AR+Diary+Grace+L.


 * Entry #1: Who am I?

Name:** Michael Johns
 * Age:** 28
 * Gender:** male
 * Occupation:** New England
 * Social Class:** high class, member of Sons of Liberty
 * Financial situation:** Relatively rich. Supports his wife, two daughters and only son.
 * Appearance:** Fairly tall in height, brown eyes and hair, white skin color
 * Location:** near Boston




 * Habitual locations:** his own house
 * Daily routine:** Gets up early to prepare for the circular meetings, has supper with his family talking about the colonies' problems, reads a lot of journals.
 * Personality/Quirks/Unique Personality Traits:** Radical and stubborn
 * Past/individual-family history:** His father was a rich man in England. Inherited his father's wealth and social status, but as curious and ambitious of the New World, set out to sea.
 * Family:** Wife, two daughters, one son
 * Friend:** Friends with other members of Sons of Liberty. However he is not one of the Founding Fathers, as not a prominent member.
 * Social relations with your own and other classes (people you deal with or know about in other classes, AND your opinions and feelings about them):** Hates the Loyalists. Considers them cowards lost of their own senses and too dependent on England.
 * Religion:** Christian
 * Education:** writes well, reads well, well-educated
 * Portrait:**

I woke this morning by the sound of my friend Dean Smith's knocking at my door. Even before greeting me, he held out a piece of paper in front of my face. I took the paper from him to find an extraordinary statement from James Otis Jr. I had heard of the man several times before from the town meetings and even had the chance to meet him. Honorable man he was, a Harvard-educated lawyer of great knowledge with sense of his words. I had to nod my head through reading his response to the ridiculous Sugar Act the parliament had decided to pass upon us. The man actually knows what he is saying and is one of the few of America who has the courage to express our need of democracy. We, Americans, have to stand up against the parliament when it is destructive of our primary rights. The parliament levied these taxes upon us when it is ** "agreed on all hands, the Crown alone cannot impose them, we should be justifiable in refusing to pay them, but must and ought to yield obedience to an act of parliament, though erroneous, till repealed." ** Otis has said it, what we colonist should all be fighting against: a parliament which believes it represents us, when we are not part of it. The parliament uses it cloying voice to us, turning to us only when it sees a need for new sources of revenue. When have we started to be treated as separates from other free born British subjects? Was it when the parliament started to feel the wealth of its vast colonies was not enough, was it when we started to prosper as a proud part of England, or was it from that very moment the Mayflower docked on Plymouth marking the birth of our Great Colony? Like Otis says, omnipotence is not a word create to address to parliament. The parliament had blocked the roads of westward expansion. They left us to barricade ourselves against the advancement of the Spaniards and French pressing in from the north and south bound of our territories. They failed to protect us from the heartless savages as a ‘mother country’ should do. Then they forced our boys to take part in a war they did not believe in. We have listened to their nonsense before. Now, it is time to let them pay for their own wrong doings. = =


 * Entry #3: The Stamp Act 1765**

The colonial outrage over the Stamp Act has somehow impacted your life. You have continued to have exposure to the debates over "taxation without representation," and you have seen acts of protest that have stemmed from peaceful to violent. Take some time now with your colonial iMac and record a **two to three-minute podcast** where you discuss "in character" your views about this issue. During your podcast, you must reference another primary source document in the packet directly, meaning that you specifically mention some aspect of that document in your podcast and your character's reaction to it. At the end of your podcast post, please tell me which document you referenced so that I may judge whether you have done so successfully.

Entry #4: //Common Sense// 1774
Dear Timothy Johnson, I hear you are a soldier for the British army. I am not sure about how you were taught about us colonists through the brainwashing procedures that the British army takes to better its chance at war, but I believe you fail to understand our motives of this bloody war. As a firm believer of true government, I cannot but express my distress towards the parliament. The parliament had been the less respondent of our basic needs as free born British subjects, and ignorant of our capabilities to pay for such intolerable taxes. The parliament had announced new taxes when we were weary of the old and taken us to the war field when we most need the modest comforts of our homes. I trust you have already read Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense”. It has become the colonial spirit of this war, representing our grief in the most honest and intricate detail. I have to say I do believe government is “founded on the necessity of our natures” as James Otis Jr. had long ago said before the war, unlike Paine says. However, when such government fails to promote the general welfare of its counterparts, it is no longer a government but a tyrant. Governments were built to represent the public effectively and efficiently. The parliament had decided to efficiently govern by shutting away the cries of us colonists and using us only as a source of revenue. Then how about effectively governing? For itself, draining our pockets has brought it relief. For us, we were deprived of our wealth, rights, and pride. Paine’s pamphlet enlightened us colonists of the need for change. We need a government that represents us, cares for us, and are made by our fundamental beliefs. No longer should we be treated as colonists of a foreign land. Great Britain had left us ill when we need nurture at the bare beginnings of settlement. They intervened in our business only when we had finally found light in farming, westward expansion, and unity. Is that a true mother country? An action a government with such long experience should have to take? If so, I would rather have no government. It is common sense governments should promote the happiness of its people, no? A young soilder such as you should know the real reasons of the war you are fighting. You just may be fighting the wrong war as we had in the French and Indian War. Wish you no harm in the course of this war, take care. Concerned, Michael Johns

Entry #5: Horrors of War 1777
So much has happened since you received the letter from your colonial colleague that you never had a chance to respond. Finally, during the long, bitter winter of 1777, you have a chance to post a note to your colonial friend. Hopefully, he or she is still alive. Think about all that has happened since 1777: the Declaration of Independence, several major battles, civil war, worthless colonial money, British and colonial troops taking food and supplies from farmers, looters taking advantage of the situation. You have a lot to share. Take time to reconnect with your colonial partner and send a letter of **200-300 words** in length where you respond to his/her letter and let them know how you are doing now. Due next class 10/6 (E) or 10/7 (G).

Dear Johns,

Have you read the Common Sense by Thomas Paine? I'm assuming you've done so. Do you really think these 13 colonies can get together and make something happen? I think not. Thomas Paine speaks words like a serpent, but has no element in his claims. He justifies himself as rightful, by belittling our nation's history. We both know that who ever wins the war, both England and the colonies will experience immense casualties. Paine states that "America has no advantage by being connected with Great Britain." Where does he get this preposterous hypothesis? I say he is a liar. I respect you for your indepth knowledge, but I cannot understand your hatred towards the British government. I know we have a lot in common starting from religion and all the way to wealth. I believe we can be the new emerging force in the colonies. Be loyal to the British government and secure your future. You can always rely on England our mother nation. Now is the time to choose you side wisely. Be loyal to England or perish and go to hell. I do not want to lose an educated man like you fail to fulfill his destiny. Come to church this weekend I have a lot to talk about with you on this matter and I would also like you to meet my cousin, who is exceptionally charming and witty of her age.

My dear friend Sir George Lee, It was nice meeting you the that day, despite our different opinions upon the matter of our colonial independence. I hope you are well, especially through this grim but meaningful war. I have been discussing the importance of this war and the stances to be taken to create a stable government in the case we win this war and have done my services at church like any proper gentleman should do. As a man who has been brought up upon the pen and paper, rather than guns and cannons, I lack rather knowledge in the field of war. But I do agree that war is a most undesirable result of dispute. However when it comes to independence, it is different. Independence is something worth while for each of us colonists and even throughout to our future generations. Without such unalienable right, we would live our lives in despair, lost of direction, treated no better than those slaves in the south counterparts of this colony. Paine may have exaggerated the details of our state, but the message he gave us was clear: the time was ripe for us to finally declare our freedom. The British government has been great to the extent of its major headquarters of England. It was a caring mother to its people and great exhibitor of power, making its citizens proud of its country. But the glory ended there. Only within the borders of England. Across the ocean to her newborn colonies, England was an ignorant mother, neglecting the needed nurture for establishment of a healthy colony. As we died, she had her green eyes on other lands across the globe hungry for more glory. We had spent harsh winters, encounters with the violent indians, and days of dispute amongst ourselves. Despite all this we grew. We had finally found a way to prosper in this once foreign land. Then England, which had grew to become Great Britain turned to us. We expected some encouragement to grow even more but she only stripped us of our wealth and men. She forced us to take part in a war we had no purpose for and then taxed us to pay for her own faults. Our wealth and our men and even our pride was deprived, decreased, and devastated. We had learned to longer feel defeat and declare our quest to refind our pride with independence. I ask you sir, to consider those factors. Great Britain with its intolerable king, had thrust upon a great burden of her debts for the cost of our colony. We had no choice but war. It has started with a cause, let it end to fufill its meaning. Praying for your safety, Michael Johns P.S. Your cousin was a charming young girl, I hope to meet her again if the occasion comes.