Bill of Rights of the United States of America
Amendments 11 – 27 |
During the debates on the adoption of the Constitution, its opponents repeatedly charged that the Constitution as drafted would open the way to tyranny by the central government. Fresh in their minds was the memory of the British violation of civil rights before and during the Revolution. They demanded a "bill of rights" that would spell out the immunities of individual citizens. Several state conventions in their formal ratification of the Constitution asked for such amendments; others ratified the Constitution with the understanding that the amendments would be offered. On September 25, 1789 , the First Congress of the United States therefore proposed to the state legislatures 12 amendments to the Constitution that met arguments most frequently advanced against it. The first two proposed amendments, which concerned the number of constituents for each Representative and the compensation of Congressmen, were not ratified. Articles 3 to 12, however, ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures, constitute the first 10 amendments of the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights. http://www.archives.gov/national_archives_experience/charters/bill_of_rights.html
Constitutional Amendments 1-10 make up what is known as The Bill of Rights. AMENDMENT XI Passed by Congress March 4, 1794 . Ratified February 7, 1795 . Note : Article III, section 2, of the Constitution was modified by amendment 11. The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State . Passed by Congress December 9, 1803 . Ratified June 15, 1804 . Note : A portion of Article II, section 1 of the Constitution was superseded by the 12th amendment. The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate; -- the President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted; -- The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. [And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President. --]* The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States . *Superseded by section 3 of the 20th amendment. Passed by Congress January 31, 1865 . Ratified December 6, 1865 . Note : A portion of Article IV, section 2, of the Constitution was superseded by the 13th amendment. Section 1. Section 2. Passed by Congress June 13, 1866 . Ratified July 9, 1868 . Note : Article I, section 2, of the Constitution was modified by section 2 of the 14th amendment. Section 1. Section 2. Section 3. Section 4. Section 5. *Changed by section 1 of the 26th amendment. Passed by Congress February 26, 1869 . Ratified February 3, 1870 . Section 1. Section 2. Passed by Congress July 2, 1909 . Ratified February 3, 1913 . Note : Article I, section 9, of the Constitution was modified by amendment 16. The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration. Passed by Congress May 13, 1912 . Ratified April 8, 1913 . Note : Article I, section 3, of the Constitution was modified by the 17th amendment. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures. When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct. This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution. Passed by Congress December 18, 1917 . Ratified January 16, 1919 . Repealed by amendment 21. Section 1. Section 2. Section 3. Passed by Congress June 4, 1919. Ratified August 18, 1920. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. Passed by Congress March 2, 1932 . Ratified January 23, 1933 . Note : Article I, section 4, of the Constitution was modified by section 2 of this amendment. In addition, a portion of the 12th amendment was superseded by section 3. Section 1. Section 2. Section 3. Section 4. Section 5. Section 6. Passed by Congress February 20, 1933 . Ratified December 5, 1933 . Section 1. Section 2. Section 3. Passed by Congress March 21, 1947 . Ratified February 27, 1951 . Section 1. Section 2. Passed by Congress June 16, 1960 . Ratified March 29, 1961 . Section 1. A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment. Section 2. Passed by Congress August 27, 1962 . Ratified January 23, 1964 . Section 1. Section 2. Passed by Congress July 6, 1965 . Ratified February 10, 1967 . Note : Article II, section 1, of the Constitution was affected by the 25th amendment. Section 1. Section 2. Section 3. Section 4. Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office. Passed by Congress March 23, 1971 . Ratified July 1, 1971 . Note : Amendment 14, section 2, of the Constitution was modified by section 1 of the 26th amendment. Section 1. Section 2. Originally proposed Sept. 25, 1789. Ratified May 7, 1992 . No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of representatives shall have intervened.
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Branches of the U.S. Federal Government:
Executive -
Legislative –
Judicial –
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This entry includes several subfields. Chief of state includes the name and title of the titular leader of the country who represents the state at official and ceremonial functions but may not be involved with the day-to-day activities of the government. Head of government includes the name and title of the top administrative leader who is designated to manage the day-to-day activities of the government. For example, in the UK , the monarch is the chief of state, and the prime minister is the head of government. In the US , the president is both the chief of state and the head of government. Cabinet includes the official name for this body of high-ranking advisers and the method for selection of members. Elections includes the nature of election process or accession to power, date of the last election, and date of the next election. Election results includes the percent of vote for each candidate in the last election.
One of the three branches of government, at federal and state levels, composed of elected representatives and having responsibility mainly for making laws and appropriating funds. The legislative branch of the federal government is composed of Representatives and Senators and their staffs and committee staffs. Related support agencies include the General Accounting Office, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Library of Congress.
The branch of state government that interprets all state laws. Includes state courts. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is the chief executive of the branch.
At the federal level it consists of the United States supreme court which can have a maximum of nine justices on the panel.
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Brown vs. Board of Education |
On May 17, 1954 , in the case of Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka , the U.S. Supreme Court ended federally sanctioned racial segregation in the public schools by ruling unanimously that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." http://www.core-online.org/history/brown_vs_board.htm
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César Chavez |
United States labor leader (born 1927) who organized farm workers who later became a nation-wide union called the American United Farm Workers http://www.ufw.org/ www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn
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Civil Rights (Act) |
Whereas the rights of African-Americans should have been secured with the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Constitutional Amendments (1865-1868), it was actually a full century before a complete Civil Rights Act (1965) entered the books. It guaranteed voting rights, which had been incomplete in the face of local registration requirements, and prohibited various sorts of discrimination and segregation. This act had implications not only for blacks, but for all minorities; it spoke against gender-based discrimination also.
The rights that go with citizenship, that one acquires simply by being a citizen. Not all of these are inalienable rights, however - see rights. For example, a citizen may lose the right to vote if convicted of certain crimes.
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Cold War |
refers to a period of political, economic and ideological conflict between East-particularly the USSR and the People's Republic of China -and West-mainly the Unites States and Western Europe . During four decades between the late 1940's and the late 1980's, the superpowers vied for influence over the so-called Third World . Although armed conflict did erupt in Korea , the Middle East and Viet Nam , the conflict was limited and the superpowers avoided facing each other directly on the battlefield. One key feature of the Cold War was the nuclear arms race. The Cold War ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989.
The period of rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union which followed World War II. It developed as the U.S. brought the countries of Western Europe into its political influence while the Soviet Union maintained political dominance over Eastern Europe . The period was also marked by a rivalry between the two countries over the development of nuclear weapons. The Cold War officially ended in the late 1980s with the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union and the rise of independent, democratic governments in Eastern Europe .
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Command economy |
one in which economic decisions (supply, prices, etc.) are made by the government rather than by market forces. an economic system in which the state (usually through a party) owns and controls everything. Communism or socialism, to be precise
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Communism |
Theory of political and economic development proposed by Karl Marx and developed and implemented by V. I. Lenin. In Marxist theory, "communism" denotes the final stage of human historical development in which the people rule both politically (compare: democracy) and economically (contrast: capitalism). Since the government, according to Marxist theory, is essentially an instrument of class oppression, and the society which emerges in this final stage is classless, as this final state is approaches government will gradually wither away (compare: anarchism). See: proletarian, bourgeois. |
Constitution of the United States of America
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The Federal Convention convened in the State House (Independence Hall) in Philadelphia on May 14, 1787 , to revise the Articles of Confederation. Because the delegations from only two states were at first present, the members adjourned from day to day until a quorum of seven states was obtained on May 25. Through discussion and debate it became clear by mid-June that, rather than amend the existing Articles, the Convention would draft an entirely new frame of government. All through the summer, in closed sessions, the delegates debated, and redrafted the articles of the new Constitution. Among the chief points at issue were how much power to allow the central government, how many representatives in Congress to allow each state, and how these representatives should be elected--directly by the people or by the state legislators. The work of many minds, the Constitution stands as a model of cooperative statesmanship and the art of compromise. http://www.archives.gov/national_archives_experience/charters/constitution.html
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Declaration of Independence |
Drafted by Thomas Jefferson between June 11 and June 28, 1776 , the Declaration of Independence is at once the nation's most cherished symbol of liberty and Jefferson 's most enduring monument. Here, in exalted and unforgettable phrases, Jefferson expressed the convictions in the minds and hearts of the American people. The political philosophy of the Declaration was not new; its ideals of individual liberty had already been expressed by John Locke and the Continental philosophers. What Jefferson did was to summarize this philosophy in "self-evident truths" and set forth a list of grievances against the King in order to justify before the world the breaking of ties between the colonies and the mother country. http://www.archives.gov/national_archives_experience/charters/declaration.html
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Democracy |
Derived from two ancient Greek words demos (the people) and kratos (strength). A system of government in which governance of the people is by elected representatives.
Literally, the term means power of the people (combining the Greek words demos, meaning "the people," and kratien, meaning "to rule"). It is usually used to describe a political system where the legitimacy of exercising power stems from the consent of the people. Accordingly, a democratic polity is often identified by the existence of constitutional government, where the power of the leaders is checked and restrained; representative institutions based on free elections, which provide a procedural framework for the delegation of power by the people; competitive parties, in which the ruling majority respects and guarantees the rights of minrities; and civil liberties, such as freedoms of speech, press, association, and religion.
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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. |
In 1957 he was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization formed to provide new leadership for the burgeoning civil rights movement. The ideals for this organization he took from Christianity; its operational techniques from Gandhi. In the eleven-year period between 1957 and 1968, King traveled over six million miles and spoke over twenty-five hundred times, appearing wherever there was injustice, protest, and action; and meanwhile he wrote five books as well as numerous articles. http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1964/king-bio.html http://www.educationplanet.com/articles/mlk.html
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Dust Bowl |
The Dust Bowl of the 1930s lasted about a decade. Its primary area of impact was on the southern Plains. The northern Plains were not so badly effected, but nonetheless, the drought, windblown dust and agricultural decline were no strangers to the north. In fact the agricultural devastation helped to lengthen the Depression whose effects were felt worldwide. The movement of people on the Plains was also profound. http://www.usd.edu/anth/epa/dust.html
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Fascism |
Political philosophy that became predominant in Italy and then Germany during the 1920s and 1930s; attacked weakness of democracy, corruption of capitalism; promised vigorous foreign and military programs; undertook state control of economy to reduce social friction. (p. 870)
political philosophy or movement that places the nation or the race above the individual and that stands for highly centralized government led by a dictator; belief in militarism, racism, and nationalism; opposition to democracy and human rights.
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Free Speech |
Genus: Freedom Differentia: People are permitted to speak without interference or punishment of the government Comment: This freedom does not require others to provide you with the means to speak Link: Article
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Great Depression |
A period of about 10 years, beginning in October 1929, during which many people lost their jobs and many companies went out of business throughout the world. Desperate unemployed workers took their families on the road to look for work. Today, people who lived through the Great Depression still remember the daily hardship.
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Industrialization |
The introduction of the factory system, that is, specialized establishments where there is the centralization of power-driven machinery and where workers gather specifically for the purpose of production. The workers work for wages and do not own the tools of production.
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Internment camp |
prison camp: camp for political prisoners or prisoners of war On February 19th 1942 Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. Under the terms of the Order, some 120,000 people of Japanese descent living in the US were removed from their homes and placed in internment camps. The US justified their action by claiming that there was a danger of those of Japanese descent spying for the Japanese. http://www.historyonthenet.com/WW2/japan_internment_camps.htm
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Market Economy |
An economy in which most goods and services are produced by the private sector rather than the public sector and in which prices of goods and services adjust according to the forces of supply and demand. an economy in which the setting of prices and allocating of resources are determined by the forces of supply and demand. In a market economy, for the most part it is the actions of private corporations and individuals, rather than government, that direct economic activity.
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Marshall Plan |
On June 5, 1947 , Secretary of State George C. Marshall spoke at Harvard University and outlined what would become known as the Marshall Plan. http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/57.htm
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McCarthyism |
McCarthyism , named after Joseph McCarthy, was a period of intense anticommunism, also known as the (second) Red Scare, which occurred in the United States from 1948 to about 1956 (or later), when the government of the United States actively persecuted the Communist Party USA, its leadership, and others suspected of being communists. After the allegations that both Assistant Treasury Secretary Harry Dexter White and FDR advisor Alger Hiss were Soviet agents, loyalty tests were required for government and other employment and lists of "subversive" organizations were maintained. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism
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NAACP |
The primary focus of the NAACP continues to be the protection and enhancement of the civil rights of African Americans and other minorities.
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Primary Source |
an account by an eyewitness or the first recorder of an event, in written or other form, including microform and electronic reproduction (e.g. diaries, letters, minutes of meetings, news footage, newspaper articles, speeches, oral histories) 2. dat a obtained through original research, statistical compilations or legal requirements. (e.g. reports of scientific experiments, U.S. census records, public records, treaties) 3. creative works such as poetry, music, or art 4. artifacts such as stone points , pottery, furniture, and buildings.
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Prohibition |
The process by which a government prohibits its citizens from buying or possessing a particular drug. Specifically, The Prohibition refers to the period between the effective date of the 18th Amendment to the US Constitution ( 16 January 1920 ) during which the possession and sales of alcohol was prohibited, and its repeal by the 21st Amendment. Repeal took effect on 5 December 1933 , although it passed Congress in February and the sale of beer was permitted after 7 April 1933 .
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Renaissance |
The transitional movement in Europe between medieval and modern times beginning in the 14th century in Italy , lasting into the 17th century, and marked by a humanistic revival of classical influence expressed in a flowering of the arts and literature and by the beginnings of modern science.
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Secondary Source |
Works that are not original manuscripts or contemporary records or documents associated with an event, but which critique, comment on, or build upon these primary sources.
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Segregation |
a social system that provides separate facilities for minority groups The act or practice of keeping people or groups apart.
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Women’s Suffrage Movement |
Beginning in the mid-19th century, several generations of woman suffrage supporters lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and practiced civil disobedience to achieve what many Americans considered a radical change in the Constitution – the right of women to vote. Militant suffragists used tactics such as parades, silent vigils, and hunger strikes. http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/lessons/woman_suffrage/woman_suffrage.html
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World War I |
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World War II |
World War II was the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the great majority of the world's nations, being fought simultaneously in several major theatres, and costing tens of millions of lives. The war was fought between two groups of powers: the alliance of the British Commonwealth, United States, Soviet Union, China, and the governments-in-exile of France, Poland, and other occupied European countries, collectively known as the Allies (later, the United Nations); and the alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan and their allies, collectively known as the Axis. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II
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