The first amendment not only acknowledges man’s God-given right to exercise his religion and express himself freely, it also empowers citizens in the ongoing struggle against the onset of tyranny. To be free, Americans must stand in eternal vigilance on the side of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
The Second Amendment, guaranteeing our right to self-defense — not only against outlaws (the right to bear arms and to use those arms for lawful purposes including self-defense) but also those who would seek to use the power of the state against us.
After the Boston Tea Party (1773), the British crown imposed heavy penalties on the colonies. The colonials referred to these strictures as the Intolerable Acts. One, the Quartering Act of 1774, stipulated that the colonials had to pay for the quarters of British troops. Further, if the local barracks didn’t have enough space, the townsmen had to provide the troops with lodgings, even in private homes.
Under the British crown, the colonials were subject to virtually limitless searches and seizures under what was called a “general warrant.” By 1780, four years after the founders declared independence, a total of eight states banned general warrants. After the Constitution came into force in 1789, the young nation ratified the Fourth Amendment two years later.
The Fifth Amendment, bundles several significant rights and protections, among them: the right against self-incrimination, the protection against being tried twice for the same offense, the right to just compensation if the government seizes your property, and the rights of due process under the law.
The Sixth Amendment is a guidebook, detailing how our God-given rights are protected during criminal prosecutions. Defendants are guaranteed a speedy trial by an impartial jury of their peers. They are also entitled to confront and cross-examine witnesses, known as the Confrontation Clause, and they have the right to call their own witnesses.
There are two parts to the Seventh Amendment. First is the Preservation Clause, a provision that grants access to jury trials in federal civil (i.e., non-criminal) cases like discrimination cases, class actions, consumer safety actions, catastrophic personal injury lawsuits, and corporate corruption cases, to name a few. Second is the Re-examination Clause, which establishes that if jurors are impaneled, they are the ultimate fact-finders and best-suited to render reasonable, fair and just resolutions to controversies and disputes.
The Eighth Amendment prevents the federal government and the states (through application of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment) from imposing unjust pre-trial bail against criminal defendants, inflicting brutal or inequitable sentencing schemes, applying inhumane methods of punishment and requires sentences, including fines and forfeited property, be proportionate to convictions.
The Ninth Amendment stems from a debate about the Bill of Rights itself. After the Revolutionary War, people organized together to develop a new system of government. While everyone seemed to agree that the freedoms they had just fought so hard to win needed enduring protections, there was a lack of consensus when it came to developing a system of laws that protected every individual’s God-given freedoms, while at the same time achieved security and order.
The Tenth Amendment articulates the principle of federalism, or states’ rights. It states that the federal government has only those powers delegated to it by the Constitution, and that all other governmental powers are reserved to each state.
The first amendment not only acknowledges man’s God-given right to exercise his religion and express himself freely, it also empowers citizens in the ongoing struggle against the onset of tyranny. To be free, Americans must stand in eternal vigilance on the side of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
The Second Amendment, guaranteeing our right to self-defense — not only against outlaws (the right to bear arms and to use those arms for lawful purposes including self-defense) but also those who would seek to use the power of the state against us.
After the Boston Tea Party (1773), the British crown imposed heavy penalties on the colonies. The colonials referred to these strictures as the Intolerable Acts. One, the Quartering Act of 1774, stipulated that the colonials had to pay for the quarters of British troops. Further, if the local barracks didn’t have enough space, the townsmen had to provide the troops with lodgings, even in private homes.
Under the British crown, the colonials were subject to virtually limitless searches and seizures under what was called a “general warrant.” By 1780, four years after the founders declared independence, a total of eight states banned general warrants. After the Constitution came into force in 1789, the young nation ratified the Fourth Amendment two years later.
The Fifth Amendment, bundles several significant rights and protections, among them: the right against self-incrimination, the protection against being tried twice for the same offense, the right to just compensation if the government seizes your property, and the rights of due process under the law.
The Sixth Amendment is a guidebook, detailing how our God-given rights are protected during criminal prosecutions. Defendants are guaranteed a speedy trial by an impartial jury of their peers. They are also entitled to confront and cross-examine witnesses, known as the Confrontation Clause, and they have the right to call their own witnesses.
After much debate, the framers of our Constitution, including the Bill of Rights – the first 10 amendments – established a system of limited federal government constrained in a manner that offers vast protections for our God-given inalienable rights of freedom and liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Ratified in 1804 based on concepts described on March 12, 1788, in Federalist Paper No. 68 entitled, “The Mode of Electing the President”, our Twelfth Amendment modified the original manner in which US Presidents and Vice Presidents were selected pursuant to the US Constitution under Article II, Section 1, Clause 3.
The practice of slavery and involuntary servitude is unquestionably one of the greatest wrongs and injustices in the history of the world. For centuries, nations and territories permitted slavery and advanced a harmful philosophy that socio-demographics such as age, religion, sex, race, ethnicity, etc…determine worthiness.
Ratified in the summer of 1868, three years after the end of the Civil War, the Fourteenth Amendment was one of three amendments passed during the Reconstruction era (1865-1877), the 10-15 year timeframe after the War ended when leaders and thinkers turned their attention to reconstructing a unified nation, abolishing slavery, and establishing civil and legal rights in favor of all persons born or naturalized in the United States.
The Fifteenth Amendment was the third and final constitutional amendment to be ratified during America’s Reconstruction Era, a 10 to 15-year timeframe beginning in 1865, following the end of the Civil War, a war fought to end slavery in America.
Constitutional authority to tax the American people arises out of Article I, Section 8, which granted Congress the power to “lay and collect Taxes. . .to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States.”
America’s legislative branch is a bicameral system meaning our United States Congress is divided into two separate chambers: 1) the U.S. Senate; and 2) the U.S. House of Representatives. The U.S. Senate is made up of two senators from each state, no matter the size of the state or the population. The House of Representatives, on the other hand, is made up of “no more than 435” (as provided by law), and the states elect members in a manner proportionally representing the population of the 50 states.
The Eighteenth Amendment, passed by Congress on December 18, 1917, and ratified by the states on January 16, 1919, banned alcohol, for all intents and purposes, within the borders of American jurisdictions.
In America, it is not uncommon to hear sentiments that begin or end with “when women got the right to vote.” In fact, women didn’t get the right to vote in 1920, they fought for it.
Known as the “Lame Duck” Amendment, the Twentieth Amendment changed the start dates of federal terms of office following federal elections for the offices of President, Vice President, and members of Congress.
The Twenty-First Amendment was proposed by Congress on February 20, 1933 and ratified by the states on December 5, 1933. Comprised of three sections, it repealed the Eighteenth Amendment ending the federal government’s ban on the importation, manufacture, sale, and/or transportation of intoxicating liquors in the United States.
The Twenty-Second Amendment was proposed by Congress on March 21, 1947, and ratified on February 27, 1951. Comprised of two sections, it sets a two-term (four years each) limit for an elected President, and those restrictions apply to an individual who becomes president, but not through the election process, and serves for more than two years.
The Twenty-Third Amendment was proposed by Congress on June 16, 1960, and ratified by the states on March 29, 1961. The Amendment conferred citizen-residents of our national capital and the seat of our government, the District of Columbia (DC), the right to choose electors and thereby vote in U.S. presidential elections.
The Twenty-Fourth Amendment, proposed by Congress on September 14, 1962, and ratified by the states on January 23, 1964, ended the poll tax applied by states for elections of federal officials.
The Twenty-Fifth Amendment was approved by Congress on April 13, 1965, and ratified on February 10, 1967. Often referred to as the “Succession Act,” the Amendment was drafted to resolve outstanding issues related to vacancies, both permanent and temporary, in the Office of the President.
The Twenty-Sixth Amendment was proposed by Congress on March 23, 1971, and ratified by the states on July 1, 1971. The Amendment gave the right to vote to citizens 18 years old and older.
The Twenty-Seventh Amendment, sometimes referred to as the “Congressional Pay Amendment,” was first proposed by Congress on September 25, 1789, at the same time as the Bill of Rights (first ten amendments).
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