... redress of grievances". No American has to fear persecution for voicing their opinion. Does this mean that as citizens of the United States we have the right to say whatever we want no matter how vulgar, hateful, and violent the words? Are racial slurs and threatening comments also covered by the First Amendment ... the comment that he wondered what would happen if he shot the principal and other authority figures in the school. When the nine students behind the pamphlet were arrested they couldn't understand why. They felt that the first amendment was a blanket statement that covered any...

• Word Count: 900
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... recognizable symbols of today. "It is a universal feature that flutters in the air over our schools, our government buildings, parks, and our homes. We acknowledge it ritually before or during a wide range of athletic, cultural, and social events. We hold it in such high regards in order to identify ourselves as citizens of the United States of America" (Guenter 15). How can one ... humanity (Guenter 207). Unfortunately, most Americans do not even know what these laws are. Whether or not one agrees with the laws every U.S citizen should know them. They were written about a symbol we hol...

• Word Count: 1411
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

The 14th amendment was made in light of the abolishment of slavery. During this time legislature were trying to expand African American rights and enforce laws against discrimination. It was made to clarify that "all persons born or naturalized within the United States are citizens." It also prohibited any state from "making or enforcing any law that abridged the privileges or immunities of citizens." To protect African Americans the government first had to establish that they were in fact citizens. This overturned the Dred Scott Decision of 1857 which said African Americans were not citizens,...

• Word Count: 579
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... state heads. Even though there had been changes made to property in the Constitution, before you could not sit in Office without a freehold of property up to a certain value. Such qualifications were abolished but it still seemed that large property owners such as Washington had the upper ... wouldn't agree to the Constitution either. It should have been an important factor to them as they had fled from the British to be free equal people. The Constitution states "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness", so there is a significant contradiction. For the purpose of ... of the power s...

• Word Count: 1358
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... at the time; referring to adding more slave states. It increased the United States national territory about one hundred and forty percent. Later this same territory would form into states we know today as Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, Arkansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, most of Louisiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Wyoming, and parts of Colorado and Oklahoma. The origin of the ... the requirement of Article IV, section 2 of the Constitution: " The Citizens of each state shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the Several States...." Free Negroes were citizens o...

• Word Count: 3691
• Approx Pages: 15
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... , a nation grounded in ideals of individual liberty has been transformed into one in which federal decisions control even such personal matters as what health care we buy -- a nation now so bound up in detailed laws and regulation that no one can know what all the rules are, let alone comply ... undoubtedly have been charged with others if prosecutors had so chosen. Instead, federal agents charged him with violating the 1990 Gun-Free School Zones Act, and the state charges were dropped. Lopez was convicted and sentenced to six months in prison and two years of parole. Lopez appealed his...

• Word Count: 1219
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... other nation. Although there is not a written constitution there are conventions that are although not written imbedded into the system of government, for example the Queen must sign every bill before it becomes law. A cynical view of politicians never attempting to implement a totalitarian system is that because of the fixed life of a government it would be voted out at the ... and private players. Both these key periods of capitalist development witnessed a strengthening of the sovereignty and hegemony of the two states that were the main protagonists. Britain's establishment of a co...

• Word Count: 1586
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... when they were held in a 150-year-old prison that was infested with vermin, fire hazards, and a lack of toilets. (Lund, Lynn J., Deland, Gary, Gallaher, Sharon, and Bowker, Gary.) Inmates have the right to be free from sexual crimes, including sexual harassment. Inmates have the right to complain ... critics as unfairly limiting inmate access to the federal court system. The PRLA contains five major provisions: Prisoners must exhaust internal prison grievance procedures before they file suit in federal court. Prisoners must pay their own court filing fees, either in one payment or in a...

• Word Count: 3147
• Approx Pages: 13
• Has Bibliography

... Well, most states have always encouraged voters to appear at the polls with some form of identification, but it has never been a requirement. Until 2011, there were only two states with "strict" voter ID laws, meaning that voters had to show a form of government-issued identification as a prerequisite to casting their vote ... IDs would have to travel great distances to get them, and some would struggle to pay for the documents they might need to obtain them. We call those poll taxes." Some would say that this analogy is a bit overboard, but really, should one of the most sacred rights be...

• Word Count: 2997
• Approx Pages: 12
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... of acquaintances consists mainly of persons from the church and it is not unheard of that the families send their children to Sunday school before the actual worship session, then send them to youth group on Wednesdays and the adults themselves go to bible studies on Monday evenings, ... closer to independence from Great Britain, they became a bastion for those seeking to practice their own religion. However, to say that the colonies were free from religious persecution is far from truth. The historical roots of Christianity and the Anglican religion in colonial America set the tone fo...

• Word Count: 3342
• Approx Pages: 13
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... all voices can be heard (Savage, 2012). Our access to information was attempted to be regulated in the past. Our freedoms were fought for with blood and sacrifice. The internet is a representation of that freedom. It democratizes information and power. To lose that is the end ... The United States will emulate the likes of China and Iran in censoring the Internet. This action will threaten to destroy the online world as we know it and limit our freedoms. SOPA and PIPA seek to make it a felony to knowingly and unknowingly share copyrighted information. These two bills ... seek to restrict...

• Word Count: 1017
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... of grievances. This has been tested time and time again. In the supreme court case Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969) Students were suspended for wearing black armbands protesting the police action in Vietnam. School stated that it disrupted the environment of education, but the supreme court ruled that ... 't have the right to speak our beleifs what kind of country would we be? The sencond amendment is just as interesting as the first it states that a well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free stat. And that the right of the people to...

• Word Count: 871
• Approx Pages: 3

... stayed within the Afro American Communities. Afro Americans from many cities would call upon Thurgood for his services. Thurgood would work for free, just to help and defend his people. Then in February 1955 Thurgood's wife Vivan became very ill from cancer, and she eventually ... voters grew immensely, so in 1965 President Lyndon Johnson appointed Thurgood to the U.S. Solicitor General. Thurgood while representing the government before the Supreme Court twice volunteered information about illegal wiretaps that caused the court to throw out the government's case. Thurgood also argued .....

• Word Count: 10466
• Approx Pages: 42
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... stage was set for the birth of the First Amendment, which formally recognized the natural and inalienable rights of Americans to think and speak freely. The First Amendment's early years were not entirely auspicious. Although the early Americans enjoyed great freedom compared to citizens of other nations, even the Constitution's framer once in power, could resist the string of temptation to ... circumvent the First Amendment's clear mandate. Before the 1930s, we had no legally protected rights of free speech in anything like the form we now know it. Critics of the government or governme...

• Word Count: 1217
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography

... violence has produced great change in our society. Americans once feared the loss of the free state would come from foreign invasion or political corruption, but now the greatest threat is the violence we see on the evening news. The increase in violence and murder has sparked the greatest ... Amendment does not automatically guarantee an American's right to own a gun for nondefensive reasons. They believe that even if the individual-rights interpretation were to prevail in the courts and halls of academia, restrictions on gun use and ownership would still be constitutional because Americ...

• Word Count: 1996
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... deterioration that the British just went through. The Americans had to build two forms of government, the central and local. The began to form the central government before they even declared themselves free, but they were quickly forming local governments, having 10 of them finished by the end of 1776 and the rest done by 1780. The Americans first line of defense against ... . The American people moved for independence, which brought us nationalism. Even though we didn't consider ourselves to be free until 1776, we did have some of the makings of a free nation before that time. The majo...

• Word Count: 2185
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School

... most broadly defined and interpreted amendments. When invoked, the Tenth amendment has an interest in almost every aspect of our daily lives, including legalization of medical marijuana, abortion, gun free zones, driver's licenses, employment legislation, violence against women, and commerce. Whether the members of the U.S. Supreme Court follow the Marshall or Taney philosophy becomes very important due to ... by two members of the school football team. Brzonkala failed to report the incident for several months, no criminal charges were ever filed, but she later sued for civil damages un...

• Word Count: 5600
• Approx Pages: 22
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... more specifically, the first two clauses: " Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." At the time this was written, the new Americans were trying to do everything they could in order to ensure that our government's power was as limited as possible. The ... that every Wednesday a group of us gathered around the flagpole in front of my public high school, Boyle County, to pray? Not only that, but before school there was a bible study in the library and praise music in the cafeteria, in addition to the bi-weekly F.C.A. (Fel...

• Word Count: 1306
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... for Sullivan but for all of those who were pro-segregation and racism. This was an ultimate strike for Civil Right Movement. The verdict gave an okay to limit free speech and criticism against public officials. Lewis writes that after the verdict and before the Supreme Court decided in the Sullivan case, ... Justice Brennan stated the 1st Amendment allows freedom of expression and in the case where malice cannot be proven the charges are not satisfactory. Thus we consider this case against the background of a profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues shou...

• Word Count: 2487
• Approx Pages: 10
• Grade Level: High School

... he instructed "Everyone stand up, hold hands with your neighbor and repeat after me" (Morse 1). Did September 11th allow "God" back into schools? Before that date the question of prayer in school had but one answer: no. Jodie Morse stated in "Letting God Back In" "seeking to reassure students by ... prayer should be in school. People argue that the democratic society that we live in today supports a child's right to pray in school. They believe the Constitution gives students the right to free speech in the Free Speech and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment. They believe that ...

• Word Count: 1647
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... well. On the two ends of the scale are the northern states that are in less need for slaves and believed that if they were property that they should not count as part of the population, and the southern states whose economy would be nonexistent without the labor. What ... example of compromise comes from the Missouri Compromise of 1820. With the ethereal balance of eleven free states and eleven slave states, the debate over Missouri's entrance to the Union caused a trivial uproar. Acting before the Tariff of 1828, Henry Clay advocated a temporary solution to the crisis between the states...

• Word Count: 1138
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... having a written constitution, freedom of speech, press, religion, and assembly are protected by the constitution. Other basic features of a democracy include: free elections, majority rule and minority rights, existence of political parties, control on powers, constitutional governments and private organizations. The systems of these two countries ... UK's Prime Minister. When drafting the Constitution, the founders gave the president fewer specific powers than they extended to Congress because they were worried about placing too much power in the hands of one individual. However, the c...

• Word Count: 2945
• Approx Pages: 12
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... and the overriding motivation for this work ethic: financial gain. Franklin also believed that only people of the nature which he encouraged could truly be free, which one could argue was his reason for encouraging virtuous' lifestyles of industrious, frugal, independent and public-spirited' people, as he strove for ... perfect American is still upheld, if not with slightly more ethnic and cultural diversity than his original model, in the States of today. If we were to suppose there was still an American Dream', regardless of how realistic it is in today's society, or even of the society...

• Word Count: 3113
• Approx Pages: 12
• Grade Level: Graduate

... currently 435, not including the one from Washington, D.C., who is not allowed to vote. This is called the "great compromise" because when the laws were first being written the larger states wanted to have a system like the House of representatives and the smaller states wanted an equal voice and liked the Senate ... the House of representatives has the "power of impeachment." This means that the House can vote to put the President of the United States on trial before the Senate. The Andrew Johnson was impeached in 1867. When the Senate finally voted, however, he missed being removed from...

• Word Count: 1836
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... they find offensive. They have the power and the right to censor for themselves, but not others or society. We need to get back to the place where we once were in this Country. When people were willing to fight and die to give liberty and freedom to everyone, and not just the people they agreed with ... own way, to control our own thoughts and feeling, to live our lives in freedom and liberty, to be individual and free. We need to be forever vigilance, to be free, and stay forever free, in the Freest Nation on Earth. American servers where the constitutional guarantee of freedom of speec...

• Word Count: 1855
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School