The main idea common to the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. This idea of a republic was relatively new in the late eighteenth century, with many of the nations in Europe (which had control over most of the North American colonies) being governed either by constitutional monarchies, those being a king or queen bound by a set of basic restrictions, absolute monarchies, those being a king or queen with absolute power. King George III, to whom the Declaration of Independence was addressed, would be considered a Constitutional Monarch. The independence of the United States (referred to at the time as “these united states,” signifying their individual sovereignty over each …show more content…
There are currently twenty-seven amendments, but the first ten are the ones most commonly referred to as “the Bill of Rights.” Among the liberties granted to the people by these amendments are the right to free speech, to bear arms, to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, and suffrage for oppressed groups such as African-Americans and women. Between 1791 and 2016, the social and political climate has changed significantly, as is evident in historical movements to amend the Constitution. During the Civil War and Reconstruction eras, the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments granting rights to African-Americans, specifically an end to slavery, equal treatment for all citizens under the law, and suffrage for black men, respectively, were passed. The women’s vote was finally granted in 1920 with the nineteenth amendment, after hundreds of years of unfair representation. These amendments demonstrate that the ideas of our nation are constantly progressing, and provide a method to adapt the Constitution to reflect those
The film, Beasts of the Southern Wild, tell the story of a rural community called Bathtub in Southern Louisiana to induce themes of classism and community ties. Behn Zeitlin does a great job reminding us of our connection with each other and the world around us. The Americana aesthetic of the film mirrors our hero’s resiliency in the face of destruction. At stake in this aesthetic and exploration of these politically charged themes is an interpretation on how we can connect to each other across racial, economic, and social divides.
The Declaration of Independence is a document, saying how the British government wanted to halt their authority, thus wanting to construct their own government . It starts off, by saying that it introduced reason it was created- colonists beliefs about the purpose of the government. Also, complaints against King George lll, actions he took that the colonists believed violated their rights and principle of government. Finally, the colonists officially declared the United States as a independent nation. "The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not" (Thomas Jefferson).
John Paul Stevens’ book, Six Amendments: How and Why We Should Change the Constitution, advocates the concept of self-governance which, in his perspective, has been poorly compromised by recent Supreme Court rulings. At the age of ninety-four, Stevens criticizes these modern court opinions and advises that we push for amendments to overturn these misguided court decisions. The six subjects of controversy that Stevens has proposed remedies for are the anti commandeering rule, political gerrymandering, campaign finances, sovereign immunity, death penalty, and gun control. These claims are supported with both historical evidence as well as his own personal perspective on court rulings that he has participated in during his 35 years as a
My amendment focuses on equal pay for men and women.i think it's important that men and women get equal pay for doing the same job. Too often women get paid less for doing the same job as men. Employers pay women less because they can get away with it. Women earn less than men at every age ranging 15% less at age 22-25 and 38% less at ages 51-64.
During the 1850’s the women’s rights movement in the United States continued to build, but lost momentum when the Civil War began. After the war ended, the 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution were drafted and ratified; protection to all citizens - with the term “citizens” defined as male, and suffrage for black men, respectively. The drafting of the 15th Amendment caused animosity with women’s rights activists and led them to believe that this was their chance to push lawmakers for truly universal suffrage. They “allied
Before two fundamental amendments were passed, the only persons who were allowed to vote were Caucasian males, and criminal white males were not explicitly denied voting rights until a certain amendment. The Constitution itself does not overtly state who is allowed to vote. However, one exception is the Fifteenth Amendment where it states that voting rights shall not be denied on the merit of race or color, this implicitly allowed African-Americans to vote. Another exception is the Nineteenth Amendment which stated that the right to vote shall not be denied on the account of sex. The long-awaited ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment was a pivotal moment in the women’s suffrage movement. Those amendments explicitly endorsed and allowed certain groups of people to vote. The ratification of the Fifteenth and the Nineteenth Amendments were a colossal step towards the universal suffrage ideal. Nevertheless, the United States has yet to reach universal suffrage because the Constitution does clearly disenfranchise convicted felons; however, all states have the power to restore voting rights to previously incarcerated or currently incarcerated convicted
The importance of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is such that some have called it the amendment that “completed the Constitution.” When it was ratified on July 9th, 1868, the amendment became one of legislative cornerstones of the Reconstruction Era, a time in which the Radical Republicans, led by John A. Bingham and Thaddeus Stevens, promulgated a legislative program focused on providing racial equality before the law. Among the laws passed in the Reconstruction Era, the Fourteenth Amendment was one of the most controversial, with one Republican congressman, Representative A.J. Rogers of New Jersey saying that it was, “…but another attempt to…consolidate in the Federal Government, by the action of Congress,
The framers of our Constitution knew that time has a way of changing countries and their citizens. Our country was in a whirlwind of change in 1789 as people were experiencing freedom from the tyranny of England for the first time in their lives. Our country was being molded and formed into a great nation by the founding fathers. Expectations and rules had to be set to protect the rights of the minorities and majorities. Amendments to the Constitution were written to ensure equality for all in changing times.
Our Amendments that we have established guarantee specific things. The allow us to do what we do today, and they also give us our rights. Our First Amendment gives us freedom. It is made up of five freedoms, but three of them stand out to me. The three are the freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and freedom of speech.
The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are two significant documents that transformed the history of the United States. The people of the “New World” went from being ruled by British law and living in the thirteen colonies, to becoming an independent nation with a democratic government. The Declaration was written to ensure that all official ties with its mother country, Great Britain, were suspended indefinitely. It then went on to describe the concepts and ideologies behind a just and fair government. The Constitution, however, outlined how the newly democratic government would operate. In 1776, after the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia, a verdict was made that the only constructive way to ensure independence as a nation would be to declare independence from King George III, Parliament, and Great Britain. The colonists sought to fashion a clear, detailed document, known as the Declaration of Independence, which stated why the people chose to move in this direction as well as providing several arguments to support their case. This world-renown document is a symbol of the unity between the 13 colonies during their fight for independence during the American Revolutionary War.
A constitutional amendment was necessary for revival of the line separating slave from free states because the Supreme Court had struck down the Missouri Compromise in the Dred Scott decision .
The General Prologue - The Canterbury Tales The General Prologue The most popular part of the Canterbury Tales is the General Prologue, which has long been admired for the lively, individualized portraits it offers. More recent criticism has reacted against this approach, claiming that the portraits are indicative of social types, part of a tradition of social satire, "estates satire", and insisting that they should not be read as individualized character portraits like those in a novel.
On July 4, 1776, a new nation was formed: The United States of America. The principles of individual responsibility and freedom were brought into full swing. The founding fathers wrote the Declaration of Independence; one that will forever stand as an example for all nations who have ever sought, and will seek independence from an unethical or forceful regime. “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
The fundamental differences between the rights and responsibilities of U.S. citizens and why they are important to the democratic process plays a huge role in society today. The United States has its own rights and responsibilities which are unique to the United States." In the United States, the freedom to hold any religious belief, or none, is considered a basic, or unalienable right." (College for America,2017) Our rights are basically our freedoms. This is the right to do certain things and the state must assure that we are able to do these things by making sure we have the freedom to do so. The United States Constitution provided various constitutional rights. A few of those rights are as follows:
In the early years of the United States, voting rights were vastly different from how they are now. The original Constitution of the United States was signed on September 17, 1787 (National Constitution Center). Article Two, Section Three of the Constitution permitted the states to implement their own voter requirements (Tannahill). As a result, most of the states granted voting rights to only white males who owned property. Any other type of person did not have the right, including women. One hundred and thirty-three years later, on August 18, 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified. The Nineteenth Amendment prevented the states and the federal government from rejecting voting rights to citizens based on their sex (19th Amendment). The ratification greatly impacted American voting rights; however, African Americans still struggled with voting rights.