Unit 3 Reflection

An individual and their government have mutual duties to each other.  The readings from unit 3 were able to help me gain a better understanding of these obligations.  Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail showed the importance of using your talents to better society.  The Declaration of Independence, by Thomas Jefferson, and "The Crisis, Number 1", by Thomas Paine, both reflected the idea that a government must govern in a way that is best for the people, and if this is not the primary motive of a government, then they are corrupt and must be put out of power.  These mutual duties must be followed in order to have a society grow and prosper.

An individual must use their talents to better their society.  For Martin Luther King Jr., it was his rhetoric.  He was able to persuade many people that African Americans weren't any less than whites.  He made his society better through the rhetoric in his speeches and other writings, which effectively impressed his ideas onto others.  Though the talents that better society do not have to be related to the use of rhetoric, other talents are just as helpful, and citizens are obligated to do whatever they can to improve their society.

A government must govern its people in way that benefits the citizens.  When a government does not have its people as top priority, they are corrupt.  This was shown through "The Crisis, Number 1" and The Declaration of Independence.  In Paine's piece this is shown because he tells the people that the British government does not care for them and tries to oppress them.  He uses this point to try to rally the colonists to revolt against the crown.  This idea was also reflected in The Declaration of Independence.  Jefferson states to the British government that the colonists are being oppressed and that they will have no more of it.  He also states that the colonists are creating their own new nation that is separate from Britain.  This displayed that a government must act in a way to benefit its people because if a government is without what is best for the people in mind, the citizens will not want to be governed by a corrupt system.

Overall, Unit 3 added on to what the other two units had taught me.  Through the readings of Martin Luther King Jr., Thomas Paine, and Thomas Jefferson, I found that an Individual must try to better society through using the talents that they were given.  Also, a government must act in a way that is best for its people.  A society will be successful and sustain itself if both the individual and the government can fulfill their duties.