...The Fourteenth Amendment, or at least the current interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment, has come under fire of late. There are those who take issue with the first sentence of the amendment, stating: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.” This right bestowed by the Fourteenth Amendment of jus soli citizenship has been controversial because of the “anchor baby” phenomenon. An “anchor baby” is a pejorative term for a citizen of the United States who was born to a mother whose status is illegal, in order that the baby might serve as an “anchor” for the mother to the US. Because this state of affairs is thought to encourage illegal immigration, especially by pregnant women, there have been calls to amend the Fourteenth Amendment. No such amendment should take place, and the right to all people born in the United States to unabridged citizenship should be reaffirmed. One of the primary concerns with birthright citizenship is the...
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...The Constitution holds two broad and important principles, the first is that the Federal Government has limited and enumerated powers, with the remaining powers given to the States, and the second that the Federal Government may enforce against the States provisions in the fourteenth amendment guaranteeing due process of law; and fifteenth amendment protecting citizens from having their right to vote abridged due to “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” The Tenth Amendment reserves all rights not expressly granted to the federal government to the individual states. In Fourteenth Amendment cases Congress may only enforce those rights as defined by the Supreme Court. Congress must be allowed to vindicate constitutional rights, but not encroach too far into States rights. So when a State violates a constitutional right, as defined by the Supreme Court, the federal law that remedies that situation must...
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...Fertile soil and the invention of the cotton gin contributed to Alabama’s plantation slavery, which did not end until the enactment of the 13th Amendment in December of 1865. The 6th largest cotton producing economy, Arkansas relied on slave labor until the enactment of the 13th Amendment. At its peak, slaves were 25% of the population. While not ending slavery before the 13th Amendment, abolitionist groups and a ban on importing new slaves made Delaware’s use of slave labor almost non-existent by the end of the Civil War. Although Georgia banned slavery from 1735 to 1751, the practice greatly increased after Eli Whitney unveiled the cotton gin in Savannah, Georgia. Spanish rule declared runaway slaves from other colonies to be free if they...
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...On September 17, 1789, the U.S. Constitution was ratified and made law. In this essay we are going to take a look at the Bill of Rights and the amendments. We will be reviewing how and why the amendments become part of the Constitution, what problems the original document motivated the adoption of the Bill of Rights, what are the effects of the Bill of Rights, what problems with the original document, or changes in society led to later amendments. All of these are very necessary and fun topics to address. Now let’s take a look. There are multiple ways for trying to add an amendment to the U.S Constitution, creating it into law. One way is to propose the amendment in the U.S. Congress who is the law-making body of the United States. Congress is composed of two houses, the House of Representative and the Senate. The amendment must be approved by at least two-thirds of both houses. If they then approve the amendment it is sent to the legislatures of each state of the union. Then all state legislatures must approve the amendment by three-fourths vote. After all is approved, the amendment then becomes law. If vote was not passed in any of the houses the amendment will fail to become law. An amendment is made to the constitution when it is necessary for change while still preserving what the constitution represents. The original document called for a stronger and centralized American government. Antifederalists believed this centralized government would be tyrannical. They believed...
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...and events that finally led to the complete freedom and equality for African Americans. I believe that the most significant events that led to a final resolution were the Amendments and Civil Rights Acts passed and signed by our government. Although, it was hard for proper implementation of the laws at first, I believe that they were all extremely important building blocks for the movement to finally get to where it is today. The first event that started the Civil Rights Movement was the abolishment of slavery. Ratified on December 6, 1865, the 13th Amendment did just this, it restricted state power federally and outlawed involuntary servitude. What this meant is that nationwide, it was illegal to claim ownership over another person. “Although its full effect was not achieved for nearly a century, it began the process of dismantling involuntary servitude as a widespread form of labor relations” (Rutherglen, 2012). With that being said, this was the first real law of its kind, so its implementation was crudely regulated. Yes, slaves were free to now go about and live as they see fit, however, even with freedom they could not regulate their own lives, there were still no laws stating that they had to be treated fairly without prejudice. This became a big problem for African Americans because the 13th Amendment gave them a promise of freedom, yet they were still having to involuntarily submit themselves to the white man. Even though they now had their “freedom” they still could...
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...the "Second Reconstruction." This comparison highlights both the enduring struggle for African American civil rights and the efforts to address the legacy of racial oppression in America. The Reconstruction era sought to establish civil rights for African Americans through constitutional amendments and federal legislation. However, these gains were short-lived as they faced significant backlash from Southern states and white...
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...Illegal immigration, citizenship, and peoples rights are all things many people don’t know much about, and some things people know aren’t completely true, what they do know is usually someone else’s perspective rather than the truth. I hope that this essay sheds more light on what the law of soil, the law of blood, birthright citizenship, anchor babies, illegal immigrants, the 13 amendment, and the 14th amendment really are. There are four ways you can gain United States citizenship, one of these is by being born in the united states or one of its territories, another way is for both of your parents to be American citizens. Third, you can be a citizen through the naturalization process, which generally involves applying for, and passing,...
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...Freedmen were slaves freed after the civil war when the 13th Amendment was passed. These people had no way of taking care of themselves right after they were freed from the war. Although a lot of events happened to change Freedmen lives during the Reconstruction and New South Era, a lot of those events were benefitting Freedmen lives, but a lot did not benefit. The lives of the Freedmen changed socially, economically, and politically in many ways for the better, and for the worse. First off, freedmen lives changed in a political way many times between 1865 and 1896. In Document A and Document E Freedmen started voting but white former slave owners in the south didn’t want Freedmen to vote so they formed the KKK in hopes it would scare the Freedmen out of voting. This worked, they said if Freedmen went to vote, they would kill them, their family, or burn their house to the ground. Not only did they target Freedmen they also targeted White abolitionists. According to (http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/freedmans-bureau-created ), “Terror organizations...
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...Essay 1 The years following the Civil War were laden with political, social, and economic strife, especially in the South. While the events of Reconstruction provided political, social, and economic gains for various groups, Reconstruction can only be described as a minor success due to its many shortcomings and failures. The most notable successes of Reconstruction include reunification of the Union, passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, and establishment of the Freedmen’s Bureau. Reuniting the Union was Lincoln’s and many other Northerners’ main focus after the Civil War, although the last ex-confederate state was not readmitted until 1870. The passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments officially outlawed slavery, granted freedmen equal protection under the law, and gave black males the right to vote. While these helped equalize blacks and whites politically, the Freedmen’s Bureau was established to help provide economic and social assistance to former slaves. The bureau offered necessities like housing and food, but more importantly built schools and provided education and employment opportunities to blacks following the Civil War. With much southern resistance to the new political rights of former slaves, the...
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...forever bless." – Abraham Lincoln1 Throughout the presidency of Abraham Lincoln, he managed to accomplish many great things. However, the greatest feat he managed to procure was in 1865, specifically, the Emancipation Proclamation. Even though his life was cut short 7 months prior to the officially ratification of the 13th amendment, he was and will always be known as the driving force behind this movement. 2 "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." (13th Amendment)3 So with the new amendment came a new tide of change. Right? Not according to most Southern states that refused to collaborate with the new adjustment. The question we can pose is “why did race continue to be a fundamental social problem in the United States after the abolition of slavery in 1865?” Throughout the research paper, the answer will hopefully be uncovered along with some others pertaining to how the slaves and slave owners reacted to this new law. After the Emancipation Proclamation, which was ratified on the 13th of December in 1865, the slaves that were rebelling against the Union and were living in the Southern states were freed. The time that passed after the Emancipation Proclamation is known together as the Reconstruction.4 Even...
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...The case of Plessy v. Ferguson served as a catalyst for the implementation of “separate but equal” segregation laws that were deemed constitutional by the Supreme Court and which profoundly divided White and Colored America throughout the late 1800’s to mid 1900’s. Freshly out of the Civil War, Black America gradually sought after more forms of freedom after the bondage of slavery was destroyed. While Black males especially were granted more citizenship liberties through the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, just when they thought White America could evolve into an accepting and open-minded society, all efforts were shut down by the Jim Crow laws. That is where the Plessy v. Ferguson case starts, the Supreme Court’s endorsement...
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...Basic principles and rules to which a state or regions governed is known as constitution. When these principles, rules and legal documents written down into a single comprehensive document, it is said to be a codified constitution. Constitutions are formulated in order to grant power to the government, so as the Government protect the natural rights of life, liberty, union, establishment of justice, defense and welfare of nation. However, in this essay we will discuss what the constitution says about; The Presidency, Judiciary, Commerce, Slavery and States Rights. A. The Presidency According to US Constitution, President shall have executive power is collective, administration and governmental affairs of states. The president shall hold...
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...Josue lumba Mr. Force English 3 Period 0 October 31, 2013 The life of Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln was elected the16th President in 1860. He was president for four years from 1861-1865. Throughout his term he was able to start the process to end slavery by using emancipation proclamation, he was able to keep peace between states in the United States over slavery. If Abraham Lincoln would not have existed during the reconstruction era then life today would be different because his goals would never have been met, people’s life would be very different if not for his actions, and many things could have happened if not for him. Abraham had many goals throughout his terms as president and they affect the world greatly today. One thing he did was “encouraged settlement of the west by offering 100 acres free land to settlers”. If he never offered free land I think that settlement to the west would have taken some time to accomplish. Another example would be “His sacred duty as president of the United States was to preserve the union at all cost”, I believe that if he did not take this important role that slavery would have still been around today . H was also “Self described as prairie Lawyer he focused on embracing law practice in early 1850’s” He really had a big goal on keeping the country in peace. He took law really seriously and made it a big deal. If not for Abraham Lincoln many peoples life’s would be different, and may even still have an impact on people today...
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...Bill of Rights & Amendments Paper Intro The United States is a country that was founded on the principle of freedom; it took the Bill of Rights to be added to the Constitution to guarantee citizens freedom. The Bill of Rights consists of the first ten amendments in the constitution; a document that outlines how the new American government would be created and operated. The Constitution was ratified in 1788 which was the start of protecting the interests of each citizen, two years later the Bill of Rights was proposed by congress and went into effect in 1791. It was designed to prevent the government from taking total power over citizens and to provide them with legal defenses. This essay will discuss the understanding of how amendments become apart of the constitution and how it adopted the Bill of Rights. As well as the changes in society that led to amendments XIII-XV that became part of the constitution. The effects of the Bill of Rights to this country have been beneficial; they lay down the blueprint for freedom by allowing citizens a voice. The failure of the Articles of Confederation was what led to the Constitution; The Articles had a weak national government with no president, or judicial branch. Hence, this led to the Constitution, which showed the three branches of government legislative, executive and judicial; it describes the power of each branch. It was set up by our forefathers in order to change it if necessary. It tells the relationship of the federal...
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...Cesar Mora-Lopez History 17B Final Essay 12-17-2015 Civil rights The core of the Civil Rights Movement was all based on African Americans changing their natural given rights and being equal to whites. The South of the United States was a lot more racist than the North. The North still had a few people who wanted to keep things segregated or mistreated minorities all in all it was not great, but a bit better for African Americans there than in the South. It was always a struggle to them to feel safe or comfortable in the United States even among their own homes. It is horrible to know that many African Americans died and were tortured; sometimes this happened for the entertainment of white men and even women. Blacks were always labeled to be bad or dangerous when in reality in this time it was the white man people should have been scared of. Many African Americans had fought in the war bravely and put their lives at risk for a country that saw them less of a person. They were heroes for putting themselves at risk for a country they were scared to live in with no rights. Even in the military there was segregation going on. The whites and blacks had different areas to eat and sleep and of course the blacks had more dangerous jobs than the whites. When the war was over instead of blacks being seen as heroes just like many of the whites were seen, blacks were harassed killed and during their arrival had people would throw things at them. Thankfully President Harry Truman...
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