VIDEO: Watch SIA 101.5: Declaration of Independence – Part V (Video time: 46 minutes)

REQUIRED READING: Lincoln’s speech in Springfield, Illinois, June 26, 1857, pages 405 — 410.

TERMS, PEOPLE, & PLACES TO IDENTIFY
Where there is a time mark, the answer is provided at the time indicated in the relevant podcast or video. Where there is no time mark indicated, the student should look up in a book or perform an Internet search for the term, person, or place.

  1. Slavish
  2. Metaphysical
  3. Morality
  4. Instinct
  5. Appetite
  6. Choice
  7. Reason
  8. Magnanimous
  9. Endowed
  10. Endowment
  11. Prosperity
  12. Felicity
  13. Indissoluble
  14. Maxim
  15. Theorist
  16. Synonymous
  17. Unalienable
  18. Review Aristotle – Lesson Plan SIA 101.1
  19. Review Prime Mover – Lesson Plan SIA 101.3
  20. Review John Locke – Lesson Plan SIA 101.1
  21. Review Algernon Sidney – Lesson Plan SIA 101.1
  22. George Washington (What was his role in the American Revolution?)

STUDY QUESTIONS

  1. All men are created equal. An exercise of our imaginations with a thought exercise. (00:40 – 12:40)
  2. What makes a dog act like a dog? (1:50 – 2:50)
  3. Can an animal free themselves from their instincts? (2:50 – 3:35)
  4. What would a truly free being be like? (4:00 – 4:48)
  5. Human beings share characteristics of both beasts and God. Can we know this about ourselves? Can you think of some examples? (6:15 – 10:00)
  6. Can human beings make choices to override their instincts and appetites? (10:00 – 10:15)
  7. Because of this, human beings are the only ______________ beings. (10:10)
  8. What is the foundation of human morality? (10:10 – 10:50)
  9. All human beings experience both instinct and appetite as well as freedom of mind, choice, and reason. True or False? (10:50 – 11:55)
  10. In the sense that all human beings experience both instinct and appetite as well as freedom of mind, choice, and reason, we are all created equal? True or False? (10:50 – 11:55)
  11. Aristotle called what kind of nature a compound nature? (11:55 – 12:19)
  12. What idea is the foundation of self-government? (10:50 – 12:40)
  13. The idea that each of us can govern our self is based on what model? (12:40 – 12:55)
  14. In order to govern yourself, you must use what? (12:55 – 13:50)
  15. What is the second self-evident truth? (13:50 – 15:20)
  16. The second self-evident truth described in the Declaration of Independence comes from where? (15:20 – 18:40)
  17. From the Declaration of Independence, how should these rights be used? (18:40 – 18:50)
  18. What is the purpose or goal of the endowed rights described in the Declaration of Independence? (18:50 – 19:35)
  19. Where was George Washington when the Declaration of Independence was approved by vote? (19:37)
  20. What did George Washington do with the text of the Declaration of Independence? (20:00)
  21. George Washington equated happiness to what classical idea? (20:44)
  22. In the Declaration of Independence what are the three big rights endowed by the Creator? (21:05 – 21:40)
  23. Based on the model of natural human rights, do your rights come from government? (21:40 – 22:08)
  24. Based on the model of natural human rights, do your rights come from laws? (21:40 – 22:08)
  25. Based on the model of natural human rights, do your rights come from a program or policy? (21:40 – 22:08)
  26. Based on the model of natural human rights, do your rights come from regulations? (21:40 – 22:08)
  27. Based on the model of natural human rights, do your rights come from subsidies? (21:40 – 22:08)
  28. Why is it key for a person to know where their rights come from? (22:08 – 22:41)
  29. Where do your rights come from? (22:40)
  30. Is the list of rights in the Declaration of Independence exhaustive? (22:40 – 23:19)
  31. What is a right? (23:40)
  32. What does it mean to have a right to life? (24:07)
  33. Why would a human being have a rightful claim to their life? (24:30 – 25:30)
  34. What is a synonym for freedom/liberty? (26:30 – 27:18)
  35. What is the source of a human beings freedom/liberty? (26:30 – 27:18)
  36. A natural right to your life as a human being is inseparable from what? Why? (27:14 – 28:15)
  37. It can be difficult for people today to understand that they do not have a right to make choices for other people? Why? (28:15 – 29:02)
  38. What does a human being do with his liberty? (29:06 – 30:00)
  39. What kind of choices do human beings make? (29:06 – 30:00)
  40. What is the goal of the choices of human beings? (29:06 – 30:00)
  41. All human choices aim at what purpose or goal? (30:05 – 31:50)
  42. What about bad choices? (31:50 – 34:17)
  43. What are some of the qualities of a human nature? (34:18 – 36:11)
  44. How does a person’s right to their property fit in with the three big rights listed in the Declaration of Independence? (36:11)
  45. Why was the pursuit of happiness used instead of property? (37:19)
  46. Life, Liberty, pursuit of Happiness, Property – Each of these natural rights is included in the other. True or False? (37:19 – 38:50)
  47. The Declaration of Independence used a strange word – unalienable – when describing our endowed rights. What does unalienable rights mean? (38:50 – 40:04)
  48. The question of legalized slavery at the time of the founding and the idea of unalienable rights seem to create a conflict. At the time of the founding, did slaves have the unalienable rights described in the Declaration of Independence? (40:04 – 43:13)
  49. The natural rights to Life, Liberty, and pursuit of Happiness that all human beings possess make the legalized institution of slavery wrong. True or False? (43:05 – 45:30)
  50. The unalienable natural rights in the Declaration of Independence give human beings a moral basis for knowing right and wrong? True or False? (43:05 – 45:30)
  51. Unalienable natural rights cannot be taken away, or repealed, they can only be violated? True or False? (43:05 – 45:30)