...stop at “Bonny Jonny” Adams Becomes President. b) Why was the Bill of Rights added to the Constitution? Because the Constitution did not guarantee the protection of the rights of individuals, James Madison proposed a number of amendments to be included in this legal document, ten of which were ratified by a majority of the states fairly quickly. These ten amendments, commonly known as the Bill of Rights, ensured civil liberties such as freedom of religion, the right to bear arms, freedom of speech, the right to be tried by a jury, freedom of the press, the right to property, freedom of assembly, and humane treatment when being punished. c) How did Alexander Hamilton attempt to improve the nation’s financial status?...
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...different schools of thought regarding the Constitution. One party was the Jeffersonian Republicans, led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, they followed the principle of strict constructionism of the Constitution. Jefferson’s policy making usually cohered with this strict constructionism, but on several occasions Jefferson utilized a loose interpretation of the Constitution, while Madison did a much better job of adhering to the principle of strict constructionism. As the founder of the Jeffersonian Republicans, Thomas Jefferson’s main ideology was a strict interpretation of the Constitution,...
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...The United States Constitution duly noted as the “Supreme Law of the Land” is probably regarded as one the most, if not the most important documents ever established. It laid the ground work for the future of this nation and through its influential power, has allowed this country to progress. The constitution was drafted in September 17, 1787 and enacted in March 4, 1789. Being over 200 years old, the Constitution has underwent 17 amendments. The first ten amendments are the Bill of Rights, with a 17 amendments making for a total of 27 amendments. These changes were due to the shifts of view and values of our society. Although the founders of the constitution could not foretell the future of our country, there was sense of understanding that the constitution was a much needed piece legislation to create a balance within the law. As we noted above, the constitution has evolved and will continue evolve over time. Jack Goldsmith, author of The Terror Presidency: Law and Judgment Inside the Bush and Administration and Robert Dahl, author of How Democratic is the American Constitution?, both have a working knowledge of the constitution, but in their various writings, have indicated that the constitution is not so democratic as it was intended to be. The Constitution should be respected by all individuals, and its administration and interpretation should be fair and just. Jack Goldsmith served as legal adviser to the General Counsel of the Department of Defense for the Bush administration...
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...because with this subject, they feared giving the government so much power that they didn't give it enough to help the country function properly. RATIFICATION OF CONSTITUTION (FEDS VS. ANTI-FEDS): Due to how weak and ineffective the Articles of Confederation were, delegates met up and decided to recreate it, forming the Constitution. Fierce debates over the ratification of the Constitution between the supporters, known as the Federalists, and those who opposed, known as Anti-Federalists, lasted almost a year. Federalists argued that a strong central government would make the efforts of the Revolution useless, restrict states' rights, and it didn't offer protection of individual rights. The Federalists eventually backed off and included a Bill of Rights, allowing the Constitution to be ratified. American and National Identity is the theme because it's about how the two opposing groups had different views on what the Constitution should contain, therefore resulting in different interpretations of it, and how that led to debates about what should be included in it. KENTUCKY AND VIRGINIA RESOLUTIONS: Due to the ratification of the Constitution, interpretations were different between the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans. Because of this, when the Federalists passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, many Democratic-Republicans were outraged and...
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...“My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”-John F.Kennedy.It’s important for an American to have responsibilities. Responsibilities make an image for American citizens. We have many responsibilities such as Respect, Defend, and Participate. Respect. The definition of Respect is a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements. As an American you can show your respect by standing for the pledge of allegiance and the anthem, respecting or knowing the meaning of the flag, and thank and give gratitude to those who have served for our country. By standing for the pledge of allegiance or the national anthem you are...
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...history of the United States of America, the evolution of the nation’s government is a prominent factor as to how it operates today. Some claim that the United States of America is strictly a democracy on the basis of historical documents and statements made by historical figures. On the other hand, many believe that the United States government is modelled after a republic. Ultimately, a democratic or republic form of government is merely a set of ideals off of which an operating governments are based on. Given this notion, it is inaccurate to pigeonhole any modern government because it is difficult to live up to ideals in reality. Thus,...
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...married his cousin, and childhood sweetheart, Hannah Hoes in 1807 and together they had four children, all of whom were boys. He then began to work in politics with the Democratic-Republican party. In 1812 he was elected to the New York State Senate and in 1815 he became the Attorney General of New York. After his wife...
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...On Hertzberg and the Revamp of the U.S. Constitution Since its inception, the United States Constitution has been subjected to series of amendments over different time periods. Robert A. Dahl, in his book entitled How Democratic Is the American Constitution (2001), goes beyond discussing the relatively common pattern of constitutional amendment by arguing that major changes may be necessary to rescue the Constitution from its long-standing defects. Reviewing Dahl’s work through the essay “Framed Up: What the Constitution Gets Wrong,” author Hendrik Hertzberg traces the undesirable historical and political implications of the structure and content of the Constitution. Affirming Dahl’s position, Hertzberg suggests that the U.S. Constitution is a historically imperfect document with certain loopholes in its language, provisions, and direction, which allow undemocratic structures/processes and inefficiencies in government. While Hertzberg’s direct arguments are generally persuasive, the implicit suggestions of his views regarding the flaws and less favourable implications of the U.S. Constitution provide stronger support for introducing major changes into this document. As suggested earlier, it not difficult to agree with Hertzberg’s assumptions that the U.S. Constitution needs to be overhauled. Hertzberg identifies a historical ground for justifying substantial changes to the Constitution: individual Amendments were inadequate in defining the tasks and limitations of the judiciary...
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...The United States of America was founded on a Constitution that was supposed to preserve our freedoms and certain liberties. All Americans at that time wanted to keep America a free an independent nation with rights for its people. However there was two different groups, the Federalists lead by Alexander Hamilton and the Democratic-Republicans led by Thomas Jefferson, which thought this could be achieved in very different ways. Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton were very different in their methods to try and develop America as a nation. The two were very much alike because they both were avid Americans, and wanted to see the nation succeed. Both men were very involved in the U.S. Government and tried to voice their opinions on the best method for success. Neither of them would give any ground on their ideas, which created great conflict in the first years of the U.S. Government. Alexander Hamilton was a member of the Federalist Party. He supported a larger central government where the states had less power than the Federal government. Hamilton believed that bigger central government would provide assistance to programs and business to help them succeed. “Not only the wealth but the independence and security of a country appear to be materially connected with the prosperity of manufacturers” (Document C).Hamilton thought that the U.S. should lean more towards a manufacturing economy opposed to an agricultural one. Along with that idea Hamilton thought that...
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...Week 5 Assignment – A New Government Student HIS/309 American Colonial and Revolutionary History April 28, 2014 Instructor A New Government Why it was necessary to create a new government? A new country meant a new government. It was important to learn from previous mistakes, while also representing and reflecting on the colonial and revolutionary experience that led to the reason the country had just fought, a freedom movement; hence, the framework for the Constitution of the United States of America. The Colonist had already written a foreword to the Constitution in 1777, the Articles of Confederation. In fact, the Articles of Confederation became an important part of the Constitution of the United States of America. Sectors of the Articles of Confederation had to be included in the Constitution because of the importance of separate yet united form of government, demonstrated by central government giving individual states abilities to regulate and make laws (Kierner, 2003). Meaning, individual states had independent power while still under a central government. An important document of its time, the Articles of Confederation unified the states and eased tensions over the possibility of absolute rule (Kierner, 2003). Additionally, it created a bond with the states and discouraged each state from seceding from the colonies (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, NARA, 2013). However, there were issues written in the Articles...
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...------------------------------------------------- INTRODUCTION TO THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION 7_4_2014 The idea is that there must be a tension between the different branches of the State power. This differs from the European style system because when you think about the normal situation where you have a prime minister, the reality is that in most countries, the PM becomes PM because he holds the majority in the legislative branch. So almost necessarily, the party who has the majority in the executive power also has it in the legislative power. In fact, Americans typically LIKE divided governments. If you want an example of that, just look at the last presidents of the US. Bill Clinton e.g. was a member of the Democratic Party while the congress was held by the Democratic Party as well. However, interestingly enough, that situation lasted only 2 years, after which the Americans decided to elect a republican president: Bush. The same happened more or less to Bush, and after that to Barack Obama. This is called the Fundamental Split between political parties. As part of that, what happened is that American people were able to express their ideas. They often like to have one party at power in the Congress and another party at power in the Government. What if a third party develops himself? One of the two parties will try to move towards the same ideas. They do have third party candidates in Congress, but their power is very small. It’s an idea that is embraced by the American people: there’s a uniform trust in...
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...The United States Constitution A list of laws that a country and its people must follow. Organizes the government Tells the states how they will work together and what rights they have. Tells the people what rights they have. Most important document in America! The Preamble to the United States Constitution We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. The United States is a Democratic Republic The United States is the oldest continuously functioning democracy in the world Democracy – A style of government in which people vote in elections to choose their leaders. Republic – A style of government where the people retain control over the government and the head of the government is not a monarch. Balance of Power Writers of the Constitution wanted to make sure no group would become too powerful. They, therefore, created 3 branches of government, each with their own power. So the U.S. has a strong central government but a balance of power. Three Main Branches Checks and Balances Legislative Branch United States Capitol Membership Senate Two from each state. 6 year terms. Must be at least 30 years old Must be a U.S. citizen for 9 years House of Representatives Based on...
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...Mexico has had a long history of political turmoil. Since obtaining its independence from Spain, to overthrowing constitutional monarchies and dictatorship, Mexico has gone through several governmental reformations. It was not until 2000 that Mexico officially transition and the world formally recognized Mexico as a democratic state when Vicente Fox from the National Action Party (PAN) became president. Despite Mexico having a smooth transition to democracy, many Mexicans were later disillusioned on the lack of major changes that didn’t take place after the political power shift from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) to PAN. In 2012, Mexico’s political power shifted back to PRI after PAN had taken office for two recurring presidential...
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...The Nigerian Constitution in 1960 There appears to be a consensus among the rulers of Nigeria that the country's Constitution needs review. The review is, in fact, going on and there is not much I can do about that. However, if given the balance of power in the country, a review is the only constitutional development possible at this stage, I would then pay attention to the general character and form of the Constitution rather than its specific contents, which ñ with regards to the power and welfare of the common people no mere review can change appreciably. I am therefore limiting myself to the general features of the present Constitution. But let me first make some clarifications. The Constitution of a sovereign state is, in essence, the basic law by which the ruling blocs of that state say it will rule the citizens of the state. The Constitution is the will of the ruling blocs as limited but only limited by the struggle of the people. This clarification on the essence of a Constitution also applies to every structured organization, except that an ordinary organization is not sovereign, in the sense that it is bound by external laws (usually those of the state), in addition to its own laws. The sovereignty of a particular state is expressed and asserted by the fact that it is bound only by external laws and obligations to which it has subscribed. Otherwise that state is not sovereign. The Nigerian Constitution, the one promulgated on May 29, 1999 and currently in operation...
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..."M/d/yy" 2/9/14 A Discussion about Framed A Précis of Framed: America’s 51 Constitutions and the Crisis of Governance In Framed: America's 51 Constitutions and the Crisis of Governance, Sanford Levinson evaluates the current standing of the Constitution. He sets aside what most people would think of as ‘constitutional law’. He is not interested in discussing topics of major debate, calling them the ‘constitution of conversation,’ but rather, wishes to discuss those topics which have already been, for the most part, settled, aptly called the ‘constitution of settlement.’ Topics such as whether Congress should be a bicameral legislature, or whether judges should be appointed for life, or whether the electorate should be able to vote on constitutional amendments. Topics that are not questions of interpretation, but rather, questions of the wisdom of the structural decisions of the Constitution itself, most of which were made way back during the Philadelphia Convention. His purpose in doing so is not so much to answer questions, but rather to ask them. He seldom gives his own positions on the questions that he asks - more so, he wishes to open up the public’s mind about such questions. In order to do so, he seldom uses expert jargon, preferring to explain himself as much a common man (or woman) would. His point throughout the entire book is not to chastise the Framers of the Constitution, but to explain how while decision made back in 1789 were sound in logic, they may not fit the...
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