Address the following questions focusing on the major sections of The Constitution of the United States:
a. What does each of the seven articles cover?
b. Comment on the various lengths of articles. Comment on the order of the articles.
c. Note that Article V creates a living Constitution, one that can be changed when Congress "shall deem it necessary." Comment on some of the more well-known amendments and discuss what events were the occasion for their passage. Discuss the concept of occasion in writing: the occasion of a work is the cause that brings about or precipitates the writing of the work.
Discuss the occasions and contents of the specific additions to the Constitution: Bill of Rights (Amendments 1-10), Amendments 13, 15, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24, and 25
Respond to this post by 6:00 p.m. Wednesday February 13, 2008.
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21 comments:
A. Each of the Articles covers a different Part of the Goverment. Article One is the Legislative Branch, Article 2 The Preisdential Branch, Article 3 the Judicial Branch, Article 4 the States, Article 5 The Amendment Process, Article 6 Legal Status of the Constitution, and Article 7 Ratification.
B. Article one of the Constitution is the Longest Article of the Constitution With Ten Seprate Sections. The Order as it appears to me Seems to be in Length. It Goes from Longest To the Shortest.
C. One of the More Well Known Amendments is teh 13th amendment Which Ended slavery in the United States. What Brought this Amendment into effect Was the Civil War Which Was Started Over Slavery. Basicly The Amendments Were added Because Something Important happened that the President or congress didn't Agree with
A. Each Article covers the responsibilities and powers of each section of Government. The first three outline the three branches of Government: the Legislative branch, the Executive branch, and the Judicial branch. The Fourth article explains the rights and power of the states. Article five explains the process of amending the Constitution. Article six declares the Constitution as the supreme law of the land. Article seven outlines the process for ratification.
B. The lengths of the Amendments vary in respect to the complexity of each section addressed. The first is the longest because it addresses the powers of each individual part of government in separate sections. The first three articles explain the setup, and the others go into detail about how it will work and give directions for actions that will follow.
C. As America grew and progressed, more issues came up that needed definite and universal solutions. Some of the most famous Amendments are the first, which is basic rights of citizens, the 13th, which freed the slaves, the 15th, which gave slaves the right to vote, and the 19th, which gave women the right to vote. These amendments, as well as every other amendment, were added because the issue that they resolved was in question and needed a universal answer.
A. The seven articles provide a solid framework for our govnerment. The first article details the Legislative branch. The Executive branch (the President) is discussed in the second article. The third article covers the Judicial branch and the Supreme court. The rights and resnsibilities of states is covered in the fourth article. The fifth article elaborates on the amendment process. Legal issues-including debts and oaths of loyalty-are dicussed in article six. Finally, article seven gives insight on the rafification of the Constitution.
B. The articles are diverse in length. The first is most longest and most detailed. Each following article is more brief, ending with the very small 10th article. I agree with kevin; the order goes from longest to shortest. Length helped organize the Constitution.
C. Occassion plays a crucial role in writing. The Constitution is a luminous model of this. The Bill of Rights was added to appease anti-federalists right after the Constitution was ratified. The 13th amendment was ratified in 1865 during the aftermath of the Civil War. This freed the slaves, which was what the Union fought for. The 15th Amendment was passed in 1870 and gave African-Americans voting rights. This was after the freed slaves had faced much discrimination and violence. Prohibiton was legalized by the 18th Amendment in 1919, when temperance movements peaked. The 19th Amendment (1920) gave women the right to vote. Women had campaigned for this right for year, andhad proved themselves by being crucial in the Civil War and WWI. The 21st Amendment (1933) repealed the 18th, after it was recognized the Prohibiton contributed to the rise in organized crime. Amendment 22 (1951) set term limits for the Presidency. It was ratified after FDR died during his 3rd term. In 1964, poll tax was eliminated by the 24th Amendment. The dreded fee was barred blacks for voting. Finally, after Kennedy's assassination, the 25th Amendment (1965) clarified who would takes over if the Presidet couldn't fulfill his duties. These amendemnts prove that occassion plays a crucial role in writing and art itself. Authors will be moved by events to write, to oppose the event, to encourage the event, to voice any opinnion they have related to the event. Occassion is a rich source of inspiration. While writing isn't aways directly concieved from currents events, they play a crucial role in the tone, mood, theme of several great works. The Constitution, with its Jeffersonian flexibility, models the unlying importance of occassion.
A.kevine you pretty much covered it
B.Ok i typed a really good blog but it got deleted so.......................ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh........well Article one is the longest, it talks about the mapping of congress the sentate and the house of reps. Thanks.
C. a well known amendment to me is the 19th amendment it cover the right of women suffrage, or the right for women to vote. with out the constitution acting as a live document women would not have the right to vote and wouldnt have moved on into higher education. the struggle for womens suffrage is better known as the womens suffrage movement. Without a live document our country would fail to adapt to its people and would eventually self desstrusct. also without the movemnet toward womens rights im almost positive my comeent would be rendered seemingly meaningless. Its late excused the grammar.
Kevin covered A pretty well. why repeat it?
B. Article 1 is definitly the longest-as it should be. The Legislative branch is the representatives of the people, and if your going to represent the millions of people living here, than the act of doing so needs to be pretty detailed, as it is. The rest of the articles do go in descending length and the order they are in is pretty logical. Its almost in order of importance although you can argue that some are more important.
C. "Basicly The Amendments Were added Because Something Important happened that the President or congress didn't Agree with" Wow thats kind of extremely naive. Amendments were added because times change. The Bill of Rights was added to make the anti-federalists more accepting of the Constitution. They wanted to make sure that if they were going to vote to ratify it, that it protected the rights of the people. Amendment 13 "abolished slavery" after Lincoln made his Emancipation Proclamation. 15 was the reconstruction amendment, the result of the Civil War. 18 established Prohibition, the result of the temperance movement. 19 gave women the right to vote. It was a long time coming, something women have been fighting for for a long time.
21 repealed the 18th, ending Prohibition because Americans like their alcohol. 22 set the term limit of a President to 2 terms after people realized that a President could turn into a dictator, had they no limit on how long they could be in office.
Each Article represents a seperate part of the government and government actions. Article 1: Legislative representaion and Power. Article 2: Executive Power
Article 3:Judicial Power and Treason. Article 4:Rights of Citizen and State. Article 5: Amending the constitution. Article 6: Statuus of the Constitution. Article 7: Radification Process.
The Articles are in order of legnth and I believe this happens because general information is covered in the first sections. For example, they talk about what happens when the president vetos a bill in the Article 1 but that could also be used in Article 2 which is why the first is longer.
That phrase fits perfectly for why the constitution is changed. Each is changed because the circumstances deemed in necessary make a change. The Bill of Rights was created to give the government more power to help the country. Amendment 13 was established because of the "truth " that all men are created equal. Amendment 15 was established because of the women's rights movement.
A. Each of the seven articles in the Constitution cover the responsibilities and duties of the government. The first three articles are comprised of the three branches of government: The Legislative branch, the Executive branch, and the Judiciary branch. The fourth article is about the states. The fifth article is about the amendment process. The legal status of the constitution is written in the sixth article and the seventh article involves the ratification of the Constitution.
B. The articles in the Constitution are listed in descending order with the first being the longest and the last being the shortest. I agree with laurenw that they are in order of importance. That probably explains why the first is the longest and so on - less detail is needed for issues of less significance.
C. Amendments were added to the Constitution to make supreme laws for the nation instead of allowing local and state governments to make their own decisions. The Bill of Rights was created and put into the Constitution in order to please both the Federalists and Anti-Federalists. By doing so, all parties felt that their needs were being met. As times changed, so did this living document. Amendment 13 dealt with the abolition of slavery. The right for all races to vote is Amendment 15. Amendment 18 was for prohibition. Amendment 21 repealed the 18th amendment due to latent dysfunctions that lead to organized crime because of "people liking their alcohol" as laurenw said. The 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote. Poll tax was eliminated thanks to the 24th Amendment and after Kennedy was assassinated the 25th Amendment was created to say who would fulfil the duties as President.
A. I am going to have to agree with everyone else and say that kevin pretty much covered it to profection.
B. I also have to agree with everyone saying that Article I is the longest with 10 sections and being the most important Article. The order does apprear to go from the longest to shortest but also they are kinda grouped together.
C. Some of the more known Amendments are the 1st talking about the rights for every citizen, the 13th stating that their can't be any slaves, the 15th giving all citizens of the U.S. the right to vote, and the 19th giving women the right to vote.
A. I agree with Kevin as well.
B. Each article is unique in lenght, but Article one is the longest. The lengths might perhaps note the complexity or importance of each issue addressed.
C. One well-known article is the 15th amendment, which granted African Americans the right to vote. This amendment was added because the issue came up, and one way or another, had to be solved. If the Constitution was set in stone and was never allowed to be changed, African Americans, would not be allowed to vote. Our country would not be what it is today without amendments like this. Our constitution being as leniant as it is one of the reasons our country is as successful as it is today.
A. Each of the seven articles covers a different part of the government, as stated several times before. Articles 1-3 mainly cover the three different branches of government. Articles 4-7 contain information about states rights, the authority of the Constitution and the process of ratification.
B. Amendment 1, being the longest contains the most sections with the most details. As the articles follow they appear to become shorter and less detailed with no separate sections.
C. A very well-known amendment is number 13, which freed the slaves. It occurred due to the civil war. Another is amendment 19, giving women the right to vote. In the earlier 1900's women continuously pushed for this right and proved their importance during the Civil War. African Americans were given the right to vote in the 15th amendment, making man more equal. All of the additons happened because certain events in history. Clearly the government saw these issues and decided they needed to be solved. The ammendments are now set in stone and will continue to let the United States be an equal and fair nation.
A. Well, the first article.. no. Kevin defiantly knows what he is talking about for part A, not so much part C. I feel no reason to repeat the same thing..
B. The order of the articles are from longest to shortest, Article one being the largest. The longer it is, the more detail the article addresses. The first Article explains the power of the government, clearly relating to the length of the Article. In comparsion, the tenth Article is short because not as much detail is appropriate to the subject. The Article containing more detail are first so the reader/audience will comphrend the Articles that do not have quite as much explaining.
C. Its common fact that time changes almost everything, which is why I agree with Lauren's reason for why amendements were added. Amendment 15 declared that all races the right to vote. The 19th amendment gave women the right to vote. Without these additions the government would not have been able to keep up with the times of its people. Amendments will continue to be added as the country progresses into the future. Otherwise, it would not really be a "living" document. Would it?
A. the first article addresses the Legislative branch, the second the Presidential, the third the Judicial, fourth the states and citizens, fifth amendments, sixth laws and seventh ratification.
B. The order and lengths of the articles correspond to the importance of them. The most important issues to address come first and are the most lengthy. The last 4 articles are quite brief.
C. One of the most important amendments was the first which granted the rights to religion, freedom of speech and the right to petition/peacefully protest. This was important because these issues oppressed many people and without the freedom of religion we’d all be practicing the same beliefs and without the right to speak our minds freely most of us would feel repressed by the governmental control. These rights were a leeway for the other amendments which came later such as amendment13, the abolition of slavery and amendment 19, the right for women to vote.
A) The first article establishes the legislature and all the powers entitled to Congress. The second article explains the executive branch of government and how it will work: this is the second branch of government. Article three sets up for the court system (the judicial branch) that will interpret the Constitution. Article four makes all states respect the laws of another state. Article five is very important as it sets up for an amendment process to the constitution. Article six is all about the legal process of the constitution. And Article seven pertains to the methods of ratification for laws and amendments.
B) The articles of the Constitution all vary in length. Article one and two are of high importance so more elaboration is required. As the Constitution goes on each article seems to become smaller. I think that their lengths vary because interpretation is an important part of the Constitution. For future generations to be able to use the document they need not only the words but also the context of the times. In light of this I think that the articles become smaller for interpretation. If you look at article five you can see what I mean. This article (for amendment) is short and only explains how it works, but it is still very important to the whole Constitution. The order of the articles is from largest to smallest (except for articles 5 and 6). The last article is placed their strategically because of the times. It was very important to get the Constitution ratified so that they could build America so they placed that article at the end.
C) Occasion in writing was crucial to the amendments that were added to the Constitution. The bill of rights was the first important amendment it provided rights that the anti-federalists required in ratifying the Constitution. The Anti-federalists were opposed to the Constitution so they wanted a way to secure their rights. Amendment 13 freed the slaves and amendment 15 was for Reconstruction. During the time when the united states were separated by Civil war Lincoln issued the emancipation proclamation that freed all slaves (sort of not really). The occasion for these amendments was for the beginning and end of civil war. Amendment 18 made alcohol illegal. And amendment 21 repealed this amendment because (As Lauren and Maryrose and so perfectly put it) �People liked their alcohol.� The fifteenth amendment was a result of the women�s civil rights movement. It gave women the right to vote. The occasion for the amendment was the recognition of women�s rights.
A. I agree with everyone else, Kevin covered A pretty well.
B. The length of the articles vary, going from the longest to the shortest. The first article, the longest, is undeniably the most complex and it seems to go from there.
C. There is a simple reason why ammendments have been added to the Constitution: times change. Take, for example, ammendment 13 (one of the most well-known ammendments). This ammendment abolished slavery. Now, we think slavery was awful (which it was, don't get me wrong), but back in the 1800's society thought it was acceptable. Then events occoured and people spoke up and began to realize slavery acutally was horrible. As time progressed, people's attitudes changed which allowed them to see reality and so the 13th ammendment was added, abolishing slavery. Basically, ammendments are added because with time comes changes and sometimes those changes require a change in law for the good of our country.
A. I agree with everyone else, Kevin covered A pretty well.
B. The length of the articles vary, going from the longest to the shortest. The first article, the longest, is undeniably the most complex and it seems to go from there.
C. There is a simple reason why ammendments have been added to the Constitution: times change. Take, for example, ammendment 13 (one of the most well-known ammendments). This ammendment abolished slavery. Now, we think slavery was awful (which it was, don't get me wrong), but back in the 1800's society thought it was acceptable. Then events occoured and people spoke up and began to realize slavery acutally was horrible. As time progressed, people's attitudes changed which allowed them to see reality and so the 13th ammendment was added, abolishing slavery. Basically, ammendments are added because with time comes changes and sometimes those changes require a change in law for the good of our country.
After reviewing the constitution, I see the articles represent: (Part A) firstly, the legislative branch, then the presidential, judicial, the states, the appeal/ammendment process, position of the constitution as supreme law, and in article 7, ratification.
(Part B) The lengths of the ammendments vary, primarily because of the complexity of the issues. The order of the bill of rights is: right to petition, right to bear arms, no quartering of soldiers, freedom from unreasonable searches, right to due process of law, rights of the accused, right to trial by jury, freedom from cruel and unusual punishment,other rights of the people, and state powers. The order is based on that the first shows the setup of governement, and the following establish how it works.
The living document had ammendments: the 13th freed the slaves, 15th gave african americans voting rights, and the 19th gave women voting rights as well. These issues were taken into consideration as over time, it is what the people wanted, and is why it was added to the document.
a. As everyone else said, article one details the Legislative branch. Article two covers the Executive branch, article three the Judicial Branch, article four the states, article five the process of amending, article six declares consitiution suprmeme law of the land and article seven declared ratification.
b. The longest article is the 1st and that makes perfect sense. It describes the branch that truly represents the people. It would need to be detailed and describe how to represent alot of people. The Constitution, as said by a few others, seems to go in a order of longest to shortest. Each one is more detailed than the next.
c. The Constitution is a "living document". It changes due to time and because it was necessary, like Lauren mentioned. A well known admendment to me is the 19th which gave women the right to vote. Woman had campaigned strongly for a few years before getting the amendment. Also, the 13th amendment that gave freed the slaves, which abolitionists had been also fighting for. Finally, there is the 15th amendment which gave African Americans the right to vote. Ever since, the African Americans were freed they fought for the right to vote. All these issues cause the government to take action and make the change to the Constitution.
A. Each one covers a part of the government. 1 is the legislative, 2 being the presidential, and 3 being judicial. Article 4 covers the states while 5 covers admendments. Article 6 is about the constitution being the supreme law. Last, 7 outlines ratification.
B.The first acticle is the longest article. Its the longest because it goes into great detail on how our country will be runned.
C.As the country changed so did the supreme law. One of the more famous changes was the 13th amendment, which ended slavery in the United States.
A.) The Constitution has articles that cover different parts of the government. Article one is the leglislative branch. Article two is the presidential branch. Article three is the judicial
branch. Article five is the amendment process. Article six is the Legal Status of the Constitution. Article seven is the ratification article. That's what all of the articles cover.
B.)Article one is the longest of length of the articles. It is the most detailed also. After that they get shorter and shorter and end with shortest. The order of them goes from the largest to the smallest article. Length was put this way so that it was not as confusing as going scattered.
C.)The 15th amendment states that nobody can be discriminated from voting based on race. This was added after slavery ended and the segregation was over. It was added because it was a very important moment and they had to be allowed to vote. That's why the 15th amendment was added.
A: All right well the seven articles seem to have been listed several times here but I'll name them any way and add my input. The first article addresses the legislative branch, which is the House of Representitives and the Senate. The second article talks about the executive branch, which is the President and rules of election and whatnot. The third article is the power of the judicial branch which is the surpreme court. It goes into detail about treason and the punishment for such crime. The forth article is about states rights and addresses them. The fifth article is about amendments made to the constitution and the guidelines as to when and how this can be done. The sixth article is about as Kevin addresses it, the "Legal Status" or in other terms what exactly its there for.
And last but certainly not least the seventh amendment is summing up the constitution by addressing ratification.
B. The first thing I noticed was the extreme difference in lengths of each article. It makes sense that the broader topics such as branches of government had to be split up into sections. There are a lot things that have to be covered. Then you look at an article like the fifth, which is short. It is interesting that such an important topic like amendments to the constitution can be put into such little words. I wonder why they would take such time to go in depth about the branches of government but then leave the fifth article so short. Any comments? I also noticed the lengths descend as the constitution goes on. I think the articles go in order of importance. Not to say that they aren't all important but the authors definately took their time in the beginning with regards to how it ends.
C. Alright I'm going to talk about the amendment that abolished slavery, the 13th. This amendment was brought about with the belief that all men were created equal. After many years of boycotts and protest, slavery was thankfully brought to an end. I think with the fifth article allowing the constitution to be a living document allows for changes to be made in case of an unjust thing occuring again like slavery. With the amendments allowed to be made, this gives the country its freedom. Hopefully I worded that in a way that makes sense. :)
Comments-----
Lauren- I like your idea about the first article and its details. It makes a lot of sense. But what about the length of the Fifth article? Its short and simple I guess. But it makes a good point. I find this a very important article. Is it possible that the first article could be shorter and still get its point out there? Are those details really necessary?
Kevin- "Basicly The Amendments Were added Because Something Important happened that the President or congress didn't Agree with" This is contradicting the whole idea about states' right's and people having a say about their government.
(a) The seven articles create an effective framework for the government of the United States. Articles 1, 2, and 3 explain the powers and limits of the Legislative, Executive, and Judiciary branches of the government, respectively. Article 4 explains how the states fit within this federal power structure. Articles 5 and 6 deal more with the Constitution itself: Article 5 discusses the amendment process, and Article 6 establishes the Constitution as the “supreme law of the land.” Finally, Article 7 details how the Constitution is to be ratified.
(b) The length of the articles reflects the importance of their subject in the eyes of the authors. Article 1 is by far the longest, which makes sense since it deals with the legislature and how people will be represented in the government-a very important aspect of a newly democratic government. Also, the creation of the relatively fair bicameral legislature made this branch of government more complex than the other two, which only have one main power structure. Article 2 is also relatively long, probably because the authors wanted to make the executive powers very clear to prevent another tyranny. Article 3 is much shorter than the previous two because of the relative simplicity of the courts it sets up. Article 4 is nearly as long as Article 3 & comes right after the set up of the government because state rights were very important to the new nation. Articles 5, 6, & 7 are all short and succinct because they deal with issues that were necessary for the creation of a new government, but less pressing and dramatic than the preceding articles.
(c) Occasion plays an important role in shaping pieces of writing. Obviously, occasion determines the purpose of the work, and often affects the diction and structure of a piece. For example, the Bill of Rights (the first ten amendments) were written to appease people who believed the Constitution didn’t do enough to protect the rights of the people. For this reason, the rights granted by the amendments are clearly listed and explained with clear and distinct language. The 13th amendment, ratified in 1865, protects what the Union had fought so hard for in the Civil War: the final emancipation of the slaves. For this reason, the amendment uses strong, even blunt language to clearly end the practice of slavery. The 15th amendment guarantees all males the right to vote, in an attempt to stop the flood of injustices against blacks that effectively negated their gains during Reconstruction. The 18th amendment, ratified in 1919, began Prohibition in response to the Temperance movement of the time. The 19th amendment, ratified in 1920, finally granted women suffrage. The 21st Amendment repealed Prohibition in 1933 in response to growing public opinion that Prohibition was a bad idea. The 22nd amendment, ratified in 1951, set a two term limits for presidents due to fear of a lifelong, dictatorial president upsetting the balance of power. The 24th amendment gave civil rights an important victory in 1964 by prohibiting the use of poll taxes to keep people (mostly African Americans) from voting. Finally, the 25th amendment, ratified in 1967, clarified the issue of presidential succession. Clearly, occasion influenced these amendments, because they would never have been created and ratified had there not been a need. Occasion dictated both the style (very formal legal language) and the content (responding to the needs of the nation).
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