Documents of the American Revolution:
For this web assignment, I want students to analyze the great documents
of the age: Thomas Paine's Common Sense, Thomas Jefferson's Declaration
of Independence, The Constitution,
penned in large part by James Madison, and the Bill of Rights.
(Did you know that a mere 2% of Texans
polled recently knew that freedom of religion is guaranteed them by
the first amendment of the Bill of
Rights? The surest way to lose your rights is to be ignorant
of the fact that you have them!)
Complete 1-3 for Full Credit:
(1) Go to Thomas Paine's truly radical work
Common
Sense. In your typed essay, answer the
following questions: 1. What was his opinion of the King?
Why? Where, according to Paine, does real authority
lie? What kind of government should Americans set up? How
was it to be chosen. What powers would it
have? What powers, explicitly, would it not have? What
rights would the people have under this system
of government? Were all people supposed to enjoy
these rights equally, or were they designated to certain groups?
(2) 
What rights are guaranteed by the first ten amendments? Whose
rights are specifically addressed the most? Which of these amendments
cause the most controversy? Why?
