Does the 14th amendment combine with the earlier “no religious test” clause to guarantee a vision of a diverse and equitable society with no government discrimination?
Yes. The 14th amendment is a statement that provides equal citizenship, equal apportionment of Representatives, equal chances of getting into an US office, damages produced by lost slaves are not paid for and the congress has the right to enforce the laws stated. Religion does not play a role in enforcing these laws. Both article 6 and the 14th amendment avoid discrimination against religion, race and gender. The 14th amendment helps slaves become citizens of the US and article 6 does not expect specific religions from the federal employees of the US office.
Amendments 12, 13, 14 and 15 are often referred to as a major turning point in US government policy. Explain the importance of these amendments.
Amendment 12: Presidential Elections
Provides the procedure by which the president and vice president are elected.
Amendment 13: Abolition of Slavery
Officially abolished and continues to prohibit slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime.
Amendment 14: Civil Rights
States and maintains civil rights of people of the US.
Amendment 15: Black Suffrage
Prohibits each government in the US to prevent a citizen from voting based on the citizen’s race.
These amendments were the major turning points in the US government because these amendments structure our government. It gives us a guide on how to elect a president, gives everyone equal rights of living without slavery, maintains everyone’s civil rights and allows everyone to vote no matter what race they are. It helps make the government a more equal establishment.
Describe the amendment from the rest of the list (16-27) that you find most significant and make an argument for why we should consider it especially important.
Amendment 16: Income Taxes
Amendment 22: Term Limits for the Presidency
Amendment 17: Senatorial Elections
Amendment 23: Washington D.C. Suffrage
Amendment 18: Prohibition of Liquor
Amendment 24: Abolition of Poll Taxes
Amendment 19: Woman’s Suffrage
Amendment 25: Presidential Succession
Amendment 20: Terms of Office
Amendment 26: 18-year-old Suffrage
Amendment 21: Repeal of Prohibition
Amendment 27: Congressional Pay Raises
I feel that amendment 19 is the most important amendment out of amendments 16-27 because it states that EVERYONE has the right to vote no matter their sex. This grants women the right to vote after so many years of being denied of this right because men thought women were not as accomplished as they were. In relation to amendment 15, all races have the right to vote, amendment 19 is a symbol that everyone in the US is becoming more equal to one another.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Part B
“Full Faith & Credit” What does that mean for the gay marriage? Explain.
The Full Faith & Credit clause states that Judicial decisions rendered by the courts in one state are recognized and honored in every other state. Every state honored the legal marriage between a male and a female. However, Hawaii restricted marriage to only be between a man and a woman in 1993 which led to state sanctioned same sex marriages. Only some states allowed same sex marriage. If one state restricted marriage to only a couple of man and woman, as Hawaii did, then all other states have to honor their decisions due to the Full Faith & Credit clause of Article 4 section 1. Not every state agreed with that statement so now separate states have different views on same sex marriage and in result, same sex marriage is only legal in certain states. But if a gay coupled was married in a state where it was legal and they moved to a state where gay marriage is not legal, the state would have to consider them a married couple because all laws of other states have to be recognized and honored by all other states according to the Full Faith & Credit clause.
What is the significance, in your opinion, of the “No religious test” clause?
The “no religious test” clause states that a person does not need to go through religious tests in order to acquire a job in the U.S office. It is an important clause because it shows that the United States is not based only on religion. It is also significant because it shows the people living in the U.S. that they can believe in whatever religion they want and they have the right to practice it freely. In my opinion, I think the no religious test clause is a good clause because a federal employee should not be required to believe in a certain religion so they can work in office.
What do the 6th and 7th amendments show about the US fears of a bad government which would use its powers to unfairly arrest and convict innocent people?
The 6th and 7th amendments were written to make sure that every suspect has certain rights. They make sure that every person arrested has the right to a speedy and public trial by a jury. The suspect is to know all the charges against him/ her, have witnesses both for and against him/ her and the help of the Counsel. The accused is also given the right to a lawyer who will represent them in court. The 7th amendment states that the accused have the right to be tried by a jury that do not have biased views of the case and the people involved so they can make their decision solely based on the information given to them during the trial. This shows that the fears of the US having a bad government because specific strategies are put forth to make both parties of the trial equal with lawyers and a jury with no biased views on the case.
What does the 10th amendment say about the national government powers? Can the federal government take over the public school system? Can the Congress pass a law allowing gay marriage or denying it?
The government’s powers are limited to the powers granted in the constitution. The 10th amendment declares that congress can’t use/ abuse their power in a way that interrupts the state to be an effective federal system. The federal government cannot take over the public school system because that power does not belong to them; it belongs to the board of education. Congress is allowed to pass or deny a law allowing gay marriage; they have most of the power in the government system.
The Full Faith & Credit clause states that Judicial decisions rendered by the courts in one state are recognized and honored in every other state. Every state honored the legal marriage between a male and a female. However, Hawaii restricted marriage to only be between a man and a woman in 1993 which led to state sanctioned same sex marriages. Only some states allowed same sex marriage. If one state restricted marriage to only a couple of man and woman, as Hawaii did, then all other states have to honor their decisions due to the Full Faith & Credit clause of Article 4 section 1. Not every state agreed with that statement so now separate states have different views on same sex marriage and in result, same sex marriage is only legal in certain states. But if a gay coupled was married in a state where it was legal and they moved to a state where gay marriage is not legal, the state would have to consider them a married couple because all laws of other states have to be recognized and honored by all other states according to the Full Faith & Credit clause.
What is the significance, in your opinion, of the “No religious test” clause?
The “no religious test” clause states that a person does not need to go through religious tests in order to acquire a job in the U.S office. It is an important clause because it shows that the United States is not based only on religion. It is also significant because it shows the people living in the U.S. that they can believe in whatever religion they want and they have the right to practice it freely. In my opinion, I think the no religious test clause is a good clause because a federal employee should not be required to believe in a certain religion so they can work in office.
What do the 6th and 7th amendments show about the US fears of a bad government which would use its powers to unfairly arrest and convict innocent people?
The 6th and 7th amendments were written to make sure that every suspect has certain rights. They make sure that every person arrested has the right to a speedy and public trial by a jury. The suspect is to know all the charges against him/ her, have witnesses both for and against him/ her and the help of the Counsel. The accused is also given the right to a lawyer who will represent them in court. The 7th amendment states that the accused have the right to be tried by a jury that do not have biased views of the case and the people involved so they can make their decision solely based on the information given to them during the trial. This shows that the fears of the US having a bad government because specific strategies are put forth to make both parties of the trial equal with lawyers and a jury with no biased views on the case.
What does the 10th amendment say about the national government powers? Can the federal government take over the public school system? Can the Congress pass a law allowing gay marriage or denying it?
The government’s powers are limited to the powers granted in the constitution. The 10th amendment declares that congress can’t use/ abuse their power in a way that interrupts the state to be an effective federal system. The federal government cannot take over the public school system because that power does not belong to them; it belongs to the board of education. Congress is allowed to pass or deny a law allowing gay marriage; they have most of the power in the government system.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Trampled Walmart Worker
The other day in class there was a discussion about the incident on black Friday where a Walmart employee was trampled and died when opening the doors to the store. He died of a heart attack. I think this shows that some Americans can be so greedy and selfish that they would commit insane and immoral acts to satisfy their needs. Jacara argued that the article was not based on the point of views of shoppers but my point is to show that some Americans can be immoral. Of course i cannot judge all Americans based on this one account of immorality. In this case people are bum rushing a Walmart for what they think are "big savings" waiting inside but in reality they're all fooled because there is so much bullshit about black Friday being the day with blowout sales. Black Friday seems more of a hoax to me. People make it seem like there are a lot of savings but stores are not necessarily lowering they're prices, most of them are jacking up the prices beforehand so when theres a "sale" the prices are close to the regulation price.What happened in Walmart is a tragedy but if the government isn't always hyping people up for sales to help the economy, non of this would have happened.
Monday, December 1, 2008
what happened today in class
Today in class we started off with an article about how a Wal Mart employee was killed by an angry mob that wanted to get in the store. We separated in different groups and spoke our feelings about what happened and how this plays into the AWOL. Afterwards we had a large group discussion about it and i dozed off for a little bit. I woke up a heated debate between two classmates. I did not know what was going on and did not care much for it because it seemed like they were arguing over something stupid. I soon find out that there was miscommunication and Andy brought up the idea that no one decided to interfere and looked at it as a way of entertainment. Personally i did not feel the need for me to interfere with the argument. I did not want to get myself involved in something that i did not know the full extent about. As for everyone else, i felt that they did not want to interfere for the same reason, they did not want to get themselves involved. As students who have experienced heated arguments with the likes of today's, we know that it will soon die down and that there is no point in interrupting because the people involved are not in the state of mind to take into account other people's opinions. When in that kind of argument, the people involved are all for themselves and will keep arguing until they are satisfied with the case that they make for themselves.
Thanksgiving/Black Friday
Thanksgiving:
When Thanksgiving came along, I was asked more than once the question, "what do Chinese people do for thanksgiving?" When proposed with this question, i did not know how to respond. I can not speak for the entire Chinese race, there's a lot of us. But i can speak for myself. My family has what people may call a "tv dinner." We all sit down to a big dinner with a lot of family. We spread our food on a red table cloth and begin making our plates. I would have to say that my family is pretty Americanized since my brother and sister came to America at an early age, they learned about the "American way of life" through stories from friends. When i was born, my siblings were the same age as i am now. Therefore they wanted to provide for me the "American" life that my parents were not able to provide for them. As i grew older i became only aware of the "American way of life" and do not know how traditional Chinese families celebrate American holidays. My life only became more "American" when my brother met an American when i was at the age of 7 and she became more of a mother figure to me than my chines workaholic mom. We began decorating the house for every big holiday and we even hosted parties for them. I felt that i was living the American way of life when asked that question.
Black Friday:
A couple years back , my family and i decided to leave the house at 1:00 am after thanksgiving dinner to go shopping upstate. It was one of the worse decisions we ever made. We shopped for over 7 hrs straight and i was extremely tired, not to mention, it was also a drag to wait on a long line for ever different store we went to. Ever since then we have never gone shopping on black Friday as a family ever again. People have gone separately to different stores by themselves but no one really wanted to go shopping, they just went out to see how it was. I went out to the city this past Friday and i was shoved multiple times by busy shoppers in the streets. I also regret the decision to walk through a crowded street just to save myself a few extra blocks to walk. I vow to never go shopping on black Friday.
When Thanksgiving came along, I was asked more than once the question, "what do Chinese people do for thanksgiving?" When proposed with this question, i did not know how to respond. I can not speak for the entire Chinese race, there's a lot of us. But i can speak for myself. My family has what people may call a "tv dinner." We all sit down to a big dinner with a lot of family. We spread our food on a red table cloth and begin making our plates. I would have to say that my family is pretty Americanized since my brother and sister came to America at an early age, they learned about the "American way of life" through stories from friends. When i was born, my siblings were the same age as i am now. Therefore they wanted to provide for me the "American" life that my parents were not able to provide for them. As i grew older i became only aware of the "American way of life" and do not know how traditional Chinese families celebrate American holidays. My life only became more "American" when my brother met an American when i was at the age of 7 and she became more of a mother figure to me than my chines workaholic mom. We began decorating the house for every big holiday and we even hosted parties for them. I felt that i was living the American way of life when asked that question.
Black Friday:
A couple years back , my family and i decided to leave the house at 1:00 am after thanksgiving dinner to go shopping upstate. It was one of the worse decisions we ever made. We shopped for over 7 hrs straight and i was extremely tired, not to mention, it was also a drag to wait on a long line for ever different store we went to. Ever since then we have never gone shopping on black Friday as a family ever again. People have gone separately to different stores by themselves but no one really wanted to go shopping, they just went out to see how it was. I went out to the city this past Friday and i was shoved multiple times by busy shoppers in the streets. I also regret the decision to walk through a crowded street just to save myself a few extra blocks to walk. I vow to never go shopping on black Friday.
Part A
Paraphrasing the preamble:
In order to come together as one nation, the people of the united states need to be fair, stay peaceful without chaos, defend ourselves, stay healthy and bless ourselves and the coming generations and create a constitution to make this happen.
Legislative: The Legislative Branch makes the Law. It is made up of the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the Congress. They have control of the taxes and they have the power to declare war.
Executive: The executive branch is responsible for enforcing the laws of the land. The president is the head of this branch, he can veto laws, suggest laws, and is also head of the country.
Judicial: The judicial branch is responsible for interpreting the laws passed by the legislative branch. It is responsible for interpreting the laws of the land. They have the power to declare a law unconstitutional or create court laws.
While I was reading the constitution and taking notes at the same time, I was extremely bored. I even dozed off at times. Its not like it was all that hard to understand, since there was blue text to help, it was just in old English and very boring text.
Insights/Questions:
~Why can't we change the constitution?
~Why don't civilians have a say in what is in the constitution?
~What are the pros of the constitution?
~What are the cons of the constitution?
~will the people of America be able to meet the requirements of the preamble to for a more perfect union?
In order to come together as one nation, the people of the united states need to be fair, stay peaceful without chaos, defend ourselves, stay healthy and bless ourselves and the coming generations and create a constitution to make this happen.
Legislative: The Legislative Branch makes the Law. It is made up of the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the Congress. They have control of the taxes and they have the power to declare war.
Executive: The executive branch is responsible for enforcing the laws of the land. The president is the head of this branch, he can veto laws, suggest laws, and is also head of the country.
Judicial: The judicial branch is responsible for interpreting the laws passed by the legislative branch. It is responsible for interpreting the laws of the land. They have the power to declare a law unconstitutional or create court laws.
While I was reading the constitution and taking notes at the same time, I was extremely bored. I even dozed off at times. Its not like it was all that hard to understand, since there was blue text to help, it was just in old English and very boring text.
Insights/Questions:
~Why can't we change the constitution?
~Why don't civilians have a say in what is in the constitution?
~What are the pros of the constitution?
~What are the cons of the constitution?
~will the people of America be able to meet the requirements of the preamble to for a more perfect union?
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