• "All the money you save, or acquire by their labour is stolen from them; and however plausible the excuse may be, that you form to reconcile it to your consciences, yet be assured, that your crime stands registered in the court of Heaven as a breach of the eighth commandment" (p. 45). 

I chose this quote from Benjamin Rush because it stood out to me the most. What Benjamin Rush is saying is, slave owners are reaping the rewards through their slaves hard physical labor. Slave owners try to rationale and easy their minds and conscience finding excuses on how and why slavery is good to the advantage of them and not the slaves. And the ultimate consequence of this crime of slavery will be noticed at the gates of Heaven because it goes against the eighth commandment; Christianity. He saying this because he is against slavery and emphasizing the point that those who claim the Christian religion, that slave ownership is the very subject against Christian value.

• That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or 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 (p. 59).

People have the right to abolish the very government that is not their natural rights. People basically have the right to "rebel" if the government starts to act tyrannical like it was in Europe. It is the right if the people to make a new government that would protect their rights and safety and would make them happy. The founders made sure this was put in the D.o.I. because they want the people's rights to be protected; wanted a government that the people are just as much apart of. They didn't want to be apart of the same type of government like they were apart of before. They are basing this off the learned experience they had.

• In truth it is inequality that is the illusion. The extreme disproportion between men, that we seem to see in life, is a thing of changing lights and lengthening shadows. A twilight full of fancies and distortions....It is the experience of men that always returns to the equality of men; it is the average that ultimately justifies the average man. It is when  men have seen and suffered much and come at the end of their elaborate experiments, that they see men under an equal light of death and daily laughter; and none the less mysterious for being many (p. 19).

 What I think Chesterton is trying to say in this quote is, when it comes down to it, no man is unequal, we are all in one sense the same. Extreme ideas of inequalities are just a figment of out imagination; made up. Through the experiences of men, the realization of equality comes back around and through much suffering, we all do the same thing which is either laugh an or die; not much of an equality among men.

 I can see what Chesterton is saying, but I have to disagree. Every man is different and goes through different types of struggles. We are the same in the sense that we have struggles, but it is the types of struggles that shows a difference. I think inequalities are real and are not made up. People's individual difference(race, s.e.s., religion) already puts that inequality wall up.

• The South, in fact, while this vast Northern development has gone on, still remains an English colony, stagnant and complacent, having progressed scarcely beyond the early Victorian era. It is culturally sterile because it has had no advantage of cross-fertilization like the Northern states....

       What I believe Bourne is saying through this quote is, southern states are not culturally mixed up as the northern states are. Like the English colonies, the south hasn't mentally developed with being opened to new cultures having an impact with their already stable culture. The south in many ways is set in their way of living and have no advantages like the north, due to their "no room for change" attitudes. The dominant idea in the south is very Anglo-Saxon and anyone who lives there has to live by that idea despite what culture they may be native to. Due to their Anglo-Saxon mind frame, they truly have lagged behind in development, compared to the north.

        In the same sense I feel the south hasn't really developed as much as the north because they are to this day still very closed to a lot of different cultural influences. Though many different types of people from different cultures dwell their now, I feel the south is still very much Anglo-Saxon mind driven. I chose to interpret this quote because it stood out to me the most. For a greater part of my childhood, I was raised in North Carolina, so I can say I have personally observed what the south's dominant ideology is.  Maybe due to the south's history, the Civil War and Civil Rights movement, I feel the south is still very developmentally sterile and closed minded to other cultures. I lived in both the south and north and can tell there is a clear distinction of the two.
          

new blogger!

I am so happy i created my first blog!