...The Bill of Rights refers to the first ten amendments and its purpose is to safeguard individual liberties and limit the power of the government, ensuring citizens' freedoms such as freedom of speech, religion, and the right to a fair trial. The government can take away life, liberty, or property under specific circumstances, but it must follow the due process of law as outlined in the Fifth Amendment. This means that individuals are entitled to fair procedures, including notice and an opportunity to be heard, before the government can deprive them of these rights. The two amendments I believe are the most important are the first and fourth amendments. The First Amendment is crucial because it protects fundamental freedoms, including freedom...
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...there wasn’t a bill of rights drafted in the original copy. Without a bill of rights, the people would never be aware of their unalienable rights and the power and roles of their government. Patrick Henry said, “The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them,” at the Convention of Virginia in June 1788. He was trying to convey a message that showed the importance of citizens having their rights listed, so the government would never be able...
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...Religious Freedom in the Constitution’s First Amendment, it reads; “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”. At one time Americans weren’t a strong believer of freedom of religion. Pilgrims came to the Mayflower more than half a century, the French Protestants known as Huguenots, in Fort Caroline where they settled their colony near Jacksonville, Florida. Spanish people occupied much of Florida who were Catholic’s which murdered the Huguenots at Fort Caroline. Written sighs by the Spanish commander to the king as for why the settlers were hung stated “Scattering the odious Lutheran doctrine in these provinces”. A puritan dissident, Roger Williams in 1963 who was forbidden...
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...Our government has compromised on the liberties in the name of general welfare typically on amendments one and ten, that the founders believed in the sanctity importance of the individual liberties guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. One issue that was a violation of rights on the citizens was the Kim Davis situation. Davis was an elected county clerk in Kentucky where after the legalization of gay marriage, she refused to sign and give marriage certificates to the gay couples because it went against her religious beliefs. She was arrested for violating the freedom that every individual had for choosing to marry whoever they want after gay marriage become legalized. The government violated her rights to practice her own religion by arresting...
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...Amendment Essay Twenty-seven amendments have been ratified since the original signing of the Constitution, the first ten of which are known as the Bill of Rights. The Amendments to the United States Constitution have had a major effect on American life. A major feature of the Constitution is the capability of changing the document in order for it to become accustomed to the changing times and conditions. There are a few methods in order to change the Constitution. An amendment proposed by 2/3rds vote in each house of congress could be approved by either one of two ways. It must be either ratified by 3/4ths of the State Legislature or by the Constitutional Conventions in 3/4ths of the states. To approve an amendment proposed at a National Constitutional Convention it must also be ratified by 3/4ths of the State Legislatures or by a Constitutional Convention in 3/4ths of the States. The First Amendment, freedoms, is one of the most known and the most important of all. A historical event that led to this amendment was that the new American settlers brought with them a desire for democracy and openness after the American Revolution. They left behind a history of tyranny and official control of information. Using this experience as their guide, the constitutional fathers wrote into their new Constitution a Bill of Rights, which contained the First Amendment. This Amendment was created so that the people would have the freedom to express themselves without worrying. Disagreement to...
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...On December 15, 1791, the Bill of Rights was adopted after having been ratified by three-fourths of the states. The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments of the Constitution. The second amendment out of the ten that were ratified states that "...the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed". The second amendment primarily protects the rights of gun owners and allows people to legally own firearms. There have been many discussions and arguments about majority of the Constitution but none have ever been debated back and forth as much as the second amendment has in recent years. One side of the argument is that firearms that are produced and sold to the civilian market aren't covered by the second amendment due to the fact that when the second amendment was passed there were't firearms such as AR-15's, Glocks, so on and so forth. That side of the argument often tries to attack the second amendment by trying to pass stricter gun laws or by trying to completely repeal the second amendment. On the other hand however, many people believe that laws regarding the second amendment are sufficient enough or too strict as is. The second amendment was introduced to protect the people. It was not just some law to allow people to simply just own firearms but it was instituted to keep...
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...Can the amendments from the Bill of Rights be valued of importance? The bill of rights consists of ten amendments each guaranteeing an individual right of every United States citizen. In this essay I have picked two amendments, which I will explain, their importance and negative consequences. Continuing on the relevance of the second amendment in today’s American climate and the arguments that those are for/against about gun control. The first amendment of the Bill of Rights sets the tone for the rest of the document showing the limitations the government has towards any United States citizen. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech,...
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...POS – 301 November 2, 2014 Professor Biddle My Rights and Freedoms As a citizen of the United States I do not appreciate the freedom and rights given. I have not thought about how fortunate I am to live in a country that allows freedom of speech, freedom of expression, or my favorite, freedom of religion. Throughout this assignment I will explain which freedom in the first amendment relates to me the most, discuss why the Bill of rights are important, and discuss the process for amending the Constitution. The freedom in the first amendment of the constitution relates to me the most would be Freedom of Religion. Freedom of Religion states that as an American I can practice ANY religion I want or I do not have to practice any religion at all. The reason freedom of religion relates to me most is because I am a strong believer in the idiom “to each his own”. I do not care if my friend is Jewish, Hindu, Christian, the list goes on. I think expressing one’s self is extremely important and religion is one of those ways. To me, what a person’s religion is does not determine if they are a good person or not. There are people that consider themselves “Jewish” or “Christian” but yet they are extremely mean and do not care about others. Freedom of religion allows for every single citizen of the United States to have a sense of freedom. We do not feel obligated to have a certain type of religion, which is better! The reason I say this is because if we are not forced to follow...
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...What is the Bill of Rights and how important is it? The Bill of Right is the collective name for the first ten Amendments of the United States Constitution, which limits the power of the US federal government. These limitations serve to protect the natural rights of liberty including freedoms of religion, speech, a free press, free assembly, and free association, as well as the right to keep and bear arms. The Founding Fathers wanted to ensure that no man could obtain excessive power, which could infringe the citizen’s rights. The Bill of Rights retains an important role in American society as it outlines the rights and freedoms of the individuals. This allows them to use the Bill of Rights as a reference point if they ever find themselves in a situation where they need to defend themselves according to the rights that they claim. This can be seen in Amendment V of the Bill of Rights, whereby a suspected criminal has the rights to not be a witness against himself so as to prevent self incrimination. The Bill of Rights shows the rights of the citizens as it gives individuals the right to keep and bear arms, as outlined in Amendment I where the Bill of Rights clearly shows the right and freedoms of the citizens. However the Bill of Rights can be interpreted in different ways which can lead to inconsistencies in the treatment of the individuals, this is most common depending on where that individual lives. This vagueness has caused a clear debate in the death penalty, where...
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...Rights and Freedoms The Bill of Right are the first Ten Amendments that were given to us by our founding fathers under the United States Constitution, which included: freedom of speech, freedom to practice any religion, the right to have weapons, the right of trial with a lawyer, and many more. These rights were opposed due to the fact that the Americans did not want to be controlled by England king any more. They wanted a country that would not be controlled by the country like many other countries around the world they wanted to be different and have the freedom to develop their own right and regulations. The Bill of Rights was written to provide all the people equal rights and freedoms to do as they please, yet they must obey the laws given to them in the United States Constitution, and “the peoples constitutional rights cannot lawfully be denied by government officials” (Patterson, 2011, p. 43). The freedom that was guaranteed to me in the first amendment that is relevant to my personal self is freedom of religion. As states by Thomas E. Patterson, Freedom of “religion: you are protected from having the religious beliefs of others imposed on you, and you are free to believe what you like” (Patterson, 2011, table 4-1). I personally can relate to this specific freedom, since I came of a country that has been in conflicts about who the land of Palestine (Israel) belongs to and which religion should take over. The way I see is that in Palestine (Israel) the Jewish people and...
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...Brief of VAN ORDEN v. PERRY Type of case. The case was a United States Supreme Court case that was about a show of the Ten Commandments on a Monument given to the administration at the Texas state legislative hall in Austin abused the Establishment condition of the First Amendment Facts of case. Thomas Van Orden sued Texas in elected region court, contending a Ten Commandments landmark on the grounds of the state legislative hall building spoke to an unlawful government underwriting of religion. Orden contended this disregarded the First Amendment's foundation statement, which disallows the administration from passing laws regarding a foundation of religion. The territory court and the Fifth Circle Court of entreaty ruled against Orden and said the monument served a valid secular function...
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...Anthony J. D’Angelo once stated that “in order to succeed you must first fail, so that you know what not to do the next time.” This quote resonates greatly with the events that took place in Philadelphia in 1787 since this was when the supreme law of the United States was signed into action. This happening brought about the conclusion of an era in which the federal government was too weak and was replaced with one known driven by The Constitution, a piece of legislation that was adequate and fulfilled the needs of this newly formed country. As a prolonged and arduous war ended against one of the world’s greatest superpowers, the Continental Congress of the United States of America began drafting its first constitution in mid-1776, they became known as the “Articles of Confederation.” Less than a decade later an uprising led by Daniel Shays, a former revolutionary, arose when the people became discontent with the current conditions the country was in and blamed their dissatisfaction on the government. (Curtis) These farmers were in poor and in debt, and although the rebellion was swiftly crushed, it demonstrated how powerless the government really was and proved that imperative action was necessary to rectify the issues that were currently afflicting the young nation. The fact that the Articles of Confederation failed was actually a positive outcome, since it was held in place for 10 years it served as a good guideline for what was needed. It was a big risk since they had...
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...War? What factors led to the expansion of the United States during the period after the Civil War, and what were the effects of expansion?! Section 1: Short Answer Questions (30 points)! Write multi-sentence responses for the prompts below. Be specific and give examples from the history we have learned.! A. An amendment to the U.S. Constitution changes laws for the entire country. Three amendments changed laws especially for African Americans. Explain how each of the following amendments changed the law for African Americans. (10 points total)! ! a. Thirteenth Amendment (3 points)! ! ! The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. It freed all African Americans and prevented them from being forced to return to slavery.! ! ! b. Fourteenth Amendment (4 points)! ! ! ! c. Fifteenth Amendment (3 points)! ! ! ! The amendment addresses citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws, and was proposed in response to issues related to former slaves following the American Civil War. All African Americans were now counted for purposes of representation.! The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's “race, color, or previous condition of servitude”. Therefore it gave Black men the right to vote. ! B. Answer the following questions:(10 points)! ! a. What challenges...
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...The USA Patriot Act, the Alien and Sedition Acts, and the Bill of Rights were all established by the government to protect the citizens of the United States of America. These forms of legislation were predominantly written with intentions of enhanced security but could also be construed as allotting more power to the government to generate decisions without the consent of the citizens. The USA Patriot Act is the most recent of the three forms of legislation, but its objective is probably more understood by citizens during a time of terrorism and constant states of “High Alert” issued by the government. The Act affects everyone in the country, and since it gives the government the ability to search any personal records and conduct surveillance on any citizen with little judicial oversight, people of the United States are annoyed, angered, and apprehensive too. Following the events occurring on September 11, 2001 and the ongoing wars in the Middle East, the government now maintains the right to jail non-citizens solely on suspicion and the FBI can investigate any American citizen for criminal matters if the Bureau declares the investigation involves matters of intelligence, all because the government endorsed and enacted the USA Patriot Act. The Alien and Sedition Acts are comprised of four smaller acts: the Alien Enemies Act, the Alien Act, the Naturalization Act, and the Sedition Act. During the time these Acts were passed, the government was comprised of Federalists who...
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...\Administration\New_Employee\v1.0\jan_2014) | Extension | Do not include any extension (.doc, .dot, .xls). Allow the type of package used to determine this. | Margins Top 2.54 cm Bottom 2.54 cm Right 2.54 cm Left 2.54 cm Headings Follow logical sequence and format that reflects relative importance. Use a capital for the first letter only and do not underline or use a full stop. 1.0 Section heading 2.1 First subheading 2.2.1 Second subheading Numbering Numbers one through ten are to be written, exceptions include when numbers refer to percentages (5%), time of day (2:00 o’clock), or measurements ( 7 cm, 4 km). Numbers after 10 are to be written as numerals. Fonts Section headings Arial Black size 18 First Subheading Arial Black size 16 Second subheading Arial Black size 14 Body text Arial size 12 Spacing Two spaces after each sentence 2 spaces when indenting for a paragraph. White Space Write so that it is as easy as possible to read and maintain. Adding white space in the form of blank lines, spaces, and indentation will significantly improve the readability of your document. The reference section should be double-spaced. Bullets Use the following bullets: * First level not indented. * Second level, indented at 0.63 cm. * Third level, indented at 1.27 cm. | Title:(Name of) Policy | Version | 1.0 | TRIM file number |...
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