Week 4: 10/05/17

Unalienable/inalienable rights are those rights given to us by "Nature's God." They cannot be altered or taken away except by Him who gave them to us in the first place...but definitely not by government! The founders listed these rights in the Declaration of Independence as "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness," but there are several more listed in the Bill of Rights--a document written almost 2 decades later. A simple way to think about these rights would be to imagine a person crawling into a bear's den to pet the bear cubs. The mother bear would certainly tear that person to pieces, and no one would call for that mother bear to be harmed or punished because she has the natural "right" to defend her cubs. Now apply that same logic to a person's home, or life, or freedom.

ASSIGNMENTS THIS WEEK:

• Opinion Paper: What are your God-given rights?

• Reading: The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere by Longfellow. Make sure to highlight vocabulary words as you read, and make definition notes in the margins of the poem. Also, be reading John Adams: Reluctant Patriot of the Revolution which we will discuss on October 26th. 

• Presentations: Thanks to Athen for presenting on the Boston Massacre. I'm sorry I missed it, but I'm sure it was informative! This week, Elsa will enlighten our minds with her research on the Boston Tea Party.

• Devotional: Corban will share a scripture message this week.

Lastly, how's that Declaration of independence memorization coming along? If you work on it a little every day, you'll have it memorized by January, and you'll be able to earn your red, white and blue ribbon (not to mention, the lifelong knowledge you will have gained!).

-Mrs. Hellyer