Discuss the following quote with a parent and answer the following question...
What does this quote mean?
Give an example of this concept in U.S. History or an analogy from your own life to illustrate this point.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
U.S. History Question #2
James Madison once wrote, "Since the general civilization of mankind, I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations."
Discuss the following quote with a parent and answer the following question...
What does this quote mean?
Give an example of this concept in U.S. History or an analogy from your own life to illustrate this point.
Discuss the following quote with a parent and answer the following question...
What does this quote mean?
Give an example of this concept in U.S. History or an analogy from your own life to illustrate this point.
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This quote states that most peoples' freedom are taken away form the slowly and silently. But, on some occasions it is taken away violently. When the colonists were taxed that was slowly and silent. Although when the colonists protested Britain turned violent by sending troops to guard the colonist and shoot who stood up.
ReplyDeleteThe quote means that most people loose their freedom when they least expect it. That is the way you loose your freedom in a slow and silent way. Sometimes your freedom is taken away violently or by force. Back when the colonist were taxed that was the way it was taken away silently and slowly. Then when the british came came overseas from britain. The redcoats guarded the colonists and killed whoever disagreed.
ReplyDeleteThe quote means that most people loose their freedom when they least expect it. That is the way you loose your freedom in a slow and silent way. Sometimes your freedom is taken away violently or by force. Back when the colonist were taxed that was the way it was taken away silently and slowly. Then when the british came overseas from britain;the redcoats guarded the colonists and killed whoever disagreed.
ReplyDeleteIt means that it isn't always the most obvious thing that erodes freedom. Sometimes, it is the most subtle things that take away freedoms.
ReplyDeleteI think right now the ways in which the president and congress are playing loose with the rules is eroding freedoms..................
Anna Reeves Dad
I think this quote means that sometimes the things that we don't see can be more dangerous than the things right in front of us.
For this quote a good analogy that comes to mind and that sometimes tempts me is when Satan tempts us with something that looks or seems to be good but what we don't see is that it is actually bad.....................
Anna Reeves McCutcheon
Most people loose there freedom slowly and silently.not very often does someone start to beat people up over there freedom.Like taxes in the british colonies.They were taken away slowly and silently.But then the colonists took maters into thre own hands. they threw the tea into the Boston harber as a sign of rebelion because of taxes.Then they started a war with Britan.They were mad because the king was making these taxes and he wasn't even over there. The King was just sitting in england and had no idea how troublesome things were for the colonist's.
ReplyDeleteWilliam Charles
That people have eroded the contusion over time which has damaged freedoms faster than armed conflict. Like health care. Now health care is optional, but in 5 years it might be if you have 20 or more employees you might have to buy the health care plan by law and so on. In 20 years it might be law that everyone has to buy health care. We will not be able to do anything about it but we could have done something about it when it first started which is right now.
ReplyDeleteConnor Caffrey
This quote means that in history usually peoples' freedoms are taken away slowly and almost imperceptibly. When they realize that their freedoms have been taken away, it comes as a shock to them. An example of this was when the colonists' freedoms were taken away (i.e. Quartering Act, Townshend Act, and The Intolerable Acts). Rarely, peoples' freedoms are taken away by a swift and cruel action. An example of that was the when British killed the colonists who were fighting for their freedom.
ReplyDelete-Logan Pearce
Parent's Response:
This quote means that throughout history the people in power have taken away freedoms slowly rather by a violent action. An example of this is the freedom to bear arms. Now there are restrictions on where you can take them and you need a permit or a license. Another example is how there are restrictions on what you can bring on airplanes (although these examples are both for the safety of the community.)
Freedom can be taken away gradually or violently. The one that happens more often is when people are gradual.
ReplyDeleteAn example of a freedom that has been taken away gradually is the right to privacy. The gov. knows EVERTHING about us. They can track wha we do on the internet, they can look where we shop, and they can where we are going. Basically, they can see everything!
I think that this quote means that ever since the beginning of civilization more people have lost their freedom gradually than all at once.
ReplyDeleteA modern day example of this is the Health Care Bill that Obama set up. The people didn't have an all out war against it like WW2 against the Nazis. The bill was kinda passed without the general public knowing too much. Basically, by passing the bill, the Democrats were taking the freedom of the people away gradually, because this will open the door for new bill like this to be passed and soon the people won't have as much say in life as they used to.
Doing things silently and in a secretly way can end up hurting more than just doing it suddenly.People just sneak around and do stuff and think that we dont notice but we do. So wake up people! we are just to lazy to put any action into it. We need to step up and and defend our rights. Is it fair that Cobb county school lose art and music. We need to step up and say" Stop adding a new carwash or repave the roads every other year and give the kids their art back". An analogy I came up with is halloween candy. Every day you can secretly eat candy or just eat it all in one day. Either way youll gain weight and get in trouble. The Goverment is like that little kid eating candy, we as americans need to stand together and tell him to stop. We all need to just put an end to all unessacary, hurtful matters.
ReplyDeletejt morris
I think the quote means that people lose laws more often slow than quick. The reason is because the slower something is the less people will pay attention to it. A quicker and more violent thing would be more eye catching and people would pay a lot more attention to it. If people pay atention they will find out what the government is trying to do that is wrong quicker, and rebell. In my eyes it is like talking behind another persons back. If you said the mean thing to their face they would get angry. If it was behind thir back they wouldn't know until later.
ReplyDeleteWill Schultz
What James Madison is saying is that more times than not, freedom of the people has been slowly taken away (almost in a sneaky way) by the government... not by a quick decisive law or judgement. Currently, the President is slowly taking away our freedom by passing laws that raise taxes which makes us unable to give away as much charitable money, that force citizens to buy healthcare, and that tamper with our right to buy and bear arms (2nd ammendment).
ReplyDeleteJay Stanga
James Madison is saying that our freedom is being taken by the government. The reason I think it is being slowly taken away is because it's going to take more time to see. If it was fast it would be an eye catcher. The Government has really gone down hill these past years. The health care policy is crazy and just dumb. Plus the taxes have greatly increased and people are losing their jobs and their lifes....like Jt said, we should all come together and put a stop to this mess. The quantity of laws being made is crazy. People need to be brave and stop it.
ReplyDeleteJames Maddison is trying to say that it is easier for the government to stray away from their ideals over time than to suddenly become a dictatorship. one example of the decaying of the government is the fishing licence. use to you only need a pole and fish to go fishing but now you need an expencive licence too. What James Maddison is saying is if in the constitution in the begging they wrote all of the laws there are now there would be no way that it could get passed.
ReplyDeleteCharlie Money
Mikaela's Mom: The general population tends to be so busy with the-day-to-day of family, home and work, that it's easy for seemingly small, innocuous changes to be made in the laws that govern our freedom without people realizing it. It's the gradual changes that, if not monitored and acted upon, eventually have the potential to add up to a major change that effects our rights. It would be too obvious if our rights were stripped away through sweeping legislation, for instance, that would likely cause major controversy or even violence. Madison's quote still remains true; it's a gradual chipping away (of rights) that usually happens without incident.
ReplyDeleteMikaela: I really don't know what this quote means in terms of my own life experiences but, after defining the words and talking about it, I'd say that we trust the people we vote into office to do the right thing and not take advantage of us and to be fair and open with us.
Mikaela McAlpine
I think that this means that there has been more actions of freedom in a non relavent way and that we need to take more action for something as big as human rights. My mother also agreed with me in that in our lives we sometimes are too lazy to take action for something that really requires commitment. We need to rely on god to give us the strenght that we need to be succsesfull.
ReplyDeleteJames Madison was talking about how our sinful world is taking away our God given rights, slowly. The government is slowly taking away rights of our own. Ex: Alot of public schools today can't pray. God did not intended for those laws to happen. But, these laws taken away is man made and anything man made is never perfect. Therefore the laws made today not everyone agrees because it's made by man.... The government takes our our rights slowly in order for when it happens we will not be surprised. Madison's quote will always live on. -Mallory Fields B-)
ReplyDeleteI think in this verse James Madison is saying that the government is taking away their freedom slowly. Its not very noticeable but it is definitely happening. Like the British taxing the colonists that was noticeable but some actions weren't very noticeable. And eventually it would cost the colonists all those laws and freedom being taken away from them would cost them. The government would soon start dictating and making up laws and doing things that the colonists couldn't do anything about
ReplyDeleteI think the quote means that people lose their freedom slowly and silently. Now for instance when the colonies were taxed for sugar,tea,ect., that was silently and slowly and then came the act where soldiers were prohibited to take shelter,sleep and eat in colonist homes. Then the real anger became when colonies were upset by this they started protesting and plotting away to stop this horrible act by the British by exaggerating the massacre,planning riots and angrily trying to fight for freedom.Eventually the Brittish and Colonist were at battle and thats when voilence and sudden usurpations take place in history. Fourtenly we won the battle and our country is free.This is what I think about the quote
ReplyDeleteCoarmiecar :)
That all of the little changes we make as a Government accumulate over time and affect us more significantly than single large changes.
ReplyDeleteEx: School prayer, Health Care Plan which over time get us further and further away from the way that the founding fathers intended us to found our country.
-ELLIE
James Madison is saying that when freedom is taken away from the people it is not taken away immediatly and obviously, but quietly and slowly. The government takes away small parts of privileges away, one at a tikme and nobody would really notice and those privileges build up.
ReplyDeleteOur freedom in this country is slowly but surely slipping away. ge is saying that it always will slip away with every new president and the people of the country think it is wrong. For me, in my life, when I lose prvilages of not having to do chores and commplications of that nature, I get upset with my parents. Even though I get upset, I personnally know that my parents are right and still end up doing it anyway and this is somewhat how our country is.
ReplyDeleteNatalia: I believe that we all have some type of freedom. If we don't use our freedom wisely, it can be taken away gradually of violently. In most cases, freedom is taken away gradually.
ReplyDeleteMy mom: James Madison is correct. Those with power or are in control believe that subtle and gradual changes might go by unoticable in an effort to abridgement of freedom. After all, violence might very well bring violence and cause for attention.
~Natalia P. :D
This quote means that sometimes the government takes away some of our rights slowly. The small amount of rights taken away can build up into a huge amount of rights taken away. This would take longer for people to recognize and act upon. If a powerful leader were to take the same amount of rights away at once, the people would respond quicker. An example of when the peoples’ rights are taken away is during the Revolutionary War. King George the third slowly taxed and took away the colonies rights. That took the colonists longer to realize that the British were taking advantage of them. If the British had taken all the rights away at once, more people would have been against King George at the beginning of the revolution.
ReplyDeleteJakes parent response: Rights and privileges can be taken away very slowly and go unnoticed until it reaches a critical mass. It usually takes that critical mass or a news worthy event to occur for something to change. You can look at the Civil Rights movement as an example of this.
This quote means that freedom slips away little by little instead of all at once. (In most cases)
ReplyDeleteI tend to be a disorganized person, as a result I make lots of messes. Whenever I clean my room, it stays clean for a few days, then little by little, I leave a thing here, or a thing there. Pretty soon my room is a big mess again. Its the same way with freedom. People have it for a while, but slowly, it drips away.
: )
James Madison believes that the public has lost more freedom through small acts of those in power than from any single big event. A good example is how the black people were bossed by the white people and were told exactly what to do.
ReplyDeleteanonymous said...
ReplyDeleteI think James Madison was trying to say was that there were more chances for the people in power to take away the rights of people by secretly doing it rather than going to war or fight over it. For example you can't pray in public schools anymore and there wasn't a war or anything over that.
Felton Smith
since the beginning of mankind our freedoms have been descretly taken away more by the government than the sudden uprising of people or by violence. An example of this would be the government we currently have. I believe they are slowly taking away our rights until we are socialists(wich we almost are) then we will become communist with full government control wich is bad in my opinion i believe we should be closer to consevrative.
ReplyDeleteAlex Herden
Holden: This means that government slowly becomes more strict and takes away freedom. Many times this happens and causes great distress in America. During world war two, some Japanese Americans were put in concentration camps. They lost their houses and their freedom. Even before that though people treated Japanese Americans bad.
ReplyDeleteHolden's parent’s response: There is a slow and silent erosion of private property freedoms today. Historically, government could not take away private property except for public use (and then only after paying reasonable compensation). Recently, several Supreme Court cases have allowed government to take houses from private owners and give it to other private land developers for private sale. Most people are not aware of this meaningful change in the law.
James Madison makes a very good point in this quote. Examples in recent history include allowing for federal wire taps without just cause which happened prior to current administration. Additionally, eminent domain allows for government to take your land at a lower than fair market value for the "good of society" but not the good of your individual rights. A prior example might also include child labor laws which took the freedom of farmers to have their children work on their farms and instead required them to go to school.
ReplyDeleteTheir isn't one administration that hasn't changed or created laws that a particular group might find "unfair" but sometimes, like the child labor laws, the change can help make our country and the world better over time.
This quote means that sometimes people in power will put rules and guidelines in place and imply that it is done for the good of the general body when in actuality they are not. And it is not realized immediately.
ReplyDeleteAn example of this in life is how an establishment of a national patient identifier is being considered. (a number given to each american that is to be used whenever any medical treatment is given.)
Evan Johnson and Parent
This quote means that the government is becoming stricter and taking away freedom slowly. When in some cases they take freedom without the blink of an eye. Also with anyone who tried to protest to this adjustment would be killed.
ReplyDelete