The bill of rights is a section of the constitution that focuses on the importance of the people’s rights and safety, being extremely relevant in guaranteeing basic values such as freedom of speech and being protected from unlawful government action such as unreasonable seizures and searches. The first amendment allows freedom of speech, religion, freedom of the press, if we find something dissatisfying such as earning low income from jobs or controversial bills being passed, we have the right and freedom to assemble and protest our concerns. We can bring up topics that are unreguarded or unaccounted for and have government officials readdress them.
The second, third, and Fourth amendments discuss issues such as protecting your privacy and property where the people can bear arms for security and self-defense without being infringed under the second amendment. The third and fourth revolve around privacy where no one is allowed to be quartered at another citizen’s house unless they have the homeowner’s permission and how people have the right to be secure in house, papers, and effects from unlawful and unreasonable searches and seizures without a viable cause of concern. Not only does the fifth amendment talk about rights of property, but also those of life and liberty where if an infamous crime doesn’t have a presentment or indictment, a citizen doesn't need to be held to answer. The Fifth Amendment also describes how a person can’t be subject to the same offense twice on the grounds of being jeopardized by life or limb, and how they shall not be compelled to be a witness in a case against themselves. Along with these rights, no one can be deprived of life, liberty, or property without a proper process of the law taking action and how private property can’t be taken away for public use without compensation.
When it comes to the Sixth and Seventh amendments, in suites of the common law, the right of having a trial by jury is to be preserved, and that in every criminal prosecution, the accused is allowed a speedy and public trial. Overall the first 7 amendments give an idea of how relevant the bill of rights is because they all have the focal point in that if a person does wrong or is wrongly accused, they still have the right to defend themselves, similar to defending their practices and beliefs under the first amendment, defending their property under the second and third, and being able to defend their lives and liberty under the fourth and fifth. These amendments are meaningful in that under the law, not only are we protected from actions or transgressions from other citizens, but also from the law itself under the guidelines that if convicted, a fair trial is given and a lawyer will represent you on your behalf if one can’t be afforded.
Supreme Court
When it comes to nominations for Supreme Court, I believe Ted Cruz would be an excellent choice because of what he stands for and the actions he takes to get his point across. Being the former Attorney General for the State of Texas, he has proven how successful and powerful his potential is, an example being how he had argued numerous cases against the Supreme Court and won. President Trump warned how the second amendment was coming under heavy fire during his campaign and that Cruz would be a worthy replacement for Justice Scalia, whom he aided during the Heller decision on the second amendment.
He proved his beliefs in front of the court as they were deciding in favor of gun rights by pointing out that “….the right to keep and bear arms was an individual right…”, describing how Obama had a focal point on the rights to bear arms being nonexistent under the constitution; also describing how Clinton was bent on putting Justices on the court who overturned the Heller decision. He states “If Hilary Clinton gets one more Supreme Justice…..” the Supreme Court would decide no American would have access to the right of the constitutional amendment, even having things escalate as far as it is a crime to own a gun. Along with Trump, Cruz also grew critical of the Obama administration that planned to oversee the internet’s domain name system to an international body; which was seen as troubling to Cruz because he saw this as a step to being more censorship obsessive like Russia and China.
Cruz gives insight on how he sees actions of the Supreme court, describing how they “..rein in judicial tyranny.’ After a decision was made to make marriage the law of the land with a 5-4 decision, Ted wanted to propose an amendment capable of upending Article three of the constitution that would subject justices to periodic retention elections. He escribes “So long as justices on the court insist on behaving like politicians…. They should not expect to be exempt from the authority of voters who disagree with their policy decisions.” This wasn’t the first time Cruz had noticed their imperial tendencies, describing how the Dred Scott decision of 1857 denied African Americans citizenship, how the Roe decision of 1973 protected the rights to have an abortion, and that the 1905 Lochner decision regulated an invalided a maximum hour law, eventually leading to an era where courts were striking down and dismantling and disturbing labor regulations.
Cruz used a good amount of time on the grounds of the policies of Roe, which became linked to the controversial Planned Parenthood where a series of tapes was released by a group of anti-abortionists where employees are seen talking about reimbursement for using fetal tissue in medical institutions. Cruz was furious; he was red with steam coming out of his nose and fire out of his mouth describing how disgusted he was, that “We are now witnessing the shameful results of the court forcing its own unlimited right of abortion on the constitution”, keeping in mind how the right of abortion violates the inalienable right of life; and that we have senior officials at planned parenthood bargaining over the prices of body parts. Along with dealing with this issue, Cruz also gave his opinion on the decision of King V. Burwell, where even though it upheld the idea of all Americans being eligible to purchase health insurance under Obama’s Affordable Care Act, he accused the justices of simply rewriting Obamacare. Mr. Cruz gives off the idea of what a patriot could and should be, someone who knows the constitution and is aware of what violates and is determined to protect the citizens of the country by preserving the meaning and purpose of what the constitution stands for.
Slavery and the Slave Trade
The Practice of slavery is nothing new, having existed for thousands of years with numerous stories of the tragedies and cruelty it has affected so many in previous centuries. The practices only grew more popular and more abundant as civilization began to advance such as establishing farms and cities; one who is especially a history fanatic would go as far as to say that Sumeria is rumored to be where this practice began, eventually spreading to Greece, Mesopotamia, India, and China although the latter wouldn’t adopt these practices until 221 BC when the Qin Dynasty ruled the country. There were a couple of reasons someone would be vulnerable to being enslaved in ancient times such as being in debt, being born into a family of slaves, being someone who committed a crime, being a prisoner of war; It wasn’t until slavers started seeking out buyers who could whose those that had specific skills matching a personal level of supply and demand when the practice started to gain even more momentum, and at the time it was thought of that the slaves of ancient civilization had a better lifestyle than the peasants; having regular care, access to food, shelter, and clothes they rarely attempted to run away unless their masters were unjust and cruel. America would participate in the African Slave Trade from the 15th century, up until January first, 1808, and it wasn’t until 1865 when slavery would be abolished in the country.
Throughout the middle ages, practicing slavery had become global welfare leading to confusion and chaos as citizens of conquered regions were enslaved. The 15the century saw Brittan, France, Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands steal people from their homelands in Africa to perform hard labor in the new world. European powers had the majority of their slaves in the Caribbean, being heavily dependent on Islands that had an abundance of Coffee and Sugar, but the journey from Africa to the new world was a horrible experience for those enslaved. Many would die on the way because there was no sanitation, there was little food, the ships were tightly packed and they were mashed together like sardines in a can. Because of these horrible conditions, it was easy for dysentery, fever, and smallpox to spread which would ultimately kill both slaves and the crewmembers. It was horrible if a slave passed away because they were simply tossed in the ocean, which is disgusting and tyrannical in the fact they couldn’t be buried and handled with care and honored in they passed away. The origin of the destination often determined how long the horrendous, gruesome, filthy, voyage would take with some taking from three weeks up to a few months.
10 and 20 Million Africans had been brought to the new world in this horrific way, and even though many of them had already been cast into the ocean after passing way along the way, things were seeming to get worse for those who survived journey. Under state laws: Africans could not possess guns to protect themselves, Children born into slavery that were baptized could not be made free, corporal punishment was allowed to runaway slaves and if that very same slave died because of said punishment, their death was not seen as a felony. Even though Africans were servants themselves, they couldn’t have one of their own; if a white person helps a slave escape then they have to serve time in the absence of the slave, if a white person married an African, they were banned from their colony. On top of all these ridiculous things, a rule passed in 1705 considered all slave's real estate. Slaves were seen as mere property; something useful but not valuable like a horse for transportation or a cow for milk, they were seen as animals instead of people.
After the American Revolution, slave labor was not seen as crucially as it was when the country first became accustomed to the slave trade, they began to pass legislation in Northern states to abolish this practice; but when the south discovering the cotton gin in 1793, the industry increased and so did the need for slave labor. The North and South started butting heads on the status of new states being free or slave owned; because of the self-sustain population of slaves in the south of over four million, January 1807 Saw northern and southern congressmen come together to not ban slavery entirely, but at least quit the practice of transporting them by abolishing the African Slave Trade, becoming effective January first, 1808. Even though the slave trade to America had been cut off, widespread trade of slaves in the south was still common, and unfortunately, children born to slave parents automatically became slaves themselves.
When the Slave Trade was abandoned by the US, the North found little need for slave labor, but the south was very prosperous with the practice because, by the time of the civil war, 95 percent of slaves were working in the southern states. There was still tension over the north and south when it came to establishing the grounds of new states being free or enslave; so when Lincoln, an Abolitionist and Republican won the 1860 Presidency; the south succeeded. The North was bent on getting rid of slavery, while the south was centralized on it, being as stubborn as a bear to honey to keep what they want and believed would keep their economy prosperous. Lincoln would go on to sign the Emancipation Proclamation, ultimately changing the war where all that were enslaved, would become free if they could make their way into the Union. Many used the Underground Railroad to escape into northern states and by 1865, the Union gained control of all southern states and all those that were enslaved were freed.
