Week 1: Review of Course & Declaration of Independence

This first week we reviewed the Course Syllabus and the Schedule of Classes  (see right hand side of blog). We also took a quick tour of the World Almanac and pointed out the parts of the Almanac that will be useful for our classes and homework assignments. In class we reviewed events leading up to July 4, 1776 and the adoption of the Declaration of Independence  and the events leading to August 2,1776 when 54 of the eventual 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence signed the engrossed copy on parchment in the Continental Congress. We then watched scenes from the movie "1776" after the initial reading of the Declaration resulted in debate, alterations, deletions and amendments until the final vote culminating in the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4. A copy of the handout used in Class 1 and homework assignment can be found on the right hand side of the blog. To answer your homework assignment, you can use the Useful Links found on the bottom right of this blog. Next week we will look at the Constitutional Convention and the Origins of the Presidency.