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Bill of rights modern relevance
Civil rights v civil liberties similarities
Civil rights v civil liberties similarities
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Civil liberties and civil rights are some of the most controversial issues within today’s society and government. The debates upon these liberties and rights are paramount. Topics such as the infringement of government upon these rights, through laws and such, and even the infringement of society upon them, through the sentiments of equality that the people hold, seem to take center stage whenever they are discussed. This controversy stems from the Constitution’s Bill of Rights and its ambiguity upon the fourteenth amendment and how it should apply and grow with society. In my opinion, I feel that civil liberties and civil rights are crucial to our country as a whole, but to address them here, in their entirety, would be impossible and overall useless. Still, if I were in government and amending or interpreting the Constitution, while also keeping the changes I’d like to make to the Constitution in mind from my last essay, I would like to identify freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and the pursuit of happiness to be the most fundamental civil liberties and civil rights mentioned, and I would like to reiterate or add this to my constitution.
To open this discussion, I would like to start with the civil liberty of freedom of religion. This liberty was identified in my original Constitution essay through the mentioning of the separation of church and state clause. The reason for my including of this liberty, and my stressing of its importance, is that I feel that the government interprets this liberty in a one sided fashion because of the incorrect interpretation of the already in place separation of church and state clause. I also include it because I believe that recently the attacks upon religion have metastasized and tha...
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...ess should only be limited by that of the choices that the individual makes and the opportunities that said individual may or may not take advantage of, not by the choices and opportunities that others may or may not make for them. In these aspects of equality and self-reliance, it is my belief that only government is powerful enough to ensure or attempt to ensure this pursuit.
To conclude, I have covered the two main ideas that I wished to add to my constitution essay, along with one civil liberty that I had already addressed. I explained my reasoning as to why I had established the civil liberty of religious protection within my original paper, along with the reasons that I wished to add those of freedom of speech and the pursuit of happiness. All of this combined form a fuller picture of what I wish this country to be and how I wish for this country to opereate.
The American Civil War had a very profound effect upon the American Constitution and upon American constitutionalism generally. The Civil war had indeed been fought over a question of states’ rights, among other things, and the states’ rights interpretation had actually lost and was, to a degree, a casualty of the wartime period. Further, that casualty was swiftly hammered into its coffin by three amendments which were enacted in 1865, 1868 and 1870 – the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. The Fourteenth Amendment ultimately became the heart and soul of the modern American Constitution. Most of the legal battle’s surrounding the United States Bill of Rights have been to make it a truly national document – such that states may not violate its provisions. The Fourteenth Amendment finally made this possible.
After the American Revolution, America had earned it’s freedom from Britain. In order to govern this new country the Articles of Confederation was created. This document was flawed by the colonists fear of putting too much power into a central government. Knowing the document needed to be fixed a constitutional convention was called. The document created at this convention has been our constitution ever since. But even the Constitution was meet with criticism. One major concern when writing the constitution was how to protect the citizens rights. The Constitution did this through the preamble, the legislative process, the limit of presidential terms, the judicial branch, and the bill of rights.
Typically the most basic civil liberties are found in a country’s bill of rights and then that country passes amendments as needed in order to grow the peoples’ civil liberties, or shrink them if need be. Now, in the case of the United States the people are not “granted“ civil liberties by the...
All throughout history civil liberties have been established, fought for, and abused. During the first quarter of the twentieth century, the civil liberties in the United States of America were tested. There were many events where the freedoms that our founding fathers had fought for Passive Voice (consider revising). Prejudice, fear, and racism all played a role during these events, during many of which they decided the outcome. Two events that demonstrate when the civil liberties in America were tested were during the trial of Sacco and Vanzettii and Schenek v. United States.
Wood, James E, Jr. "Religious Human Rights and a Democratic State." Journal of Church and State 4(2004):739. eLibrary. Web. 31 Aug. 2011.
Our founding fathers wrote the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to protect our most basic rights as citizens of the United States, and although creating the Constitution was an arduous effort, eventually the new Americans came to an agreement over what was included. “The Bill of Rights — the first 10 amendments to the Constitution — went into effect on Dec. 15, 1791, when the state of Virginia ratified it, giving the bill the majority of ratifying states required to protect citizens from the power of the federal government.” (First Amendment Center). After the first amendment went into effect, all religious minorities were now protected from persecution, and people could freely speak their
The protection of civil liberties and civil rights is critical to the existence of our society. Civil rights are the nonpolitical rights of people granted by the government that provide protection for citizens and guarantee fairness. For example, civil rights ensure a person receives equal treatment with regard to education, housing, employment, etc. Civil rights protect people from discrimination and unfair treatment. Civil liberties are basic rights for all people that are broad and guaranteed by the Constitution. Civil liberties are also referred to as personal freedoms. These liberties or freedoms give people the various rights without government interference such as the right to free speech, to vote,
In summary, I have stated the Constitutional basis with respect to the history of church-state relation in America. I have stated clearly the two doctrines of separation of church and state versus using religion to bolster morality and virtue of the republic. And I have argued that the two doctrines have a common ground in conscience and morality.
The Amendment I of the Bill of Rights is often called “the freedom of speech.” It provides a multitude of freedoms: of religion, of speech, of the press, to peacefully assemble, to petition the government. Religious freedom is vitally important to this day because it eliminates the problem of religious conflicts. Historically, many people died for their beliefs because their government only allowed and permitted one religion. T...
Chapter fourteen of our text book covers the 3rd, 7th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 13th, and 14th amendments which cover different rights of the government and the people. In this paper, I will be summarizing these amendments and how they are important to us.
Throughout American history, our civil liberties as American citizens have evolved immensely. For example, the first ten amendments in the U.S. Constitution are referred to as the “The Bill of Rights,” which contains some of the most cherished civil liberties, such as freedom of speech and religion. These civil liberties however, did not originally apply to state governments or institutions the state established. The Bill of Rights focused solely on what the national government could not do, allowing state governments to do whatever they wanted. For example, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire supported Congregationalist ministers with tax payer dollars for decades. After the Civil War, civil liberties expanded, because three new amendments were added: the Thirteenth, abolishing slavery, the Fourteenth, which redefined civil liberties and rights, and the Fifteenth, which allowed adult, male citizens to vote. The due process clause (contained in the Fourteenth Amendment) became one of the most important civil liberties, because it applied the language of the Fifth Amendment to state governments, proclaiming that they could not “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law....
Surely, the Bill of Rights, are a set of significant articles that amend our country from what it is today, and what it use to be in the 1900’s, during the Salem Witch trials. If the amendments were in place during that time, the people of the village, in Salem, would not have sufered such cruel and unjust punishment and their rights as citizens would have been protected. Similarly, today the amendments guarantee us, as citizens, vital rights that hold the country united as one. The importances of these editorials go beyond our everyday rights, instead, making us a part of who we are today.
Although the country has faced numerous changes and difficulties since its beginning, the United States still stands as one of the world’s most successful constitutional government. According to historian, David Barton, this is in part because of the five principles of government found in the Declaration of Independence. These principles state that there is a Creator, that every person has inalienable rights, that the government’s main purpose is to protect these rights, that there are moral laws established by God, and that below the moral laws, decisions are to be made by the governed. Out of these five principles, the one that speaks to me the most is the idea that governments must protect the natural rights of its people.
Contained in the research paper there were many things that were helpful when writing the essay. The authors started of talking about the Amendment and Clauses that protected religious freedom. They included much detail, and in great depth. For example
The U.S constitution guarantees different types of civil liberties such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly and the freedom to vote, and so on. Civil liberties are one of the many details into democracy. Freedom of speech is an asset to democracy. It is the right to express opinions and exchange new information to Americans. It also allows debate especially when opinions are expressed to vote. Although you have freedom to say whatever you please, freedom of the press protects the negative information Americans tend to express and the government does not allow it to be published. Freedom of the press is an example of newspaper articles and the government will only allow certain material that is appropriate to be published