Civics 101: The National Self Governing Will In-Home Training
Course 1: Introduction to American Civics
The National Self Governing Will 1: Introduction to American Civics
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Table of Contents
I. Introduction to American Civics..............................................................................3
History of the United States of America.....................................................4
Join or Die....................................................................................................4
More on Franklin’s Albany Plan.................................................................7
II. The American Revolution......................................................................................10
The Stamp Act...........................................................................................12
The Tea Act................................................................................................14
Continental Congress.................................................................................14
The Second Continental Congress............................................................16
III. Independence........................................................................................................17 IV. The Declaration of Independence.........................................................................21
Recap on the Declaration...........................................................................27
V. The Constitution.....................................................................................................28
Article I......................................................................................................30
Article II.....................................................................................................35
Article III...................................................................................................37
Article IV....................................................................................................38
Article V.....................................................................................................38
Article VI....................................................................................................39
Article VII..................................................................................................39
VI. The Bill of Rights..................................................................................................41
The Preamble to The Bill of Rights...........................................................42 VII. The End of the Revolution..................................................................................51 VIII. Timeline of Events..............................................................................................52
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I. Introduction to American Civics
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
- George Santayana
"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." - The Declaration of Independence
The path to the current state of America is a long one. It is a path that has developed out of the dreams and inspirations of men and women defined by the ambition and imagination of freedom, and the liberty to develop a personal destiny. It is a path from the state of a colony, developed into a beacon of hope in the free world, and of democracy to the rest. To fully understand how the path of history has led us to the current state of America, we must first travel back to the very roots of it. Certainly we could tie back the development of America earlier to Spanish exploration, to development of trade routes, to early conquest of the globe. We could go back further to Norse in the 8
th
century, who predated Columbus by several hundred years. These were all developments that led up to the most tumultuous and incubative period in American history: The American Revolution. One cannot truly understand the gift of independence without first appreciating the details and struggle of the American Revolution. The revolution was a desperate time. The colonists at the time understood that nothing less than success would suffice. Indeed, anything less than success would mean extinction of the very American principles. This principle at its core is very simple and at the same time very sublime.
The core American principle is self governing will.
This initial course of the American Civics subject of In-Home Training will develop from one of the key moments of the American Revolution - the path to American Self Governing Will. In this course, you will learn more about the key motivators or protagonists of the Revolution. This course is framed on the American Will in terms of governance by the will of the people as a collective of the dominant shared perception united in a colony of like minded people. In other terms, the defining American will of self governance in the nation is a reflection on the individual. Young patriots of the early American Revolution understood this. They saw the need for people to be able to “make their way” in the world by defining their own path, rather than being told the path by parliament. The second course will dive into the current government system, and how we continue with an American Self Governing Will today. In the third course, we will bring the tie of American Self Governing Will to the case of business and job security. Finally in the fourth course, we will provide an introduction and launch pad into action - what steps can you take as an American patriot to protect your liberties and securities.
