The second two-thirds of the semester will focus on American historical documents in preparation for reading The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot by Naomi Wolf. In addition, we will critique the book and critique the critiques!!
We will also examine some remarkable men and women working from within the system, such as former JAG lawyer Charles Swift, who are doing their best to protect civil liberties of detainees and those under surveillance by the government. Swift won the Hamden case but lost his job with the Navy two days later. Those who protect the Bill of Rights can often expect to pay a price. In this case, it was the loss of a Navy career.
Video of Lt. Charles Swift :”We’re supposed to be the good guys.”
List of all documents we will examine :
Declaration of Independence Who Wrote the Constitution/ The Constitution/ Federalist # 10/ Why am I a Slave? By Frederick Douglass/ Letter from a Birmingham Jail (MLK, Jr) / The Ten Stages of Fascism
Letter from a Birmingham Jail by MLK, Jr.
“What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” Frederick Douglass
Critique of The End of America from The Atlantic : “No Naomi Wolf, America is not becoming a fascist state.” – copies of article in class
Ms. Stam's ELA Website for Students 