More handpicked essays just for you.
the declaration of independence and today
the declaration of independence and today
the declaration of independence and today
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: the declaration of independence and today
The American colonies assertion for freedom from the English rule officially began with the Declaration of Independence. In the monumental document the founding fathers state their grievances with the English policies, and most importantly make a promise to the American people of maintaining a fair constitutional republic based in pluralism in which sovereignty lies with the citizens. The follow through to the promises made by the Declaration of Independence is the United States Constitution. The Constitution set into official law the equality of American citizens, created a network of checks and balances, relying on an informed populace to preserve the republican system of government, and the secure establishment of a federal model, resulting from the prior events, conflicts, and compromises that necessitate the existence of the Constitution as well as being inherent in it’s writing and ratification.
The Declaration of Independence solidified the American Colony’s succession from the English during the revolutionary war. The declaration let the English monarchy know where the
…show more content…
Under the Articles of Confederation the individual states remained sovereign and maintained their independence, congress served as a last ditch effort to appeal disputes in addition to that congress was granted authority to build upon alliances, create treaties, maintain armed forces and coin capital. The weakness of the central government under the Articles of Confederation made the collection of states taxes and regulation of commerce incredibly difficult and nearly impossible to reinforce. The major weaknesses and downfalls of the Articles of Confederation necessitated the enactment of new federal laws. These new laws would be discussed and voted on, in the Constitutional Convention in 1787 in
The thirteen states formed a Confederation referred to as the “league of friendship” in order to find a solution for common problems such as foreign affairs.The Articles of Confederation was the nation’s first Constitution. The articles created a loose Confederation of independent states that gave limited powers to the central government. Each state would have one vote in the house of Congress, no matter the size of the population. Members of the one-house Congress, such as Pennsylvania, agreed that the new government should be a unicameral legislature, without an executive branch or a separate judiciary. Under the articles, there wasn’t a strong independent executive. There wasn’t any judicial branch but Congress had the authority to arbitrate disputes between states. Congress was responsible for conducting foreign affairs, declaring war or peace, maintaining an army and navy and a variety of other lesser functions. But the articles denied Congress the power to collect taxes, regulate interstate commerce and enforce laws. Because of this, the central government had to request donations from the states to finance its operations and raise armed forces.
The Declaration of Independence cut the political connections between the thirteen original colonies and Great Britain. By declaring independence, the American colonists were able to forge an official alliance with France and obtained French assistance in the war against Britain. The Purpose of the declaration was to explain why congress had voted, July 2nd 1776, to declare their independence from Great Britain, over a year after the American Revolutionary war began.
Have you ever had a crime committed against you? In today’s society we are faced with crime all around us. There are crimes committed out of rage, revenge, jealousy, love, greed, etc; but there is another type of crime, or one could say act of violence, called hate crimes. Have you ever thought maybe that crime was committed against just because of your racial background, or religious beliefs? Throughout this country’s history, hate crimes have taken place, either by known groups who hate and, most commonly, individuals that are inspired by hate. Not until recently have the people of this country ever wanted to pass a law that would punish the guilty to an even higher extent because the crime was committed out of hate. There are two sides to every issue. Whether or not the issue is valid or if it is an unrealistic concept created by the media or by the federal government, then, in my opinion, passing a law of this type is totally unrealistic. It is almost impossible to prove that a crime is committed out of a bias hate. I feel that a law that punishes hate crimes should not be passed.
However, hate crimes can be deemed as a form of prejudice. It is a form of prejudice that is fixed upon a group of people built on their culture, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, religious preference, or any other essential characteristic. We must keep in mind, that anytime when there is diversity amongst groups of individuals who come into the presence of one another, there is a greater risk or the opportunity for tension or a conflict to emerge. Without a doubt, this primes violence. No matter if the alleged misconduct in question is assault, theft, verbal abuse or even murder, the enthusiasm that stems from such, is grounded on the concept of hate for a set of individuals that is declared or considered as appearing different in some sort of way ("History of Hate Crime - Crime Museum", 2017).
The Declaration of Independence refers to “our constitution”, in this respect they were referring to the Ancient British Constitution. The United States was expressing the fundamental aspects of British politics; among these were Classic Republicanism, Enlightenment Liberalism, and Protestant Christianity. In the Declaration they balanced all of these English traditions; expressing what they believed to be the true spirit of the British Constitution. As Edmund Burke would say, “(the Revolution) was carried out not to create new liberties but to preserve old ones” (Wood, p. 58). The main issue that the colonies had with the British following 1763, was England’s belief in the doctrine of
The Declaration of Independence by the United States, resolved a conflict that had begun some years before against the British Crown. Independence was not declared for an unbiased purpose, but because of a usurpation England had made to the rights of the people of America. What was this justification and was it sufficient to show that the colonies were reasonable in separating themselves from their “Mother Country”? Through this essay, we will expose some reasons why the United States had a just claim for emancipating from England, and how these reasons were in accordance with how a rightful government should act.
In 1776, the tyranny of King George III made it necessary for all thirteen colonies to unite, declare independence and to sever political ties between Great Britain. The under-represented people of America needed something strong which showed how colonists need to free of the English rule. The colonists did that by writing a “list of grievances” by stating their reasons for rebelling against Britain’s tyranny. If it wasn’t for Thomas Jefferson’s brilliant idea of creating the Declaration of Independence, who knows how America would have turned out today? However, the real importance of the Declaration of Independence lies not in the purpose for which Jefferson created it, to declare independence from Great Britain, but rather how future generations have interpreted Jefferson’s words. Ultimately, the Declaration of Independence has become a document that has been interpreted to guarantee the basic rights of everyone in America and abroad. Who would have thought that this one document could have created this much of an impact today? The Declaration of Independence still was, and still is, the most important part of America’s history because of its historical influence. The Declaration of Independence is still very relevant – it still plays a significant role in today’s society.
The Colonies were excited about having won their independence in 1783 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, but they still had to be able to create their own system of government which they thought would create a strong government which would not have an overpowering central government as they thought Great Britain had had. With this was the creation of the Articles of Confederation. These articles were meant to create strong local and state governments while not granting any power to the central government with the idea that it could not have any power over the states. The states were allowed to conduct their own diplomacy, or war, from nation to nation or even from state to state. States were allowed to create their own currency and put heavy import taxes on goods from other states. The federal government had no independent executive, nor could it levy taxes on any part of the states. It could not create or maintain a militia; this duty was left to the states. All decisions had to be ratified by all thirteen colonies. In thought, this was a great idea because only the most popular decisions would be ratified and stronger states could not hurt the smaller states through majority rule. In practice it did not work very well because it could be thwarted by a single stubborn state.
There are many important factors in the Declaration of Independence, which enable the foundation of a new government. These range from describing grievances with England, to how government should be run differently, to the first statement of separation. The first step to the foundation of a new government is the uniting of a people in a common goal. Since all people were feeling violated by English soldiers, it was necessary to state these grievances in order to make people aware that they are not alone. When people learned that others felt the same as them emotion was stirred. The Declaration of Independence listed the grievances such as, “He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.” The next important step to the foundation of a new government was to gain peoples ambition by showing how the government would be run if a new party took over. This goal was achieved by stating the rights of man. “We hold these truths 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.” This statement made people hopeful and feel kindly toward this new government. The final step in the preparation for a new government was separation from the old government. This was declared twice in the Declaration of Independence. In the beginning, “That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, driving their just powers from the consent of the governed,” and in the end, “that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved. In conclusion, the Declaration of Independence was able to motivate people, give them ambition, and made it simple for Americans to take action.
Two Hundred and thirty-seven years ago one of the most masterful documents in history was created, which is The Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Independence expressed Thomas Jefferson’s along with the fifty-five American colonists’ vision of revolution towards independence, and a new government pronouncing rupture from Great Britain. In the document, Thomas Jefferson, the author, established that if their government fails to protect their inalienable rights to life, pursuit of happiness and liberty the people have the right to eradicate it. The Declaration of Independence was ratified declaring the United States free and independent on July 4th, 1776. This document was evidently very influentially serious and meaningful as all those men promised to, “Mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” Thus, the Declaration of Independence was a successful document due to Jefferson appealing most effectively through diction, syntax, literary devices and most importantly rhetoric to justify the renouncement from the British Crown.
When the topic of hate and bias crime legislation is brought up two justifications commonly come to mind. In her article entitled “Why Liberals Should Hate ‘Hate Crime Legislation” author Heidi M. Hurd discusses the courts and states views that those who commit hate and bias crimes ought to be more severely punished. She takes into consideration both sides of the argument to determine the validity of each but ultimately ends the article in hopes to have persuaded the reader into understanding and agreeing with her view that laws concerning the punishment of hate and bias laws should not be codified. Hate crime is described as a violent, prejudice crime that occurs when a victim is targeted because of their membership in a specific group. The types of crime can vary from physical assault, vandalism, harassment or hate speech. Throughout the article Hurd tried to defend her view and explain why there should be no difference of punishment for similar crimes no matter the reason behind it. Her reason behind her article came from the law that President Obama signed in 2009 declaring that crimes committed with hatred or prejudice should have more sever punishments. While the court has their own views to justify their reasoning behind such decisions, in the article Hurd brings up points and facts to prove the wrongfulness of creating such a law. However, though Hurd has made her views clear in the following essay I will discuss reasons why the penalties are justifiable, why they should receive the same degree of punishment, less punishment and my personal view on the topic.
The Declaration of Independence is considered to be the founding document of the United States of America. At the time the declaration was introduced, the colonies were “united” in declaring independence from Great Britain. They wanted to declare their freedom from taxation and from the civil rights abuses from the King. The Declaration was created after King George III and Parliament sought to establish firm control over the land obtained from France during the French and Indian War. To help pay off war debts, King George III began to tax the colonies. Colonists began to get increasingly more rebellious, resulting in actions like the Boston Tea Party. In response to the rebellion the King and Parliament exacted the “Intolerable Acts,” which caused the colonies to call the First Continental Congress together, who met in September of 1774 in Philadelphia. The First Continental Congress met again in May of 1775 setting up the Second Continental Congress. The Secon...
The year of 1776 was a time of revolution, independence, and patriotism. American colonists had severed their umbilical cord to the Mother Country and declared themselves “Free and Independent States”.1 The chains of monarchy had been thrown off and a new government was formed. Shying away from a totalitarian government, the Second Continental Congress drafted a document called the Articles of Confederation which established a loose union of the states. It was an attempt at self-government that ended in failure. The Articles of Confederation had many defects which included a weak central government that lacked the power to tax, regulate trade, required equal representation and a unanimous vote to amend the Articles, and had only a legislative branch. As a result the United States lacked respect from foreign countries. These flaws were so severe that a new government had to be drafted and as a result the Constitution was born. This document remedied the weak points of the federal government and created one that was strong and fair, yet still governed by the people.
There are both state and federal laws that prohibit hate crimes, but proving an assailant committed a crime in prejudice is very difficult. Any type of crime can call for some form of punishment, from fines and short prison stays for misdemeanors to long term imprisonment for felonies. Once it has been reviled that an accused willfully committed an offense, proof must be given that indicates the crime was influenced by prejudice against a specific characteristic in order to show that it was also a hate crime. When this can be proven, the harshness of the crime automatically increases. People often wonder why hate crime punishment is harsher than for crimes that are not motivated by any type of bias. The basic reason for this is that most crimes are directed at an individual, but hate crimes are against an entire community. A burglar who breaks into a random home does so for personal gain, and usually doesn’t even know who lives in the home they are invading. Conversely, a person who chooses a victim based on a particular bias is singling out a ch...
Hate crime is still being committed today and many believe that it would benefit victims and communities if hate crimes were punished more severely. However, hate crimes should not be punished more severely than other crimes that are motivated for other reasons; although the motivation (personal belief) and violence that constitute a hate crime are horrendous, criminals should be prosecuted for their wrongdoing, not for their beliefs. The idea that criminals should be punished more severely than crimes that are motivated by greed, anger, revenge is not acceptable. The potential motivations that were just given can constitute several crimes, like, murder. The issue (which, in my opinion, makes a good argument) is that it ‘’creates complicated moral problems by making it appear as if a murder is "worse" when committed because of the victim's race, religion, or sexual orientation.’’ (Hate crime laws, 2014) Murder is one the worst crimes that can be committed and it can have several motives and reasons behind it. Allowing hate crimes to be punished more severely or stating that hate crime is more ‘’aggressive’’ and ‘’brutal’’ is not fair to other victims and treats them