I was so inspired by my trip to Philadelphia. I learned a HUGE amount. It radically altered my perception of American society and the intentions of the Founding Fathers when they created the American nation.
I've been inspired to write Baby Booshakala a little book about 'What America Means...' I was going to tell him the story of the American Revolution and explain how documents like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution give him certain rights and freedoms - the freedoms that make America so special.
It's not easy, though. I took my first stab at explaining the Bill of Rights in a simple, child-friendly way. I'd love to know if any of my readers think I got it right, or disagree with the way I've explained things.
Remember, I'm writing for a child here. That's why I've left out a lot of the sophistication of the Bill of Rights. - also, I don't know if I 'get' the Ninth Amendment at all - but I think I've got the gist of what the first ten amendments to the Constitution mean:
- The First Amendment gave people ‘freedom of speech’ – it made sure that the government couldn’t punish people for saying what they thought, or stop people from practicing whatever religion they wanted.
- The Second Amendment gave people ‘the right to bear arms’ – it made sure that every grown up was allowed to keep a gun to defend their home and family, as long as they were willing to serve in the ‘militia’ – a local army made up of regular folks – when asked to.
- The Third Amendment made sure that the government couldn’t force you to let soldiers live in your house during peacetime.
- The Fourth Amendment gave people protection from ‘unreasonable search and seizure’ – it made sure that soldiers and police couldn’t search people or their houses, or take their things, without good reason.
- The Fifth Amendment protected people in trouble with the law. It made sure the police had to have evidence that somebody might be guilty before they could be locked up, and allowed people not to say anything if it would get them into trouble.
- The Sixth Amendment made sure that people in trouble with the law had the right to have a lawyer help them - and in court, a group of regular people called a ‘jury’ got to hear both sides of the story and decide whether or not the person was guilty of a crime before they could be punished.
- The Seventh Amendment gave people in a disagreement the right to argue their side of the story in front of a ‘jury’ of regular people – and those people would decide who was right and who was wrong.
- The Eighth Amendment gave people the protection from ‘cruel and unusual punishment’ like being tortured or locked up unfairly.
- The Ninth Amendment explains that the Bill of Rights doesn’t list every freedom or right people have - and just because a freedom or right isn’t mentioned in the Bill of Rights, it doesn’t give the government the power to take that freedom away.
- The Tenth Amendment made sure that each of the states in the United States were allowed to make their own laws and rules, as long as they wouldn’t break any of the rules in the Bill of Rights.
5 comments:
Just a few more little steps, Roland, and we will have swayed you to the EVIL right. And those steps are baby steps, too.
Be afraid, very afraid.
Hm... close, but no cigar.
The first amendment gives six rights, of which freedom of speech is just one. For example, the freedom of religion part applies even if speech isn't involved.
The second amendment is a personal right, granted to the people. The militia clause is a rational, but the amendment applies to everyone.
From Justice Breyer's _dissent_ in DC vs Heller: 'I take as a starting point the following four propositions, based on our precedent and today’s opinions, to which I believe the entire Court subscribes: (1) The Amendment protects an “individual” right—i.e., one that is separately possessed, and may be separately enforced, by each person on whom it is conferred.'
I'd say it's the sixth's right to a speedy trial that prevents people from being locked up unfairly, at least as much as the eighth does.
I'd be happy to look over what you write.
When you wrote about the second amendment, you were writing about one of the two schools of thought about it. There's one school that claims that the second amendment is conditioned on militia service, and the other one claims that it's a personal right--- one that everyone has, because he might one day need to serve in the militia.
The Supreme Court found in favor of the
latter interpretation last June.
The US constitution is a brilliant thing, especially given when it was written. It starts with the preamble, that assumes that power flows from the people, and explains why we've chosen to give some of it to a federal government. It then explains how the government is to be organized, lists areas in which the federal government is given power, and the bill of rights then provides specific limits on that power.
Compare this to the British system, where the limits to the government aren't codified.
The constitution is also brilliant insofar as it is careful not to require specific policies, except when necessary to organize the government. The one case where it did so (Prohibition) proved to be an unmitigated disaster.
Compare this to the proposed European constitution, which mandated all sorts of policy decisions.
The horrible thing that's going on now is that the federal government has grown out of control. Using a really dodgy definition of "interstate commerce", it's grown well outside of the brilliant constraints that the founders set up.
I really suspect the solution will be to pass some sort of amendment that says "Commerce among the several states shall only include the movement of goods, services, and information between states, and not any activity that takes place inside a single state. Twits.".
nice job. and my mum's family's from right outside Philly (West Chester). I love it out there. =)
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