Celebrate America Freedom Week
By: Elliott Lester and Corey Mitchell
Declaration of Independence
CelebrateFreedom Week must include at least 3 hours of appropriateinstruction in each social studies class, as determined by the school district,which shall include an in-depth study of the intent, meaning, and importance ofthe Declaration of Independence.Declaration of Independence.During the last full week of September, at the beginning of each school day or inhomeroom, public school principals and teachers shall conduct an oral recitationby students of the following words of the Declaration of Independence:During the last full week of September, at the beginning of each school day or inhomeroom, public school principals and teachers shall conduct an oral recitationby students of the following words of the Declaration of Independence:“We hold these truths to be self evident. That all men are created equal,that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights,that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That tosecure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving theirjust powers from the consent of the governed.”Student recitation of this statement shall serve to reaffirm the American ideals ofindividual liberty.individual liberty.Upon written request by a student’s parent, the student must be excused fromthe recitation of the Declaration of Independence.Upon written request by a student’s parent, the student must be excused fromthe recitation of the Declaration of Independence.
US Constititution(Bill of Rights)
1. Freedom of Speech, Press, Religion and Petition. 2. Right to keep and bear arms. 3. Conditions for quarters of soldiers. 4. Right of search and seizure regulated. 5. Provisons concerning prosecution. 6. Right to a speedy trial, witnesses, etc. 7. Right to a trial by jury. 8. Excessive bail, cruel punishment. 9. Rule of construction of Constitution. 10. Rights of the States under Constitution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America. They first rejected the authority of the Parliament of Great Britain to govern them from overseas without representation, and then expelled all royal officials. By 1774, each colony had established a Provincial Congress, or an equivalent governmental institution, to govern itself, but still within the empire. The British responded by sending combat troops to re-impose direct rule. Through the Second Continental Congress, the Americans managed the armed conflict against the British known as the American Revolutionary War
Emancipation Proclamation
President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war. The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." Despite this expansive wording, the Emancipation Proclamation was limited in many ways. It applied only to states that had seceded from the Union, leaving slavery untouched in the loyal border states. It also expressly exempted parts of the Confederacy that had already come under Northern control. Most important, the freedom it promised depended upon Union military victory. Although the Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery in the nation, it captured the hearts and imagination of millions of Americans and fundamentally transformed the character of the war. After January 1, 1863, every advance of federal troops expanded the domain of freedom. Moreover, the Proclamation announced the acceptance of black men into the Union Army and Navy, enabling the liberated to become liberators. By the end of the war, almost 200,000 black soldiers and sailors had fought for the Union and freedom.From the first days of the Civil War, slaves had acted to secure their own liberty. The Emancipation Proclamation confirmed their insistence that the war for the Union must become a war for freedom. It added moral force to the Union cause and strengthened the Union both militarily and politically. As a milestone along the road to slavery's final destruction, the Emancipation Proclamation has assumed a place among the great documents of human freedom.The original of the Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863, is in the National Archives in Washington, DC. With the text covering five pages the document was originally tied with narrow red and blue ribbons, which were attached to the signature page by a wafered impression of the seal of the United States. Most of the ribbon remains; parts of the seal are still decipherable, but other parts have worn off.The document was bound with other proclamations in a large volume preserved for many years by the Department of State. When it was prepared for binding, it was reinforced with strips along the center folds and then mounted on a still larger sheet of heavy paper. Written in red ink on the upper right-hand corner of this large sheet is the number of the Proclamation, 95, given to it by the Department of State long after it was signed. With other records, the volume containing the Emancipation Proclamation was transferred in 1936 from the Department of State to the National Archives of the United States.