Changing Notions in the Colonies

 FIRST: Please read or skim chapter 4 in our textbook, Foner’s Give Me Liberty: An American History, volume I. THEN: Read the following primary sources closely. Read these excerpts from John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government, written and published about 1689 (https://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/163locke.html). This book was written by Locke soon after the Glorious Revolution, so-called because England’s Parliament deposed King James II and promoted the Dutch prince, William of Orange, to the position of King of England. Consider as you read that this was written as a justification to explain this huge event– monarchs believed themselves chosen by God to lead, so how can we wrap our 17th-century minds around the fact that an elected Parliament fired the King (despite his ‘God-divined’ bloodline) Read this excerpt from Henry Care’s 1685 piece, English Liberties, Or, The Free-Born Subject’s Inheritance (http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=3&psid=60). Read this webpage that features a timeline of laws governing slavery in Virginia (https://www.shsu.edu/~jll004/vabeachcourse_spring09/bacons_rebellion/slavelawincolonialvirginiatimeline.pdf) over the course of the 17th and 18th centuries. Read this short excerpt from an account of the 1736 trial of John Peter Zenger (http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/becomingamer/american/text3/zengertrial.pdf) written by Zenger and his lawyer after his acquittal. This was the trial of the century, and the book published was widely-read. Read Governor William Bull’s report on the 1739 Stono Rebellion in South Carolina (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1h311t.html). FINALLY: Complete the written assignment below. Referencing as many of this week’s readings as you can, answer the following prompt completely: Contrast British liberty and African slavery. How was the enslavement of blacks justified by slaveowners, despite popular Enlightenment ideals? What can you tell were the major concerns regarding the guaranteed freedoms and protections of Englishmen? What can you tell were the major concerns of slaveowners and white slave-owning societies, like Virginia colony?. Your response should be at least 600 words, double-spaced and cited in Chicago format. A cover page not necessary for this assignment.