Voice Of Democracy Research Paper
Voice of Democracy: Constitution: Relevant or No?
Fifty-five men gather together. One room to delegate in. Many months to process. Thirty-nine signatures to approve. One document to change the history of what is now called the United States of America. This document just so happens to be the United States Constitution—conjured up to be a revised version of the Articles of Confederation—and became a base on how our country and its government ebb and flow. Even though this document was ratified in 1788, the amendments of the Constitution were fashioned to keep up with the struggles and troubles “we the people” have; thus qualifying our Constitution to still be applicable and relevant.
The Bill of Rights are a large reason to as why the two
hundred and twenty-four year old, but ever changing, document still is applicable to the 21st century. In the first amendment, civil liberties are guaranteed to United States (U.S.) citizens. For example, the U.S. has become a cultural “melting pot” for the rest of the world, as well as it being a religious “melting pot”. Since many immigrants with many different religions have entered the U.S. , the First Amendment protects the government from nominating a religion for the country and gives one the right to practice what his/her denomination is. The First Amendment also promises that, when one is a citizen of this country, he or she has the freedom to vote on who rules the country and who speaks for the common-man.
Not only the First Amendment included in the Bill of Rights makes the great Constitution relevant, but so do other amendments, such as the Thirteenth , Fifteenth, Nineteenth, and Twenty-sixth Amendments that address two important issues that changed two profound issues that have made things difficult and unfair in the past: slavery and voting.
Adopted in December of 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment was placed into effect enforcing the abolition of slavery after the Civil War. Even though slavery is not really a threat to many in the U.S. but this amendment paved a path for child and/or forced labor laws to come into place numerous years afterward. Equal voting rights were established through amendments Fifteenth, Nineteenth, and Twenty-sixth. The Fifteenth amendment made it so that one could not be turned away from the polls based on race nor color, while the Nineteenth and Twenty-sixth amendments made it that one could not deny another based on gender and only persons over the age eighteen could vote, respectively. Both the abolition of slavery and very clear, nonjudgmental voting rights given to our people have cleared a path for the future and have made it so that every man is created equal, making the Constitution well updated and current.
It took a number of men, months, and signatures to produce the Constitution back in 1788, and here the document still stands, in 2012, two hundred and twenty-four years later, holding its own. Through the Founding Fathers' amendments and knowledge that the United States of America will go through many events that had not been dealt with prior to the meeting, the Constitution is able to change and shape how “we the people” have the ability change it to fit the times we are in, making the document relevant and applicable.
Fifty-five men gather together. One room to delegate in. Many months to process. Thirty-nine signatures to approve. One document to change the history of what is now called the United States of America. This document just so happens to be the United States Constitution—conjured up to be a revised version of the Articles of Confederation—and became a base on how our country and its government ebb and flow. Even though this document was ratified in 1788, the amendments of the Constitution were fashioned to keep up with the struggles and troubles “we the people” have; thus qualifying our Constitution to still be applicable and relevant.
The Bill of Rights are a large reason to as why the two
hundred and twenty-four year old, but ever changing, document still is applicable to the 21st century. In the first amendment, civil liberties are guaranteed to United States (U.S.) citizens. For example, the U.S. has become a cultural “melting pot” for the rest of the world, as well as it being a religious “melting pot”. Since many immigrants with many different religions have entered the U.S. , the First Amendment protects the government from nominating a religion for the country and gives one the right to practice what his/her denomination is. The First Amendment also promises that, when one is a citizen of this country, he or she has the freedom to vote on who rules the country and who speaks for the common-man.
Not only the First Amendment included in the Bill of Rights makes the great Constitution relevant, but so do other amendments, such as the Thirteenth , Fifteenth, Nineteenth, and Twenty-sixth Amendments that address two important issues that changed two profound issues that have made things difficult and unfair in the past: slavery and voting.
Adopted in December of 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment was placed into effect enforcing the abolition of slavery after the Civil War. Even though slavery is not really a threat to many in the U.S. but this amendment paved a path for child and/or forced labor laws to come into place numerous years afterward. Equal voting rights were established through amendments Fifteenth, Nineteenth, and Twenty-sixth. The Fifteenth amendment made it so that one could not be turned away from the polls based on race nor color, while the Nineteenth and Twenty-sixth amendments made it that one could not deny another based on gender and only persons over the age eighteen could vote, respectively. Both the abolition of slavery and very clear, nonjudgmental voting rights given to our people have cleared a path for the future and have made it so that every man is created equal, making the Constitution well updated and current.
It took a number of men, months, and signatures to produce the Constitution back in 1788, and here the document still stands, in 2012, two hundred and twenty-four years later, holding its own. Through the Founding Fathers' amendments and knowledge that the United States of America will go through many events that had not been dealt with prior to the meeting, the Constitution is able to change and shape how “we the people” have the ability change it to fit the times we are in, making the document relevant and applicable.