10. Do all people do what they think is right? How can you tell what is right and wrong?
B. Why is it wrong for the great and powerful to govern the small and weak? Does might make right?
C. Which would be the better government, one based upon might makes right, or one based upon right makes might? Why?
E. In a free country can the government prescribe what occupations in life the people must follow? How are the higher and better occupations acquired in America?
F. How did the American government come into being?
G. How would you organise a literary society? List the steps in detail. Would you have a constitution? What should be included in any constitution?
H. Discuss the effect of a sudden breakdown in government.
I. What were the first steps in the actual organisation of the government of the United States?
The Ways in Which the Postmaster, Superintendent of Schools, Sheriff, Coroner, or Judge Serves the People
Why We Cannot Locate Our Government On the Map
Definition Of Liberty And The Historical Background Of The Struggle For It
I hope that we now all understand that the purpose of government is to maintain the liberty of the people. I wish that every child would learn from the Declaration of Independence the following:
"_We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed._"(12)
This expresses the whole purpose of government--to secure the right to life, to liberty, and to happiness.
I suppose every child here would like to be rich some day. A great many people feel that riches bring happiness. The experience of men, however, is that riches more often bring disappointments, burdens, and grief.
_What is the most valuable thing in the world?_ It is not money, lands, nor jewels. The most valuable thing in the world is human liberty. I do not believe that we, born here in America, realize the value of human liberty. It comes to us as a heritage. We accept it as we accept the sunlight, the springtime, the harvest. I am afraid that we seldom stop to recall the fact that the great blessing of human liberty, as we have it here in America, did not exist before our Nation was born. Always remember that there were thousands of years before our country came into being, when the people, men, women, and children living in many countries of the world and under many forms of government dreamed, hoped, and prayed for freedom. But it never came to them. They lived, labored, and died under kings and emperors, or other rulers, never having any power, or at most very limited power, in making the laws under which they were compelled to live.(13)