Great American Communicators: Patrick Henry

Great American Communicators: Patrick Henry

Patrick Henry was home schooled by his father and his uncle. He had ten brothers and sisters. He didn’t do well at farming or storekeeping, so he taught himself law. He became famous for a case known as “The Parson’s Cause” and went on to establish himself as a prominent lawyer in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Patrick married twice. His first wife, Sarah, went insane after childbirth and had to be confined to her home for several years until she died. Between both wives, he had 15 children, but not all of them survived childhood.

A powerful orator, Patrick Henry was always a staunch supporter of liberty and patriotism. His “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech in March 1775 is credited with starting the American Revolution in Virginia.

He held the following public offices:  

• Delegate, Virginia House of Burgesses, 1765-1775
• Member, Virginia Committee of Correspondence, 1773
• Delegate, Continental Congress, 1774-1775
• Delegate, Virginia Convention, 1776
• Governor of Virginia, 1776-1779, 1784-1786
• Delegate, Virginia Constitution Ratification Convention, 1788

You can hear a historian recite Patrick Henry’s speech at this web site:
http://www.history.org/Almanack/people/bios/biohen.cfm#speech

 

Activities  

1. Carefully read the speech below. .
2. Choose at least five of the underlined words to look up and define.
3. Write one reason why Patrick Henry thinks the Americans should rise up and fight now rather than waiting.
4. Find an instance where he uses sarcasm to make a point and put a * by it.
5. Write a summary of the main points of this speech.
6. Recite the speech with passion.

"Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death"

A speech delivered by Patrick Henry on March 23, 1775

 

No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the House. But different men often see the same subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen if, entertaining as I do opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve. This is no time for ceremony. The questing before the House is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings.

  Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it. I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the House. Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received? Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation; the last arguments to which kings resort. I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us: they can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging. And what have we to oppose to them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years.

 

Have we anything new to offer upon the subject? Nothing. We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication? What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves. Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament. Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne! In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free--if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending--if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained--we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left us!

  They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength but irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable--and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.

  It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace--but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

Great American Communicators: Sequoyah

Great American Communicators
Sequoyah: Inventor of the Cherokee Syllabary

Sequoyah, born in the 1770’s, was a Cherokee Indian. His mother was full blood Indian, and his father was probably at least half-white. His English name is Geroge Gist or Guess. Sequoyah became an excellent blacksmith and silversmith and operated a trading business. He also had a drinking problem, but he gave up alcohol when he saw how it was ruining his life.

Sequoyah wanted the Indian people to have a way to read “talking leaves” like the English speaking people did. He never spoke English, and he never understood how the English alphabet worked, although he had seen some books. Facing much opposition and taking 12 years away from his business, he invented the Cherokee syllabary. This is like an alphabet, but there is a character for each syllable, not for each individual phonetic sound. He had originally tried to do a character for each word, like in Chinese. Sequoyah used 85 characters in his syllabary.

In order to prove that his syllabary worked, he taught his daughter, Ah-yo-kah how to read. Word spread quickly of Sequoyah's invention. In 1821, the Cherokee Nation adopted Sequoyah's alphabet as their own. Within months thousands of Cherokee became literate. Thousands of Cherokee began to use Sequoyah's invention on a daily basis and the syllabary gave the nation the ability to create the first American Indian newspaper, The Cherokee Phoenix.

By 1825, the Bible and numerous religious hymns and pamphlets, educational materials and legal documents and books of every description were translated into the Cherokee language.

Read more about Sequoyah here: Sequoyah Birthplace Museum

"Sequoyah"
by David J. Brown (a Cherokee)


Thou Cadmus of thy race!
Thou giant of thy age!
In every heart a place,
In history a living page;
The juggernaut chariot time,
May crush as she doth give;
But a noble name like thine,
Shall ever with Kee-too-whah live.


Orion-like thou dost stand,
In any age and clime,
With intellect as grand,
As ever shown by time,
'Twas thy hand lit the spark
That heavenward flashed its ray
Revealing the shining mark
The straight and narrow way.


Ignorance and superstitious awe
From high pedestals toppled o'er
When as the ancient giver of law,
Smiting, thou mad'st the waters pour;
Stand thou didst on Pisgah's height,
And gazed into the future deep.
But day was ne'er unclasped from night
E'er thy spirit silently fell asleep.

Great American Communicators: Benjamin Franklin

This is another handout from my series on Great American Communicators that I taught to my students in the middle school English class in a large home school co-op.

Benjamin Franklin’s Contributions to Communications

• Benjamin Franklin was born in 1706, the 15th of the 20 Franklin children! There must have been a whole lot of communicating going on in his house when he was a kid!
• He stopped going to school when he was 10 (his parents couldn’t afford it) but he LOVED to read!
• He apprenticed as a printer -- but he hated working for his brother James and so he ran away.
• His pseudonym (false name) for writing letters to his brother’s paper was “Mrs. Silence Dogood”!
• At age 24 he started the Pennsylvania Gazette newspaper.
• He created the Poor Richard’s Almanack from 1732 to 1757. It was a yearly book with a calendar, list of events, advice, witty sayings, weather predictions, etc.
• He founded the first public library in Philadelphia.
• He established the postal system.
• He founded a college.
• He was elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1751.
• He was sent to England several times to protest their treatment of the American colonies.
• He went as the ambassador to France to persuade them to support the colonies in the Revolutionary War.
• As a delegate to the Second Continental Congress, he helped write the Declaration of Independence.
• He was the only man to sign the Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Paris AND the Constitution.
• He wrote essays against slavery.
• He tried to invent an easier alphabet, but it never caught on.
• He wrote an autobiography, The Life of Benjamin Franklin.
• I’m not even listing his scientific inventions – just the things that are about communications!

Can you unscramble these words and phrases that appear on this page? riptren, dusymepon, zegatet, clamkaan, clubip rilybar, lopast ystesm, bodarasams, easyss, tunconsittio, goubarthopyai, habalpet

Here are some of Benjamin Franklin's proverbs:  

• An empty bag cannot stand upright.
• Be always ashamed to catch thyself idle.
• The doors of wisdom are never shut.
• Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.
• God helps them that help themselves.
• Hunger never saw bad bread.
• If you'd have a servant that you like, serve your self.
• Keep thy shop and thy shop will keep thee.
• A lie stands on one leg, the truth on two.
• A man without a wife is but half a man.
• Nothing but money is sweeter than honey.
• One today is worth two tomorrows.
• Pay what you owe and you'll know what's your own.
• A quarrelsome man has no good neighbors.
• The rotten apple spoils his companion.
• Speak little, do much.
• Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.
• Up, sluggard, and waste not life; in the grave will be sleeping enough.
• Visits should be short, like a winter's day.
• Well done is better than well said.
• A good example is the best sermon.
• You may delay, but time will not.
• There are lazy minds as well as lazy bodies.
• Let thy child's first Lesson be obedience, and the second will be what thou wilt.
• Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time; for that's the stuff life is made of.
• A good conscience is a continual Christmas.
• God heals, and the doctor takes the fee.

What do these proverbs mean? Can you write some of them in your own words?

Put a star by the ones that talk about working hard and not being lazy.

P.S. Benjamin Franklin spent many years in Philadelphia, including a lot of time working in the building that is now known Independence Hall.  We visited historic Philadelphia this summer; you can see our pictures of the sites here: Historic Philadelphia.

Great American Communicators: Thomas Jefferson

In the middle school English class which I taught for a large home school co-op, I used to do a series on Great American Communicators the years we studied American literature.  I featured about a dozen men and women who had made significant contributions to American communications either by what they spoke or wrote themselves, or what they did to improve communication for others.  Some of them included John Winthrop (Puritan pastor), Jonathan Edwards (preacher in the Great Awakening), Benjamin Franklin (statesman, newspaperman, inventor, library and college founder, etc.), Noah Webster (creator of the American dictionary and spelling books), Alexander Graham Bell (inventor of the telephone and teacher of the deaf), Sequoyah (inventor of the Cherokee syllabary for written language), and Phillis Wheatley (slave poet).  Here is what I gave my students in their handouts for Thomas Jefferson.

Great American Communicators: Thomas Jefferson

President John F. Kennedy welcomed forty-nine Nobel Prize winners of the Western Hemisphere to the White House in 1962, saying, "I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."

Thomas Jefferson was a VERY talented man. He was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence, second Governor of Virginia, second U.S. Vice President, third U.S. president, lawyer, inventor, architect, agriculturalist, archaeologist, and the founder of the University of Virginia. He also must have been quite a reader. After the Library of Congress was burned during the War of 1812, Thomas Jefferson sold Congress 6,487 books from his collection to start a new one.


However, for all of his intellectual gifts, Thomas Jefferson was not an evangelical Christian. He was probably a deist. He made up his own condensed version of the Gospels which left in the moral teachings of Jesus, but none of the miracles. So from an eternal perspective, he was not a wise man. 1 Corinthians 1:18-20 & 25 says:


"For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? . . . . For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men."


Oddly enough, Jefferson is said to have been a poor public speaker and gave only two public speeches as president. He even refused to give his State of the Union speeches in person, and instead sent them to Congress in writing. His other communication skills more than compensated for this lack. You don’t have to be good at everything to be good at something.


Thomas Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. John Adams, who had been the 2nd president, died the same day.

Jefferson’s epitaph said:

HERE WAS BURIED THOMAS JEFFERSON

AUTHOR OF THE DECLARATION OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE

OF THE STATUTE OF VIRGINIA FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

AND FATHER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA

He didn’t even mention that he had been President of the United States!

At the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., these words of Thomas Jefferson are inscribed: “I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”

Jefferson is also one of the four presidents (along with George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt) carved into Mount Rushmore. His portrait appears on the nickel and the rare $2 bill.

Can you find it on these pages?

□ Find the ellipsis in the Bible passage. Why is it there? (It is a kind of punctuation.)
□ Find an example of humor in the form of a compliment.
□ Who died the same day as Thomas Jefferson?

Think About It!


Thomas Jefferson worked with other men to write the Declaration of Independence. They each contributed their ideas, but he was the one to put it all together. What kind of skills does it take to get a group to agree on what to say?

Can you imagine being the person responsible for writing a document like this that would change world history? Thomas Jefferson’s words didn’t just affect the people right around him in his own time period. They affect us every day, because we live in this country, and they affect people all around the world because so many governments are based on ours.

You may not write anything as earth shattering as the Declaration of Independence, but your words – both written and spoken – do have an effect on people around you. Do you know what a ripple effect is? That’s when you have an effect on someone else, and then they in turn have an effect on someone else, and so on. So, if you take the time to encourage someone, they might treat someone else kinder, and then that person may pass the favor on to the next person, etc. But if you are nasty to someone, they might be nasty to everyone else around them, and so on.


My challenge to you is to stay faithful to Christ in all that you do, so that you won’t just be known for being smart or talented, but you will have an impact on others for eternity.


Read It Aloud!Preamble to The Declaration of Independence


I have included part of the Declaration of Independence below. Of course, they didn’t have TV or the Internet back then, so it was sent out by courier to all the colonies. Imagine, like nine year old Andrew Jackson (who later became president) that you have been chosen to read it to the townspeople. Recite it out loud as clearly as you can and think about what it says. See if you can memorize several lines of it.

In Congress, July 4, 1776


The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America


When, in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.


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. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers form the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. --Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

(There is much more! This is just the start of it!)

P.S. Our family visited Jefferson's beautiful estate, Monticello, on our summer vacation.  You can see pictures here: Monticello.

Blessings,
Virginia Knowles
http://www.continuewellhomeschool.blogspot.com/

"I Have a Dream" Video, Text, Study Questions and Writing Assignment

Dear friends,

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, my home school co-op English class is listening to his "I Have a Dream" speech and answering study questions on it.  I thought you might like to join us.  I have split the speech text into three sections to make it more manageable.   You will find a persuasive paragraph writing assignment at the end of this post.

For peace and justice,

Virginia Knowles

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
"I Have a Dream" Speech

August 28, 1963

(Section 1)


I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.


But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.


In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."


But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.


We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.


It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.


(Section 2)


But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.


The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.


We cannot walk alone.


And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.


We cannot turn back.


There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. *We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by a sign stating: "For Whites Only."* We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."


I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Caontinue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.


Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.


And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.


I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."


I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.


I have a dream that one day even the Istate of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.


I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.


I have a dream today!


I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.


I have a dream today!


I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."


(Section 3)

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.


With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.


And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:


My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,
From every mountainside, let freedom ring!


And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.


And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.


Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.


Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.


Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.


Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.


But not only that:


Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.


Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.


Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.


From every mountainside, let freedom ring.


And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:


Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

Study Questions

Section 1

1. Who is the “great American”? Related to that, where does this speech take place?
2. What does “five score years” mean? What one word is a synonym for this?
3. What metaphors are used to describe the problems that Negro Americans faced?
4. What three national documents are mentioned on this page, and why are they capitalized?
5. What is a promissory note, and what does it symbolize here?
6. What phrase (four words) is repeated in the paragraph which starts “We have also come...” What one word in the first line of that paragraph sums up this sentiment?

Section 2

1. That first section ended with a stern warning to those in power that they can’t put off change any longer. This next section starts with an admonition to those who have been oppressed. List at least 3 positive words to show what kind of protest King is encouraging, and at least 3 negative words to show what he wants to avoid.
2. “They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.” What to does “inextricably” mean?
3. List at least four specific injustices, listed in this speech, that Negroes faced then.
4. Copy the sentence on this page which refers to Amos 5:24.Copy the sentence in this section which is from the Declaration of Independence.
5. This is the section where the phrase “I have a dream” is repeated. How many times? Summarize what it is that King dreams.
6. What does King want his children to be judged for?
7. Copy the sentence in this section page which refers to Isaiah 40:4.

Section 3

1. What are two key words in the first paragraph of this section? Hint: Each one is repeated several times, and each one gives a clue to how King’s goals will come about.
2. Copy the sentence that refers to music. Why does King use this word picture?
3. King refers to geological features several times. List the proper nouns that refer to this, and then list the common nouns.
4. The phrase “Let freedom ring” is repeated for emphasis. What word, found in the quoted verse of the song “America”, is a synonym for freedom?
5. In the last lines of his speech, King quotes a Negro spiritual song, "Free at Last."

http://www.negrospirituals.com/news-song/free_at_last_from.htm

Free at last, free at last

I thank God I'm free at last

Free at last, free at last

I thank God I'm free at last

Way down yonder in the graveyard walk

I thank God I'm free at last

Me and my Jesus going to meet and talk

I thank God I'm free at last

On my knees when the light pass'd by

I thank God I'm free at last

Tho't my soul would rise and fly

I thank God I'm free at last

Some of these mornings, bright and fair

I thank God I'm free at last

Goin' meet King Jesus in the air

I thank God I'm free at last

WRITING ASSIGNMENT

PERSUASIVE PARAGRAPH ABOUT "I HAVE A DREAM" SPEECH

As you read the speech and write your own paragraph, think about the life behind the words. Dr. King made such a difference because he had passion for what he was saying, and his life backed it up. This man was willing to face hardship and opposition, going to jail, and eventually being assassinated because of the courage of his convictions.  What are you passionate about? What is the life behind your words?  

Your paragraph will be about one of the following topics:

1. What is your dream (life goal or cause) and why do you think people should join or support you in it?
2. Why do you think Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was able to make an impact on history and culture? (Look at the character qualities of the man behind the speech.)
3. Do you think Dr. King's dream has come true? Why or why not? (Look for evidences that history and culture have changed because of his legacy.)
4. What is something that you think people in this country should do to make sure everyone has equal rights?