The individual freedoms guaranteed by our founding fathers and written in the constitution, become the first causalities when our leaders decide to declare war. The first ten Amendments of the Constitution, commonly known as the Bill of Rights are the foundation of this nation’s laws, and is the benchmark of how our government treats the citizenry. Many times in our history leaders took actions to suspend personal freedoms in the name of “war”. A few examples are, the killing and repatriation of the Native American, the Japanese and German internment camps during World War II in the name of war and national security concerns. For the purposes of this paper the main focus will be on the time from the 1950’s to today. We will look at the …show more content…
The founders of our country believed these rights so important, that they wrote them into the Constitution to prevent the government from becoming too strong. The Judiciary has the responsibility (Supreme Court) to ensure laws do not violate the Constitution, Each court must take into account the Bill of Rights when determining if a law is unconstitutional. While each amendment is very important we will only focus on the three aforementioned amendments, the First Amendment guarantees the freedom of religion, speech, press, the right to assemble and the right to petitioning the government for redress of grievances (Legal Information Institute 2015). The Fourth Amendment provides individuals with the right to be secure in their persons against unreasonable search and seizure (Legal Information Institute 2015). The Fifth Amendment stipulates that no person can be held for a crime unless indicted by a Grand Jury or be required to self-incriminate, and lastly cannot be deprived of life, liberty or property (Legal Information Institute 2015). How can leaders take these freedoms when our borders are secure and no foreign army has invaded our territory? Leaders believe that using the terms Cold War, the War on Drugs and The War on Terrorism gives them the authority to disregard the constitution. The individual freedoms guaranteed by our founding fathers these freedoms become the first causality when our leaders decide to declare war. The US fought the war against Communism during the Cold War principally through proxy wars; however, in the 1950’s Congress waged their own fight against the ideology on the domestic
We have fierce debates today concerning war tactics, drone strikes on Americans, torture, military tribunals, citizens’ rights during wartime, and how to reconcile the needs of the national defense with liberty and self-rule. Does the president have a constitutional power to torture foreign enemy combatants? Overrule Congress on war tactics? Deny formal trials to enemies?
And what the Supreme Court ruled in the landmark court case of Schenck v. the United States was reasonable and true. In the “Background Essay”, the authors mention John Locke and his philosophy the Social Contract. “...we contract to leave the ‘natural state’ and we give up certain natural rights in order to live in a safe, civil society.” That is Locke’s belief, and that is the most basic reason why restrictions are needed while countries are at war.
In three of his chapters, entitled “Homeland,” “Exception?”, and “Dollarama,” Lipschutz explains why and how the US has been building its imperium since 9/11, and opens up the topic to further discussion. Overall, I believe that Lipschutz does a thorough job of introducing challenging opinions and theories on the US’ actions since WWII, however, he raises many questions that have no correct answer, making his book a debatable and thought provoking read. In this essay I will reflect on the strengths and weaknesses in Lipschutz’s arguments about protecting the homeland, justifying the Global War on Terror, and the US’ overall efforts to build
There is an error in American education that falsely teaches that “it is their patriotic duty to serve the masters who declared war” without any opportunities to voice their opinions for war (Doc 2). Therefore, Eugene V. Debs in his anti-war speech stresses that the American citizens should be in charge of declaring
During this period in history, Americans’ civil liberties were being taken away all in securing support for the United States entering and remaining in World War
The United States Constitution came about in the 1700s when the thirteen colonies declared their independence from Britain. Declaring their independence in 1776, the colonies had to quickly establish a strong framework for the United States. The creation of the Articles of Confederation established the framework for the Constitution. The Articles of Confederation was the original constitution that was thought-up and written by the thirteen colonies. After this document failed to work, the United States Constitution was created in 1787.
The founding fathers of the United States understood how important separating the powers of the federal government are. To make sure the federal government did not become to powerful they delegated some of the powers to the states. The Tenth Amendments purpose is to emphasize the limited nature of the powers delegated to the federal government. The Federal government has certain powers, the State government has their powers, and then they share a few. Some examples of Federal powers are, they can print money, establish an Army and Navy, and make laws necessary to enforce the constitution.
To be frank, the fourth amendment is a security blanket for American citizens; it protects them from illegal searches and seizures. The amendment was one of the first ten, which made up the original bill of rights in the constitution. Many were added to it since then, but the first ten remain extremely important. Without the fourth amendment, America and its citizens could be subject to searches and seizures at any time.
James Madison stated that war is detrimental to the existence of freedom in society. His claims in “Political Observations” exemplify his respect for the influence of public thought. If all sides of an issue are shown to the public the truth eventually will come out. Some of the reasons why he classified war as the most dreaded enemy to public liberty include war is the guardian of armies, debts, and taxes, war disrupts the balance of the Executive and Legislative branches, and countries would have difficulty maintaining freedom with constant warfare. Madison alleged that war was the keeper of armies, debts, and taxes.
In 1798, President John Adams, the second President of the United States, in response of the public reaction of the Quasi War with France, he enacted the Alien and Sedition Act, and the restriction of civil liberties during wartime has operated. Civil liberties are laws that grant individual rights such as Bill of Rights to American citizens. The scope of the restrictions is mainly about the freedom of actions and speeches. After the restriction was passed, a debate between whether or not U.S. government should restrict civil liberties of citizens during the wartime arose. Should we agree the government to restrict our civil liberties during the war?
To begin with, the Bill of Rights is a document that contains all of the ten amendments of the United States Constitution. The ten amendments were created by James Madison. The amendments were created to further ensure that the citizens of the United States had their liberties rightfully protected by the law. Over time, a discussion about these amendments arose between federalists and anti-federalists. Federalists believed that amendments were not needed and that the Constitution was enough to say what needed to be said.
The first part of this apply assignment consists of summarizing the Bill of Rights, written by James Madison in 1789, which was ratified in 1791, to the people and the limitations placed on the government. In the Bill of Rights that he wrote the ten Amendments. I will try to simplify and summarize what each one meant. The second part of this assignment I will choose two of the amendments that I feel strongly about and what would happen if they were eliminated and what the nation would be like today. Bill of Rights
In the late 1700’s, James Madison wrote the first Ten Amendments that are listed in the United States Constitution. The Bill of Rights were written to ensure American citizens that they have freedoms and rights that the government can 't infringe. Out of the Ten Amendments, I believe that the First and Eighth Amendment are the most significant. The First Amendment grants us freedom of speech, religion, press, petition, and for people to assemble peaceably.
The personal liberties of Americans is what gives meaning to being an American. These liberties should be respected and upheld to the greatest efforts possible and should not be abridged by no means less than do process as exemplified by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the American Constitution. However, over time, we have learned about legislation that has been enacted by our government with said efforts to protect the nation. Hence, the Espionage and Sedition Acts, the confinement of Japanese-Americans during the Second World War, the Red Scare post-WWII, and the Pentagon Papers of 1971 are all examples that depict some of the behaviors performed by the federal government that would appear to infringe on these liberties.
The United States spends more on its defense than any other country in the world, in a democratic state whose constitution Alexander Hamilton helped to inspire. It’s questionable as to what lengths a democratic system should go to keep its citizens safe as ultimately security cannot be unconditionally guaranteed. Having a debate between liberty and security is by no means a new one, its influence on political thought can be profoundly polarizing, as the extremes of both liberty and security can be witnessed around the world and throughout history. The principles that must be prioritized within a democracy while still affording safety, revolves around the ability of citizens to exercise their political liberties.