Introduction

Bring that shit in!
Yeah, the movement's in motion with mass militant poetry
Now check this out...uggh!
In the right light, study becomes insight
But the system that dissed us
Teaches us to read and write

So called facts are fraud
They want us to allege and pledge
And bow down to their God
Lost the culture, the culture lost
Spun our minds and through time
Ignorance has taken over
Yo, we gotta take the power back!
Bam! Here's the plan
Motherfuck Uncle Sam
Step back, I know who I am
Raise up your ear, I'll drop the style and clear
It's the beats and the lyrics they fear
The rage is relentless
We need a movement with a quickness
You are the witness of change
And to counteract
We gotta take the power back
 

Yeah, we gotta take the power back
Come on, come on!
We gotta take the power back
 

The present curriculum
I put my fist in 'em
Eurocentric every last one of 'em
See right through the red, white and blue disguise
With lecture I puncture the structure of lies
Installed in our minds and attempting
To hold us back
We've got to take it back
'Cause holes in our spirit causin' tears and fears
One-sided stories for years and years and years
I'm inferior? Who's inferior?
Yea, we need to check the interior
Of the system that cares about only one culture
And that is why
We gotta take the power back
 

Yeah, we gotta take the power back
Come on, come on!
We gotta take the power back
 

Hey yo check, we're gonna have to break it, break it, break it down
Awww shit!
Uggh!
And like this...uggh!
Come on, yeah! Bring it back the other way!
The teacher stands in front of the class
But the lesson plan he can't recall
The student's eyes don't perceive the lies
Bouning off every fucking wall
His composure is well kept
I guess he fears playing the fool
The complacent students sit and listen to some of that
Bullshit that he learned in school

Europe ain't my rope to swing on
Can't learn a thing from it
Yet we hang from it
Gotta get it, gotta get it together then
Like the motherfuckin' weathermen
To expose and close the doors on those who try
To strangle and mangle the truth
'Cause the circle of hatred continues unless we react
We gotta take the power back
 

Yeah, we gotta take the power back
Come on, come on!
We gotta take the power back

Some of the books which inspired the lyrics of Rage Against the Machine songs.
 
 
 

I. THE POLITICS OF HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION.

Historiography: the practice of interpreting historical facts.

A. THE CONSERVATIVE VIEW

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

B. THE LIBERAL VIEW

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

C. THE RADICAL VIEW

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

D.  CLASS, RACE AND GENDER

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

II. HOW'S AMERICA DOING?

A. ECONOMIC PRODUCTION.

 

Gross Domestic Product (GDP): the total value of goods and services produced in the U.S. in a year

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

B. DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH

 
 
 

C.  SOCIAL CONCERNS

 

Origins of the Constitution

Red and white, blue suede shoes, I'm Uncle Sam, how do you do?
Gimme five, I'm still alive, ain't no luck, I learned to duck.
Check my pulse, it don't change.  Stay seventy-two come shine or rain.
Wave the flag, pop the bag, rock the boat, skin the goat.
Wave that flag, wave it wide and high.
Summertime done, come and gone, my, oh, my.

I'm Uncle Sam, that's who I am; Been hidin' out in a rock and roll band.
Shake the hand that shook the hand of P.T. Barnum and Charlie Chan.
Shine your shoes, light your fuse.  Can you use them ol' U.S. Blues?
I'll drink your health, share your wealth, run your life, steal your wife.
Wave that flag, wave it wide and high.
Summertime done, come and gone, my, oh, my.

Back to back chicken shack.  Son of a gun, better change your act.
We're all confused, what's to lose?
You can call this all the United States Blues.
Wave that flag, wave it wide and high.
Summertime done, come and gone, my, oh, my
 
 

I. CLASS STRUCTURE IN THE LATE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

II. PROBLEMS OF THE CONFEDERATION (1781-1788)

A. THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION (1781)

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

B. TERRITORIAL DISPUTES

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 

C.  THE CURRENCY PROBLEM

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

D.  "SHAY'S REBELLION" (1787)

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

III. THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION (1787)

A. CLASS INTERESTS OF THE CONVENTION DELEGATES

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

B. CONTROVERSIES AND PROBLEMS

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

1. What kind of government?

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

2. The Problem of Representation

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

3. Currency

 

 
 
 
 
 

IV. THE STRUGGLE FOR RATIFICATION

A. FEDERALIST ARGUMENTS IN FAVOR OF THE CONSTITUTION

James Madison.
 
 

B. THE ANTI-FEDERALIST RESPONSE

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

1.  An attack on state sovereignty

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

2.  A government of the few

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

3.  No Bill of Rights

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

C.  RATIFICATION

V. INTERPRETATIONS OF THE CONSTITUTION