Essay On The Difference Between The Declaration Of Independence And The Constitution

1572 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: are the declaration of independence and the constitution more similar, or more different? how so? essay

The Declaration of Independence and Constitution’s treatment of equality are different. Let’s start with the differences, the Declaration of Independence is the only document that uses the word equality. It does not have any real legal power. The Constitution add the bill of rights in 1789 and was written by James Madison. Within those bill of rights it states the rights of people and that everyone would not be deprived of “life, liberty or property”. The thing the Constitution missed is that in the 1700’s when it was first written it did not apply to everyone. It was not equal among slaves, landowners, and citizens of the American Colonies. You can also compare the Declaration of Independence and the Fifth Amendment. The Fifth Amendment is …show more content…

When having the third party the effect of their presence is they usually race more specific issues. When they do this then the majority parties piggy back off of those issue to try to win over the third party support. The third party can also sway the outcome of an election. An example of this is the Bush vs. Al Gore 2000 presidential election, Nader the third party candidate took votes away from Al Gore in Florida and Bush ended up winning. The reason this happens is because of the winner takes all system that our government has. It’s who every wins the most votes win. The third parties since they are small and usually receive a lower amount of votes, the major parties are then able to use the third party to focus on more specific issues to gain more votes from the third party supporters. The reason why we have a two party system is because it is hard for minor parties to receive vote and win an election. As a result of this there are usually only two political parties that dominate the elections and hold most of the seats in Congress and in The Senate. One suggestion is to have a multiparty system that allows different parties to have representation based on the amount of votes that they receive. So if the third party receive 25% of the votes then they would have 25%

Show More
Related

  • Similarities Between Thomas Jefferson's Letter To The Constitution

    571 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Declaration of Independence came before the Constitution. Every nation has to be sovereign before it can guarantee any freedom or rights to its citizens. The

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of The Declaration Of Independence

    1340 Words  | 3 Pages

    Why was the Declaration of Independence written? The Declaration of Independence was written in 1776. We all know that day as Independence Day. It was accepted on July 4, 1776. On that day, the United States had freedom. There was a long, hard process to get the Declaration of Independence where it needed to be. It took several people, and several reviews to get it just right.

    Read More

  • Third Parties in American Politics: Playing Spoiler in a Duopolistic System

    2471 Words  | 5 Pages

    ... third party is to force the two major parties to provide leadership that is accountable to the people and actively involves itself in policy innovation. Rosenstone’s claim that third parties are essential to American democracy is evidence that the current two-party system is inadequate and often fails to provide strong leadership. Without the presence of third parties, it is not difficult to imagine what the American political system might look like.

    Read More

  • We Need To Write Our Own Declaration Of Independence

    482 Words  | 1 Pages

    When in the course of the household we, the teens, have always had the responsibility of doing the chores around the house.When oneself has to do chores one has to miss out on hanging out with friends, going to the mall, et cetera. Of course we do not wish to be disrespectful toward our parents but it is now time that we write our own Declaration of Independence. It is important that our parents or guardians know how everyone feels about the chores that have been placed on us and why we should be independent.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast The Common Sense And The Declaration Of Independence

    1073 Words  | 3 Pages

    Compare and Contrast Declaration of Independence and Common Sense When I was asked to read the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson and Common Sense by Thomas Paine, I was kind of scared. As I started to read it, I found it to be truly interesting. Reading over them several times to make sure I understood the text and the meaning of them both. Throughout, out this paper I will share many comparisons and contrasts between the Declaration of Independence and the Common Sense pamphlet. There are many reasons why these two documents had a great effect on the American Revolution.

    Read More

  • Formation and Impact of the US Constitution

    709 Words  | 2 Pages

    The United States constitution sets forth the nations supreme laws it establishes the national government and defines the inalienable rights and liberties of every citizen the creation of the constitution was a process that involved promises and struggle among the founding fathers of the nation. The victory of the confederate states in the revolutionary war presented the independent states with the major challenge of establishing a peacetime government following the victory of the confederacy reaction, but also an understanding reaction thus introducing a document that provided the laws of the land. The states had several different reactions in creating the Constitution. The constitution directed its attention to many problems in this country; it offered quite a challenge because the document was suitable to several views

    Read More

  • Declaration of Independence Impact in American Society

    1865 Words  | 4 Pages

    In 1776, five members assembled to draw up the Declaration of Independence, a document that clearly stated independence from Britain, and listed the colonists’ grievances and natural rights. One of the most controversial components was the following statement: “We hold these truth to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” The concept of equality debated and understood in a variety of ways throughout American history. Equality, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, can be defined as “the quality or state of having the same rights, social status, etc.” Consequently, changes have been sought to obtain rights that were not easily granted. Marginalized members of society have fought to acquire rights, whether human or civil, since they believe that, as citizens, they deserve equality. The trend of change in the name of equality has brought about numerous fundamental and eternal transformations in American society.

    Read More

  • The Influence Of The Declaration Of Independence And The American Constitution

    1099 Words  | 3 Pages

    In terms of shaping political thought and institutions in America, no two documents have had more influence than that of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. The Declaration of Independence, drafted in 1776, was the zenith of the American Revolutionary campaign. Written largely by Thomas Jefferson, who was heavily influenced by John Locke’s ideas of natural rights, the document was as much a philosophical doctrine as it was a political one (Cummings 2015, 64). After being embroiled in a long, bloody war with Britain for over ten years, the Thirteen Colonies formally emancipated themselves from their mother country through the Declaration. They justified the Revolution and their need for independence in the document by

    Read More

  • The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America

    1463 Words  | 3 Pages

    hen in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

    Read More

  • Understanding the Declaration of Independence's Intentions

    704 Words  | 2 Pages

    Every July 4, Americans celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence, but do we really understand why it was written in the first place? The Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson and adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776 is by far one of the most important historical documents for the United States of America (Stockdale, 2016). In Jefferson 's words, the Declaration was written, "In order to place before mankind the common sense of the matter in terms as plain and simple as to command their assent." The authors of this document addressed the philosophy of natural rights, compiled a lengthy list of grievances towards the King, and let England know that the American Colonists were about to declare themselves an independent nation. They wanted their intentions to be very clear for King George III.

    Read More

  • third parties

    1467 Words  | 3 Pages

    Despite being the constant underdog and loser in major elections third parties make some significant contribution to the political spectrum in the United States. Third Party Agendas are taken serious by the Democratic and Republican Parties and specific pieces of the Third Party Agendas are sometimes adopted by the two major parties. Third parties give discontented voters other alternatives. The Republican and Democratic Parties have been known to operate in similar styles and third parties give the voter the opportunity to express their discontent. The third parties in the United States are policy advocates and often are more specific about were they stand ideologically. Often the Republican and Democratic Parties try and take a moderate approach to political issues, and third parties are more conservative or liberal when it comes to political issues. Also, third parties tend to do exactly the opposite when their agenda concerns social issues. Then there is the ?spoiler factor? a Third Party Candidate can collect enough votes to change the outcome of a Presidential Election.

    Read More

  • Atlantic Revolution Dbq

    1146 Words  | 3 Pages

    Even though the Seneca Falls conference for the Declaration of Independence was in 1848 which is about 72 years after the colonies declaration of independence they had some similarities in the components that each document contain plus what each wanted to represent for it was used as a model. To start with the statement “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal”, the whole sentence is very similar to that of the colonies and it provides the content in which even though time and places are different they had similar views in how they wanted things to be and the governmental guidelines. This document wanted the women to have the same rights as men, for them to be considered individuals by society. Evidently, 68 women and 32 men signed it; which as mentioned before was different from the US Declaration of Independence where only men, 56 of them, signed it. This Declaration of Independence is a ground changing moment for it realigns women to be treated equally and goes about stating many forms of mistreatment that have been occurring to women since the start of time. So with this they are now to be given the same rights detailed in the US declaration of Independence for they are too citizens of the United States. Even though this even

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast The Us Constitution And The Declaration Of Independence

    1049 Words  | 3 Pages

    The United States Constitution and The Declaration of Independence are two of America 's most famous documents and most cherished symbols of liberty, however they are very different in their intents and themes, although both together laid the foundation for our independence as a nation. The Declaration of Independence proclaims the United States of America a free and independent nation that would no longer be under British Rule. The Constitution is the basis of the U.S. government. It can be rightly stated that the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are best friends necessary in support for each other. There are two proofs necessary to make this argument: the first being, the Declaration requires limited, constitutional union

    Read More

  • Essay On Declaration Of Independence

    621 Words  | 2 Pages

    A common error that people make is that the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4th our national Independence day in the United States, but the truth is that the document was only approved on July 2nd and wasn’t even signed until August 2nd. The document was signed by 56 colonial delegates, and was used to explain why they want to break free from Britain. This document consists of 4 parts, statement of purpose, the contract theory of government, grievances, and the conclusion, the two major parts are the contract theory of government, grievances; they make up the bulk of the document. The colonists wanted to officially split from Britain due to the many unjust things Britain had done. The Declaration of Independence was a list of those unjust things and who gave them the authority to split.

    Read More

  • The Declaration Of Independence Of The United States

    1229 Words  | 3 Pages

    Declaration of Independence of the United States is a political document of the thirteen colonies declaring independence and free of King’s tyranny. Human rights and liberties of American citizens were officially announced to the public for the first time. The sovereignty principle of the Continental Congress was a challenge to the British colonization in North America as well as it affected to other tyrannical monarchies that dominated throughout the European continent.

    Read More

More about Essay On The Difference Between The Declaration Of Independence And The Constitution

Open Document