We discussed the Puritan conception of the American land as a covenant land. We explored the question of American exceptionality from both secular and sacred points of view. We considered that the American Founding and the structure of the Constitution of the United States are historically exceptional. We considered the impact of the Constitution on the governmental structures of many other nations which have allowed many to share in similar freedoms and opportunities to those enjoyed by Americans. We also considered that America is only exceptional in so long as it's people choose to be self-governed. The Constitution creates a space in which true liberty, or freedom from tyranny of the self, can flourish. Religiously, the Americas have been a promised land where significant spiritual purposes have been fulfilled: the Garden of Eden, a land of liberty for Jaredites and Nephites, the cradle of the Restoration of the Gospel, the headquarters for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to go forth to the rest of the world. We began considering what it means to be a promised land, and what the American covenant is. We will continue this discussion tomorrow.
No homework.
AP
We began learning about how to write a synthesis essay. We looked at two sources: a Keep America Beautiful PSA commercial and Columbus' letter to see how the producer/author would answer the prompt (See below.).
Homework: Complete the synthesis argument summaries for the three articles received in class.
Synthesis Essay Prompt: The Question of Wilderness
The Wilderness Act of 1964 was written by Howard Zahniser of
The Wilderness Society. It created the legal definition of wilderness in the
United States, and protected 9.1 million acres (36,000 km²) of federal land.
The result of a long effort to protect federal wilderness and to create a
formal mechanism for designating wilderness, the Wilderness Act was signed into
law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 3, 1964 after over sixty drafts
and eight years of work.
The Wilderness Act is well known for its succinct and poetic
definition of wilderness:
“A wilderness, in
contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape,
is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are
untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.”
The current amount of areas designated by the NWPS as wilderness
totals 757 areas encompassing 109.5 million acres of federally owned land in 44
states and Puerto Rico (5% of the land in the United States).
The Wilderness Act was designed to protect wilderness areas
from direct and immediate human disturbances, but serious questions have been
raised about the legal meaning of “wilderness” when the areas are deemed
threatened by human-induced changes occurring on a much wider, or even global, scale.
Some have advocated for increased interventions into the natural ecologies of
wilderness areas, including an emphasis on restoring wildlife populations, in
order to preempt or counteract such changes.
Carefully read the following sources. Then in an essay that
synthesizes at least three of the sources for support, take a position on the
following question. To what extent do
you agree with the definition of wilderness as defined by the Wilderness Act of
1964? To what extent should this definition be the basis for federal laws
protecting or restoring land?
Make certain that you take a position and that the essay
centers on your argument.
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