Federalists justified the absence of a declaration of rights by arguing that the Constitution established a federal system with specific powers delegated to the national government and other powers reserved to the states. Massachusetts approved the Constitution in February, 1788, with a call for “certain amendments and alterations” to lessen “the fears and quiet the apprehension of many of the good people of the commonwealth.” Ratification debates in New York and Virginia showed the degree of opposition and ultimately lead to a promise of the inclusion of a Bill of Rights. James Madison introduced a series of amendments to the Constitution in the House of Representatives on June 8, 1789. Federalists opposed on the same grounds as they argued in the ratification debates and further argued that it was inappropriate to amend the Constitution at this time. Some members of Congress argued that a listing of rights of the people was a silly exercise, in that all the listed rights inherently belonged to citizens, and nothing in the Constitution gave the Congress the power to take them away.
The Court is supposed to pass judgement on matters concerning the constitution and their decisions can be of up most significance because a judgment made in a case then affects the whole country. The method by which the Court exercises its power is by Judicial Review. The strength of the Supreme Court is essential in protecting civil liberties that are protected by the Constitution. The Supreme Court has also increased its power through court cases and through judicial revolutions. One case that has significantly altered the power that the Supreme Court is able to exert was Marbury v Madison 1803.
antifederalists Opponents of the 1787 Constitution, they cast the document as antidemocratic, objected to the subordination of the states to the central government, and feared encroachment on individuals’ liberties in the absence of a bill of rights. (190) Articles of Confederation (1781) First American constitution that established the United States as a loose confederation of states under a weak national Congress, which was not granted the power to regulate commerce or collect taxes. The Articles were replaced by a more efficient Constitution in 1789. (179) Great Compromise (1787) Popular term for the measure which reconciled the New Jersey and Virginia plans at the constitutional convention, giving states proportional representation
DBQ: The Alien and Sedition Acts "Although the Alien and Sedition Acts, created in 1798, spurred great dispute, they were created under constitutional guidelines. The acts helped to protect the government of the United States from potential threat." Using the documents and your knowledge of the period, evaluate this statement. Document A Source: Thomas Jefferson, Draft of Kentucky Resolutions, 1798. Although Congress passed for bills known as the Alien and Sedition Acts in 1798 intending to help protect the government of the united states from potential threats, they did not truly protect Americans from their foreign enemies.
In suspending the writ, Lincoln relied on the constitutional authorization that the framers had perceptively included years before in Article I, Section 9 (which reads, in part, “The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it”). However, the Constitution implies that congressional action is required for such suspension. Despite the fact that Congress was in session at the time, Lincoln did not request its approval but personally authorized General Winfield Scott to suspend the writ along the railroad from Philadelphia to Washington, believing that his duty was to protect the
The last state to vote was New Hampshire. However, the government would be weak, because New York and Virginia didn’t vote for it. The federalists got support from Virginia, who wanted the government to protect them from Indian raids. They ratified it June 25. Federalists spread rumors in New York, saying that if the convention rejected the constitution, federalist New York City would secede, leaving the rest of Northern New York alone and unconnected to prosperous New York City.
The Framers of the Constitution wanted America to be free and they wanted a government that was ran by the people and for the people. The years leading up to the American Revolution the colonist saw the king and Parliament of England put their hands in colonial business, specifically when it came to dealing with taxes. All of the states wanted to ensure that the same thing did not happen with the new government. Hence the 10th Amendment was written into the Bill of Rights. President Adams passed the Aliens and Sedition Act in 1798, shortly thereafter Kentucky passed a resolution that declared, “This commonwealth does upon the most deliberate reconsideration declare, that the said alien and sedition laws, are in their opinion, palpable violations of the said constitution; and however cheerfully it may be disposed to surrender its opinion to a majority of its sister states in matters of ordinary or doubtful policy; yet, in momentous regulations like the present, which so vitally wound the best rights of the citizen, it would consider a silent acquiescence as highly criminal: That although this commonwealth as a party to the federal compact; will bow to the laws of the Union, yet it does at the same time declare, that it will not now, nor ever hereafter, cease to oppose in a constitutional manner, every
In 1689, ten years after the Habeas Corpus Act was put into place, the English Bill of Rights was adopted. The English Bill of Rights granted the English citizens the right to petition the king and the right to bear arms. These rights further diminish the power of the English monarch, but the one thing that hits the monarchy hardest is Parliament. In the English Bill of Rights a bicameral Parliament would rule over England along with the monarch. The English Parliament was composed of the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
Book banning has a long and detailed history in the United States. According to Donald Downs and Martin Sweet, two writers for encyclopedia.com, “Book banning has existed in America since colonial times, when legislatures and royal governors enacted laws against blasphemy and seditious libel”. A major cause of Book banning in the 1800’s was a man by the name of Anthony Comstock. “In 1873, using slogans such as ‘Morals, not art and literature,’ he convinced Congress to pass a law, thereafter known as the ‘Comstock Law,’ banning the mailing of materials found to be ‘lewd, indecent, filthy or obscene’” (Mullally). Comstock is the sole cause of the confiscation of over 100 tons of mail, and the prosecution of thousands of people.
The Foundation of Prisons in America John P. Brown III March 6, 2013 The Foundation of Prisons in America The birth of the American republic and the birth of an organized prison system in this country occurred simultaneously. In 1776, it was the first year of American independence, an early act of the newly formed state of Pennsylvania provided in its constitution that the legislature reform its laws, invent punishments and better the various degrees of crime (Lewis, 1922). In 1786, the Pennsylvania Legislature, influenced largely by the penal principles of the Quakers, reduced materially the extent of the application of the death penalty, which now reserves the infliction of capital punishment only