Assignment One

1. List five purposes of the government.

To uphold our natural rights.

To provide a stable defense against adversaries.

To shelter us from poverty.

To allow us our freedoms.

To let our decisions affect its structure.

2. Would you be willing to join a revolution if our government was not fulfilling the purposes of government you listed above? Why? Why not? Yes; I would join a revolution. If the government were not upholding these attributes, especially the 'natural rights' and 'freedoms' parts, I would be very willing to join a revolution in order to better the government.

Primary Source Document Reflection

1. What did you learn about life in the colonies from reading this document?
Marriage was a very important (and religious) part of every household. The document stressed the importance of a loving marriage (being "kind, gentle, and tender" to one another). It stated that any argument or dispute between married couples was considered a deed of the Devil; that in conflict was the Devil's success. They called it "God's will" for every married couple to be happy and work well together.

2. What surprised you the most about what you read?
I suppose what surprised me the most was how forced the people were to be in a "perfect" relationship (an unattainably perfect relationship). The document described how the men were to govern the women fairly, and the women were to be cheerful and accepting of this ruling. I'm surprised with how strictly governed every emotion was in a marriage.


3. Compare and contrast the differences between American life today and life for Americans during the colonial era.
There are a great many differences between married couples in the colonial era and today. For one thing, husbands are no longer entitled to govern their wives. Marriages are freer (especially with the option of divorce) and more open for each person. There aren't any rules that govern married couples as far as religion and emotion go.

Assignment One & Two

1. What motivates immigrants to come to the United States (today)? Consider what they lose and what they can gain in your argument.

Immigrants from all over the world come to the United States for many reasons, but I think they have one goal in their minds: The hope to get a good, stable job. The United States is famous for good job opportunity, and once this word spread to outside countries, the peoples' immediate goals were to move to the U.S. They hoped to escape many fears seen in other countries: religious barriers, strict living rules, poor economic conditions, poor living conditions, and more. In the U.S., immigrants could see the success of Americans and desired it for themselves. However, this wasn't without loss.
Moving from another country to America can be dangerous and tragic: An immigrant may leave behind family, or bring family and attempt to enter illegally (in order to provide a better living standard to the family). However, if the immigrant safely enters the U.S., job opportunities and better living standards become available. While I may not agree with how immigrants are generally paid less than minimum wage, I do believe that to some this is a fortune compared to their previous jobs in their home country.

2. Thousands of Europeans chose to move to the British colonies. Some for economic reasons and some for freedoms. If you decided to immigrate somewhere, would you move for economic reasons or for freedom?

I suppose that would depend on which of these I was most unhappy with. If I was living in a place with high economic levels but low levels of personal freedom, I would move in order to be individually free (like freedom of speech, religion, etc). However, if I were living in a location with high freedoms but low economic conditions, I would move to find a better economy. If I had to choose one or the other, though, I would choose to live with high freedom and low economy. This is because I find it more important in my life to be unrestricted than to have a flourishing economy around me.