Assignment #12

Assignment: Due 12/17 Choose a passage from JFK, Reagan, or Obama, write it out and explain what it means.

I hope you all enjoyed the class. Thank you for your participation and your blog entries which were very interesting to read. The final exam will be posted on Blackboard 12/17. It will be an essay exam like the midterm.

"Of course, the answer to the slavery question was already embedded within our Constitution - a Constitution that had at its very core the ideal of equal citizenship under the law; a Constitution that promised its people liberty, and justice, and a union that could be and should be perfected over time.

And yet words on a parchment would not be enough to deliver slaves from bondage, or provide men and women of every color and creed their full rights and obligations as citizens of the United States. What would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were willing to do their part - through protests and struggle, on the streets and in the courts, through a civil war and civil disobedience and always at great risk - to narrow that gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of their time." (Barack Obama)

The passage above was from Barack Obama back in 2008. He was talking about slavery and how the constitution had its ideal citizenship set already, therefore promising liberty, and justice  to people. Obama feels though as there is no liberty or justice because inequality still exist amongst all today. Wether is about race or wealth something is needed to be don't to create the equality that people need. There shouldn't be any if's or but's in our constitution. I agree with Obama with his speech on inequality because most people who are wealthy talk about how some poor are poor because they don't want to work, and the  rather answer to that is that we don't have the necessary resources to go to school and actually get a good laid back working paying job.

Assignment #11

Assignment Due 12/10 : Choose a passage from Wilson, or Roosevelt, write out the passage and interpret it and explain why you chose this passage.

Go to the link for the The Great Depression. Choose a passage from this website and write it out and interpret it and explain why you chose this passage. Also choose a picture or painting and explain the content of piece and how it relates to class.

“Similarly, it was no business of the law in the time of Jefferson to come into my house and see how I kept house. But when my house, when my property, when my so-called private property became a great mine, and men went along dark corridors amidst every kind of danger to dig out of the bowels of the earth things necessary  for the industries of a whole nation and when it was known that no individual owned those mines, that they were owned  by great stock companies, then all the old analogies absolutely collapsed and it became the right of the government to go  down into those mines and see whether human beings were being properly treated in them or not…”(Woodrow Wilson)

The Great Depression

"In October 1929 the stock market crashed, wiping out 40 percent of the paper values of common stock. Even after the stock market collapse, however, politicians and industry leaders continued to issue optimistic predictions for the nation's economy. But the Depression deepened, confidence evaporated and many lost their life savings. By 1933 the value of stock on the New York Stock Exchange was less than a fifth of what it had been at its peak in 1929. Business houses closed their doors, factories shut down and banks failed. Farm income fell some 50 percent. By 1932 approximately one out of every four Americans was unemployed.The core of the problem was the immense disparity between the country's productive capacity and the ability of people to consume. Great innovations in productive techniques during and after the war raised the output of industry beyond the purchasing capacity of U.S. farmers and wage earners. The savings of the wealthy and middle class, increasing far beyond the possibilities of sound investment, had been drawn into frantic speculation in stocks or real estate. The stock market collapse, therefore, had been merely the first of several detonations in which a flimsy structure of speculation had been leveled to the ground.

The presidential campaign of 1932 was chiefly a debate over the causes and possible remedies of the Great Depression. Herbert Hoover, unlucky in entering The White House only eight months before the stock market crash, had struggled tirelessly, but ineffectively, to set the wheels of industry in motion again. His Democratic opponent, Franklin D. Roosevelt, already popular as the governor of New York during the developing crisis, argued that the Depression stemmed from the U.S. economy's underlying flaws, which had been aggravated by Republican policies during the 1920s. President Hoover replied that the economy was fundamentally sound, but had been shaken by the repercussions of a worldwide depression -- whose causes could be traced back to the war. Behind this argument lay a clear implication: Hoover had to depend largely on natural processes of recovery, while Roosevelt was prepared to use the federal government's authority for bold experimental remedies.The election resulted in a smashing victory for Roosevelt, who won 22,800,000 votes to Hoover's 15,700,000. The United States was about to enter a new era of economic and political change"

The passage above explains how the The Great Depression in the US started in 1929 with a collapse of the stock market. There were few rules and regulations that had to be obeyed by banks, lenders. As a result, many dangerous and shaky projects were going on, and the collapse of some led to the collapse of others. Businesses and industries folded. The result of this was massive unemployment. At a time when there was NO governmental safety net, like unemployment pay. But the Depression did not really lift until, in 1941, the US entered WW2. Immediately there was a rush to employ people to work in defense businesses and industries, and the Great Depression was over. 

This picture goes to show the segregation between power, money and race among st people. To the right you have the wealthy who is enjoying dinner and a show, while to the left you have colored people who working hard to make them food. Most likely not able to afford one minute of their lifestyle.

Assignment #10

Assignment Due 12/3: Choose a passage from the Gettysburg Address or the Second Inaugural Address. Write out the passage and interpret its meaning and explain why you chose it.

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."

1776 the people who signed the declaration of independence put their life in line to create freedom and equality among-st everyone. I choose this passage because it relates to everything we been talking about in class. From slaves maltreatment to their liberty. Aside of them having liberty they still needed to be treated as equal no lesser value than any other color person on earth.

Assignment #9

Assignment Due 11/26: Choose a passage from Lincoln's speech on the Dred Scott case, interpret it and explain how it relates to class.

From the African-American Odyssey website, from the Civil War section, choose two parts, and summarize and explain them. If they include pictures, copy and paste the photo or image in your paper. 



"It is grossly incorrect to say or assume, that the public estimate of the negro is more favorable now than it was at the origin of the government."

The Dred Scott case was a decision by the US supreme court stating that African Americans free or not were unable to become American citizens. They basically did not have a word in suing the court. The above statement was part of Lincolns speech on the case. Stating that did not matter before the estimate of African Americans, is not going to matter now. Yes, they became free , but still weren't considered equal.

Freedom's Eve--Watch Night Meeting

Heard and Moseley. Waiting for the hour [Emancipation], December 31, 1862. Carte de visite. Washington, 1863. Prints and Photographs Division. Reproduction Number: LC-USZC4-6160 (4-21a)

On New Year's Eve many African American churches hold prayer and worship services from the late evening until midnight when they welcome the new year with praise, thanksgiving, prayer, and confession. These services are called watch night meetings. December 31, 1862, was a very special evening for the African American community, because it was the night before the Emancipation Proclamation took effect, freeing all the slaves in the Confederate states.

Watch night meetings were special events for the African Americans. It was a night before the Emancipation took effect which finally allowed slaves to be free. New Years is the beginning of a new year and many different things to come. For these people it was the best thing that could have happened on this night. After being abused and used they finally were going to be able to feel free and feel like a working dog.

"Contrabands" at the Nation's Capitol

Contrabands, Camp Brightwood. Washington, D.C., ca. 1863. Carte de visite. Gladstone Collection, Prints and Photographs Division. Reproduction Number: LC-USZC4-6158 (4-9)

Black slaves who fled to Union lines, or "contrabands," often proved themselves extremely useful, even before the government enlisted them into service. A group of "contrabands" appear on this calling card. Calling cards, or cartes de visite, with photographs were popular during this era partly because photography was relatively new and the cards provided a means of sharing likenesses with friends and relatives. This one includes images of white officers of the 2nd Rhode Island Camp at Camp Brightwood in the District of Columbia. On the left is Capt. B. S. Brown. In the center is Lt. John P. Shaw, killed in action at the Wilderness, Virginia, May 5, 1864, and on the right is Lt. T. Fry. The "contrabands" with them are not named.

Fleeing slaves who fled into contraband's and were later killed.

Assignment #8

Assignment Due (11/19): Choose a passage from Stanton or Anthony and one from Douglass. Write out the passage and explain what the author is saying and how it relates to the themes of the lecture, and then explain why you chose this quote.

Elizabeth Stanton
"He has never permitted her to exercise her inalienable right to the elective franchise.He has compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation of which she had no voice.He has withheld from her rights, which are given to the most ignorant and degraded men -- both natives and foreigners.Having deprived her of this first right of a citizen, the elective franchise, thereby leaving her without representation in the halls of legislation, he has oppressed her on all sides.He has made her, if married, in the eye of the law, civilly dead.He has taken from her all right in property, even to the wages she earns.He has made her, morally, an irresponsible being, as she can commit many crimes with impunity, provided they are done in the presence of her husband. In the covenant of marriage, she is compelled to promise obedience to her husband, he becoming, to all intents and purposes, her master -- the law giving him power to deprive her of her liberty, and to administer chastisement."


Stanton is explaining the beginning of the suffrage movement and the right to vote.She explains how women's weren't represented and they had no say or voice. She also states that even men immigrants have more rights then the women who are citizens here.When a woman has a voice, then laws are  created differently. If married you lose all the rights and your husband has a say for himself and on your behalf. Basically leaving you lifeless. Everything belongs to him that was once your in your head.To sum up he has been given the right to deprive her of her liberty. This relates to our lecture theme civil disobedience because is all about obeying the laws and following the rules. As a women these were the laws that were established. I chose this quote because you can clearly see how much inequality was occurring within gender.

Fredrick Douglas

“It was a long, lean, gaunt, shivelled looking creature, stretched out on two chairs, and his legs resting on the prostrate bust of Washington; projecting from behind was a cat o’ nine tails knotted at the ends; around his person he wore a belt in which were stuck those truly American implements, a bowie knife, dirk, and revolving pistol; behind him was a whipping post, with a naked woman tied to it, and a strong- armed American citizen in the act of scourging her livid flesh with a cowskin. At his feet was another group;—a sale going on, of human cattle, and around the auctioneer’s table were gathered therespectability,…”

Douglas is explaining the cruelty and the ignorance that was happening with slavery. How they weren't even considered humans they could be compared to animals.

Slavery and women s rights is a topic that has been fought for over years. Civil disobedience is more of fighting for those rights.

Assignment #7

Assignment (Due 11/12): Choose one passage from Thoreau write out the passage and interpret them and explain why you chose them.

Go to the link for African-American Odyssey and under the section Abolition choose two topics from part 1 and part 2, research these topics, and summarize them and explain how they relate to the readings by Thoreau.

"I heartily accept the motto, "That government is best which governs least"; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe- "That government is best which governs not at all"; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have. Government is at best but an expedient; but most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes, inexpedient. The objections which have been brought against a standing army, and they are many and weighty, and deserve to prevail, may also at last be brought against a standing government. The standing army is only an arm of the standing government. The government itself, which is only the mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it. Witness the present Mexican war, the work of comparatively a few individuals using the standing government as their tool; for, in the outset, the people would not have consented to this measure"

Thoreau thinks a perfect government should leave the people alone to govern themselves individually. This isn't really something that can happen unless all individuals are willing to obey certain rules of social order without being forced.I chose this passage because i think in some ways people governing themselves would end in a disaster. The lack of agreement among st people would be the number one fail.

PART 1 Fear Of Slave Revolts In addition to numerous published accounts documenting white fear of slave uprisings, many private letters discuss problems brewing on individual plantations. In this letter, John Rutherford, an agent for Virginia plantation owner William B. Randolph, wrote to Randolph indicating that a concerned neighbor near Randolph's Chatworth plantation feared "fatal consequences" if the overseer did not cease his "brutality" toward the Chatworth slaves. After the Chatworth overseer received a demanding letter of inquiry from Randolph, he answered on September 14, 1833, stating that he had whipped some of the slaves because they were idle or had escaped. Although three escapees had not returned, the situation was under control and work was proceeding as usual. John Rutherford to William B. Randolph on the slave mutiny at Chatworth, Richmond, Virginia. September 1, 1833. Manuscript Division. (1-9)

PART 2 Humans For Sale To be sold. . .a cargo of 170 prime young likely healthy Guinea slaves. Savannah, July 25, 1774. Copyprint of a broadside. Prints and Photographs Division. Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-16876 (1-2) Captured Africans were sold at auction as "chattel," like inanimate property or animals. Many literate ex-slaves discussed the degradation and humiliation they felt when they were treated like "cattle." This 1774 broadside, typical of the advertisements used in the North as well as the South before the Civil War, advertises the sale of slaves and land, the availability of employment for an overseer, a recall of debts, and a reward for anyone who captured two runaway slaves. The captors claim that the Angolan Africans, scheduled to be sold at auction in Savannah, Georgia, were "prime, young, likely healthy." The runaway advertisement on this same broadside gives specific information about two African-born male runaways which includes height, complexion, build, and clothing.

First, i would like to start by saying its incredible the type of things i just read about above. The sale of humans, or the maltreatment of the slaves. I now see the positives and negatives of being a self government. In a slave point of view he should definitely rebel and find a way of changing the world. What kind of humanity sells one another. Abuses and mistreat one another. I wouldn't want to only self govern i would want to rebel the world and try and get pay back. Slave owners don't know the pain they are causing these humans until they experience it themselves.

Assignment # 6

Assignment (Due 10/29): Choose a passage from one of the Anti-Federalist writers, write out the passage and give your interpretation of the passage, then explain what this passage means to you or why you chose it.
Anti federalist #14

"The recital, or premises on which the new form of government is erected, declares a consolidation or union of all the thirteen parts, or states, into one great whole, under the form of the United States, for all the various and important purposes therein set forth. But whoever seriously considers the immense extent of territory comprehended within the limits of the United States, together with the variety of its climates, productions, and commerce, the difference of extent, and number of inhabitants in all; the dissimilitude of interest, morals, and politics, in almost every one, will receive it as an intuitive truth, that a consolidated republican form of government therein, can never form a perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to you and your posterity, for to these objects it must be directed. This unkindred legislature therefore, composed of interests opposite and dissimilar in their nature, will in its exercise, emphatically be like a house divided against itself.”

 The passage above is stating that the United states has 15 states and every state has differences therefor, forming a perfect government that will direct this amount of people from separate climates, separate productions and commerce is nearly impossible. Trying to promote a government that will keep all  these states is insane. Everyone has a way of growing up,different opinions and ways of seen life. The way i see it is if 100 people make up the United States and 50 are anti immigration and the other 50 are pro, than what kind of government is going to be build to make everyone happy. Having to govern the United states with such a population density is more like dividing all cities and everyone deciding what best fits their society.


Go to the link for "American Politics." Look up the section "Federalism" and explain the differences between horizontal and vertical federalism. 

Horizontal federalism: this involves interactions and common programmes among the 50 states.

In other words horizontal federalism tries to cooperate with all governing of the 50 states to come to conclusions. If there is no agreement between each other than the government loses legitimacy when it comes to making a better living life for people.
Vertical federalism: this is viewed as the traditional form of federalism as it sees the actions of the national government as supreme within their constitutional sphere.The states without the government simply would not be able to function. They need to always interact with each other because thats the only way finances and many other resources are brought up.

Assignment #5

Assignment (Due 10/22): Choose one passage from Madison and one from Hamilton and write out the passage and interpret it, follow the same format as previous assignments. 

|| Federalist No. 8 ||

Author: Alexander HamiltonTo the People of the State of New York:ASSUMING it therefore as an established truth that the several States, in case of disunion, or such combinations of them as might happen to be formed out of the wreck of the general Confederacy, would be subject to those vicissitudes of peace and war, of friendship and enmity, with each other, which have fallen to the lot of all neighboring nations not united under one government, let us enter into a concise detail of some of the consequences that would attend such a situation.War between the States, in the first period of their separate existence, would be accompanied with much greater distresses than it commonly is in those countries where regular military establishments have long obtained. The disciplined armies always kept on foot on the continent of Europe, though they bear a malignant aspect to liberty and economy, have, notwithstanding, been productive of the signal advantage of rendering sudden conquests impracticable, and of preventing that rapid desolation which used to mark the progress of war prior to their introduction. The art of fortification has contributed to the same ends. The nations of Europe are encircled with chains of fortified places, which mutually obstruct invasion. Campaigns are wasted in reducing two or three frontier garrisons, to gain admittance into an enemy's country. Similar impediments occur at every step, to exhaust the strength and delay the progress of an invader. Formerly, an invading army would penetrate into the heart of a neighboring country almost as soon as intelligence of its approach could be received; but now a comparatively small force of disciplined troops, acting on the defensive, with the aid of posts, is able to impede, and finally to frustrate, the enterprises of one much more considerable. The history of war, in that quarter of the globe, is no longer a history of nations subdued and empires overturned, but of towns taken and retaken; of battles that decide nothing; of retreats more beneficial than victories; of much effort and little acquisition.In this country the scene would be altogether reversed. The jealousy of military establishments would postpone them as long as possible. The want of fortifications, leaving the frontiers of one state open to another, would facilitate inroads. The populous States would, with little difficulty, overrun their less populous neighbors. Conquests would be as easy to be made as difficult to be retained. War, therefore, would be desultory and predatory. PLUNDER and devastation ever march in the train of irregulars. The calamities of individuals would make the principal figure in the events which would characterize our military exploits.This picture is not too highly wrought; though, I confess, it would not long remain a just one. Safety from external danger is the most powerful director of national conduct. Even the ardent love of liberty will, after a time, give way to its dictates. The violent destruction of life and property incident to war, the continual effort and alarm attendant on a state of continual danger, will compel nations the most attached to liberty to resort for repose and security to institutions which have a tendency to destroy their civil and political rights. To be more safe, they at length become willing to run the risk of being less free.The institutions chiefly alluded to are STANDING ARMIES and the correspondent appendages of military establishments. Standing armies, it is said, are not provided against in the new Constitution; and it is therefore inferred that they may exist under it. [1] Their existence, however, from the very terms of the proposition, is, at most, problematical and uncertain. But standing armies, it may be replied, must inevitably result from a dissolution of the Confederacy. Frequent war and constant apprehension, which require a state of as constant preparation, will infallibly produce them. The weaker States or confederacies would first have recourse to them, to put themselves upon an equality with their more potent neighbors. They would endeavor to supply the inferiority of population and resources by a more regular and effective system of defense, by disciplined troops, and by fortifications. They would, at the same time, be necessitated to strengthen the executive arm of government, in doing which their constitutions would acquire a progressive direction toward monarchy. It is of the nature of war to increase the executive at the expense of the legislative authority.The expedients which have been mentioned would soon give the States or confederacies that made use of them a superiority over their neighbors. Small states, or states of less natural strength, under vigorous governments, and with the assistance of disciplined armies, have often triumphed over large states, or states of greater natural strength, which have been destitute of these advantages. Neither the pride nor the safety of the more important States or confederacies would permit them long to submit to this mortifying and adventitious superiority. They would quickly resort to means similar to those by which it had been effected, to reinstate themselves in their lost pre-eminence. Thus, we should, in a little time, see established in every part of this country the same engines of despotism which have been the scourge of the Old World. This, at least, would be the natural course of things; and our reasonings will be the more likely to be just, in proportion as they are accommodated to this standard.These are not vague inferences drawn from supposed or speculative defects in a Constitution, the whole power of which is lodged in the hands of a people, or their representatives and delegates, but they are solid conclusions, drawn from the natural and necessary progress of human affairs.It may, perhaps, be asked, by way of objection to this, why did not standing armies spring up out of the contentions which so often distracted the ancient republics of Greece? Different answers, equally satisfactory, may be given to this question. The industrious habits of the people of the present day, absorbed in the pursuits of gain, and devoted to the improvements of agriculture and commerce, are incompatible with the condition of a nation of soldiers, which was the true condition of the people of those republics. The means of revenue, which have been so greatly multiplied by the increase of gold and silver and of the arts of industry, and the science of finance, which is the offspring of modern times, concurring with the habits of nations, have produced an entire revolution in the system of war, and have rendered disciplined armies, distinct from the body of the citizens, the inseparable companions of frequent hostility.There is a wide difference, also, between military establishments in a country seldom exposed by its situation to internal invasions, and in one which is often subject to them, and always apprehensive of them. The rulers of the former can have a good pretext, if they are even so inclined, to keep on foot armies so numerous as must of necessity be maintained in the latter. These armies being, in the first case, rarely, if at all, called into activity for interior defense, the people are in no danger of being broken to military subordination. The laws are not accustomed to relaxations, in favor of military exigencies; the civil state remains in full vigor, neither corrupted, nor confounded with the principles or propensities of the other state. The smallness of the army renders the natural strength of the community an over-match for it; and the citizens, not habituated to look up to the military power for protection, or to submit to its oppressions, neither love nor fear the soldiery; they view them with a spirit of jealous acquiescence in a necessary evil, and stand ready to resist a power which they suppose may be exerted to the prejudice of their rights. The army under such circumstances may usefully aid the magistrate to suppress a small faction, or an occasional mob, or insurrection; but it will be unable to enforce encroachments against the united efforts of the great body of the people.In a country in the predicament last described, the contrary of all this happens. The perpetual menacings of danger oblige the government to be always prepared to repel it; its armies must be numerous enough for instant defense. The continual necessity for their services enhances the importance of the soldier, and proportionably degrades the condition of the citizen. The military state becomes elevated above the civil. The inhabitants of territories, often the theatre of war, are unavoidably subjected to frequent infringements on their rights, which serve to weaken their sense of those rights; and by degrees the people are brought to consider the soldiery not only as their protectors, but as their superiors. The transition from this disposition to that of considering them masters, is neither remote nor difficult; but it is very difficult to prevail upon a people under such impressions, to make a bold or effectual resistance to usurpations supported by the military power.The kingdom of Great Britain falls within the first description. An insular situation, and a powerful marine, guarding it in a great measure against the possibility of foreign invasion, supersede the necessity of a numerous army within the kingdom. A sufficient force to make head against a sudden descent, till the militia could have time to rally and embody, is all that has been deemed requisite. No motive of national policy has demanded, nor would public opinion have tolerated, a larger number of troops upon its domestic establishment. There has been, for a long time past, little room for the operation of the other causes, which have been enumerated as the consequences of internal war. This peculiar felicity of situation has, in a great degree, contributed to preserve the liberty which that country to this day enjoys, in spite of the prevalent venality and corruption. If, on the contrary, Britain had been situated on the continent, and had been compelled, as she would have been, by that situation, to make her military establishments at home coextensive with those of the other great powers of Europe, she, like them, would in all probability be, at this day, a victim to the absolute power of a single man. 'T is possible, though not easy, that the people of that island may be enslaved from other causes; but it cannot be by the prowess of an army so inconsiderable as that which has been usually kept up within the kingdom.If we are wise enough to preserve the Union we may for ages enjoy an advantage similar to that of an insulated situation. Europe is at a great distance from us. Her colonies in our vicinity will be likely to continue too much disproportioned in strength to be able to give us any dangerous annoyance. Extensive military establishments cannot, in this position, be necessary to our security. But if we should be disunited, and the integral parts should either remain separated, or, which is most probable, should be thrown together into two or three confederacies, we should be, in a short course of time, in the predicament of the continental powers of Europe --our liberties would be a prey to the means of defending ourselves against the ambition and jealousy of each other.This is an idea not superficial or futile, but solid and weighty. It deserves the most serious and mature consideration of every prudent and honest man of whatever party. If such men will make a firm and solemn pause, and meditate dispassionately on the importance of this interesting idea; if they will contemplate it in all its attitudes, and trace it to all its consequences, they will not hesitate to part with trivial objections to a Constitution, the rejection of which would in all probability put a final period to the Union. The airy phantoms that flit before the distempered imaginations of some of its adversaries would quickly give place to the more substantial forms of dangers, real, certain, and formidable.

War in the United states would be a bigger disaster than anywhere else in the world.

|| Federalist No. 10 ||

Author: James Madison

"AMONG the numerous advantages promised by a wellconstructed Union, none deserves to be more accurately developed than its tendency to break and control the violence of faction. The friend of popular governments never finds himself so much alarmed for their character and fate, as when he contemplates their propensity to this dangerous vice. He will not fail, therefore, to set a due value on any plan which, without violating the principles to which he is attached, provides a proper cure for it. The instability, injustice, and confusion introduced into the public councils, have, in truth, been the mortal diseases under which popular governments have everywhere perished; as they continue to be the favorite and fruitful topics from which the adversaries to liberty derive their most specious declamations. The valuable improvements made by the American constitutions on the popular models, both ancient and modern, cannot certainly be too much admired; but it would be an unwarrantable partiality, to contend that they have as effectually obviated the danger on this side, as was wished and expected. Complaints are everywhere heard from our most considerate and virtuous citizens, equally the friends of public and private faith, and of public and personal liberty, that our governments are too unstable, that the public good is disregarded in the conflicts of rival parties, and that measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority. However anxiously we may wish that these complaints had no foundation, the evidence, of known facts will not permit us to deny that they are in some degree true. It will be found, indeed, on a candid review of our situation, that some of the distresses under which we labor have been erroneously charged on the operation of our governments; but it will be found, at the same time, that other causes will not alone account for many of our heaviest misfortunes; and, particularly, for that prevailing and increasing distrust of public engagements, and alarm for private rights, which are echoed from one end of the continentto the other. These must be chiefly, if not wholly, effects of the unsteadiness and injustice with which a factious spirit has tainted our public administrations."

In this paper Madison explaining how the government structure is and the way they handle things will fail largely. If everyone came together and came to a decision of a better build government structure than maybe there wouldn't be so may issues occurring.

Assignment #4

Assignment: Due 10/8 Choose one Article from the Constitution and choose a specific Section and a specific Clause or short paragraph (for example Article 1 Section 8 Clause 5). Write out the clause, interpret it, and explain why you chose this passage.

Choose an article from either Roll Call or Politico in the list of links on the blog page. Post the link to the article and underneath write your reaction. Do not summarize, but write your response to the article and why you chose it.

Article 1, Section 8

"The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian Tribes; To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;To establish Post Offices and post Roads;

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;

To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations;

To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;To provide and maintain a Navy;

To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;

To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings; —And To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof."

Clause 1

"The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States"

Money is power and the constitution gave congress the right to lay and collect taxes. The president has no involvement when it comes to the money but congress has all the power to it. With the power to collect taxes they must use for the debts and the protection of the United States.

I chose this passage because it can relate so much to whats going on in today's world. Especially recently the government shutdown. The differences between republicans and democrats are in every issue. Like stated in the CNN news "Congress has one key duty in the Constitution -- pass spending bills that fund the government. If it doesn't, most functions of government -- from funding agencies to paying out small business loans and processing passport requests -- grinds to a halt. But some services, like Social Security, air traffic control and active military pay, will continue to be funded. Oh, and Congress still gets paid, too." All they care about is money since they have the power of it things like this can occur. As the president unfortunately he doesn't have the power to the money but if he wants funding for something and congress wants to just be stingy because its not going to benefit them he took a step and put the government on shutdown. Health insurance is important to people and money is they key to most of these social issue. This is why i chose this clause because it is very important to our everyday life's.

POLITICO:"Lew: 'No option' for Obama if debt ceiling is hit"

My reaction: The president is a president for a reason he should

have a part of say into what’s going on. They making it seem like since he's trying to make it better let’s just make it better for us first. I honestly think this whole shutdown is a waste of time. They can’t get to a conclusion there's so many people in the congress and not one conclusion can be figured out. They just need to break it down and go through the obstacles if this goes on for long is going to affect the people worse as the days go by, whether the obstacles are good or bad the wise choices they should be making could make a well end result. I think that now nobody does anything for free. Nothing is done just because it benefits mankind we are always looking for profit or what do I get for helping u. basically if there’s no profit coming out of Obama care then why fund it or vote for it right?. We will never come out of debt and the way republicans and democrats are behaving is insanely wrong and a bad example to the people. The rich just wants to get richer so what happens to the poor!!

Assignment # 3

Quote from Declaration of Independence:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness (p. 59)."

The quote above from the Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson was a writing on behalf of the founding fathers of what was about to become the USA. The thought that it was obvious that everyone is equal, and that people have the basic, god-given rights to be alive, be free, and be happy.

All Men have a Right to remain in a State of Nature as long as they please: And in case of intollerable [sic] Oppression, Civil or Religious, to leave the Society they belong to, and enter into another.–When Men enter into Society, it is by voluntary consent; and they have a right to demand and insist upon the performance of such conditions, And previous limitations as form an equitable original compact. (p. 40)

This quote means that its not mandatory to either have to stay a society or be forced to join a society. As men part of this society it's part of our right understand also the  the performance of those conditions we live in such as our government and any limitations are set. When the time comes of oppression we are freely open to live that specific society.

Assignment #2

Assignment (Due 9/24): Choose a quote from Chesterton and write it out on your blog. Under that write your interpretation of what you think the author is trying to say. Then, after that write out your own explanation of the meaning of this passage and why you chose this specific quote. Next class, we will talk about the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution.

Quote:"In truth it is inequality that is the illusion. The extreme disproportion between men, that we seem to see in life, is a thing of changing lights and lengthening shadows. A twilight full of fancies and distortions....It is the experience of men that always returns to the equality of men; it is the average that ultimately justifies the average man. It is when  men have seen and suffered much and come at the end of their elaborate experiments, that they see men under an equal light of death and daily laughter; and none the less mysterious for being many (p. 19)."

Interpretation: The quote above states exactly what kind of world we are living on. One were one becomes equal after suffrage or needs. The inequality in different origins and different ethnicity is nothing but a color. A shadow is more like a mist. Inequality exist because of the american experiments. As stated in the reading Americans are afraid of Immigrant because they don't know whether they bringing death or life into their country.Following the rules of the system they have built is very cruel. It is very disproportional and unfair. At the end end of the day is all and "experiment" and the different or the others (non citizen) will always get questioned like Chesterton did when filing out his passport at the american consulate.

I chose this quote because to me is the whole central idea of whats going on then and today still. The inequality in immigration status is a very big controversy. Should Americans treat immigrants with so or no little respect. Like stated in the reading "to travel is to leave the inside and draw dangerously near the outside". Immigrants are leaving their country were they are safe and are taking  a big step in wanting to join this country for a better life. So why does it have to be so difficult to allow a new culture to embrace their learning's and their beliefs in our society. It is a ridicule to ask such shame questions like they did to Chesterton while filing out his passport. Immigrants invest their life in the country they take the jobs that Americans don't want or are to high class to do. So yes we are all human beings with different color skin but that doesn't give Americans the right to deny new or maybe even better.

Assignment #1

Assignment Due 9/17: Choose a quote from Bourne and write it out in your blog. Under that write your interpretation of what you think the author is trying to say and explain that. Then, after that write out your own explanation of the meaning of this passage and why you chose this specific quote and how it relates to this class.

QUOTE: "Of course paternity or maternity suggests a sense of obligation to the parent as well. Instead, nationality is a more or less made up idea. This is not to deny the influence or power that this idea has over people. In fact, cultural constructs such as nationalism seem to have even more influence over people, than supposedly "natural behavior." Nationalism persists: because many share this value already, because it is supported by the state, and because it gives people a sense of meaning in life."

Interpretation: The author that wrote this quote i believe was trying to make a connection with how a parent has an obligation and how nationality has the same value but different. People have to help each other with their beliefs and have to be there for each other as a country. Yes Nationalism does persist because people give it a meaning. Paternity and Maternity have duties in which they need to work together and approach. Nationalism is the devotion to ones country making it not so different in meanings.

Meaning: This passage is mainly about letting new and different people in the country and how people can work together to give life a meaning. Of course many americans fear immigrants coming in to their country and think about the adaptation they are going have to do to fit in. Variety in ethnicity is not a bad thing or is it for the country. Multiculturalism is never bad and if immigrants leave their someplace to come and be part of the american life why should we make it difficult for them.I chose the quote above because life can relate so much to being a parent. As a parent myself theres many obstacles that i approach daily and i believe that as a country we all see it too. If we dint have a diversity in our country what would our country really be like. Same as a parent if we dint have a little one to look after and be our next generation, what is life going to be like 20 years from now. This relates to this class because people are afraid of change sometimes and since politics have so much to do with change is a great importance to learn about these struggles.