Political Science : Take Home Exam

The reasoning behind the Constitution of the United States is presented as 'based upon the philosophy of Hobbes and the religion of Calvin. It assumes the natural state of mankind in a state of war, and that the carnal mind is at enmity with God.' Throughout, the struggle between democracy and tyranny is discussed as the Founding Fathers who envisioned the Constitution in Philadelphia in 1787 believed not in total democracy, but instead saw common man as selfish and contemptuous, and therefore in need of a 'a good political constitution to control him.' Being a largely propertied body, with the exception of William Few, who was the

The American Revolution was the culmination of tension between the free-thinking and developing Colonists and the dominating and tax-imposing British. The war lasted from 1776 to 1783, but the most important part of the war was the events leading up to it, in which Colonists began to develop democratic thoughts about their social, political, economic, and religious life. People began to understand democratic ideas and it’s benefits, and many decided to make an active effort to increase the amount of democracy in their life. Democratic is defined as favoring or characterized by social equality. A democratic lifestyle is a fair and equal one, and the years leading up to the revolution brought a democratic environment to the Colonies. Despite lack of greater property distribution, the 1700s brought great democratic change to Colonial America, which experienced a democratic movement religiously in the separation of church and state, which led to social changes including slavery and new thinking, that led to democratic and intellectual political reforms.

The thirteen colonies that became the United States of America were originally colonies of Great Britain. By the time the American Revolution took place, the citizens of these colonies were beginning to get tired of the British rule. Rebellion and discontent were rampant. The main reason the colonies started rebelling against "mother England" was the taxation issue. The colonies debated England’s legal power to tax them and they did not wish to

In The Radicalism of the American Revolution Gordon Wood attempts to disprove the common thought that the American Revolution was simply a war for independence from a tyrannical mother country. He explains how America formed such a unique from of government. The form that American government took was a collaboration of many different forms that emphasized the rights of individuals. Woods finds it essential to explain colonial life and the factors that dictated people’s lives to understand how radical the revolution was compared to other revolutions. In the 1700’s it was impossible for people to imagine a society operating independently of government, but through shifts in society and through parallel shifts in government that is what emerge. Up until the American Revolution society and government were interwoven.

The tyranny of England was not the sole power that led to the rights and liberty declared in the Declaration of Independence. Instead, it was Britain’s own Bill of Rights which acted as a precursor to America’s document of freedom. Although there are a vast amount of similarities between the two documents, I will argue that they are different in stated grievances, remedies, views on sources of political power, models of governance, and of rights and government.

This book emphasizes the alternative interpretations offered by Americans on the origins of the Constitution. Holton’s purpose with this book was to show that the framers interests involved making America more attractive to investors. In order to do so, they purposefully made the government less democratic with the writing of the Constitution. However, with the addition of the Bill of Rights, one could argue the Framers had at least a slight concern for the American people and their civil liberties.

The American Revolution was an unequivocal example of the ability of a nation’s people to rise and defeat an inadequate government. When a government fails to protect its inhabitants, citizens will grow uneasy and fight for their rightful cause. The British government’s rule over its colonies was erroneous and harmful to the colonists’ best interests. Best described by John Hancock, the British government’s rule caused many colonists to become despondent with their ruler. “As though they thought it not enough to violate our civil rights, they endeavored to deprive us of the enjoyment of our religious privileges; to vitiate our morals, and thereby render us deserving of destruction.” Evidently, the American Revolution was sparked by a

2. What are the fundamental values of American democracy? How are these values show in the

Four years after the revolutionary war between the Americans and Great Britain came to an end, fifty-five delegates met to discuss a serious matter. As the British used tyranny with the Americans, ways to guard the country against the reoccurring of Tyranny were important to find. The DBQ, How Did the Constitution Guard Against Tyranny published in 2009 by the DBQ project provides the different methods the constitution used to guard against tyranny. It is crucial to learn about how the constitution helped guard the country against tyranny because it is a big part of the history of the United States, as it also justifies the reasons behind the decisions made by the Americans. The actions the constitution took to guard against tyranny were developing

America’s form of representative democracy came as a result of the transgressions Britain committed against their colonies. Several hundred years of salutary neglect served well for those living an

Dawning like the sun on a new day, the United Sates of America has risen to become the most powerful nation on Earth. The United States of today is a land of freedom and inspiration, and a place where dreams have a real possibility of coming true. Though the United States may be very strong today, it wasn’t always like this. In the years leading up to the formation of the United States, many of what are considered “natural rights” were not established, and the nation was in chaos trying to fight for these rights from the overruling British empire led by King George III. Several things led to the formation and firm establishment of the United States, the three most prominent being the imposition of taxation acts, acts of rebellion

The American Revolution (1775-1783) begun as the British Government increased taxation and jurisdiction in America through several taxes, most notably the Sugar Act (1763), Stamp Act (1765), Tea Act (1773), and the Townshend Tariffs (1767), whilst not granting colonists representation within British Parliament. These rulings violated the natural rights to representation, financial freedom, and liberty of American colonists, which inspired outrage and opposition. As America went to war, politicians drafted the founding documents of the new nation, one of which being the U.S. Constitution. The new Constitution directly repealed the Articles of Confederation, and addressed important claims of natural rights and liberty: ideals that originally started the war. This essay argues that, despite satisfying claims of natural rights and liberty addressed by white American colonists, the Constitution (and subsequently the Bill of Rights) completely disregards the individual rights and liberties of slaves by protecting slavery, and by exacerbating the slave trade in America.

During the late 1700’s the American colonists waged a war for independance on the British arguing their fundamental liberties had been deprived. As the founding fathers declared themselves independent from Great Britain, and built their new nation, they quickly addressed their ambitions in the Constitution. However as the former colonists built their new nation, they decided their revolution ambitions needed pragmatic alterations. These objectives that the former colonists addressed in the Declaration of Independence were in one way or another modified, expanded upon, or subverted. The dispute of civil rights for the Colonists was expanded upon and subverted, in order to appeal to white property owning males. Furthermore the former Colonists wanted to create a form government in which the citizens had the power, this intention was expanded upon

For centuries, the British had continuously aggravated relations with the United States through the enactment of the Stamp Act, Sugar Act, Townshend Acts, Tea Act, virtual representation, and several other injustices to American freedom; correspondingly, the Declaration of Independence was passed to assure national rights and denounce the king’s violation of those rights, thereby preserving the concept of E Pluribus Unum by maintaining continuity in the emergence of one common ideal: liberty. For instance, amidst the turmoil of

Labor organizations have the interest to improve the welfare of labors in the city. They may have some power to influence the political climate in the city but it will depend on the amount of labors under their organization and how good they can organize the labors. They can use formal and informal instruments to support or oppose the policy. For example, they can participate in the formal meeting