Civil Liberties

Week 2A

Blog 1

Civil liberties refer to the protection individuals have against government interference in their life and personal choices such as freedom of speech and expression. Civil liberties become part of the constitution to expend freedom and the idea of free will without fearing government repercussions even if they deemed the decision unreasonable. When I visit foreign countries when I ask individuals what they love about the United States, they always reply” The freedom.” Most people talk about freedom as their right as written in the first amendment from the Bill of Rights. Even though the Constitution promotes civil liberty, human rights, and freedom of speech it does not give a free pass on everything, if there is no major disturbance or endangering someone else’s life the government cannot get involved.

Reading this chapter my opinion on the free exercise of religion is quite strong, civil liberty allows individuals to create their religion and recruit people even if politicians find it misguided and blasphemous which is a great exercise of freedom. The downside is many people use this as an opportunity to exploit the law by scheming and brainwashing other individuals to commit crimes. Throughout history, immense harm has been done in the name of religion, cults, and satanic practices led by disturbing individuals. for example, the story of Jim Jones who opened his church in Indianapolis at the end became a tragedy for the nation on November 18th, 1978.( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Jones.) I believe this happened due to much civil liberty, even if the government suspects wrongdoing, a warrant is often needed to enter the premises.

Civil liberty went even further and protected individual rights to get fair treatment and justice even if they committed a crime by prohibiting the bill of attendees in section 9 of the Constitution. This decision prevents Congress from simply punishing people who are contradictory to their system or suspected of a crime. The federalists believed the bill was right, it was unnecessary, it was necessary, and it provided many benefits that regulate society. At the same time, it also causes many issues as we know. The second amendment gives individuals the right to bear firearms. Recent events show the consequences of this freedom due to mass shootings that happened by individuals carrying firearms. However civil liberty is highly significant for it guarantees basic human rights, protection, individual autonomy, and liberty by ensuring a fair and a just democratic society.

Melissa Joseph

Week 1B

Chapter 3 Federalism

Blog4

This week’s reading explains how federalism plays a huge role in controlling the country’s governmental structure. Federalism is the division of power between the national government and states governments with relative autonomy to govern on behalf of the people who elected them. The national government handles matter to protect the country from foreign treat and promotes national economic prosperity. While the states focus more on resolving local and more common issues. To relate to this chapter on federalism, in my country, Haiti the government is not based on federalism, moreover, the unitary system where the president is the head of state, and the prime minister is the head of the government. There are some similarities, as the United States they have the tree branch mechanism system such as. legislature, executive, and judiciary. On the contrary, are only laws written on paper for they are not being used on behalf of the people. The idea of unification for the prosperity of the people is long overdue.

Federalism balances the power between the states and national government to create a structure to meet the people’s needs from the highest to the lowest with a degree of autonomy. A constitution based on federalism can benefit its citizens, for it will be easier to manage and decentralized the power so it is not concentrated in one area. Federalism also provides grounds for great decision-making that addresses specific needs and preferences in different areas. Federalism can and would work in any country if there is cooperation and power distribution according to the law to resolve conflicts and coordinate policies for their citizens. In my country, the government does the opposite, the common issues are dismissed, buried, and the national government is not concerned enough to investigate, and ask for a report to keep track of the government’s inefficacy and responsibility toward the people.

The drawback on federalism, I can relate the drawbacks as someone who is living in New York. The economy and tax regulations vary from state to state everyone is aware that New York city is an expensive state, in this period of recession needs for daily use are more expensive while the minimum wage stays the same. Making it difficult for citizens in every aspect such as housing, healthcare, school employment. I am optimistically hoping the New York state federal system takes action to bring relief to its citizens during these challenging times.

June 29, 2023

Melissa Joseph

US Constitution, chapter 2

Week 1A, Blog 2

The Constitution on Slavery, Freedom, and The Great Compromise

During the development of the Constitution, the conflicts between delegates kept growing their disagreements concerning the authority the Central government might have if they all agreed to be present to revise the Article of Confederation. I would say even though the delegates were ready to be freed from Britain’s rule they wanted to keep their authority to govern themselves as well. Their disagreement about which state is more populous, and small states fear that their value will be undermined. The idea of the meeting was to create a society of law and order, so they had to work together collectively or become independent of the will of the national government.

            Most of the delegates were seeking to protect the rights of individuals from government abuse by giving political rights to all freemen, while others contradict the idea that freedom is what caused the Shay rebellion. The delegate’s concerns about slavery created division,  the north abolished slavery while representatives from the South did not abolish slavery, and feared that the others might try to outlaw the Constitution. Which should not even be a debate if the Constitution protects the rights of all individuals to form a new nation. Thus, a free nation and slavery abolished from all parts is the best way to accomplish it. For this reason, I believe the election of George Washington as the president of the convention was a way to abolish slavery for the last time.

             The state’s disagreement fundamentally compromised the Constitution’s idea of building the United States. Pennsylvania law to gradually abolish slavery, all people born in the states to enslaved mothers would become indentured servants to be set free at the age of twenty- eight. These laws only show the idea of promoting individual rights was not supported by those who were not willing to lose their main resource and guaranteed profit which is enslaved people. This will be proven further in the Tree- Fifths Compromise. Different propositions were made to include enslaved people in the Constitution as part of the population. 5 citizens =5 votes 5 enslaved persons = 3 votes. I disagree with this proposition, more over article I postponed the abolition of the foreign slave trade until 1808, and in the interim, states in slave holding were allowed to import as many enslaved people as they wished. Furthermore, the Constitution placed no restrictions on the domestic slave trade, so residents of one state could still sell enslaved people to other states.

Blog 2 – Chapter 2

 Melissa Joseph

06/27/2023

US Constitution the road to Democracy

In this chapter, the Enlightenment and John Locke’s ideas of natural rights caught my attention for many reasons. The US Constitution was designed following the failure of the first revolutionary, therefore an absolute change was necessary to prevent history from repeating itself. First, John Locke’s political ideas that the “relationship between government and natural rights, which were believed to be God-given rights to life, liberty, and property”.  His idea adopted in the making of the constitution gave the people an opening to participate in their country’s politics, and understand that there should be a relationship between the government and the people and put and to monarchy.

This thinking diminishes the Monarch’s power, and the reign of only a successor can be a political figure. Eventually, the idea is that the King owns the land and the people the king can decide someone’s fate.  On the contrary, the king should be working with the people. The foundation of the Constitution was to bring all the states together to protect the country from the British. Evidently, their own disagreement, and the weakness found in the tax imposition, make the National government unstable and underfunded. The state’s official ideas are to protect their states, therefore they were not willing to cooperate or obey Government requests. In the drafting of the Articles the Confederation after the American Revolution they had freed themselves from the British abuse and were fighting for their right as citizens. Many of them were not satisfied and they were worried that a government representative elected by the people might become overbearing.  They wanted to be self-governing to protect themselves while together they will be stronger. However, the framers of the Articles of Confederation created an alliance of sovereign states that held them together.

This reading of the Us Constitution demonstrates how a group of strong-minded individuals were able to free themselves from Britain and Create a new nation based on human rights, and freedom. Even Though they had disagreements on the rule every state was protecting themselves they were able to Draft a Constitution so powerful and meaningful that 225 years later is being used, and rule the United States that we know now.

.

June 26, 2023

Melissa Joseph

My goal for this semester is to pass the class, I am aiming for an A+ I would also be satisfied with an A or B+. This is my first blog I am nervous. I am a sophomore at KBCC, and this is the first class I am taking outside of Blackboard, however, I am optimistic. I will do my best to understand US politics and its constitution while learning these new techniques of learning. I plan to do the weekly blogs on their deadline, not after. I will find a way to use audio to listen to the chapters while reading this way I don’t get distracted.  I will do most of the reading at night when it’s quiet at home, for the assignment I choose, What’s your problem, Film review, Community Resource, Meme, and Selfie with George, I am undecided about the Museum assignment.  I overthink everything, so I will try to keep up I do not want to get overwhelmed and drop the class midterm. I am excited about this adventure