Formulating+and+Assimilating+a+Nation

How does a country formulate and develop?

Hopefully after we read and discuss the following literary selections, you will feel comfortable enough to answer the above questions, with the use of adequate textual support.
===//Declaration of Independence // by Thomas Jefferson ===

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===//Common Sense and American Crisis //by Thomas Paine ===

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“On the Emigration to America” by Philip Freneau
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“On Being Brought from Africa to America” by Phyllis Wheatley
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"Legal Alien"
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__The Jungle__ see information at end of page

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“What is an American” by Crevecoeur
In this great American asylum, the poor of Europe have by some means met together, and in consequence of various causes; to what purpose, should they ask one another, what countrymen they are? Alas, two thirds of them had no country. Can a wretch who wanders about, who works and starves, whose life is a continual scene of sore affliction or pinching penury; can that man call England or any other kingdom his country? A country that had no bread for him, whose fields procured him no harvest, who met with nothing but the frowns of the rich, the severity of the laws, with jails and punishments; who owned not a single foot of the extensive surface of this planet? No! urged by a variety of motives, here they came. Every thing has tended to regenerate them; new laws, a new mode of living, a new social system; here they are become men: in Europe they were as so many useless plants, wanting vegetative mould, and refreshing showers; they withered, and were mowed down by want, hunger, and war: but now, by the power of transplantation, like all other plants, they have taken root and flourished! Formerly they were not numbered in any civil list of their country, except in those of the poor; here they rank as citizens. By what invisible power has this surprising metamorphosis been performed? By that of the laws, and that of their industry. The laws, the indulgent laws, protect them as they arrive, stamping on them the symbol of adoption; they receive ample rewards for their labours; these accumulated rewards procure them lands; those lands confer on them the title of freemen; and to that title every benefit is affixed which men can possibly require. This is the great operation daily performed by our laws. From whence proceed these laws? From our government. Whence that governments It is derived from the original genius and strong desire of the people ratified and confirmed by government. This is the great chain which links us all, this is the picture which every province exhibits, Nova Scotia excepted. There the crown has done all; either there were no people who had genius, or it was not much attended to: the consequence is, that the province is very thinly inhabited indeed; the power of the crown, in conjunction with the musketos, has prevented men from settling there. Yet some part of it flourished once, and it contained a mild harmless set of people. But for the fault of a few leaders the whole were banished. The greatest political error the crown ever committed in America, was to cut off men from a country which wanted nothing but men!

What attachment can a poor European emigrant have for a country where he had nothing? The knowledge of the language, the love of a few kindred as poor as himself, were the only cords that tied him: his country is now that which gives him land, bread, protection, and consequence: Ubi panis ibi patria, is the motto of all emigrants. What then is the American, this new man? He is either an European, or the descendant of an European; hence that strange mixture of blood, which you will find in no other country. I could point out to you a man, whose grandfather was an Englishman, whose wife was Dutch, whose son married a French woman, and whose present four sons have now four wives of different nations. He is an American, who, leaving behind him all his ancient prejudices and manners, receives new ones from the new mode of life he has embraced, the new government he obeys, and the new rank he holds. He becomes an American by being received in the broad lap of our great Alma Mater.

Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whose labours and posterity will one day cause great change in the world. Americans are the western pilgrims, who are carrying along with them that great mass of arts, sciences, vigour, and industry, which began long since in the East; they will finish the great circle. The Americans were once scattered all over Europe; here they are incorporated into one of the finest systems of population which has ever appeared, and which will hereafter become distinct by the power of the different climates they inhabit. The American ought, therefore, to love this country much better than that wherein either he or his forefathers were born. Here the rewards of his industry follow with equal steps the progress of his labour; his labour is founded on the basis of nature, self-interest; can it want a stronger allurement? Wives and children, who before in vain demanded of him a morsel of bread, now, fat and frolicsome, gladly help their father to clear those fields whence exuberant crops are to arise to feed and to clothe them all; without any part being claimed, either by a despotic prince, a rich abbot, or a mighty lord. Here religion demands but little of him; a small voluntary salary to the minister, and gratitude to God; can he refuse these? The American is a new man, who acts upon new principles; he must therefore entertain new ideas, and form new opinions. From involuntary idleness, servile dependence, penury, and useless labour, he has passed to toils of a very different nature, rewarded by ample subsistence. This is an American.

“Straw into Gold the Metamorphosis of the Everyday” by Cisneros
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“Don’t Call Me a Hot Tamale” by Judith Coffer Ortiz>[[file:Cofer_-_The_myth_of_the_Latin_women_PDF.pdf]]
The items in purple have already been covered in class. Most of the work related to these readings is stored in your notebooks and work folders.

an audio version can be found on [|www.librovox.org]

Study Guide Questions for __The Jungle__

Definition Essay:
In essay format, answer the following question using examples from literature studied in class, history, and current events. " What is an American?"

Projects:
The first project we have completed is our **Diversity Poster Project**. * These are currently on display in the back of our classroom.

The second project will be our **Perth Amboy Brochure Project**. as of 10/11/11 you should have a list of 15 "must-see" places in Perth Amboy. We will be working with Microspft Publisher to produce these projects. Each Group will have an opportunity to present and publish their work for the class. 

Immigration Laws: Political Cartoon #1
 * Political Cartoon #2**: Journal #7 compare to the previous cartoon
 * Political Cartoon #3** Journal #8 respond the opinion being given by this cartoon.
 * Political Cartoon #4** Journal #9: How does this illustration confront current issues in immigration reform?
 * Political Cartoon #5** Journal #10. Explain the hyporcisy within this cartoon: