Blog Work 2

I never read the Declaration of Independence in my elementary classes, therefore I went into reading the Declaration of Independence with an open mind. I knew that the main purpose of the document was to stand up to King George III exclaiming that the colonists no longer want to be under British control, instead they want to be considered as “Free and Independent States”. What I did not know is that this document was edited many MANY times before the final draft came. Also, I found it surprising that the Declaration of Independence is basically a document thats calls out on King George III a tyrant for the list of reasons that are mentioned such as imposing taxes, no protection if there were to be an invasion, cutting off trade from all other countries. The other readings seem to be important to America’s history because they lay down the foundations of this country. They mention what the colonists had planned for this country such as having a government that will be controlled by the governed and officials not having a greater power over the people. This is still true today since U.S. citizens can talk to their representatives to impeach leaders if they seem to not be doing what the people expected for them to do to make life enjoyable and safe.

My favorite reading so far in American Reader would have to be The Slave Appeal by John Dickenson. Before the actual text, it was mentioned that 9-12 million of Africans were forced to leave their families under brutal conditions to go to the Americas. I learned about the Slave Trade in my U.S. History course in high school, but that number just seems significant. I also found it interesting that it was mentioned that even during the colonial era, not every colony or settler approved of slavery. Some white colonists actually cared for these African Americans being forced into physical labor. Dickenson did a great job explaining how they were deprived of anything positive. The thoughts of marriage or having children was not common for them. Even if they did have kids, they were usually taken away from them and sold off to be slaves elsewhere.