The first 10 amendments to the Constitution make up the Bill of Rights which was written by James Madison. He wrote The Bill Of Rights in response of calls from several states for greater constitutional protection of individual liberties. The people who signed the declaration made a promise to protect the people from the government. The colonist wanted to keep their rights because they had a fear of a tyrannical government. People believed and were taught that The Bill Of Rights came from the desire to protect the liberties won in the American Revolution.
Imagine a world in which The Civil War and the events after never happened. Southern states still hold slaves, there are no laws on immigration or who can become a citizen. The Civil War freed the slaves and allowed laws that dealt with citizenship and immigration to be ratified. This was what led to the creation of the three Reconstruction Amendments, which includes the Fourteenth Amendment. The Fourteenth Amendment has rich history, various meanings and applications, and can be used to shape our nation for the better today.
The 14th Amendment was one of the most significant changes to the Constitution. The amendment contains the equal protection of the laws clause. It was added to the Constitution after the Civil War. The rules that the amendment states have been the result of several Supreme Court cases. The amendment has deeply influenced American History and the perception of equality.
The Commerce clause refers to Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution, which gives Congress the power “to regulate commerce with foregin nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes”. This clause is one of the most fundamental powers delegated to congress by the founders. It has helped to seprate the powers between the federal governemtn and the states, along with the branches of governemtn and Judiciary. In simpler terms the commerce clause was to help regulate commerce among navigable waters.
America had just finished fighting the Civil War and we were broken. Reconstruction began in 1865 and was the time of rebuilding America after the Civil War tore apart our country. People also referred to the this time as “putting back the pieces”. Abraham Lincoln was the president during this period of time. He had thought of a blueprint for the Reconstruction; which consisted of an idea known as the Ten-Percent Plan.
One element I find very interesting of the United States Constitution is the Tenth Amendment. The Tenth Amendment says, “The power not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” This is basically alluding to the idea that if a power is not directly given to the federal government is given to the states. I believe that one of the main reasons that this amendment was included in the Constitution because the Founding Fathers knew it needed to be a vital rule set from the beginning because it helped further their ideals of the balance of power.
After the Civil War many amendments were created to ensure and guarantee success to those native and free to this country. The Fourteenth Amendment, is one of three amendments to the Constitution, that was created after the civil war to grant citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States,” which included former slaves recently freed. The main purpose of this amendment was to guarantee black rights. Many people were gracious when the amendment came in play but the rest were not satisfied and were against the ratification of the amendment. This amendment opened the doors to many who deserved it and many more who came in search for a better life.
The Union victory was a significant victory that would be remembered for years to come. The Reconstruction era followed soon after. It was intended to accomplish far more than it did, with the main objective of rebuilding the south. There were a variety of significant issues that made the Reconstruction process that much more difficult, initially impacting the overall process in a negative way. It was a struggle between the north and the south during peacetime after the war.
The Confederation Congress used a bill of rights to preserve the people’s fiercely desired personal rights, while they used amendments to correct any errors or to edit federal laws and bills as necessary. The Constitution had to adapt to “changing economic and social conditions” (Thompson, 1913, p. 17), and this is exactly the flexibility the Amendments
Between the creation of the Constitution and the Civil War, there was a period of implementation . In this period the Bill of Rights were ratified. During the years that followed and before the Civil War, there were a variety of “constitutional” violations and interpretations. For example, we read of John Adams who created a military without a Congressional declaration of war.
The Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution was acquired on July 9th, 1868, as one of the three Reconstruction Amendments. The amendment discussed equal protection of the laws and citizenship rights. This new amendment was created in response to problems with former slaves that were freed after the American Civil War. The amendment puts a limit on the actions of all local and state officials. During the time of its creation, it did two major things, it made it to where all people born in the united states were citizens and it made it to where everyone is equally protected under the law.
The Fourteenth Amendment (Amendment XIV) The amendments were put into place to protect the rights and civil liberties of all American citizens from the federal government. However, prior to the fourteenth amendment, there was no certainty with the constitution. The constitution did not state in a clear enough way who was protected under it and exactly what rights you had as an American Citizen. The 14th amendment was in response to the just passed thirteenth amendment, which ended slavery in all of the southern states.
The second amendment is also one that is completely incorporated thanks to cases such as McDonald v Chicago that dealt with the right to keep and bear arms in the United States. The fourth amendment is the last amendment to be fully incorporated. A big case that helped do so was Mapp v Ohio in 1961. This case took place on the account that police officers had invaded Dollree Mapp’s house without a proper search warrant due to suspicion of harboring a suspected bomber. Mapp argued that they had done so unlawfully due to her fourth amendment rights stated in the constitution.
The ‘Civil War’ Amendments The 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were all deemed to be the Civil War amendments. In the US Constitution of 1787 US Constitution Amendment Abolishes slavery & involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. It was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, by the House on January 31, 1865, and adopted by the States on December 6, 1865. On December 18, 1865, Secretary of State William H. Seward proclaimed it to have been enacted. It was the first of the three Reconstruction Amendments adopted following the American Civil War.
“Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice. suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals” (Martin Luther King, Jr.). Based on the Constitution, equality has the possibility of being achieved because amendments can be placed in order to get closer to it. Also the Constitution has shown no discrimination to a certain group of people, and instead has tried to push the idea of equality to the next level. Although people, in the past, have been through many harsh events, the Constitution has always made a way to repair its mistakes.