...controversial is the second amendment to the constitution and its importance. The Second Amendment states that, “a well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to bear arms, shall not be infringed.” The interpretation of the “right of the people” shows that it protects the individual rights of the citizens to own guns. The second amendment is widely considered to be the most important amendment in the constitution for several reasons. It bestows the citizens with protection, defense, and it establishes greater hegemony for the nation as a whole. The second amendment grants protection to all law biding citizens. It protects them from criminals and even from the government. Owning a gun allows citizens to protect their property and themselves. For example, if a criminal knew for a fact that a certain house or a certain neighborhood had guns then he would surely think twice before breaking in or vandalizing their property. The second amendment gives the citizens protection with guns and therefore it discourages criminals from attacking the innocent. According to firearms expert Neil Schulman, firearms are the most effective way to protect your home from common criminals. As long as you learn how to use guns safely and take precautions to keep them out of the irresponsible hands of criminals, then the guns makes your home safer and could potentially save your life and that of your loved ones. The second amendment also offers protection...
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...The Constitution and the Bill of Rights The freedom documents from early America were the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The U.S. Constitution was documented and presented in 1787 and finally ratified by all states, except Rhode Island, and put into effect as a suitable replacement of the Articles of Confederation in the year 1788. Since then, it has played a significant role in ensuring the security and integrity of the United States of America. It has been accepted as the highest law of the land that determines the enforcement of all other laws by the federal government. The constitution is important for a great number of reasons. Primarily because it was the document that founded our government, and it was the basis of what would form the United States. The constitution is important because it outlines all of our rights as citizens. It gives a complete list of all the things that we can do, and the rights that we have. The constitution, and its amendments protects us, protects us from each other, protects us from our own government, protects us from wrongful prosecution, incriminating ourselves, our right to speech, our right to bear arms, and our right to freedom of religion. The constitution isn't just important; I believe it is the most important document ever crafted in American History, and the one document that affects every single citizen within the United States every single day. It is the foundation of our country. It provides a single legal basis for all...
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...Convention was an important event because it is what lead us to the government we have now. The different compromises are what lead to the methods that were used and still being used nowadays The Constitutional Convention was a meeting that took place in Philadelphia in 1787. The purpose of that meeting was to rewrite the Articles of Confederation. There were fifty five men who were delegates, their purpose was to have the federal government strengthen. The delegates did not think that rewriting the Articles of Confederation would actually work out. Eventually they wrote the U.S. Constitution. George Washington was chosen to lead the convention. All of the delegates had to agree that every state would get one vote. They did not want anyone to know about what was going on during the convention meetings. The delegates made sure to keep everything a secret, anyone who was not a delegate were not allowed to attend any meetings. We have no written documents because they kept everything a secret of what had occurred during the meetings. The only details we have today is from a notebook that belonged to James Madison. However, James Madison is known as the “Father of the Constitution.” He had also helped write the federalist papers. At the Constitutional Convention James Madison had done a very good job. When the delegates had to decided to write the “Bill of Rights” he was against it. James Madison was afraid that the future people would just go by those ten amendments that were listed...
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...The US Constitution and Bill of Rights were revolutionary since they changed a lot of things that favored the development of America and protected the citizens' rights. We could realize that by taking a look at the America today because these documents have affected the evolution of America. According to Digital History, the result from these documents are phenomenal, "the United States has been radically transformed over the past two centuries. Its population has soared from just 4 million to nearly 300 million. The federal budget has risen from $4 million in 1790 to over $1 trillion today" 1. The most important thing that they are still using the same governed structure stated by these documents even now 2. The US Constitution was established to create and change the governmental system by eliminating the monarchical society, and the Bill of Rights was a shield that helped people to prevent any downfall from the US Constitution. Both of them were the main factors to cut off the appearance of British government, reduce the overuse of power, and create the new and better governmental system....
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...Bill of Rights and Amendments Bill of Rights and Amendments The Constitution provides that an amendment may be proposed either by the Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate or by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the State legislatures. Since the President does not have a constitutional role in the amendment process, the joint resolution does not go to the White House for signature or approval. The original document is forwarded directly to NARA's Office of the Federal Register (OFR) for processing and publication. The OFR adds legislative history notes to the joint resolution and publishes it in slip law format. The Archivist submits the proposed amendment to the States for their consideration by sending a letter of notification to each Governor along with the informational material prepared by the OFR. The Governors then formally submit the amendment to their State legislatures. When a State ratifies a proposed amendment, it sends the Archivist an original or certified copy of the State action, which is immediately conveyed to the Director of the Federal Register. The OFR examines ratification documents for facial legal sufficiency and an authenticating signature. If the documents are found to be in good order, the Director acknowledges receipt and maintains custody of them. The OFR retains these documents until an amendment is adopted or fails, and then transfers the records to the National Archives...
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...University of Phoenix Material Foundations of the U.S. Federal Government Worksheet Complete the chart below by identifying the three branches of government and their entities. |U.S. Constitution | |[pic] | | | | | | | |[pic] [pic] [pic] | | | | | | | | ...
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...Buck once said, “If you want to understand today you have to search yesterday.” She’s saying learn from the past because it will help better our future. This is definitely seen at times in history. We “search” through the past to see what we did wrong and then learn from our mistakes,so it doesn’t happen again. Although some may argue that we never really learned from our past, some cases have shown otherwise, like the Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights. The Americans used previous knowledge on the pros and cons of the Magna Carta to shape their own document which is known as The Bill of Rights. Despite the fact that the Bill Of Rights was based off of the Magna Carta and are similar, they are different documents,so...
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...Schmidt 10/17/13 The Constitution of the United States marked the start of a new form of government for the newly freed colonies. It established a system of government in which the US has had for over two hundred years. The Framers of the Constitution wrote it to “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…” It was created to protect the citizens of the United States and our freedoms. The Constitution is what sets the US apart from many other countries. The Articles of Confederation, Bill of Rights, and Constitution are arguably the most important documents in United States History. They were the documents that put in place the first government of the United States of America. Although written over two hundred years ago, the Constitution is timeless in the ideas and principles that it promotes. As of late, the relevancy of the Constitution to today’s society has been called into question, more specifically our second amendment. Does the Constitution of the United States with the inclusion of our second amendment right continue to insure domestic tranquility? The United States Constitution, including the second amendment, is a healthy document, which still serves our nation exceptionally well and continues to insure domestic tranquility. The evolution of society and recent events may show that the second amendment right can be endangering our...
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...The tenth and fourteenth amendments were both established to limit the government and upgrade the lives of all citizens. The due process clause incorporated in the 14th amendment focuses on the rights of the citizens and the government. Its purpose was to protect economic freedoms; it was probably one of the more controversial amendments in the constitution. However, the tenth amendment confines what powers the federal government can give. The division between both amendments come on he views of federalism. The first section of the fourteenth amendment consists of the citizenship, due process, equal protection, and the immunities clauses. The fifth section of the fourteenth amendment bequeaths the authority of the Congress to legislatively...
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...Lopez-Schermer June 10, 2013 Our four fathers as a way of check and balances created the Constitution. They believed that a strong federal government was needed for the country to survive. The constitution is the base for all laws in the United States. It’s the highest law in the United States. The constitution can be changed, when it’s changed it’s called and amendment. Among the amendments are the bill of rights and the reconstruction amendments. In this paper I will discuss how and why amendments become part of the constitution, what were some problems with the original document that motivated the adoption of the bill of rights, the effects of the bill of rights and the reconstruction amendments and their effects. How and why do amendments become part of the constitution? When the constitution was written, the Framers knew that the constitution would and could be amended. Article V of the constitution tells how an amendment can become a part of the constitution. It takes two steps to add an amendment to the constitution. The first step is the proposal. An amendment can be proposed by either two-thirds vote in congress, which includes both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The second step is ratification; the amendment has to be ratified by wither three-fourths of the state legislatures or by state conventions in three-fourths of the states. An amendment can only be ratified after two-thirds of the House and Senate approve of the proposal and send...
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...The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution or as most people call it the Second Amendment, has been a point of dispute throughout the American history. Despite all the controversy, the Second Amendment is still defended by a lot of American citizens and politicians. We, as European citizens, ask ourselves why. Therefore it’s time to really get to know the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. When the Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, federalists claimed the new government would only have limited powers. For the critics of the new government, known as the anti-federalists, this wasn’t enough. What they addressed was the fact that the original constitution lacked something to protect the liberties of each individual. One of the things they pleaded for was the right to keep and bear arms....
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...Second Amendment: Still Valid after 200 years Jeremiah A. Dozier ITT Technical Institute The subject of this research paper is on a particular subject that has spurred an ongoing debate for many years, the Second Amendment. To this day many Americans have raised the question is the Second Amendment still valid after 200 years? The answer to that question is YES! When the founding fathers signed the Constitution in this document there are many Articles and the First ten are known as the bill rights and the first one is the right to free speech, most everyone is in agreement that is one of the most important rights as citizens. Now the Second Amendment which states, “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a Free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed”. In this paper it is the authors’ intension to show why this Amendment is important today and in the future. The Second Amendment has been a part of this country since the very beginning of our great nation. Fast forward to the present, they are now people saying the Second Amendment is no longer valid or needed. How can that be we not need this right or it no longer applies to the present day? One of the main reasons most people say we don’t need this fundamental right is because of the recent waves of shootings around this country. The only response is to put a ban on firearms or limit how many rounds a weapons magazine can hold. The Second Amendment is in place as...
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...the Constitution of the United States and is included in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights. Freedom of religion involves two important components. The first is the prohibition on the “establishment of religion” by government- the separation of Church and State; and the second, ensures that the government allows for the practice of religion (Marroquin). Many important cases throughout history have also helped to further refine the limits of freedom of religion as laid out in the Constitution. This paper will discuss why freedom of religion was chosen as part of the Constitution. It will also provide the current law pertaining to this important part of the First Amendment. In the original Constitution, religion makes only one direct and obvious appearance that seems to point to a desire of religious freedom. That appearance is in Article 6, at the end of the third clause and states: “No religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” (Mount) This is a statement that is simple and straightforward and applies to all offices in the entire United States, both state and federal. The framers of the Constitution thought that they had constructed a complete and comprehensive document. Many people disagreed. One of the big disagreements from the opposition to the framers was the lack of a bill of rights. Many of the framers felt that it was unneeded. Eventually, many supporters of the Constitution, including...
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...consist of one Amendment of my choosing that is related to the protection of people, their property, or criminal law itself. The second part is on the specific powers that the federal government has been granted with to make criminal laws versus those our state governments have been grant with. The third part will define, compare and contrast the four main goals of our criminal justice system. Then the last part will explain what is meant by police power and the limitations to that power. In order to understand and interpret any one of the Amendments to our Constitution, we need to know what the word amendment means. The definition of the word amendment is a correction or alteration of a manuscript, document, or record usually to improve it according to The American Heritage® Dictionary (The American Heritage® Dictionary, 2012). The Amendment this report will talk about is the Fourth Amendment. This Amendment is the search and seizure amendment. The Fourth Amendment to me means that the government cannot conduct unlawful searches and seizures of any one person and their property (Territo, Halsted, & Bromley, 2004). I think that the purpose of this Amendment is important because it protects us all from the government in invading our privacy and the police from using their power to investigate a crime without probable cause. Another thing that goes along with this is the police need a warrant in order to search and seize people and their things. This amendment first came about...
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...Arizona Statehood and Constitution Arizona and Federal Government November 18, 2012 Part 1: Arizona Statehood There are many events which impacted the process of Arizona becoming a state. Each of these events is not only historical, but they are what allowed the Arizona Constitution to be written in 1910 and to finally become a state in 1912. The Arizona Constitution, when first adopted, was seen as one of the most radical documents in the United States, and even today it still has many contrasts to the U.S. Constitution. Some of the events which helped to shape the Arizona Constitution, as well as make it an official state are the Pre-territorial Period, the Spanish Period, The Mexican Period, the U.S. Controlled Period, the Territorial Period and the impact of the Progressive movement on the creation of the Arizona constitution. First, the Pre-territorial Period is probably the most politically unknown because it is impossible to reconstruct how these prehistoric communities felt about politics and democracy. However, evidence shows that people inhabited Arizona for thousands of years before the Europeans. Indians were considered to be the “first citizens” established in Arizona, long before it became a state. There are three major cultures which lived in this state, which were the Apache, the Navajo, the Hohokam and Mogollon. The Hohokam disappeared around the mid 1400’s but historians do not know why. Each group was complex in their social organizations...
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