Author: Joseph J. Ellis File Type: epub From Pulitzer Prizewinning American historian Joseph J. Ellis, the unexpected story of why the thirteen colonies, having just fought off the imposition of a distant centralized governing power, would decide to subordinate themselves anew. We all know the famous opening phrase of Lincolns Gettysburg Address Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this Continent a new Nation. The truth is different. In 1776, thirteen American colonies declared themselves independent states that only temporarily joined forces in order to defeat the British. Once victorious, they planned to go their separate ways. The triumph of the American Revolution was neither an ideological nor a political guarantee that the colonies would relinquish their independence and accept the creation of a federal government with power over their autonomy as states. The Quartet is the story of this second American founding and of the men most responsibleGeorge Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison. These men, with the help of Robert Morris and Gouverneur Morris, shaped the contours of American history by diagnosing the systemic dysfunctions created by the Articles of Confederation, manipulating the political process to force the calling of the Constitutional Convention, conspiring to set the agenda in Philadelphia, orchestrating the debate in the state ratifying conventions, and, finally, drafting the Bill of Rights to assure state compliance with the constitutional settlement. Ellis has given us a gripping and dramatic portrait of one of the most crucial and misconstrued periods in American history the years between the end of the Revolution and the formation of the federal government. The Quartet unmasks a myth, and in its place presents an even more compelling truthone that lies at the heart of understanding the creation of the United States of America. **

Author: Carrie James File Type: pdf Fresh from a party, a teen posts a photo on Facebook of a friend drinking a beer. A college student repurposes an article from Wikipedia for a paper. A group of players in a multiplayer online game routinely cheat new players by selling them worthless virtual accessories for high prices. In Disconnected, Carrie James examines how young people and the adults in their lives think about these sorts of online dilemmas, describing ethical blind spots and disconnects. Drawing on extensive interviews with young people between the ages of 10 and 25, James describes the nature of their thinking about privacy, property, and participation online. She identifies three ways that young people approach online activities. A teen might practice self-focused thinking, concerned mostly about consequences for herself moral thinking, concerned about the consequences for people he knows or ethical thinking, concerned about unknown individuals and larger communities. James finds, among other things, that youth are often blind to moral or ethical concerns about privacy that attitudes toward property range from whats theirs is theirs to free for all that hostile speech can be met with a belief that online content is just a joke and that adults who are consulted about such dilemmas often emphasize personal safety issues over online ethics and citizenship. Considering ways to address the digital ethics gap, James offers a vision of conscientious connectivity, which involves ethical thinking skills but, perhaps more important, is marked by sensitivity to the dilemmas posed by online life, a motivation to wrestle with them, and a sense of moral agency that supports socially positive online actions.** Fresh from a party, a teen posts a photo on Facebook of a friend drinking a beer. A college student repurposes an article from Wikipedia for a paper. A group of players in a multiplayer online game routinely cheat new players by selling them worthless virtual accessories for high prices. In Disconnected, Carrie James examines how young people and the adults in their lives think about these sorts of online dilemmas, describing ethical blind spots and disconnects. Drawing on extensive interviews with young people between the ages of 10 and 25, James describes the nature of their thinking about privacy, property, and participation online. She identifies three ways that young people approach online activities. A teen might practice self-focused thinking, concerned mostly about consequences for herself moral thinking, concerned about the consequences for people he knows or ethical thinking, concerned about unknown individuals and larger communities. James finds, among other things, that youth are often blind to moral or ethical concerns about privacy that attitudes toward property range from whats theirs is theirs to free for all that hostile speech can be met with a belief that online content is just a joke and that adults who are consulted about such dilemmas often emphasize personal safety issues over online ethics and citizenship. Considering ways to address the digital ethics gap, James offers a vision of conscientious connectivity, which involves ethical thinking skills but, perhaps more important, is marked by sensitivity to the dilemmas posed by online life, a motivation to wrestle with them, and a sense of moral agency that supports socially positive online actions.**ReviewCarrie Jamess thought-provoking book offers a nuanced and sobering account of how youth think about, and at times ignore, moral and ethical issues related to online privacy, property, and participation. Whether or not one agrees with her diagnosis of a moral and ethical gap, the book demonstrates uniquely the challenges of aligning fluid youth perspectives and practices with adult-normative views on ethical problems in the evolving digital environment.(Urs Gasser, Professor of Practice, Harvard Law School Executive Director, Berkman Center for Internet & Society coauthor of Born Digital and Interop) This book is a wakeup call for anyone with a stake in the health of online culture and society. James focuses on ethical breakdowns, disconnects, and blind-spots in young peoples view of online life, while noting that the real responsibility lies in the adult worlds failure to provide positive examples and meaningful guidance. She argues for the need to move beyond simple scare tactics about negative consequences to a deeper engagement with and reflection on what it means to be part of collective life in a networked era.(Mizuko Ito, Professor in Residence, University of California Humanities Research Institute author of Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out Kids Living and Learning with New Media) In this timely and fascinating book, Carrie James presents a revealing look at how todays young respond to ethical dilemmas in an online world. It should be essential reading for anyone wishing to understand the effect of the new media on young peoples social and moral development. James offers wise guidance for developing sound ethical footing in the digital age.(William Damon, Professor of Education, Stanford University) American university presses have filled their lists exposing the threat of new media. But what renders this short book superior to the usual young people are out of our control diatribe is its focus on the ethics of online participation.(Times Higher Education) Disconnected Youth, New Media, and the Ethics Gap is an enlightening read, not only for its analysis of online decision making but also for its revelation of what youth have (and havent) learned from the adults in their lives prior to making those decisions. Jamess work is relevant for any parent, teacher, graduate student, and professor who has ever wondered, in response to a young persons ethically questionable decision online, What were they thinking? Upon reading Disconnected, however, well-meaning adults will realize that the question they should ask What are we teaching? After all, the so-called digital natives were born into a participatory culture. Their predecessors should be willing to inform them of and guide them with principles of ethical participation.(Nancy Clare Morgan Journal of Digital and Media Literacy) About the Author Carrie James is a sociologist and Principal Investigator at Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She was codirector (with Howard Gardner) of the Good Play Project, which collected the data that inform Disconnected.