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Name:___________________

Class Period:___________________
Date:___________________

Revolutionary or Loyalist?
(Adapted from: https://coretools.ldc.org/mods/3c034eb1-93e7-4e26-b667-1b68f2560f20)

1. In the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, what are the unalienable
rights that are listed?

a. How do these unalienable rights compare with the individual rights of Common
Sense by Thomas Paine?

2. Identify why the Declaration of Independence argues it is important for governments to


derive their power from the consent of the governed?

3. Show how the American people, according to the Declaration of Independence, endure
their established form of government and suffer patiently?

4. In the second paragraph of the section in Common Sense titled Of the Origin and
Design of Government, analyze what the purpose of government is. Identify what the
best case scenario be for society and government?

5. According to Carole Watterson Troxler in Which Side to Take, many people chose to
stay loyal to the British and some even switched back and forth more than once! Locate
one reason in the article people might have chosen the side that they did?

6. Thinking as a colonist, discuss how you would feel if your neighbors broke the law and
harassed any one who didn't?
7. Considering the story of Connor Dowd in Which Side to Take, would side with Dowd or
Rowan? Evaluate each persons reasons and actions to justify your choice.

8. In the 5th paragraph beginning with what advantages could it be claimed, the author
lists two arguments he has heard people make for independence. Locate and list these
arguments.

9. Analyze how he refutes the two arguments.

10. In the paragraph beginning with 3 A third advantage and the paragraph after, locate
the alarming consequence that the author believes will happen if America becomes
dependent on France and Spain in order to fight and ruin Britain?

11. Recall Social Contract Theory, Thomas Hobbes argued that people trade freedom for
security. Evaluate how each side is arguing for either freedom or security.

12. Having read the documents, choose a side: Independence or Britain. In one page,
compare the arguments we have studied for and against independence. Justify your
choice by supporting your argument. Remember to predict and address the opposing
side's arguments.

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