Labor Day threw us off a bit. MW classes only met once so this week is devoted to catching up in the classroom - though I fully expect that you're up to date on your own reading.
The point behind last week was to become familiar with the layout of the two principle documents in the founding of the US - the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. This included an appreciation of the history that lead up to each.
I've always thought that its tough to understand the merit of the argument - the novelty of it even - in the Declaration without understanding the historical shifts contained within it. The first being that power is properly based on the consent of the governed, not the will of the divinely placed monarch. The second that the consolidation of power is the definition of tyranny. Together these two points were meant to justify something that normally is difficult. The overthrow of one governing system for another.
This is always worth considering when people get frustrated with a governing system and start calling for "revolution." Do current circumstances rise to the level here overthrow is warranted, or are those really "light and transient causes" which Jefferson rejected.
Last fall I had 2305 students address a written assignment on that subject. There were some very upset people after Obama got re-elected last year who wanted to secede. I asked students to compare their rationale with those of the North American colonists. I'll try to dig up some of the answers, but I thought it was a good exercise - probably still is.
I'm not sure how well I was able to describe the political conflict that emerged over what type of constitutional system should govern the nation - and what the very nature of the "nation" was. A confederacy? A unitary system" A hybrid? Remember that constitutions embody the politics of a given era. When we start discussing politics more carefully, we'll discuss how politics today is a reflection of the politics of that era.
As you know, once we look at the overview of the Constitution, we will dig into various aspects of it. That's where we will be heading soon.
