Question.3895 - With the American Revolution came the (at least partial) abandonment of the old governmental structure and the promise of a new order. Since this direction was basically new to the western world, and the Patriots were selling this as a revolution against “tyranny,” to many it seemed as if anything was possible when creating the new government structure in the United States. Write an essay that discusses two examples from the primary sources in Voices of Freedom chapter 6 that represents different views on how the new government should differ from the old in how it represented it people. Your “how-conclusion” should compare or contrast the authors, audiences, and the purposes of your two chosen documents.
Answer Below:
The letter exchange between Abigail and John Adams on women' rights in 1776 and Thomas Jefferson's Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom (1779) are 2 examples I took from chapter 6. As he and other officials draft the nation's government, Abigail Adams writes to her husband, John Adams, urging him to "remember the ladies". In her letter, she makes a progressive case for women's rights, arguing that the government ought to depart from previous systems by giving women a voice and shielding them from the "arbitrary power" of men. Abigail's statements emphasize the expectation that Revolution's promise should extend beyond the political elite, but John's response minimizes her notion, considering women's equality to be extreme. Her viewpoints departs from the British system, which have women limited political agency, by advocating for a government that not only theoretically opposes tyranny but also guarantees equal treatment for genders. Jefferson's Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom, on the other hand, supports the separation of religion and state, reflecting a different approach to representation. Jefferson's measure would prohibit the new government from implementing the British system of an official state church by arguing that religious beliefs should be a matter of personal preferences rather than being imposed by the government. He felt that this idea would better protect religious minorities from prejudice and respect individual conscience. In conclusion, different perspectives on freedom and representation are reflected in the writings of Thomas Jefferson and Abigail Adams. Abigail's viewpoint, which supports women's rights, aims to challenge the historically male dominated standards and increase the representation of women in the government. In contrast, Jefferson's freedom emphasizes guaranteeing individual liberty within the framework of the state, creating room for a range of views free from central intervention.More Articles From History
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