2021 AP Government Skills with John Burkowski #1 | Multiple Choice Strategy

The Declaration of Independence, based in part on the philosophy of John Locke, was an “expression of the American mind”. Going back to Magna Carta, British nobles had petitioned the monarch demanding limits to his power. But Locke argues and the Declaration of Independence asserts that legitimate government is based on the consent of the governed. Locke’s ideas were too democratic, too revolutionary for his time in England, but a century later they had a firm hold in the American colonies, and in 1776 they were the basis of the original and most fundamental American statement of rights, the Declaration of Independence.

How do you find the strength to stand up for what you believe in? In this Primary Close Read video, Kirk and Rachel are joined by Dr. Anika Prather, Professor in the Classics Department at Howard University and founder of The Living Water School, to read Martin Luther King, Jr's "Letter From a Birmingham Jail." They explore the ways King planned to right the wrongs of injustice, and how he urged others to act. How does King's letter convey hope for the American story?

The Declaration of Independence was drafted by Thomas Jefferson in June of 1776. The Declaration announced to the world that the thirteen American colonies regarded themselves independent sovereign states. It articulates the fundamental ideas that form the American Nation: All people are created free and equal and possess the same inherent, unalienable rights. This lesson plan includes six activities. The activities can be taught in sequence as a comprehensive overview of the Declaration of Independence or individual activities can be taught as stand-alone lessons.