...History 105 Mon-Wed: Midterm March 20, 2013 1. Describe the motivation by Europeans for discovery, exploration and colonization of the Americas. Describe the differences among the countries in their colonization efforts and its affects on the continents? I would like to think that one the first major motivations for Europeans to set for discovery, exploration, and colonization of the Americas was the fact that many people had died and was dying from the plague and fighting internal wars. One would think that out of death, desperation, and rampage; an extreme need to set out to find a better way of life was channeled. However, an increasing demand for the spices, gold, tobacco, expand territory, and silk which the Americas offered, was the first major motivation for European exploration. Obtaining spice was important so that they could season and cover up the flavor of the spoiled and rotten meat that they had to eat. Finding gold was important for wealth and silk was beneficial since it was a lighter material so that their skin was able to breath and for other reasons of vanity. Trade was very important since Europe didn’t have a lot of resources. The European’s natural curiosities about the world beyond Europe also lead to the expansion of trade routes. In order to fund these expeditions the Europeans had to receive funding from the monarchs. The monarchs were more than willing and able to provide the sponsorship and funding for the expeditions because...
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...trade with the French West Indies and impose tax on sugar and molasses. This act would only allow trading with British countries. However, Americans broke the law by smuggling with non British countries. B: The plan was developed by Benjamin Franklin during the French and Indian War. It was to provide an intercolonial government and tax colonies for their defense. Yet, plan failed to take effect because it didn't give enough independence. A: It refers to the restoration of the English to the throne. Charles II gave the Carolinas to 8 nobles who became the lord proprietors. Charles did this to reward the nobles for helping him gain the throne. C: One of the factors of increasing population in the New World were the Germans. They came to America to flee from religious persecution and war. The Germans were one third of the population in the colonies. E: James II increased the authority of the colonies by combining New York, New Jersey, and others colonies into l unit. The governor of the dominion was Sir Edmund Andros. He was disliked by the colonists because he levied high taxes. E: John Zenger criticized the New York’s royal governor and was charged as a libel. His lawyer, Andrew Hamilton, argued that he had printed the truth. Disregarding the English common law, Zenger was acquitted. C: Headright system was another way of bringing immigrants to the New World. Virginia offered to give 50 acres of land to anyone who paid for his or her own passage. It also gave land to owners...
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...Though it may have some downsides America truly is the home of the brave and the land of the free. After being discovered by Amerigo Vespucci to be an continent in 1502 only 10 years after Christopher Columbus had landed there with the believe it was India. Amerigo who may not have been the first to to visit the strange new land because Norse explorers such as Leif Ericsson and the Chinese admiral Zheng had explored America not to long before him. He did however start the largely increasing European interest in creating a sustainable European colony in the Americas after years of dangerous attempts to settle in America eventually some of the new settlements would succeed and the hardships of these colonies would come together to create the United States of America we've come to know today with the help of some very important moments throughout history. Now days America is home to so many different types of people it's hard to keep track. Some people may not presume it true but most of these people whether immigrant or refugee are attracted to America not by its landmarks and famous attractions for those things can be found throughout the world but by its sincere promises of freedom and rights. These promises offer opportunities that many people around the globe may not be able to get anywhere...
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...October 01, 2011 Remarks by the President at the Human Rights Campaign's Annual National Dinner Washington Convention Center Washington, D.C. 7:26 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Thank you so much. It is great to be back. (Applause.) I see a lot of friends in the house. I appreciate the chance to join you tonight. I also took a trip out to California last week, where I held some productive bilateral talks with your leader, Lady Gaga. (Laughter.) She was wearing 16-inch heels. (Laughter.) She was eight feet tall. (Laughter.) It was a little intimidating. Now, I don’t want to give a long speech. Cyndi Lauper is in the house. I can’t compete with that. (Applause.) But I wanted to come here tonight, first of all, to personally thank Joe for his outstanding years of leadership at HRC. (Applause.) What he has accomplished at the helm of this organization has been remarkable, and I want to thank all of you for the support that you’ve shown this organization and for your commitment to a simple idea: Every single American -- gay, straight, lesbian, bisexual, transgender -- every single American deserves to be treated equally in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of our society. It’s a pretty simple proposition. (Applause.) Now, I don’t have to tell you that we have a ways to go in that struggle. I don’t have to tell you how many are still denied their basic rights -- Americans who are still made to feel like second-class citizens, who have to live a lie to keep their jobs, or who are...
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...Why is Christianity so central to Douglass’ argument? Why does he make numerous references to the Bible? Christianity is a religion based on values of love, respect, forgiveness, and understanding, and the Bible is the book from which those values are taught. Frederick Douglass, born into slavery, was a prominent figure in the fight to abolish slavery, and a great speech giver. In his speech, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” Douglass centrals his argument around Christianity to bring to light the sham under which his audience resides, and makes numerous references to the Bible to support his claim. It has been, and still is to this day, said that the United States of America was built upon a foundation of Judeo-Christian values. In what feels to be increasingly heated words, Douglass speaks on behalf of the American slave, presenting to his audience the travesty they have made of the Christian faith. He explains that “American Christianity” is “to [the American slave], mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy – a this veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages” (Douglass 485). Through the use of harsh words, Douglass is hoping they will penetrate the souls of those listening, resulting in sorrow and guilt for allowing such a travesty to arise from a religion based on love and respect. Further into his speech, Douglass emphasizes on how the lives of his audience are a sham, and he feels he is helping them to do right by making...
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...Assess the strengths of the UK constitution [25 marks] A constitution is a set of principles, that may be uncodified (unwritten) or codified (written), that relates to how power is distributed within a political system, and establishes how a state is to be organised and governed. Constitutions seek to establish duties, powers and functions of various institutions of government and contribute to defining the relationship between the state and the individuals, for example, defining the extent of civil liberty. The UK constitution helps provide legitimacy to those, of which, are in power, but also limits government power. Although the UK constitution is uncodified, as a whole, parts of the constitution are codified, for example, the European Convention on Human Rights is a codified part of British Law, even though it was designed and created by the Council of Europe, in 1950. Firstly, the UK constitution, being uncodified, means that it is flexible and can be easily adapted to changing circumstances, which could include referendum use and the continuous changing role of the House of Lords. The UK constitution is often called 'organic', which means that the constitution is rooted in society, and consequently means that when society and it's values change the UK constitution can adapt and change to society, without delay or hesitation. Furthermore, because the UK constitution is uncodified, it allows Parliament to pass Acts, without long delays and also allows new, uncodified...
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...For other uses, see Constitution (disambiguation). A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed.[1] These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is. When these principles are written down into a single document or set of legal documents, those documents may be said to embody a written constitution; if they are written down in a single comprehensive document, it is said to embody a codified constitution. Constitutions concern different levels of organizations, from sovereign states to companies and unincorporated associations. A treaty which establishes an international organization is also its constitution, in that it would define how that organization is constituted. Within states, a constitution defines the principles upon which the state is based, the procedure in which laws are made and by whom. Some constitutions, especially codified constitutions, also act as limiters of state power, by establishing lines which a state's rulers cannot cross, such as fundamental rights. An example is the constitution of the United States of America. George Washington at Constitutional Convention of 1787 signing of the U.S. Constitution. The Constitution of India is the longest written constitution of any sovereign country in the world,[2] containing 444 articles in 22 parts,[3][4] 12 schedules and 118 amendments, with 117,369 words in its English-language translation,[5]...
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...The UK needs a codified constitution: A constitution is a set of laws, rules and practices that authorize the state to govern, also specifying the powers of the governing institution and the formal relationships between them, civilian and the state. There are numerous types of constitution. Constitutions could be codified and uncodified, unitary (Centralized government makes legislation, and passes it down through local authorities) or federal (Power travels up through regional bodies to the centralized state.) The United Kingdom is unique in other words there are just 4 nations around the globe that have a written constitution and the UK is one of them. The others being Israel, Canada and New Zealand. On the other hand the USA is an example of a codified constitution. A codified constitution is a constitution in which key written documents are gathered inside a single document, it is generally known as a written constitution. Additionally they are entrenched, enjoying the protection of higher court. Moreover in a codified constitution laws can only be amended by special provisions. Therefore making it rigid, in other words it is extremely difficult to pass laws in a codified constitution. Alongside this, an uncodifed constitution relies on various sources meaning it is not written down in a single document, this is in contrast to a codified constitution where all the laws are to be found in one single document. In addition an uncodified constitution is not entrenched and...
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...Britain retaining its uncodified constitution remains extremely strong. (25 marks) On the one hand it can be argued that Britain should not retain its uncodified constitution because it makes us unusual as only the UK, Israel and New Zealand do not have one. On the other hand it can be argued that Britain should retain its uncodified constitution because of the flexibility of our constitution which would be lost if our constitution was codified. Overall, it can be argued here that the argument for Britain retaining its uncodified has two very strong sides that both have good reasons for Britain retaining its uncodified constitution and not retaining it. Britain should retain its uncodified constitution because the flexibility of the UKs constitution is a great asset that would be lost if we introduced a codified constitution. We have no fundamental/entrenched law that legislation must be compatible with which gives Parliament great flexibility to pass all legislation that is needed to meet current problems. However, this flexibility means that our rights are less well protected for example the gun owners in America have had their rights much better served by the codified constitution that they have than the UK gun owners who suddenly found their weapons banned by the law. Therefore, it is argued that Britain should retain uncodified constitution because of its flexibility. Another reason why Britain should also retain uncodified constitution because a codified one would lead...
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...Branches of the Government Learning Team D HIS 301 Professor Bruce Franklin Branches of the Government “Historically, the concept of Separation of Powers dates back as far as ancient Greece. The concepts were refined by contemporaries of the Framers, and those refinements influenced the establishment of the three branches in the Constitution” (Mount, 2014). The idea of a separation of powers first appeared in the political philosophy of Montesquieu. He advocated for a government where each branch had clear cut rules on what they could and could not do. This idea of a separation of government, or a government that was for the people would be perpetuated by other philosophers throughout the Enlightenment era. The founding fathers sought to create the United States government in the same way. Each branch is empowered with distinct powers. The government is set up this way in order to prevent abuse of power. Each branch is able to exercise a form of control over each other. Within the constitution are articles. Within each article, it outlines the separations of powers for each branch of the government. Article one outlines The Legislative. Which is made up of The Senate and the House of Representatives Article two is composed of The Executive branch. This entails the President, his Vice-President and the state departments. Article three explains the judicial branch. This also covers federal and the Supreme Court. With this kind of system in place, it creates a kind of...
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... What Is Liberty? “The Spirit of Liberty” was a speech presented by John Hand in 1944 on “I AM an American Day”. When John Hand gives his speech he is speaking to a group of people that all have something in common. They are people that came to America looking for the same things, they were all looking for freedom and liberty. But what John is trying to get them to understand is that you can only find liberty with in yourself, he is also trying to tell them what he believes liberty is. In paragraph 1, lines 9-11 John says “I often wonder whether we do not rest our hopes too much upon constitutions, upon laws, and upon courts. These are false hopes; believe me, these are false hopes. Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it; no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it.” What he means by this is that even though there is laws and constitutions that entitle us to freedom and liberty it does not really mean we have freedom and liberty because it is only something you can allow yourself to have because it comes from within yourself and if you don’t have it than the laws and constitutions are not gonna help you in anyway. After John tells the audience where he believes freedom and liberty comes from he tells the audience his opinion of what liberty is. In paragraph 1 lines 14- 18 John says “Liberty is not the ruthless,the unbridled will; it is not freedom to...
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...Constitutionalism has a different meanings and one of them is that ; Constitutionalism refers to a system of government based on a constitution, a government which demonstrates adherence to the principles of the constitution. Constitutionalism can also be defined as a modern concept that desires a political order governed by laws and regulations. Within the concept of constitutionalism is the idea of limited, open, transparent and accountable government which must truly represent the will of the people and not simply smoke-screen the will of the people. Mwansa (2013:10),explains that it is a complex ideas, attitudes and patterns of behavior elaborating the principle that the authority of government derives from and is limited by a body of fundamental law. Constitutionalism is there to tame wayward governments that see no limits to their powers or simply ignore such limits in the guise of pursuing a common or greater good. In a state that recognizes the importance of constitutionalism, the leaders are bound to observe both limitations of power and the procedures which are set out in the supreme constitutional law of the community. Constitutionalism ensures that governmental powers are limited beyond theory, and in practice. Constitutionalism goes beyond a good constitution and beyond constitutionality of governmental action or a country’s laws.Constitutionalism is a concept associated with the political theories of John Loce and the founders of the American republic and equated...
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...Parliamentary sovereignty, once the dominant principle of the UK Constitution, is now under considerable pressure. Discuss this statement with reference to the UK’s membership of the EU, the devolution acts of 1998, the Human Rights Act 1998 and recent judicial comments on the Rule of Law. "Certainly we want to see Europe more united… but it must be in a way which preserves the different traditions, parliamentary powers, and sense of pride in one's own country." Margaret Thatcher Over the course of the years many prominent figures such as politicians and academic writers have been concerned with the diminishing of Parliamentary sovereignty. “Parliamentary sovereignty is a principle of the UK constitution. It makes Parliament the supreme legal authority in the UK, which can create or end any law. Generally, the courts cannot overrule its legislation and no Parliament can pass laws that future Parliaments cannot change. Parliamentary sovereignty is the most important part of the UK constitution.” Historically, due to the lack of a single codified constitution in the UK, the Westminster Parliament is the most powerful and influencing factor on the British political frontier. As opposed to America where the constitution dominates US politics, and legislation can be deemed unconstitutional and revoked by the US judiciary. However, since further integration into Europe incorporating The European Communities Act 1972, The Human Rights Act 1998, European Conventions on Human Rights...
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...Political System and Development: Politics in Jamaica takes place in the framework of a representative parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The 1962 Constitution of Jamaica established a parliamentary state whose political and legal traditions closely follow those of the United Kingdom. As the head of state, Queen Elizabeth II - on the advice of the Prime Minister of Jamaica - appoints a governor general as her representative in Jamaica. The governor-general has a largely ceremonial role. Jamaica constitutes an independent Commonwealth realm. The Constitution vests executive power in the cabinet, led by the Prime Minister. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested both in the government and in the Parliament of Jamaica. A bipartisan joint committee of the Jamaican legislature drafted Jamaica's current Constitution in 1962. That Constitution came into force with the Jamaica Independence Act, 1962 of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which gave Jamaica political independence. Constitutional safeguards include freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of worship, freedom of movement, and freedom of association. The judiciary operates independently of the executive and the legislature, with jurisprudence based on English Common Law. The governor-general is largely a ceremonial figure who appoints the prime minister and senate seats through the advice of parliament and the prime minister. The prime minister exercises...
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...1. A. What is the role of congress in the policy making process? Congress is the designated lawmaking body of the federal government. Policies (laws) pass through congress via a long process. A member of congress will introduce a bill which is then referred to committee(s) in the Senate and House. The committee refines, approves, and sends the bill on to the Chamber of congress where it originated. The bill could also die in committee from lack of support. The House or Senate will vote on the bill and either approves it and sends it to the other chamber or it will die. The other chamber can approve, revise, or let the bill die. If both the House and Senate move a version of a bill forward, then a committee made up of both chambers come to agreement and send the bill back to the two chambers for a vote. The bill, if not approved, dies. If the chambers approve it, then it goes to the President to sign. If the President vetoes the bill, congress can override it if they have a two-thirds majority in both the House and in the Senate [ (Teitelbaum & Wilensky, 2007, pp. 13-18) ]. 1. B. What is the difference between mandatory and discretionary spending? “Mandatory spending programs are those where the federal government is obligated to provide funds for an expense” [ (Fay, 2008) ]. The allocation of this money is based on existing laws. Congress does not have to vote to approve spending the money each year, it will happen automatically. There are several examples of mandatory...
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