Good morning.

All library books should now be returned to school.  Please return books by the end of the week.

Watch for two invitations today for meetings tomorrow.

8ELA

-Yesterday you read chapter 3 and today is small group work.  You were told this yesterday.  You'll be receiving your invitations early this morning with the topic your small group will work on and present to me.
-Remember your meetings tomorrow:  you'll have one between 12 and 2 (your group of 12-ish) and you'll have a second one at 2 (8M and 8B)

8SS

-I collected homework yesterday on Feudalism.  Please find the answers below; compare your work to mine then move onto the new topic.


Feudalism Answers

1.  Feudalism developed because there was no central government and people needed protection and law and order from the lords (the powerful people in the area) and were willing to trade loyalty and service for it.

2.  a)  king-someone who holds absolute power and rules with divine right

b)  vassal-someone who received land from a king/higher lord

c)  knight-a specially trained warrior who works for a lord

d)  fief-the land granted to a lord from a king

3.  Feudalism is a political system/way of running government where land is exchanged for loyalty

4.  When a vassal is “doing homage” he is make a solemn promise to honour all his vassal commitments.

5.  A mercenary knight is not loyal to a specific lord and he acts as a professional soldier whereas a knight is loyal to a vassal and follows commitments.

6.  king above vassal above knight above peasant above serf  **a serf is tied/bound to the land and doesn’t have the freedom of a peasant.

-Today's new topic:  Manorialism
-Imagine you live in a place that is really pretty. There are hills all around you and lots of open space. There’s a beautiful river and good rainfall. You have good neighbors and a home of your own. It’s just a little home with a dirt floor and a thatched roof, but you like it. It’s what you know.

-You also know that there are other people who live on the hill right next to yours. You’ve never actually seen them, but you’ve heard about them. You’ve heard that the people who live on the other side of the hill burn down houses just for the fun of it. They’d burn down yours if they knew where you lived.

-You are really afraid of the people who live on the other side of the hill, so you don’t want to travel past them. Instead, you stay home where things are pleasant. You make your own shoes, bake your bread, and live among people you’ve known all your life. You never travel anywhere because to do so you would have to pass the people who live on the other side of the hill, and that would be too scary.

-One person in your community is the leader—he is a warrior and has weapons. He showed up one day with some other men with weapons. Pretty soon, he had taken on the job of protecting all the people on your hill. He promised that if trouble came, if the people who lived on the other side of the hill came and tried to burn down your house, he would protect you. You believe him. He has weapons and he knows other people with weapons. You agree that if he will protect you, you and all the other good people who live on your hill will promise to work together to grow the crops, tend the livestock, bake the bread, sew the clothes, make the tools, and do the work. That is your job.

-That’s what people did for a very long time. They lived on their hill, they made everything they used, they grew all their food, and they never went anywhere. In exchange, the lord of the manor, who lived in the best house and did none of the work, promised to protect them. In these violent times, that was a really important promise. The people did not believe he would live very long, but better him than them.

-This was called the Manorial System. The manor was the smallest unit of feudal government.

-To us today, it sounds like peasants lived a pretty tough life. Even though their work was very hard and their lives were harsh, most peasants and serfs were at least content. They counted on the lord to take care of them in times of trouble, and he did. The lords understood that without the serfs and peasants, their comfortable lives would soon be gone. They might tell a peasant man in a harsh voice, ‘You must plow an acre of field today.’ They might tell a peasant child, ‘You must bake 14 loaves of bread today for my guests tonight.’ But what he could not say was, ‘Go away. Leave my land now.’

-Serfs stayed with the land, and that gave them a lot of comfort. The lord could not tell them to go away. Most peasants chose to stay. People stayed on the manor their whole lives. They were afraid to travel past the people who lived on the other side of the hill. By comparison to that terror, most peasants believed their life on the manor was a good one.

-Read the handout:  The Manorial System.  If you are able, print and highlight the major ideas as we would in class.







-Do the following questions; they are due tomorrow and I'll be collecting homework then.

The Manorial System

1. Why do you think was it illegal for serfs to run away and then be killed if caught?  Think about their relationship to the manor.  /2

2. What was the job of a bailiff?  /1

3. Why did serfs have to pay taxes to the lord?  /1

4. Why did serfs do everything their parish priest told them to do?  /1

5. Identify three feudal obligations the common people had to the owner of the manor?  /3

6. What feudal obligation did the owner of the manor have to the common people?  /1

7. While the manorial system is a characteristic of the feudal system, how are they different from each (think about what each one focusses on)?  /2


7SS

-Last class we learned the basics of democracy and what it looks like in democratic countries.  We now have a better idea of what is and what is not democracy.
-Please find the answers for Democracy Basics below; compare your work to mine then move onto the new topic.

Answers

1.  The five characteristics of democracy are that it is a process/it’s ongoing, people listen to each other, people can say what they think about things, people make decisions by talking and working together, and when decisions are made they are based on everyone’s opinions not just those of the decision-makers.

2.  Informal democracy works in a small group and there are no written rules because each person understands how to relate to each other; for instance, when a family decision needs to be made, you have an idea of what your parents might think about it or what your sibling might think about it.  Informal democracy in a school setting would be when a student council has to make a decision about whether to hold a dance or not OR informal democracy in the school setting would be when the class has to make a decision about whether to have a Secret Santa at Christmas or not.

3.  Representative democracy is when the group is very large so the people vote for someone to represent them—it’s about giving someone else your voice to act on your behalf.

4.  A constitution is a written set of rules that a country uses to govern.  It is necessary because without it everyone would want to do things his or her own way and it would be confusing and difficult to get things done—this way everyone follows the rules to get things done easily and efficiently.

5.  Athenian democracy was about male citizens making laws for their community BUT women and slaves were not allowed to help make these laws.  So, it was and was not democratic.  The male citizens working together is democratic because it wasn’t a king (one person) deciding for all—it was about Athenians deciding for all.

6.  The Magna Carta made life easier because now the king had to follow the rules like everyone else and he couldn’t abuse his power and do whatever he wanted.

7.  The American Constitution made life easier because of the idea of rule of law, meaning that everyone, even the people making the laws, had to follow the law and life got better because these laws would be fair and equal to everyone.

8.  The Iroquois League made life better because it was a slow process giving people time to think about their opinions to help them decide and then the decision had to be by consensus, meaning everyone had to agree. 

-Our new topic is Democracy and how it affects quality of life and we'll focus on how limits on our  freedoms and rights CAN make quality of life better

- think about the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (would have learned in gr. 6), what rights do we have as Canadians—not “human rights” though they might be the same—but rights as a Canadian citizen? (Brainstorm—right to move, right to religion, etc.)

-the Canadian government over time has created a democracy made up of six characteristics

-read p. 103

-notice how Canadian democracy reflects some of the UDHR?

-when a democratic government works well it can create a place where the needs and rights of an individual still work within the needs and rights of the whole society

-Example:  I like to drive fast and want to drive 80 km down all Winnipeg streets BUT the law puts a speed limit of 60 km on the streets—is that okay?  Limiting my desire to speed?  Discuss.  Other examples include increasing taxes to improve funding to health care.  Students should gain the understanding that no citizen has absolute freedom

-read p. 104, including blue box about Tommy Douglas

-so we can agree that having a say in the government is important—we can probably agree that limiting some rights is okay if it benefits the society, but how do we get there?  How do we create a democratic society?  How can we get government to hear our voices?

-read p. 105

-Complete the following questions; they are due tomorrow and I will call for homework then. 

Democracy and Collective Quality of Life

1.  List six characteristics of Canada’s democracy.  /6

2.  When these six characteristics are working together well, a democratic government can do many positive things.  Identify the four things that the Canadian government does well.  /4

3.  a)  What is Tommy Douglas best known for?  What does this provide Canadians?  /2

     b)  What inspired him?  /2

4.  List three ways everyone can help Canada’s democracy.  /3

5.  Review Figure 6.6.  This shows the percentage of Canadians in different parts of the country who voted in the 2004 election.  You’ll notice that some parts of Canada had less than 50% of the population voting but in other parts of the country over 62% of the population voted.  This means that most Canadians didn’t vote.  Think about this then:  is Canada a successful, thriving democracy when so few people voted?  /3

6.  From what you have learned about democracy, explain one way that democracy improves your quality of life.   /3