L1 – Semester 2

Introduction à la civilisation des

Pays Anglophones

The long Eighteenth Century

Anne-Claire Faucquez

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The Long Eighteenth Century Chapter 1: Introduction to English society in the 17th and 18th century Chapter 2: The religious revolution in England 1. The Reformation and the formation of Anglicanism 2. Puritanism and the diversity of Protestant branches 3. Protestantism in America Chapter 3: The evolution of political institutions 1. The English Civil War & the Restoration Period 2. The Glorious Revolution 3. The governmental system in the Eighteenth century Chapter 4: Colonization in America 1. Who colonized North America? 2. The 13 colonies 3. The Atlantic Slave Trade Chapter 5: The road to the revolution 1. American reactions to the Glorious Revolution 2. The growth of political independence 3. The American War of Independence

Course description

Assessment: Presence/Participation: 20% Midterm evaluation: 30% Final exam: 50% My contact information : Email : anne-claire.merlin-faucquez@univ-paris8.fr Blog : acfaucquez@wordpress.com

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Reading primary sources: An introduction for students Primary sources are sources that were created during the historical period that you are studying. Just about anything that existed or was created during that time period can count as a primary source — a speech, census records, a newspaper, a letter, a diary entry, a song, a painting, a photograph, a film, an article of clothing, a building, a landscape, etc. Primary sources are documents, objects, and other sources that provide us with a first-hand account of what life was like in the past. Of course you could learn about the past by reading your textbook or the conclusions of other historians but when you read a secondary source, you are essentially taking someone else’s word for what happened and trusting them to approach the subject objectively. But you can never know whether what that other person wrote about the past is valid, accurate, or thoughtful unless you’ve explored the evidence for yourself. In short, primary sources allow you to be your own historical detective, piecing together the puzzle of the past by using materials created by the people who lived it. 1. IDENTIFY THE SOURCE - What is the nature of the source? A newspaper, an oral history account, a diary entry, a government document, etc. - Who created this source, and what do I know about him/her/them? What biases have they ? What is their relationship to the things they described in the source ? - When and where was the source produced?

2. CONTEXTUALIZE THE SOURCE What do you know about the historical context for this source? What do I know about how the creator of this source fits into that historical context? Why did the person who created the source do so? 3. EXPLORE THE SOURCE What factual information is conveyed in this source? What opinions are related in this source? What is implied or conveyed unintentionally in the source? What is not said in this source? What is surprising or interesting about the source? 4. ANALYZE THE SOURCE How does the creator of the source convey information and make his/her point? How is the world described in the source different from my world? How might others at the time have reacted to this source? 5. EVALUATE THE SOURCE How does this source compare to other primary sources? How does this source compare to secondary source accounts? What do you believe and disbelieve from this source? What do you still not know — and where can you find that information?

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TIMELINE OF EVENTS IN 17TH AND 18TH CENTURY ENGLAND AND AMERICA ENGLAND AMERICA 1603 Queen Elizabeth dies. James I becomes

king.

1605 The gunpowder plot, a Catholic conspiracy to blow up parliament, is discovered.

1607 Jamestown, the first successful British colony in North America, is founded in Virginia

1611 The King James Bible is published 1620 The Mayflower ship transported 102

English Puritans and Separatists, the Pilgrim Fathers, to Plymouth, Massachusetts, a long journey of 66 days. Drafting of the Mayflower Compact. Establishment of the Plymouth Colony and the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

1625 James I dies. Charles I becomes king 1629-1640

The Eleven Years Tyranny. Charles I rules without parliament.

1634 Settlement of Maryland 1636 Connecticut and Rhode Island 1640 The Quakers, or Society of Friends,

was a Protestant sect founded in England whose members believed that salvation was available to all people

1641 MP's draw up a list of grievances called the Grand Remonstrance.

1642 The English Civil War between king and parliament begins.

1648 Pride's Purge. Thomas Pride removes some Presbyterian MPs from parliament.

1649 King Charles I is beheaded. The Toleration Act allowing all Christians religious freedom.

1651 Scottish army invades England in an attempt to put Charles II on the throne. The Scots are defeated and Charles flees abroad.

1651, 1660, 1663

Navigation Acts regulate colonial trade and enable England to collect duties (taxes)

1651 Thomas Hobbes publishes his work Leviathan

1653 Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of England

1655-1657

Rule of the Major-Generals in England

1658 Oliver Cromwell dies. His son Richard takes over.

1659 Richard Cromwell resigns 1660 Charles II becomes king 1662 The Act of Uniformity is passed

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1663 Settlement of Carolina 1664 Settlement of New Jersey + New

York 1665 Plague kills many people in London. 1666 The Great Fire of London. Much of the

city is destroyed but it is soon rebuilt.

1667 John Milton publishes Paradise Lost 1673 The Test Act is passed. Catholics and

Protestant dissenters (who do not belong to the Church of England) are prevented from holding public office.

1675 The Lords of Trade are appointed in England to enforce the new mercantile system and maximize potential profits for England

1679 The Act of Habeas Corpus. Imprisonment without trial is outlawed.

1682 Quakers Settle in Pennsylvania founded by William Penn

1685 Charles II dies. James II (a Roman Catholic) becomes king.

1686 The 'Glorious, Bloodless Revolution'. James II flees abroad and William and Mary become the new monarchs.

Formation of New England - King James II combines the colonies of Connecticut, Massachusetts Bay Colony, Plymouth, Rhode Island, New York, New Hampshire, East Jersey and West Jersey into a single colony: The Dominion of New England.

1688 King James II appoints Sir Edmund Andros to serve as Captain General and Governor in Chief of New England. Sir Edmund Andros causes dissension with the colonists as he does not have to answer to any elected assembly

1689 The Bill of Rights is passed Revolt in the colonies. Boston militiamen seize Governor-in-Chief Andros and put him in jail. The New England colonies begin to re-establish governments. Jacob Leisler (1640-1691) was a German immigrant who led the insurrection against local colonial officials from 1689 to 1691 in colonial New York

1691 Salem Witch Trials - Hysteria over witchcraft accusations

1694 Queen Mary dies of smallpox aged 32 1696 Board of Trade to oversee colonial

policies practicing a policy of "Salutary Neglect," in which it gives the colonies considerable freedom in economic matters.

1701 The Act of Settlement : Catholics or anyone married to a Catholic cannot succeed to the throne.

1702 William dies. Anne becomes queen.

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1707 The Act of Union joins England and Scotland

1714 Queen Anne dies. George I becomes king.

1720 The South Sea Bubble (stocks in the South Sea Company suddenly fall in price and many people lose huge sums of money.)

1721 Robert Walpole becomes the king's main minister = the Prime Minister.

1727 George I dies. George II becomes king. 1729 North Carolina and South Carolina

became separate Royal Colonies. 1730 The Great Awakening = an

unorganized but widespread movement of evangelical Christian sermons and church meetings in the 1730s and 1740s

1732 The Hat Act = control hat production by the American colonists in the 13 Colonies.

1733 Molasses Act - levied heavy taxes on sugar Georgia is settled (James Oglethorpe)

1742 Prime Minister Robert Walpole resigns 1750 Iron Act - Restricts the manufacturing

activities in the colonies 1756 The Seven Years War against France

begins

1758 King George III ascends to the throne 1763 The Seven Years War ends The Royal Proclamation establishing

the boundary between the colonies and Indian Territories

1764 Sugar Act - tax on sugar and molasses imported into the colonies.

1765 Stamp Act = a stamp duty (tax) on legal papers, newspapers and pamphlets (opposition by the Colonies resulted in the repeal of the act in 1766) Quartering Act The Sons of Liberty = a secret society formed by American Patriots who opposed British measures against the colonists, and agitated for resistance

1767 Townshend Acts - Series of Laws passed by the British Parliament placing duties on items imported by the colonists including glass, lead, paints, paper and tea. The reaction from the colonists was so intense that Great Britain eventually repealed all the taxes except the one on tea.

1768 Merchants in Boston and New York boycott British goods until the Townshend Acts are repealed

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1770 The Boston Massacre: British soldiers, who were quartered in the city, fired into a rioting mob killing five American civilians

1773 Tea Act - Allowing the British East India Company to sell its low-cost tea directly to the colonies, undermining colonial tea merchants

1774 December 16: The Boston Tea Party - Massachusetts patriots dressed as Mohawk Indians protested against the British Tea Act The Intolerable Acts also known as Coercive Acts = a reprisal to the Boston Tea Party rebellion. A package of five laws aimed at restoring authority in its colonies: Boston Port Act, Massachusetts Government Act, Administration Justice Act, Quartering Act, Quebec Act. September 5, 1774: The Continental Congress.

1775 The Second Continental Congress is established on May 10, 1775 and disbanded March 6, 1781 = adopts the American army and becomes a governing body

1776 May 15th: Congress advised all the colonies to form governments for themselves = turned themselves from British colonies into independent states July 4th: the Declaration of Independence

C. 1780

The Industrial Revolution begins to transform Britain

1781 The Articles of Confederation were effective from March 1, 1781 to March 4, 1789 and were the basis of the national government of the US during the American Revolutionary War. March 1 1781: The Second Continental Congress becomes the Congress of the Confederation

1783 Britain signs a treaty recognizing the

independence of the American colonies

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Chapter 1: English society in the 17th and 18th centuries

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Chapter 2: The religious revolution in England

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The Character of an Old English Puritan, or Non-Conormist (1646) by John Geree

The Old English Puritan was such an one, that honored God above all, and under God gave every one his due. His first care was to serve God, and therein he did not what was good in his own, but in God’s sight, making the word of God the rule of his worship. He highly esteemed order in the House of God: but would not under colour of that submit to superstitious rites, which are superfluous, and perish in their use. He reverenced Authority keeping within its sphere: but durst not under pretence of subjection to the higher powers, worship God after the traditions of men. He was much in prayer; with it he began and closed the day. …. …. Therefore in that circumstance of the church he did not wholly reject the liturgy, but the corruption of it. He esteemed reading of the word an ordinance of God both in private and public but did not account reading to be preaching. The word read he esteemed of more authority, but the word preached of more efficiency. … He esteemed the preaching best wherein was most of God, least of man, when vain flourishes of wit and words were declined, … He esteemed those sermons best that came closest to the conscience: …. He was a man of good spiritual appetite, and could not be contented with one meal a day. An afternoon sermon did relish as well to him as one in the morning. ... The Lord’s Day he esteemed a divine ordinance, and rest on it necessary, so far as it conduced to holiness. He was very conscientious in observance of that day as the mart day of the soul. He redeems the morning from superfluous sleep, and watches the whole day over his thoughts and words, not only to restrain them from wickedness, but worldliness. All parts of the day were like holy to him, and his care was continued in it in variety of holy duties ... The sacrament of baptism he received in infancy, which he looked back to in age to answer his engagements, and claim his privileges. The Lord’s Supper he accounted part of his soul’s food: to which he labored to keep an appetite. … His first care was in the examination of himself: yet as an act of office or charity, he had an eye on others. He condemned that superstition and vanity of Popish mock-fasts; yet neglected not an occasion to humble his soul by right fasting: He abhorred the popish doctrine of opus operatum in the action. He put not holiness in churches, … He would have them kept decent, not magnificent: knowing that the gospel requires not outward pomp. His chief music was singing of psalms wherein though he neglected not the melody of the voice, yet he chiefly looked after that of the heart. He disliked such church music as moved sensual delight, and was as hinderance to spiritual enlargements. He accounted subjection to the higher powers to be part of pure religion, as well as to visit the fatherless and widows: yet did he distinguish between authority and lusts of magistrates, to that he submitted, but in these he durst not be a servant of men, being bought with a price... He accounted religion an engagement to duty, that the best Christians should be best husbands, best wives, best parents, best children, best masters, best servants, best magistrates, best subjects, that the doctrine of God might be adorned, not blasphemed. His family he endeavors to make a church, both in regard of persons and exercises, admitting none into it but such as feared God; He blessed his family morning and evening by the word and prayer. He brought up his children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and commanded his servants to keep the way of the Lord. He set up discipline in his family, as he desired it in the church, not only reproving but restraining vileness in his. He was sober in the use of things of this life, rather beating down the body, than pampering it, avoid excess lest he should be forgetful of the Donor. In his habit he avoided costliness and vanity. His own life he accounted a warfare, wherein Christ was his captain, his arms, prayers, and tears. The Cross his banner, and his word, Vincit qui patitur ['He conquers who suffers.']

FINIS.

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Reasons for Puritan Migration 1 .It will be a service to the Church of great consequence to carry the Gospel into those parts of the world ... . & to raise a Bulwark against the kingdom of Ante-Christ which the Jesuits labour to reare up in those parts.

2. All other churches of Europe are brought to desolation, & o[u]r sins, for which the Lord begins already to frown upon us & to eut us short, do threaten evil times to be coming upon us, & who knows, but that God hath provided this place to be a refuge for many whom he means to save out of the general calamity, & seeing the Church hath no place left to fly into but the wilderness, what better work can there be, then to go and provide tabernacles & food for her against she comes thither.

3. This land grows weary of her Inhabitants, so as man, who is the most precious of ail creatures, is here more vile & base then the earth we tread upon, & of less price among us than a horse or a sheep: masters are forced by authority to entertain servants, parents to maintain there own children, all towns complain of the burthen of their poore, though I we have taken up many unnecessary yea unlawful trades to maintain them, & we use the authority of the Law to hinder the increase of o[u]r people .

4. The whole earth is the Lords garden & he hath given it to the Sons of men with a genl Commission: Gen: 1:28: increase & multiply, & replenish the earth & subdue it,... why then should we stand striving here for places of habitation ... & in the meane time suffer a whole Continent as fruitful & convenient for the use of man to lie. waste without any improvement? 5. All arts & Trades are carried in that deceitful & unrighteous course, as it is almost impossible for a good & upright man to maintain his charge & live comfortably in any of them. 6. The fountaine of learning & Religion are-so corrupted as... most children (even the best wittes & of fairest hopes) are perverted, corrupted, & utterly overthrown by the multitude of evil examples.... John Winthrop, governor of the Massachusetts Boy Colony, 1629, Life and Letters. of John Winthrop, Volume I, pp. 3 09-31.1.

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Chapter 3: The evolution of political institutions

1. Which British institutions do these pictures represent? 2. Which one was the most powerful in the 17th and 18th centuries? 3. Which one is the most powerful today?

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THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION

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The Bill of Rights, 1689 • 1. That the pretended power of suspending laws, or the execution of laws, by regal

authority, without consent of parliament is illegal. • 2. That the pretended power of dispensing with the laws, or the execution of law by

regal authority, as it hath been assumed and exercised of late, is illegal. • 3. That the commission for erecting the late court of commissioners for ecclesiastical

causes, and all other commissions and courts of like nature, are illegal and pernicious.

• 4. That levying money for or to the use of the crown by pretense of prerogative, without grant of parliament, for longer time or in other manner than the same is or shall be granted, is illegal.

• 5. That it is the right of the subjects to petition the king, and all commitments and prosecutions for such petitioning are illegal.

• 6. That the raising or keeping a standing army within the kingdom in time of peace, unless it be with consent of parliament, is against law.

• 7. That the subjects which are Protestants may have arms for their defense suitable to their conditions, and as allowed by law.

• 8. That election of members of parliament ought to be free. • 9. That the freedom of speech, and debates or proceedings in parliament, ought not to

be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of parliament. • 10. That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor

cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. • 11. That jurors ought to be duly impaneled and returned, and jurors which pass upon

men in trials for high treason ought to be freeholders. • 12. That all grants and promises of fines and forfeitures of particular persons before

conviction are illegal and void. • 13. And that for redress of all grievances, and for the amending, strengthening, and

preserving of the laws, parliament ought to be held frequently. And they do claim, demand, and insist upon all and singular the premises, as their undoubted rights and liberties.... Having therefore an entire confidence that his said Highness the prince of Orange will perfect the deliverance so far advanced by him, and will still preserve them from the violation of their rights, which they have here asserted, and from all other attempt upon their religion, rights, and liberties: The said lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, assembled at Westminster, do resolve that William and Mary, prince and princess of Orange, be, and be declared, king and queen of England, France, and Ireland.... Upon which their said Majesties did accept the crown and royal dignity of the kingdoms of England, France, and Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging, according to the resolution and desire of the said lords and commons contained in the said declaration. From The Statutes: Revised Edition (London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1871), Vol. 2, pp. 10-12.

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John Locke, Second Treatise of Government, 1690.

Chapter 9 : Of the Ends of Political Society and Government. IF man in the state of nature be so free, as has been said; if he be absolute lord of his own person and possessions, equal to the greatest, and subject to no body, why will he part with his freedom? why will he give up this empire, and subject himself to the dominion and controul of any other power? To which it is obvious to answer, that though in the state of nature he hath such a right, yet the enjoyment of it is very uncertain, and constantly exposed to the invasion of others: for all being kings as much as he, every man his equal, and the greater part no strict observers of equity and justice, the enjoyment of the property he has in this state is very unsafe, very unsecure. This makes him willing to quit a condition, which, however free, is full of fears and continual dangers: and it is not without reason, that he seeks out, and is willing to join in society with others, who are already united, or have a mind to unite, for the mutual preservation of their lives, liberties and estates, which I call by the general name, property. The great and chief end, therefore, of men's uniting into commonwealths, and putting themselves under government, is the preservation of their property. To which in the state of nature there are many things wanting. First, There wants an established, settled, known law, received and allowed by common consent to be the standard of right and wrong, and the common measure to decide all controversies between them: for though the law of nature be plain and intelligible to all rational creatures; yet men being biassed by their interest, as well as ignorant for want of study of it, are not apt to allow of it as a law binding to them in the application of it to their particular cases. Secondly, In the state of nature there wants a known and indifferent judge, with authority to determine all differences according to the established law: for every one in that state being both judge and executioner of the law of nature, men being partial to themselves, passion and revenge is very apt to carry them too far, and with too much heat, in their own cases; as well as negligence, and unconcernedness, to make them too remiss in other men's. Thirdly, In the state of nature there often wants power to back and support the sentence when right, and to give it due execution, They who by any injustice offended, will seldom fail, where they are able, by force to make good their injustice; such resistance many times makes the punishment dangerous, and frequently destructive, to those who attempt it. Thus mankind, notwithstanding all the privileges of the state of nature, being but in an ill condition, while they remain in it, are quickly driven into society. Hence it comes to pass, that we seldom find any number of men live any time together in this state. The inconveniencies that they are therein exposed to, by the irregular and uncertain exercise of the power every man has of punishing the transgressions of others, make them take sanctuary under the established laws of government, and therein seek the preservation of their property. It is this makes them so willingly give up every one his single power of punishing, to be exercised by such alone, as shall be appointed to it amongst them; and by such rules as the community, or those authorized by them to that purpose, shall agree on. And in this we have the original right and rise of both the legislative and executive power, as well as of the governments and societies themselves.

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Chapter 4: Colonization in America

Composition of colonial society

Mayflower Compact : 1620 IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first Colony in the northern Parts of Virginia; Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid: And by Virtue hereof do enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Officers, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general Good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due Submission and Obedience. IN WITNESS whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape-Cod the eleventh of November, in the Reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, Anno Domini; 1620.

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James Oglethorpe, Founding Vision for Georgia (1733)

In America there are fertile lands sufficient to subsist all the useless Poor in England, and distressed Protestants in Europe; yet Thousands starve for want of mere sustenance. The distance makes it difficult to get thither1. The same want that renders men useless here, prevents their paying their passage; and if others pay it for them, they become servants, or rather slaves for years to those who have defrayed the expense. Therefore, money for passage is necessary, but is not the only want; for if people were set down in America, and the land before them, they must ect down trees, build houses, fortify towns, dig and sow the land before they can get in a harvest; and till then, they must be provided with food, and kept together, that they may be assistant to each other for their natural support and protection. His Majesty having taken into his consideration, the miserable circumstances of many of his own poor subjects, ready to perish for want: as likewise the distresses of many poor foreigners, who would take refuge here from persecution; and having a Princely regard to the great danger the southern frontiers of South Carolina are exposed to, by reason of the small number of white inhabitants there, hath, out of his Fatherly compassion towards his subjects, been graciously pleased to grant a charter for incorporating a number of gentlemen by the name of The Trustees for establishing the Colony of Georgia in America. They are impowered to collect benefactions; and lay them out in cloathing, arming, sending over, and supporting colonies of the poor, whether subjects on foreigners, in Georgia. And his Majesty farther grants all his lands between Savannah and Alatamaha, which he erects into a Province by the name of GEORGIA, unto the Trustees, in trust for the poor, and for the better support of the Colony. At the desire of the Gentlemen, there are clauses in the Charter, restraining them and their successors from receiving any salary, fee, perquisite, or profit, whatsoever, by or from this undertaking; and also from receiving any grant of lands within the said district, to themselves, or in trust for them. There are farther clauses granting to the Trustees proper powers for establishing and governing the Colony, and liberty of conscience to all who shall settle there. The Trustees intend to relieve such unfortunate persons as cannot subsist here, and establish them in an orderly manner, so as to form a well-regulated town. As far as their fund goes, they will defray 2 the charge of their passage to Georgia; give them necessaries, cattle, land, and subsistence, till such time as they can build their houses and clear some of their land.... By such a Colony, many families, who would otherwise starve, will be provided for, and made masters of houses and lands; the people in Great Britain to whom these necessitous families were a burthen, will be relieved; numbers of manufacturers will be here employed, for supplying them with clothes, working tools, and other necessaries; and by giving refuge to the distressed Saltzburgers, and other persecuted Protestants, the power of Britain, as a reward for its hospitality, will be encreased by the addition of so many religious and industrious subjects. The Colony of Georgia lying about the same latitude with part of China, Persia, Palestine, and the Madeiras, it is highly probable that when hereafter it shall be well-peopled and rightly cultivated, ENGLAND may be supplied from thence with raw Silk, Wine, Oil, Dyes, Drugs, and many other materials for manufactures, which she is obliged to purchase from Southern countries. As towns are established and grow populous along the rivers Savannah and Alatamaha, they will make such a boarder as will render the southern frontier of the British Colonies on the Continent of America, safe from Indian and other enemies. ... The riches and also the number of the inhabitants in Great Britain will be increased, by importing at a cheap rate from this new Colony, the materials requisite for carrying on in Britain several manufactures. For our Manufacturers will be encouraged to marry and multiply, when they find themselves in circumstances to provide for their families, which

1 there 2 reimburse

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must necessarily be the happy effect of the increase and cheapness of our materials of those Manufactures, which at present we purchase with our money from foreign countries, at dear rates; and also many people will find employment here, on account such farther demands by the people of this Colony, for those manufactures which are made for the produce of our own country; and, as has been justly observed, the people will always abound where there is full employment for them. CHRIST! UNITY will be extended by the execution of this design; since, the good discipline established by the Society, will reform the manners of those miserable objects, who shall be by them subsisted; and the example of a whole Colony, who shall behave in a just, moral, and religious manner, will contribute greatly towards the conversion of the Indians, and taking off the prejudices received from the profligate lives of such who have scarce anything of Christianity but the name.

Peter Force, Tracts, vol. 1, no. 2 (Washington, D.C., 1836), 4-7.

Introduce the document: context (all the events which are relevant for the understanding of the text), author and source (the type of document). Announce your problematic (what is this text about? what is at stake here? what is its aim?) and present your outline (what you’re going to say).

Commentary: which arguments does the author give? (Classify the arguments and organize them into different parts)

Conclusion: Sum up your ideas and then open your analysis by explaining the outcome and impact of the war.

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Letters from an American Farmer (1782) by J. Hector St. John Crevecoeur

Letter III: What is an American?

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 lists 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 the government? It is derived from the original genius and strong desire of the people ratified and confirmed by the crown. 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 in conjunction with the musketoes has prevented men from settling there. Yet some parts 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 family 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 changes 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.

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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.

… Men are like plants; the goodness and flavour of the fruit proceeds from the peculiar soil and exposition in which they grow. We are nothing but what we derive from the air we breathe, the climate we inhabit, the government we obey, the system of religion we profess, and the nature of our employment.

Here you will find but few crimes; these have acquired as yet no root among us. I wish I were able to trace all my ideas; if my ignorance prevents me from describing them properly, I hope I shall be able to delineate a few of the outlines, which are all I propose.

Questions:

1. In an earlier chapter, Crevecoeur makes the following statement: “I am neither a philosopher, politician, divine, or naturalist, but a simple farmer.” What evidence is there in these few pages that might contradict that statement? If this is a false statement, why would he claim to be a “simple farmer”? 2. What kind of life did those seeking “asylum” in America face in Europe? In other words, what did America offer that Europe did not according to Crevecoeur? Explain. 3. What is the “great operation daily performed by our laws” that Crevecoeur mentions? Explain how this adds to his rhetoric. 4. Give at least three answers to the question “What is an American?” that Crevecoeur proposes in the text. Summarize-do not plagiarize. 5. What kind of picture does Crevecoeur paint about American life and America in general in these pages? Why? Offer examples from the text. 6. At least twice in these pages, Crevecoeur compares men to plants. What is meant by this simile? Explain, paying close attention to diction and the context in which it is written. 7. Explain the function of rhetorical questions Crevecoeur uses throughout the letter. 8. How does Crevecoeur use compare & contrast to structure his argument? What is the effect? Explain. 9. Pay attention to repetition, diction (word choice) and imagery. How do these literary devices strengthen his argument? 10. Explain where & how Crevecoeur is creating or adding to the myth of the “American Dream”. 11. Locate the sentence that begins “I could point out to you a family...” and ends “...four wives of different nations.” Explain his point here & what this adds to his rhetoric. Also, what does he mean by the phrase “they will finish the great circle”? What is this “great circle” of which he speaks? 12. Find at least two specific passages that you think Crevecoeur included for purposes of propaganda and explain the following: How is this passage used as propaganda? Propaganda for what? What ideals is he trying to persuade us to believe?

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The Atlantic Slave Trade

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MatthaeusSeutter,RecenseditatotiusNoviBelgii,inAmericaseptentrionali(1730)

Nieu Amsterdam, [1642-1643] Source : http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?54671

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REVEREND PETER FONTAINE'S DEFENSE OF SLAVERY IN VIRGINIA (1757) As to your second query, if enslaving our fellow creatures be a practice agreeable to Christianity, it is answered in a great measure in many treatises at home, to which I refer you. I shall only mention something of our present state here. Like Adam, we are all apt to shift off the blame from ourselves and lay it upon others, how justly in our case you may judge. The Negroes are enslaved by the Negroes themselves before they are purchased by the masters of the ships who bring them here. It is, to be sure, at our choice whether we buy them or not, so this then is our crime, folly, or whatever you will please to call it. But our Assembly, foreseeing the ill consequences of importing such numbers among us, has often attempted to lay a duty upon them which would amount to a prohibition, such as £10 or £20 a head; but no governor dare pass such a law, having instructions to the contrary from the Board of Trade at home. By this means they are forced upon us, whether we will or will not. This plainly shows the African Company has the advantage of the colonies, and may do as it pleases with the Ministry. Indeed, since we have been exhausted of our little stock of cash by the war, the importation has stopped; our poverty then is our best security. There is no more picking for their ravenous jaws upon bare bones; but should we begin to thrive, they will be at same again. All our taxes are now laid upon slaves and on shippers of tobacco, which they wink at while we are in danger of being torn from them, but we dare not do it in time of peace, it being looked upon as the highest presumption to lay any burden upon trade. This is our part of the grievance, but to live in Virginia without slaves is morally impossible. Before our troubles, you could not hire a servant or slave for love or money, so that, unless robust enough to cut wood, to go to mill, to work at the hoe, etc., you must starve or board in some family where they both fleece and half starve you. There is no set price upon corn, wheat, and provisions; so they take advantage of the necessities of strangers, who are thus obliged to purchase some slaves and land. This, of course, draws us all into the original sin and curse of the country of purchasing slaves, and this is the reason we have no merchants, traders, or artificers of any sort but what become planters in a short time. A common laborer, white or black, if you can be so much favored as to hire one, is 1s . sterling or 15d. currency per day; a bungling carpenter, 2s. or 2s. 6d.. per day; besides diet and lodging. That is, for a lazy fellow to get wood and water, £19 16s. 3d. current per annum; add to this £7 or £8 more and you have a slave for life. Education in the United States - A Documentary History, Volume I, edited by Sol Cohen, Random House, Inc., 1974

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Chapter 5: The road to the revolution

The Declaracon of the People, 30 July 1676 • For haveing upon specious pretences of publiqe works raised greate unjust taxes upon

the Comonality for the advancement of private favorites and other sinister ends, but noe visible effects in any measure adequate, For not haveing dureing this long time of his Gouvernement in any measure advanced this hopefull Colony either by fortificacons Townes or Trade.

• For haveing abused and rendred contemptable the Magistrates of Justice, by advanceing to places of Judicature, scandalous and Ignorant favorites.

• For haveing wronged his Majesties prerogative and interest, by assumeing Monopoly of the Beaver trade, and for haveing in that unjust gaine betrayed and sold his Majesties Country and the lives of his loyall subjects, to the barbarous heathen.

• For haveing, protected, favoured, and Imboldned the Indians against his Majesties loyall subjects, never contriveing, requireing, or appointing any due or proper meanes of sattisfaction for theire many Invasions, robbories, and murthers comitted upon us.

• For haveing when the Army of English, was just upon the track of those Indians, who now in all places burne, spoyle, murther and when we might with ease have distroyed them: who then were in open hostillity, for then haveing expressly countermanded, and sent back our Army, by passing his word for the peaceable demeanour of the said Indians, who imediately prosecuted theire evill intentions, comitting horred murthers and robberies in all places, being protected by the said ingagement and word past of him the said Sir William Berkeley, haveing ruined and laid desolate a greate part of his Majesties Country, and have now drawne themselves into such obscure and remote places, and are by theire success soe imboldned and confirmed, by theire confederacy soe strengthned that the cryes of blood are in all places, and the terror, and constimation of the peOple soe greate, are now become, not onely a difficult, but a very formidable enimy, who might att first with ease have beene distroyed.

• And lately when upon the loud outcryes of blood the Assembly had with all care raised and framed an Army for the preventing of further mischeife and safeguard of this his Majesties Colony.

• For haveing with onely the privacy of some few favorites, without acquainting the people, onely by the alteracon of a figure, forged a Comission, by we know not what hand, not onely without, but even against the consent of the people, for the raiseing and effecting civill warr and distruction, which being happily and without blood shed prevented, for haveing the second time attempted the same, thereby calling downe our forces from the defence of the fronteeres and most weekely expoased places.

• For the prevencon of civill mischeife and ruin amongst ourselves, whilst the barbarous enimy in all places did invade, murther and spoyle us, his majesties most faithfull subjects.

Of this and the aforesaid Articles we accuse Sir William Berkeley as guilty of each and every one of the same, and as one who hath traiterously attempted, violated and Injured his Majesties interest here, by a loss of a greate part of this his Colony and many of his faithfull loyall subjects, by him betrayed and in a barbarous and shamefull manner expoased to the Incursions and murther of the heathen, And we doe further declare these the ensueing persons in this list, to have beene his wicked and pernicious councellours Confederates, aiders, and assisters against the Comonality in these our Civill comotions. … And we doe further demand that the said Sir William Berkeley with all the persons in this list be forthwith delivered up or surrender themselves within fower days after the notice hereof, Or otherwise we declare as followeth. That in whatsoever place, howse, or ship, any of the said persons shall reside, be hidd,

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or protected, we declaire the owners, Masters or Inhabitants of the said places, to be confederates and trayters to the people and the estates of them is alsoe of all the aforesaid persons to be confiscated, and this we the Comons of Virginia doe declare, desiering a firme union amongst our selves that we may joyntly and with one accord defend our selves against the common Enimy, and lett not the faults of the guilty be the reproach of the inocent, or the faults or crimes of the oppressours devide and separate us who have suffered by theire oppressions. These are therefore in his majesties name to command you forthwith to seize the persons above mentioned as Trayters to the King and Country and them to bring to Midle plantacon, and there to secure them untill further order, and in case of opposition, if you want any further assistance you are forthwith to demand itt in the name of the people in all the Counties of Virginia. Nathaniel Bacon, Generall by Consent of the people. Source: Library of Virginia, Historic Virginia Documents.

THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION IN AMERICA

A Letter from a Gentleman of the City of New York (1689). [New Yorkers also engaged in an insurrection as part of the overthrow of the Dominion of New England. An immediate difference, however, was the ethnicity of the rebels in New York. The active rebels were overwhelmingly Dutch, and had no held positions of authority in New York prior to the insurrection. Their leader was a man named Jacob Leisler. Leisler's Rebellion sparked a division among New Yorkers that largely followed ethnic and class lines. Below is a hostile account of Leisler's Rebellion, which exulted in demise and the execution of Leisler and his chief assistant, Jacob Milbourne.] Sir; I cannot but admire to hear that some Gentlemen still have a good Opinion of the late Disorders committed by Capt. Jacob Leysler, and his Accomplices, in New-York, as if they had been for His Majesties Service, and the Security of that Province; and that such Monstrous Falshoods do find Credit, That the Persons before in Commission, and did labour to oppose and prevent those Disorders, were Jacobites [Catholic plotters against the English crown], or Persons ill affected to the Happy Revolution in England... Wherefore I shall endeavour to give you a true and brief Account of that matter, as I my self have been a Personal Witness to most of them. It was about the beginning of April, 1689, when the first Reports arrived at New-York, that the Prince of Orange [William III], now his present Majesty, was arrived in England with considerable Forces, and that the late King James was fled into France, and that it

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was expected War would be soon proclaimed between England and France. The Leiut. Governour, Francis Nicholson, and the Council, being Protestants, resolved thereupon to suspend all Roman Catholicks from Command and Places of Trust in the Govemment... But against Expectation it soon happened, that on the last day of said Month of May, Capt. Leysler … did in a Seditious manner stir up the meanest sort of the Inhabitants (affirming, That King James being fled the Kingdom, all manner of Government was fallen in this Province) to rise in Arms, and forcibly possess themselves of the Fort and Stores, … a party of Armed Men came from the Fort, and forced the Lieut. Governour to deliver them the Keys: and seized also in his Chamber a Chest with Seven Hundred Seventy Three Pounds, Twelve Shillings, in Money of the Government. And though Coll. Bayard, with some others appointed by the Convention, used all endeavours to prevent those Disorders, all proved vain; for most of those that appeared in Arms were Drunk, and cryed out, They disowned all manner of Government. Whereupon, by Capt. Leysler's perswasion, they proclaimed him to be their Commander. Capt. Leysler being in this manner possest of the Fort, took some Persons to his Assistance, which he call'd, The Committee of Safety. And the Lieut. Governour, Francis Nicollson, being in this manner forced out of his Command, for the safety of his Person, which was daily threatned, withdrew out of the Province. About a week after, Reports came from Boston, That their Royal Highnesses, the Prince and Princess of Orange were proclaimed King and Queen of England. Whereupon the Council and Convention were very desirous to get that Proclamation, and not only wrote for it, but some of them hearing that two Gentlemen were coming from Connecticut with a Copy of said Proclamation, went out two days to meet them, in expectation of having the Happiness to proclaim it; but Major Gold and Mr. Fitz, missing them, having put the Proclamation into Capt. Leysler's hands, he, without taking any Notice of the Council or Convention, did proclaim the same, though very disorderly, after which he went with his Accomplices to the Fort, and the Gentlemen of the Council and Magistrates, and most of the principal Inhabitants and Merchants, went to Col. Bayards House and drank the Health and Prosperity of King William and Queen Mary with great Expressions of Joy. … And thus you may see how he used and exercised an Exorbitant, Arbitrary and Unlawful Power over the Persons and Estates of his Majesties good Subjects here, against the known and Fundamental Laws of the Land, and in subvertion of the same, to the great Oppression of his Majesties Subjects, and to the apparent decay of Trade and Commerce. In this Calamity, Misery and Confusion was this Province, by those Disorders, enthrawled near the space of two years, until the arrival of his Majesties Forces, under the command of Major Ingoldsby, who, with several Gentlemen of the Council, arrived about the last day of January, 1690/1 … Whereupon . . . the said Leysler proceeded to make War against them and the Kings Forces, and fired a vast Number of great and small Shot in the City, whereby several of his Majesties Subjects were killed and wounded as they passed in the streets. … the said Capt. Leysler, with some of the chief Malefactors, to be bound over to answer their Crimes at the next Supream Court of Judicature, where the said Leysler and his pretended Secretary Millborn did appear, but refused to plead to the Indictment of the grand Jury, or to own the Jurisdiction of that Court; and so after several hearings, as Mutes, were found guilty of High Treason and Murder, and executed accordingly. Source: Charles M. Andrews, Narratives of the Insurrections, 1675-1690 (New York, 1915), 186-90. *Some spelling has been modernized.

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THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

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Thomas Paine, Common Sense, January 1776

. . . Mankind being originally equal in the order of creation, the equality could only be destroyed by some subsequent circumstance: the distinctions of rich and poor may in a great measure be accounted for, and that without having recourse to the harsh ill-sounding names of oppression and avarice. Oppression is often the consequence, but seldom or never the means of riches; and though avarice will preserve a man from being necessitously poor, it generally makes him too timorous to be wealthy.

But there is another and greater distinction for which no truly natural or religious reason can be assigned, and that is the distinction of men into KINGS and SUBJECTS. Male and female are the distinctions of nature, good and bad the distinctions of heaven; but how a race of men came into the world so exalted above the rest, and distinguished like some new species, is worth inquiring into, and whether they are the means of happiness or of misery to mankind.

In the early ages of the world, according to the scripture chronology there were no kings; the consequence of which was, there were no wars; it is the pride of kings which throws mankind into confusion. . . .

I have heard it asserted by some, that as America has flourished under her former connection with Great Britain, the same connection is necessary towards her future happiness, and will always have the same effect. Nothing can be more fallacious than this kind of argument.

I challenge the warmest advocate for reconciliation to show a single advantage that this continent can reap by being connected with Great Britain. I repeat the challenge; not a single advantage is derived. Our corn will fetch its price in any market in Europe, and our imported goods must be paid for, buy them where we will.

But the injuries and disadvantages which we sustain by that connection, are without number; and our duty to mankind at large, as well as to ourselves, instruct us to renounce the alliance: because, any submission to, or dependence on, Great Britain, tends directly to involve this continent in European wars and quarrels, and set us at variance with nations who would otherwise seek our friendship, and against whom we have neither anger nor complaint. As Europe is our market for trade, we ought to form no partial connection with any part of it. It is the true interest of America to steer clear of European contentions, which she never can do, while, by her dependence on Britain, she is made the makeweight in the scale of British politics.

The blood of the slain, the weeping voice of nature cries, 'TIS TIME TO PART. Even the distance at which the Almighty hath placed England and America is a strong and natural proof that the authority of the one over the other, was never the design of heaven.

Small islands not capable of protecting themselves are the proper objects for government to take under their care; but there is something absurd, in supposing a Continent to be perpetually governed by an island. In no instance hath nature made the satellite larger than its primary planet; and as England and America, with respect to each other, reverse the common order of nature, it is evident that they belong to different systems. England to Europe: America to itself.

But where, say some, is the king of America? I'll tell you, friend, he reigns above, and doth not make havoc of mankind like the royal brute of Great Britain… in America the law is king. For as in absolute governments the king is law, so in free countries the law ought to be king; and there ought to be no other.

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The Declaration of Independence, 4th July 1776

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. -- Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world. He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within. He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands. He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance. He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature. He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to civil power. He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation: • For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: • For protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on

the inhabitants of these states: • For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:

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• For imposing taxes on us without our consent: • For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury: • For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses: • For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an

arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule in these colonies:

• For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments:

• For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation. He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands. He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions. In Jefferson's draft there is a part on slavery here In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends. We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.