Carolyn
Utah
Get ready for an emotional experience that will rock your school, thrill your heart and give you
hope for the future of America! This is an interactive simulated experience that staff and
participants love!
Participants are immigrants with the quest to become TRUE AMERICANS. Most people in
America were born in America and don’t know what it is like to not have the freedoms and
blessing we have. This event provides an opportunity for students to become “immigrants” on a
quest to become TRUE AMERICANS. It is an opportunity to “re-dedicate” our citizenship in the
principles that have made America great.
Volunteers and faculty become “Ellis Island Officials” who explain each Milestone of Freedom,
ask students to make the necessary citizenship commitments, and administer the citizenship test.
We define a TRUE AMERICAN as someone who loves the principles America was founded
upon and who will work to keep America free!
To recognize TRUE AMERICANS your school is turned into Ellis Island complete with an
interactive assembly, passports, citizenship testing, citizenship commitments and much more!
Those involved will sense a swell of patriotism as they go through the requirements to become
TRUE AMERICANS.
Full Event: Before the day starts teachers are taken through an in-service training where they are
given materials. Immigrants (students) come to an assembly and learn about Ellis Island and why
America is nation that many people will risk almost anything to come to. Then students are taken
through the Milestones of Freedom (staffed by parents who become Ellis Island Officials) where
they make citizenship commitments in their passports. They also take their 10-question
citizenship test, which must be passed with a score of 70%. Upon completion of all of the
Milestones, immigrants return for the closing assembly where they take the mock Oath of
Citizenship and get their citizenship certificates and TRUE AMERICAN stickers.
Assembly Only: Students come to the auditorium and experience a 45-minute presentation in an
interactive and dramatic presentation. At the conclusion the students take the Oath of
Citizenship. Teachers can obtain additional teaching aids to follow-through in the classroom.
The event can be left up in the evening for a presentation open to families and members of the
community. It can be used as a Literacy Night and a fundraiser to raise money for a Freedom
Gallery or curriculum from Roots of Freedom.
Milestones of Freedom
Milestone #1
LIBERTY IS WORTH FIGHTING FOR
“We have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on….An
appeal to arms and the God of Hosts is all that is left us! They tell us, sir, that we are weak,
unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger?…Shall we
gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance
by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies
shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of those means
that the God of nature hath placed in our power…Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles
alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up
friends to fight our battles for us…. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant,
the active, the brave. …Gentlemen may cry, peace, peace—but there is no peace. The war is
actually begun….Why stand we here idle?… Is life so dear or peace so sweet, as to be purchased
at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may
take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”
Patrick Henry, March 23, 1775
Citizenship Commitment: I am willing to stand up for liberty.
Milestone #2
THE RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE ARE SUPERIOR TO THE POWERS OF
GOVERNMENT
Understanding the Declaration of Independence is vital to understanding America, for it lays the
groundwork of all good government. The Declaration of Independence declares that all people
have natural rights that come from God and that government’s only function is to protect those
rights. These natural rights include life, liberty and property. Americans do not believe that one
person has more rights than any other person.
This basic belief also means that those people who serve in elected public offices are to be the
recipients of power from the people. Public servants do not give us power; we give them power!
This means that men or women in public office are the agents, not the masters, of the people.
This concept is the very foundation of America and is what separates us from all other nations. In
America, nobody is above the law.
Citizenship Commitment: I understand and agree that I have certain unalienable rights
such as my life, liberty and property and that government’s only legitimate function is to
help me protect those rights.
Milestone #3
LIBERTY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN SECURITY
But whatever may be our fate, be assured . . . that this Declaration will stand. It may cost
treasure, and it may cost blood; but it will stand and it will richly compensate for both.
Through the thick gloom of the present, I see the brightness of the future as the sun in heaven. We
shall make this a glorious day, an immortal day. When we are in our graves, our children will
honor it. They will celebrate it with thanksgiving, with festivity, with bonfires, and illuminations.
On its annual return they will shed tears, copious, gushing tears, not of subjection and slavery,
not of agony and distress, but of exultation, of gratitude and of joy.
Sir, before God, I believe the hour is come. My judgment approves this measure, and my whole
heart is in it. All that I have, and all that I am, and all that I hope, in this life, I am now ready
here to stake upon it; and I leave off as I began, that live or die, survive or perish, I am for the
Declaration. It is my living sentiment, and by the blessing of God it shall be my dying sentiment,
Independence now, and Independence forever.
Attributed to John Adams, July 4, 1776
Citizenship Commitment: I am willing to risk my security in order to insure my liberty.
Milestone #4
THE FOUNDATION FOR GOOD GOVERNMENT
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political
bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the
separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent
respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to
the separation.
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, — That whenever any Form of Government
becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to
institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in
such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine
Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
The Declaration of Independence
Citizenship Commitment: I accept the Declaration of Independence as our foundation for
good government.
Milestone #5
SUPPORT OF OUR MILITARY
All brave, healthy, able bodied, and well disposed young men in this neighborhood who have any
inclination to join the troops of General George Washington for the defense of the liberties and
independence of the United States against the hostile design of foreign enemies…Take Notice!!
This week we will be favored with music and recruiting party for the 11th regiment of infantry,
commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Aaron Ogden for the purpose of receiving the enrollment of
such youth of spirit, as may be willing to enter into this honorable service. The encouragement
at this time, to enlist, is truly liberal and generous, namely, a bounty of 12 dollars, an annual
and fully sufficient supply of good and handsome clothing, a daily allowance of a large and
ample ration of provisions, together with $60 a year in gold and silver money on account of pay,
the whole of which the soldier may lay up for himself and friends, as all articles proper for his
subsistence and comfort are provided by law, without any expense to him.
Those who may favor this recruiting party with their attendance will have an opportunity of
hearing and seeing in a more particular manner, the great advantages which these brave men
will have, who shall embrace this opportunity of spending a few happy years in viewing the
different parts of this beautiful continent, in the honorable and truly respectable character of a
soldier, after which, he may, if he pleases return home to his friends, with his pockets full of
money and his head covered with laurels. GOD SAVE THE UNITED STATES!!!
Revolutionary War Recruiting Circular
Citizenship Commitment: I am willing to voluntarily support our military in causes that
are under the Constitutional authority of the United States of America.
Milestone #6
HAVING HOPE IN AMERICA EVEN WHEN ALL LOOKS LOST
George Washington was very discouraged in December 1776. He had made some large mistakes
as general, and many soldiers died as a result. It was at this time that Thomas Paine, the author
of “Common Sense,” enlisted in the army and wrote his famous “Crisis Paper #1.” He knew
American’s needed something more to motivate them in the battle with Great Britain. One night,
on the head of a drum, he wrote something called The American Crisis. Here is part of what he
wrote:
These are times that try men’s souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this
crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it NOW, deserves the love and
thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this
consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain
too cheap, we esteem too lightly:--‘Tis dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven
knows how to set a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed, if so celestial an
article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.
George Washington then attacked the Hessians at Trenton and turned the tide of the War for
Independence.
Citizenship Commitment: I will have hope in America, even when all looks lost.
Milestone #7
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN AMERICA
The debate at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 became so fierce that the entire convention
threatened to end if the most heated issues were not agreed upon soon. At this point, Benjamin
Franklin made the following plea to the delegates:
In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily
prayers in this room for divine protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard; and they were
graciously answered…God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the
ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?…I therefore
beg leave to move—that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its
blessings on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to
business, and that one or more of the clergy of this City be requested to officiate in that Service.
Since 1789 all sessions of Congress have begun with prayer by a paid Chaplain and the first
Continental Congress called for a National Day of Prayer in 1775 which is now celebrated on the
first Thursday in May.
Our First Amendment reads, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." This means that in America we individually
choose, not our government, our form of religion.
Citizenship Commitment: I agree that religious freedom in America is an essential part of
our republic.
Milestone #8
RECOGNIZING THE CONSTITUTION AS THE SUPREME LAW OF OUR LAND
The Constitution formed a republic, not a democracy. A republican form of government is one
that elects representatives from among the people to represent the people for limited amounts of
time in governmental positions. A democracy is a form of government that gives the people
collectively supreme legislative power. Such was the government of Athens which ended in
violent mobocracy and of which James Madison said, “Had every Athenian citizen been a
Socrates, every Athenian assembly would still have been a mob.”
In addition, the Founding Fathers created a new type of republic. It was not a Legislative
Republic like Great Britain with the king, the lords, and the commons and in which only the
commons represented the authority of the people. Nor was it a Confederated Republic like
America had with the Articles of Confederation under which each state retained its independence
and sovereign supremacy but confederated with other states in a weak alliance. Rather, our
Founding Fathers created a Constitutional Republic. Under this system all power is returned to
the people by 1. Returning to the fundamental principle that the power to govern rests in the
people (found in the first two paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence), 2. Proposing a
government that would not become operative unless approved by the people, 3. Submitting the
Constitution to the ratifying conventions elected by the people (not the legislatures) in each of
the states, and 4. Recognizing that the voice of the people (not the confederated states) would be
the supreme law of the land. The adoption of the United Stated Constitution was an act of the
people.
Citizenship Commitment: I accept the United States Constitution of 1787 as lawfully
amended as the supreme law of the land.
Milestone #9
UNDERSTANDING OUR NATURAL RIGHTS
The Bill of Rights is really a statement of prohibitions. It prohibits government from taking away
our natural rights such as
1. Right to freedom of religion, speech, and press
2. Right to bear arms
3. Right to not be forced to house soldiers
4. Right to freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures
5. Right to not testify against one’s self, to not be tried twice for the same crime, and to have due
process of law
6. Right to a speedy trial, to be tried in the accused’s district, and to have an attorney
7. Right to a trial by a jury of one’s peers
8. Right to not have excessive bails or cruel or unusual punishment
9. Right of the American people to claim all other rights which belong to them even if they are
not mentioned in the Constitution
10. Right of the American people and the states to claim all powers not delegated to the federal
government
As the Founding Fathers crafted the Constitution, they were careful not to use the word “right” in
regard to the government’s authority. They chose to use the word “power” for the authority of
government because rights originate from a higher source than the Constitution and belong to the
people. People have rights; government has powers given by the people. The only legitimate
purpose of government is to protect the natural rights of the people.
Citizenship Commitment: I will understand and fight to preserve our natural, unalienable
rights.
Milestone #10
PLEDGING OUR ALLEGIANCE
Think about each word of the Pledge of Allegiance.
I means each and every American citizen. Pledge indicates a debt owed to our country and our
willingness to pledge or promise something in return for our citizenship and subsequent
privileges. Allegiance is loyalty and the debt we owe to our government and to our society. To
the Flag means the symbol of our allegiance represented by 50 stars, or all 50 United States, and
13 stripes, or the founding of America with 13 united colonies. Of the United means joined,
made to agree, cemented or mixed. States of America is a body of people united under one
government and is a political body governed by representatives. And to the Republic explains our
form of government. The Constitution formed a republic, not a democracy. A republican form of
government is one that elects representatives from among the people to represent the people for
limited amounts of time in governmental positions. For which it stands reminds us that the flag
stands for our republican form of government. One Nation means out of many independent
states, we have become one strong nation. Under God was added in 1954, and it means exactly
what it says. Indivisible means it is best to keep our nation whole. With Liberty means that every
man, woman, and child has the power to act as they see fit. And Justice means that justice
tempers liberty to only allow people to act in a way that does not harm another person’s rights
and guarantees swift justice if one does violate another’s rights. For all is the best part the
Pledge. It means that every citizen of the United States of America enjoys the blessings of liberty
equally.
Citizenship Commitment: I pledge my allegiance to the United States of America.
