Amendments

Everyone knows the first ten amendments, starting with the basic freedoms, but what about the rest? There are 27 amendments in all, 17 have been added since the first 10.

The following amendments are 17-27:

11th - Makes states immune from suits from out-of-state citizens and foreigners not living within the state borders; lays the foundation for sovereign immunity.

12th - Revises presidential election procedures.

13th - Abolishes slavery, and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime.

14th - Defines citizenship, contains the Privileges or Immunities Clause, the Due Process Clause, the Equal Protection Clause, and deals with post-Civil War issues.

15th - Prohibits the denial of the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

16th - Allows the federal government to collect income tax.

17th - Establishes the direct election of United States Senators by popular vote.

18th - Prohibited the manufacturing or sale of alcohol within the United States.

19th - Prohibits the denial of the right to vote based on sex.

20th - Changes the date on which the terms of the President and Vice President (January 20) and Senators and Representatives (January 3) end and begin.

21st - Repeals the 18th Amendment and prohibits the transportation or importation into the United States of alcohol for delivery or use in violation of applicable laws.

22nd - Limits the number of times that a person can be elected president: a person cannot be elected president more than twice, and a person who has served more than two years of a term to which someone else was elected cannot be elected more than once.

23rd - Grants the District of Columbia electors (the number of electors being equal to the least populous state) in the Electoral College.

24th - Prohibits the revocation of voting rights due to the non-payment of a poll tax.

25th - Addresses succession to the Presidency and establishes procedures both for filling a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, as well as responding to Presidential disabilities.

26th - Prohibits the denial of the right of US citizens, eighteen years of age or older, to vote on account of age.

27th - Delays laws affecting Congressional salary from taking effect until after the next election of representatives.

Bill of Rights.

Karime Balderas - Ortega

January 24th, 2014

Core 4

Bill Of Rights.

1. What is your impression about the way that the Bill of Rights looks?

The bill of rights seems very faded. The writing looks old and as if needs to be renewed. Other than the title, the only words that really stand out are “The”, “Resolved”, and “Articles”

 

2. How was George Mason a rebel?`

George Mason was a rebel because wanted the constitution to have a bill of rights. He wrote his own bill of rights and named them “Virginia Declaration  of independence.”

 

3. When did they finally vote on the Bill of Rights.

They finally decided on the bill of rights on December 15th,  1791.

 

4. What would you do? Would you have voted in favor or against the Bill of Rights? Why?

I would’ve voted in favor of the Bill of Rights. The people needed to know their rights, what they could and couldn’t do. The Bill of Rights are very important and George Mason knew it from the start.

Chapter Nine Essay

Karime Balderas-Ortega

January 9th, 2013

Core Four

Many things don’t work out the way they’re supposed to. Sometimes they actually do. It may take time for things to work right and an example of this is a science experiment. The scientist has to do many trials and the trials take time, and at the end he may get the result he wanted. Another example is The Constitution. Its the oldest living constitution and its inspired people all over. It was first ratified in September 1787. First published in the Pennsylvania Packet in September 19th, 1787.  

The constitution is the most important document in the history of The United States. What it does is to keep everyone in line and let everyone know their limits. The constitution contains the government and its three branches. The three branches are the Executive Branch, the Legislative Branch, and The Judicial Branch. Each branch has a specific job. The Legislative branch is the law making part. It contains two houses the Senate, upper house, and the house of Representatives, the lower house. There are many responsibilities that come with this part of the branch and it often is in the Capitol. The next part of the government is the Executive Branch. This branch is where the President, Vice President, and The Cabinet are. This is the branch that has all the pressure, the President decides what to do with the state the future of it. The last part of the government is the Judicial Branch. It Interprets the laws and mainly consists of the supreme court. It basically has 9 members at the time and their terms are till death. This branch only takes 100 cases out of the thousands of cases asked to be reviewed.

Another thing that the constitution consists of are the checks and balances. This concept is basically a system that allows each branch of government to limit the power of the other branches. It helps with the constitution because it doesn’t let just some people have all the power and be the boss. It shows that the United States isn’t dictated by the president. Congress can override vetoes and the President can veto bills.

A famous quote by Thomas Jefferson says the constitution “belongs to the living not the dead.” This means that the constitution may be changed but it is very very hard. The changes are called amendments and only 27 have been approved so far. First its proposed by ⅔ of either Congress or the state legislatures. From there it has to be approved or ratified by ¾ of the state legislatures or the state conventions. Most amendments don’t get approved though.

One of the last parts of the constitution is federalism. Federalism is the constitutional system that shares power between the national and state governments. One example of this is when there are presidential elections. Each state collects all the data and sends it to the national government. The thing is that the national government has way more important problems than a person committing a DUI, so it lets the states handle.

The constitution works because it states that not only one person is in charge of the future of the United States. The President isn’t a dictator, Congress aren’t a bunch of people together thinking that they can rule the world, and the supreme court knows that they have branch but they aren't rulers. The Constitution works because it has changes made to it often and it gives the people the power.

   

Three Branches of Government.

The Three Branches of Government:

 There are many parts to our government today.

We have 3 parts actually, they are the Legislative, Executive, and the Judicial.

 

Legislative Branch -
is the law making part of the government. There are some restrictions to being elected for this part of government. For the Senate you must be 30 years old, be a citizen for nine (9) years, and is considered the " Upper House." You can only serve six (6) year terms. For the House, you must be 25 years old, be an American citizen for seven (7) years, and you can only serve two (2) year terms. It is often considered the " Lower House. " This branch of government has 100 senators, two for each state, and 435 Representatives total.




Representative of Delaware - John Carney - John Carney Website  

   
 
 

The Executive Branch is the part of the government that "executes" (carries out) the laws. There is actually more to this branch than I thought. It contains over more than 400 people and the most important are President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. The branch also houses the cabinet. The cabinet is made up of 15 heads of departments. This is where the many people come from because it contains 15 very important departments including the Food Drug Administration. To be elected into this branch you have to have good background history including a natural born American citizen.

 

 

 

 

 

The Judicial Branch is the part of the
government, consisting of the Supreme Court and lower federal courts, that interprets the laws. There are actually nine (9) people in the judicial branch at the moment. The lowest that the Judicial Branch has ever had is six (6) members. The current people are:

1. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.
2. Associate Justice Antonin Gregorian Scalia
3. Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor
4. Associate Justice Clarence Thomas
5. Associate Justice Samuel Anthony Alito
6. Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
7. Associate Justice Stephen Breyer
8. Associate Justice Elena Kagan
9. Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy

What the Judicial Branch does is judge. They are given more than 1,000 cases to look at and determine the outcome each year but they only take about 100. The thing is that it's not just normal court cases, these are civil cases that are very important to the future of the United States. That's basically how it functions, the court made up of nine justices take in civil cases and do their best to solve them. How the justices are elected is by Obama recommending them. From there they are either rejected or accepted. Delaware Justices

Credit To:

• http://americanvoice.com/listmembersofthesupremecourt.aspx
• http://www.judicialselection.us/
• http://www.whitehouse.gov/our-government/judicial-branch
• https://www.google.com/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi&ei=IlmyUuK6EaiqsASaxYGYAw&ved=0CAQQqi4oAg
• http://johncarney.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=18&Itemid=7
• History Alive! Book

Speech

Karime Balderas- Ortega

December 9th, 2013

Chapter 8 Essay - Speech -

There are many problems with the nation we have today men! There are slaves, counted as property by some! There are states scared to take the first step towards a decent democracy, afraid that the bigger states will have more power! We have the Tax issue that started from King George III! We need to do something people! Something that changes the way of  leadership without starting another war, and for all of it to be kept a secret.

Today, May 25th, 1787, I stand before you all, together we will try to create a new nation, one based on not money, but equality. We will try to help slaves be counted as a person and not as property! We will succeed, even if it take a few fails, we have Benjamin Franklin, one of the wisest. Not all of us agree with one another but we’ll hear every word you say, every point you have! We will find a way to represent the states equally, and not have one with all the power.

We shall focus on the fact that states don’t have representation! States such as North Carolina and Rhode Island are afraid of being part of creating a new nation! They became hesitant when it came to signing the constitution. They didn’t want change afraid that the change would actually have a worse result. We shall find a way to get every agreement as we possibly can men! We are created equal!

Men, we came together to create a better future for those generations ahead of us. We  want a better place for our children to be raised, for us to grow old, and to have freedom. We discuss everything that needs discussing but we will do it in secret, nothing must be leaked to the press or to the non-delegates.  Please men, in your hands lie the future of thousands of people.

Chapter 6 - Essay

Karime Balderas-Ortega

November 15th, 2013

Core 4

Chapter 6 Essay

Declaration Of Independence

The Patriots took their lives in their hands by signing the Declaration of Independence. Would you have signed it? Why or why not? Establish your opinion then support it with three reasons in essay form.

Patriots, also known as Delegates, took their life into their own hands in July 4th, 1776. They had the courage to sign the Declaration of Independence, the most risky document of the time. What the document did and said was very important. It basically told Britain to leave them alone, that the US colonies would become Independent. Very little did the colonies know that the Declaration actually would start a war. But it also made the colonies Tax Free, have Freedom, and Independence.

One thing that the Colonists hated the most about Britain is the taxes they were forced to pay. Taxes on every thing was a little bit over board so with the Declaration it ended any control of Britain over the colonies.  In the 1763's the taxes were harsh but in 1775 they weren't as bad, they were controlled. Who wouldn't want to the horrible taxes to end completely?

Independence was another thing that was on everyone's mind. The colonists no longer wanted someone to keep ruling over them, they had enough of that with King George III. The freedom part of the Declaration of Independence was specifically put in by Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the Declaration. Benjamin Franklin and John Adam's both agreed with Thomas.

The meaning of freedom is "the power to determine action without restraint. " Well with the Declaration slaves would also be free and this was a concerning issue. Without the slave trade the colonies would have to do work for themselves and lose money. The delegates didn't like this much and it actually got taken out of the Declaration. In Thomas's writing it blamed King George for the start of slavery and most thought it was unfair.  

When Thomas Jefferson wrote the first draft of the Declaration of Independence he had in mind the riot it would cause. He didn't know how big it would be but he knew something would happen. Benjamin Franklin and John Adam's knew that they were getting into the same thing when they edited the important document. But did they know the threating war it would bring?

As the Delegates signed it they also knew that there would be trouble. If I myself was a delegate at the time I wouldn't have a doubt in my mind. Not for the fame, but because it changed the colonies for the better. They did have to go through a lot to get to the point where they wanted to become independent but it would've came sooner or later.

Liberty Bell

Liberty Bell, 

Philadelphia

When someone says the words "Liberty Bell" we often think back to 1st grade or our elementary years. We didn't have much care about it because we didn't understand what it meant to us, we only knew that it was a bell with a crack. Today we understand much more then we did when we were at age 3. We know that the Liberty Bell  is very important to us and it's a sign that we suppressed slavery. We also know that the liberty bell is found at:

 Independence National Historical Park
143 South Third Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106.

But there are still many things we don't know.

One thing that the average American doesn't know is that the liberty bell was repaired twice, meaning that it cracked two times before the workmen just left the crack. The first two repairs were done by John Stow and John Pass, their names are actually on the liberty bell today. They worked hands on with the Liberty Bell since they were local workmen.

Shows Liberty Bell being moved from truck to train.

Another thing that most Americans don't know is what the Liberty Bell is made of or how much it weighs. On Liberty Bell Center it says that, " The bell weighs about 2000 pounds. It is made of 70% copper, 25% tin, and small amounts of lead, zinc, arsenic, gold, and silver. " It is also said that it hangs from the original post. Considering the weight, and how much amount of history it has, the bell is very interesting.

I found a very interesting website. The website address is US History - Liberty Bell and had a lot of good information on the liberty bell. It contains quotes of what people thought of the Liberty Bell since the 1758's. It does confirm all the things that the first website said and it also has this little fun quiz.

QUIZ! This is just the quiz that covers basic things that were mentioned. The only thing I didn't mention was the writing on the bell. The writing on the bell is actually a bible verse that talks about freedom. You may and go see the bell yourself if wanted to at:
Independence National Historical Park
143 South Third Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106.
It's free of charge, the only thing you do need is a ticket.

The Liberty Bell is perfect even with the flaws and misspellings. On the Bell, the word Pennsylvania is spelled wrong. That's the only thing that's really flawed on it, other than that It's fine. I hope to experience a great time being so close to it.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1gqztx3bDNZnPMYeTfDIn_lBEceYlTyKLQu4YkRzZRJA/edit#slide=id.p