Liberty, Knowledge and Independence

Yesterday in class we went over John Adams dissertation on Liberty and Knowledge. Today, we'll start by hearing the conclusions that you made about your characters and their desire (or lack thereof) for independence. After hearing your conclusions, we'll look briefly at the arguments in the Continental Congress for and against independence exemplified by the speeches of John Dickinson of Pennsylvania and John Adams of Massachusetts. Then we'll get into the specific text and language of the Declaration of Independence, using these questions to guide our work: Declaration of Independence Worksheet.