Month: May 2024

1961: JFK Inaugural

ESSENTIAL QUESTION

How did John Kennedy use language to defend freedom and encourage Americans to serve their country?

CONTEXT

John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963) was the 35th President of the United States. Born to an Irish family in Massachusetts, he served in the US Navy during World War II and later served in the US House and Senate. In 1960 he was the youngest man elected to the US presidency and was the first Roman Catholic President of the US. America was in the throes of the Cold War and questions were raised as to whether, considering his youth and background, he would be able to lead the US. This text is from his Inaugural Address on January 20, 1961.

TEXT

We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom–symbolizing an end as well as a beginning–signifying renewal as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forbears prescribed nearly a century and three-quarters ago.

The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe–the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.

We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans–born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage–and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty…

Finally, to those nations who would make themselves our adversary, we offer not a pledge but a request: that both sides begin anew the quest for peace, before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self-destruction.

We dare not tempt them with weakness. For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed.

But neither can two great and powerful groups of nations take comfort from our present course–both sides overburdened by the cost of modern weapons, both rightly alarmed by the steady spread of the deadly atom, yet both racing to alter that uncertain balance of terror that stays the hand of mankind’s final war.

So let us begin anew–remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.

Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us…

In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility–I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it–and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you–ask what you can do for your country.

My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man…

INQUIRY

  1. Kennedy’s election in 1960 was controversial for several reasons: he was much younger than previous presidents and he was the first Roman Catholic to be elected president. How did JFK connect himself to previous presidents?
  2. How did JFK attempt to reduce conflict between political parties? Describe the juxtapositions he uses. ( A juxtaposition places two things close together to contrast them).
  3. How did JFK allude (indirectly suggest) to the atomic bomb?
  4. How did JFK explain that even though America is influenced by the Founding Fathers, times are now different? What imagery did he use?
  5. What is the “torch” that has been passed to “a new generation”?
  6. Describe JFK’s “new generation of Americans.”
  7. What is “the deadly atom”?
  8. How did Kennedy describe America’s responsibility to protect liberty?
  9. Kennedy used juxtaposition (two things placed close together with contrasting effect) several times. Give at least three examples and explain their purposes.
  10. What did Kennedy ask his audience to do?
  11. What is the tone of this speech? Give examples.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

jfklibrary.org

https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/john-f-kennedy/

https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/president-john-f-kennedys-inaugural-address

1849: Thoreau’s “Disobedience”

ESSENTIAL QUESTION

How did Henry David Thoreau define the role of the government?

CONTEXT

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was born in Concord, Massachusetts, and graduated from Harvard in 1837. He had several jobs over the years, including teacher, pencil maker, poet, naturalist, speaker, and writer, and he kept a journal most of his life. He was friends with Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), and both were well-known Transcendentalists.

Thoreau built a cabin on the shores of Walden Pond in Massachusetts and lived there for two years (1845-1847). During that time he spent a night in jail for not paying his poll taxes, protesting the US government’s position on slavery and the Mexican-American War. One of his most well-known essays, “Civil Disobedience,” was written in 1849, and in 1854 his book Walden was published, based on his time on Walden Pond. Thoreau died at home in 1862 from tuberculosis.

This except is from “Civil Disobedience.”

TEXT

I heartily accept the motto-“That government is best which governs least;” and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe,–“That government is best which governs not at all;” and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have. Government is at best but an expedient; but most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes, inexpedient…The government itself, which is only the mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it…

Governments show thus how successfully men can be imposed on, even impose on themselves, for their own advantage. It is excellent, we must all allow; yet this government never of itself furthered any enterprise, but by the alacrity with which it got out of its way. It does not keep the country free. It does not settle the West. It does not educate. The character inherent in the American people has done all that has been accomplished; and it would have done somewhat more, if the government had not sometimes got in its way …

But, to speak practically and as a citizen, unlike those who call themselves, no-government men, I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government. Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it.

INQUIRY

  1. What is transcendentalism?
  2. Did Thoreau believe in a strong government? How do you know? Cite from the text.
  3. What did he mean by “government is at best but an expedient”? What is an expedient? Give an example either from Thoreau’s time or today.
  4. What did Thoreau mean by “when men are prepared for it”?
  5. How did Thoreau define government in the first paragraph? What is the job of government?
  6. According to Thoreau, how can government further “any enterprise”?
  7. In the second paragraph, according to Thoreau what does the government not do? What or who has accomplished these things?
  8. In the third paragraph, what type of government did Thoreau call for?
  9. What did Thoreau say is the first step toward obtaining a good government?
  10. In 1850 the US had only 31 states and several territories. Slavery, industrialization, and territorial expansion were major national issues. How might those conditions have influenced Thoreau’s thoughts about government?

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/henry-david-thoreau

https://www.nps.gov/places/walden-pond-in-the-walden-pond-state-reservation.htm