Essay Questions 
(optional - if you ever get done early and need something to do) 
Friday, April 11, 2014
7:00 AM
If you ever finish your work early, here are the essay questions you will write.  You can choose which essays to write.  
TOO YOUNG TO KNOW? Nat learns a fair amount of what he knows by overhearing things.  While some of the things he hears are surprising and a bit upsetting, we get the feeling that Nat can manage the news he overhears without becoming upset.  Write about a time or times in your life when you felt as Nat did, that is, you found out something adults felt you were too young to know about, or that, for some reason, they didn’t want you to know.  What happened?  Were you upset?  Explain.
DEAR NAT.  Imagine you are Nat’s mother or father back in Uxbridge.  You just received Nat’s letter (see the Part 2 vocabulary activity.).  Now write a letter back to Nat telling him the news in Uxbridge and also responding to some of the things he says in his letter.  Use as much of the Day 2 vocabulary as you can, and each time you use a word or term, underline it.  
TAXES.  No one much likes paying taxes, but it’s not just paying taxes the colonists don’t like.  It’s that Parliament, which passes the tax laws for the Empire, is made up of Englishmen, with no one from America to speak for Americans.  Do you think that really matters?  If so, why?  If not, why not? Are Americans just acting like spoiled brats who don’t want to pay their way?  After all, they are protected from other countries by the British Army and the British Navy.  Shouldn’t they chip in for the cost of the protection as they do in England?
TAXES AND TEA.  England has robust trade in tea with India and China.  English traders export tea all over the world, including to the American colonies.  Their tea business is so good, that the price of English tea, even with the tax added to it, is cheaper than tea imported from other parts of Europe.  Also, you have drunk English tea your whole life, and you like it better.  Would you go into Mr. Lillie’s store and buy some?  What obstacles would you face if you decided to do that?  What risks might there be?  Shouldn’t you have the right to buy any tea you like?  (You may choose to write from Nat’s point-of-view.)
IS LIBERTY TEA TEA?  
One recipe for Liberty Tea (Mrs. Edes’s favorite), is as follows:
3 tbs dried raspberry leaves
5 cups boiling water
What makes tea tea?  Is Liberty tea really tea?  On the internet, search on the term “What is tea?”  Read at least three articles about tea.  Then write:  tell what tea is, where it comes from, and whether Liberty Tea is really tea.  Is herbal tea really tea?  Explain.  Did you learn anything about tea that was surprising or particularly interesting? When you finish, have a cup of tea!
A CHILD DIES. Think about what you already know about the death of Christopher Seider.  Now imagine this similar, contemporary situation: a group of adults go to protest a dealership that sells imported cars in your neighborhood.  The protesters feel that when imports are made available, fewer American cars will be sold, and so fewer American workers will have jobs.  A group of boys you know from school passes by.  It looks like fun, so they join the protest.  An angry man appears on the scene and yells at everyone to go home.  The protesters hoot and boo and ignore him, but some of the boys laugh and throw rocks at the man.  His wife, who is with him, gets hit.  This angers him.  He goes into a building.  The boys throw rocks at the windows and break them.  Suddenly, the man appears at one of the windows, points a shotgun at the crowd and fires.  One of your schoolmates is shot, and he later dies.
Think about this for a few minutes: Whose fault is it?  The owner of the dealership?  The protesters?  The group of boys?  The angry man?  The man’s wife? The boy who got shot?  Explain your reasoning.  If you feel more than one person is at fault, explain your thinking about that.
Do you feel that a crime has been committed, or that this was just a terrible accident?  Explain why.
If the person who died had been an adult, would this seem as sad?  If it was a girl?  If it was a man in his nineties?   Explain your reasoning.
BROADSIDE. In the 18th Century, people created broadsides, like the one that Nat posted on the Liberty Tree, to communicate important information to community members. Think of a message that you would like to share with others in your school and create a one-sided poster with that information on it (similar to a “Wanted” poster or a poster about a missing pet). Include a heading at the top of the poster and a small drawing to show what the poster is about.
DESTROYING A MESSAGE. If you see a message posted in public and you don’t like it, is it okay to destroy it? Would your answer change depending on the content of the message? What would you do in the following situations? (Explain your reasoning.)
You see a sign saying that a sports team that you really don’t like is the best team ever.
You see a message or symbol (such as a swastika or a racial or ethnic slur) that is offensive to you or others.
You see a poster for a political candidate whose views you oppose. 
You see a sign posted in a public space that has mean things written specifically about you.
SPREADING THE WORD. In Nat’s time, people shared ideas and political views through discussion, as well as through written messages that were hand-delivered or displayed in public places. Think about how people share ideas and political views today. What are some similarities and differences between the ways that we share information today and the ways that information was shared in Nat’s time?
A POEM TO REMEMBER. Phyllis writes a poem about a march and funeral. Think about something that has happened recently in your home, school or community. Write a poem to help others better understand what happened. 
DELIVERING A MESSAGE. Nat is asked to deliver a message to Paul Revere, but is stopped by a redcoat who wants the message. What would you do if someone wanted to take a message away from you? What would you do in the following situations?:
Your mom has given you a note asking your teacher for permission for you to miss school tomorrow so that you can go to an amusement park to celebrate your birthday. Another student stops you and asks you to give her your note. What do you do? Explain why.
A student passes you a note and the teacher comes over and asks for you to give him the note. What do you do? Explain your reasoning
You have written a love letter to another student. On the way to give the note to the student, a bully stops you in the hall and asks for the note. What do you do? Explain why.
DEAR NAT. Imagine you are Nat’s brother, Samuel, back in Uxbridge. Your parents just received Nat’s letter (see the Day 3 vocabulary activity), and shared it with you. Now write a letter back to Nat telling him the news in Uxbridge, and also responding to some of the things he says in his letter. Use as much of the Day 3 vocabulary as you can and each time you use a word or term, underline it.
PAMPHLET. In Nat’s time, people created pamphlets with political, philosophical or religious arguments and essays about current events. Conduct research to see what different pamphlets look like (today and in the past) and see what type of information they contain. Think about a current or recent issue and create a pamphlet containing photographs, drawings, original poems, song lyrics, essays and/or other writings about that issue.
POLITICS. In the game, Nat encounters Phillis and others with strong political views. Identify one issue that people are passionate about today. Conduct research to find out different views that people have about this issue. Write an essay presenting the different sides of the issue and the reasons behind those views. 
HUMAN RIGHTS 
About sixty years ago, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  You might know that the ideas about freedom in our Declaration of Independence were not new, but rather they were adapted from other thinkers and from other documents.  You probably also know that just because the Declaration was written and signed, it didn’t automatically mean that everyone enjoyed the rights to which Thomas Jefferson referred.  Likewise, most of the ideas in this document are centuries old.  Still, not everyone in the world enjoys them.  
Here are some of the main ideas from the Universal Declaration.  
Everyone is entitled to rights and freedoms, regardless of who they are or what their circumstances are.
Everyone has the right to live, to have liberty, and to feel safe and secure.
The authority, or power, the government has comes from the people it serves.  Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his/her country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.  The government is elected by the people. 
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
No one shall be arrested, detained or exiled unless there is reason to believe they have done something wrong. Everyone is entitled to a fair trial.
Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his/her own, and to return to his/her country.
Everyone has the right to privacy, and that privacy should not be invaded unless there is a good reason to do so.
People have the right to marry and have a family.  People may marry whomever they want to marry, provided both consent to it.
Everyone has the right to own property.  No one’s property can be taken away without good reason.
Everyone has the right to think what he/she wants to, and to believe what he/she wants to.  A person can practice any religion he/she wants to.  
Based on your own ideas, what you’ve learned this year so far, and the reading attached here, what are rights?  What is freedom? 
What do rights have to do with freedom?
Where do rights come from?  From God?  From nature?  From governments?  From laws? Why do you think that?  
How does your idea of freedom and rights fit with the idea of having to follow rules, as we do in games, at school, at home, with respect to laws, etc.  (Examples: Are you free if you have to wait your turn on the movie line instead of cutting right to the front?  If you have to pay for things in a store?  If you have to come to school on time?  If you are free, why can’t you hit someone on the head with a stick?)
Do you feel like you have rights?  Do you feel free?  Why or why not?
Look at the list of rights.  If you could only have three, which would you choose?  In what order?  Now add more, one by one, in order of importance.  What reasons can you give for your choices?  As an alternative, begin with all the rights.  Then decide which one you would give up if you had to give up three.  What would go next? 
A right that may sound natural to you is, “All people have the right to think and say what they want.”  Another is, “All people have the right to live.”  Here is one that isn’t on the list: “All people have the right to a BMW.”   How do we decide what is a right and what isn’t?
Read through the list of rights on the other page again.  Which rights did the Patriots seem to already have?  Which did they feel they did not have?
The UN Declaration is clear that no one can be held in slavery.  Answer this:  Do your parents own you?  Explain why you believe you or why not? 
You know that enslaved Africans in the colonies had no rights, no freedom.  In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote that freedom (he called it “liberty”) was an “inalienable right” (one that was given to people by God and can’t be taken away).  Yet he himself owned slaves as did many of the other signers.  How can you explain this?  Assume he wasn’t insane and that he did understand what he was doing.
Nat is an indentured servant who has few rights.  He is lucky because Mr. Edes, while a stern master, isn’t a cruel one.  Still, until his indenture is up, he has little freedom of movement and in general, he must do what Mr. Edes tells him to.  Solomon is a freedman, and he can go where he wants and do what he wants, but because many black people in the North are enslaved, Solomon must carry identification papers to demonstrate to the authorities that he is free.  And there is always a chance someone will kidnap him and sell him back into slavery.  Phillis is enslaved, but her masters, Mr. and Mrs. Wheatley, have educated her, they treat her well, and she has time to worship, to write poetry and even to travel.
Of these three people, who is the most free?  Who is the least?  Why do you think so?
If you had to be one of these three people, who would you choose to be?  Why?
If you had been an enslaved African in early 1770s Boston, and you became aware that people were talking about liberty and freedom, what might you have said or done?