ankind requires that they should declare the causes w hich im pel 6 them to the separation. W e hold these truths to be self-evident 7, that all m en are created equal, that they are endow ed 8 by their Creator w ith certain unalienable 9 R ights, that am ong these are L ife, L iberty and the pursuit of H appiness 10. That to secure 11 these rights, G overnm ents are instituted am ong M en, deriving 12 their just 13 pow ers from the consent 14 of the governed, That w henever any F orm of G overnm ent becom es destructive of these ends 15, it is the R ight of the P eople to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new G overnm ent [ ] 1 the Course of human events (here:) history 2 to dissolve to end 3 to assume sth. to take sth. up, to begin to use or have sth. 4 station position 5 to entitle sb. to sth. to give sb. the right to sth. 6 to impel sb. to sth. to drive sb. to sth. 7 self-evident obvious 8 to endow sb. with sth. to provide sb. with sth. 9 unalienable (old use:) inalienable, impossible to take away 10 pursuit of Happiness Streben nach Glück, Zufriedenheit, existentieller Sicherheit 11 to secure sth. to guarantee sth. 12 to derive sth. from etwas herleiten von 13 just gerecht 14 consent permission, agreement 15 whenever these ends wenn je eine Regierungsform sich als diesen Zielen abträglich erweist Comprehension questions you can answer on this sheet: 1. What are the unalienable rights mentioned in paragraph 2? 2. Who gives people these unalienable rights? 3. According to the authors of the Declaration of Independence, from what source does government get its power to govern? 4. When can the people form a new government?
The 1 st Amendment The first ten amendments to the US Constitution are called The Bill of Rights. They were written shortly after the Constitution itself because people saw a need for a document listing the individual rights of every citizen. [ ] Congress shall m ake no law respecting an establishm ent of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assem ble, and to petition the G overnm ent for a redress of grievances. [ ] The five freedoms the 1 st Amendment lists are: Choose one of them and describe situations / contexts in which it does not apply unlimited:
James Truslow Adams: The American Dream ( The Epic of America ) The American historian and writer James Truslow Adams coined the phrase of the American Dream in his book The Epic of America which was published in 1931, just two years after the beginning of the Great Depression (= economic crisis). The following is an excerpt from this book. [ ] there has been also the American Dream, the dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary 1 and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of a social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain 2 to the fullest stature 3 of which they are innately 4 capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous 5 circumstances of birth or position. [...] No, the American Dream that has lured 6 tens of millions of all nations to our shores in the past century has not been a dream of merely material plenty, though that has doubtless counted heavily. It has been much more than that. It has been a dream of being able to grow to fullest development as man and woman, unhampered 7 by the barriers which had slowly been erected 8 in older civilizations, unrepressed by social orders which had developed for the benefit of classes rather than for the simple human being of any and every class. And that dream has been realized more fully in actual life here than anywhere else, though very imperfectly even among ourselves. [...] The point is that if we are to have a rich and full life in which all are to share and play their parts, if the American Dream is to be a reality, our communal spiritual and intellectual life must be distinctly higher than elsewhere, where classes and groups have their separate interests, habits, markets, arts, and lives. If the dream [ ] is to come true, those on top, financially, intellectually, or otherwise, have got to devote 9 themselves to the Great Society, and those who are below in the scale have got to strive 10 to rise, not merely economically, but culturally. We cannot become a great democracy by giving ourselves up as individuals to selfishness, physical comfort and cheap amusement. The very foundation of the American Dream of a better and richer life for all is that all, in varying degrees, shall be capable of wanting to share in it. [ ]Lincoln was not great because he was born in a log cabin 11, but because he got out of it that is, because he rose above the poverty, ignorance, lack of ambition, shiftlessness of character, contentment with mean things and low aims which kept so many thousands in the huts where they were born. If we are to make the dream come true we must all work together, no longer to build bigger, but to build better. [ ]The epic loses all its glory without the dream. The statistics of size, population and wealth would mean nothing to me unless I could still believe in the dream. [...] 1 to grow weary of sth. etwas leid sein 2 to attain to succeed in arriving at sth. 3 stature position, respect 4 innate sth. you are born with 5 fortuitous lucky 6 to lure (an)locken 7 unhampered unbehindert 8 to erect to establish 9 to devote for sich ganz widmen 10 to strive to struggle, to try very hard 11 log cabin small house made of wood Questions: 1. What are the major elements of the American Dream as described by Adams? 2. What, according to Adams, must be done and what must be avoided in order to make the dream a reality?
J. Hector S. John de Crèvecœur: What is an American? ( Letters from an American Farmer ) Crèvecœur came to Canada in 1754 to serve in the war and he settled down as a farmer in Orange County, New York in 1765. That is where he wrote his Letters from an American Farmer (1770-1775). What then is the American, this new man? He is either a European, or the descendant of a European, hence that strange mixture of blood, which you will find in no other country. I could point out to you a family whose grandfather was an Englishman, whose wife was Dutch, whose son married a French woman, and whose present four sons have now four wives of different nations. [ ] Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whose labors and posterity 1 will one day cause great changes in the world. [ ] The Americans were once scattered all over Europe; here they are incorporated into one of the finest systems of population which has ever appeared, and which will hereafter become distinct by the power of the different climates they inhabit. The American ought therefore to love this country much better than that wherein either he or his forefathers were born. [ ] His labor is founded on the basis of nature, self-interest, [ ] to clear those fields whence exuberant crops 2 are to arise to feed and to clothe them all; without any part being claimed, either by a despotic prince, a rich abbot 3, or a mighty lord. [ ] The American is a new man, who acts upon new principles; he must therefore entertain new ideas, and form new opinions. [ ] This is an American. 1 posterity: all the people who will live in the future 2 exuberant crops: fruit, vegetables or other plants growing strongly 3 abbot: the head of a monastery (=Kloster) or an abbey (=Abtei) Questions: 1. According to Crèvecœur, what happens to Europeans settling down in America? 2. What is the difference of being a farmer in Europe compared to being a farmer in America? 3. What is the consequence of this, according to Crèvecœur?
The American Dream The compulsory assignments (=the ones that everybody has to do) are printed in regular print. The ones in italics are optional assignments. You should be able to do at least one or two of the optional assignments. Use this page to tick all the assignments that you have completed (if necessary for homework). File all your sheets in the according order. Content, language, quantity and appearance are all important. Due date: 16 th June The Declaration of Independence Read the text. (You do not need to understand every single word!) Answer the questions on the sheet. Make a mind map of the rights mentioned in the excerpt from the Declaration of Independence and your associations to each of these keywords (What do they mean? What concrete aspects do they include?) You can add more aspects while/after working on the other assignments. Choose one (or more) of these rights and write a paragraph about how this particular right could be in danger today / could have been in danger in the past. The 1 st Amendment to the US Constitution Read the text and do the two tasks on the worksheet. Choose one of the cartoons to be found in the classroom and write a text about it: Describe what you see and then analyze its meaning. They all deal with the topic liberty vs. security. Find information about the USA PATRIOT Act. Write a text commenting on the question whether it violates the First Amendment. James Truslow Adams: The American Dream ( The Epic of America ) Read the text and mark passages that answer the questions below the text. Visualize your answers to the questions neatly on a separate sheet. Complete sentences are not necessary. There is a lottery for Green Cards (= US work permits) every year. This proves that the Dream is still attractive for many people outside the USA. Are you tempted to immigrate to the USA or not? Write a text giving reasons. Choose one of the following contemporary celebrities and find out about his/her life: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chris Gardner, Jay-Z, John Paul DeJoria, Liz Murray, Oprah Winfrey, Ursula Burns. Write a text briefly describing his/her life in one paragraph and then discussing whether he/she lives according to the American Dream depicted by James Truslow Adams. J. Hector St. John de Crèvecœur: What is an American? ( Letters from an American Farmer ) Read the text and answer the questions below the text in complete sentences on a separate sheet. Analyze the cartoon on the bottom of the page connecting it with Crèvecœur s ideas. Crèvecœur describes America as a melting pot (=Schmelztiegel). This is a well-known metaphor, but also an outdated one. Nowadays the American society is often compared to a salad bowl or a quilt. Compare the metaphor of the melting pot to one of the newer ones and justify which one you consider more appropriate to describe the American society of the 21 st century.