The Constitution’s First Amendment contains limits on government interference with very well known unalienable rights: religion, speech and press. The Amendment specifically restricts government interference with an activity necessary to exercise the first three named rights: the need for people to gather to practice religion, to talk about issues and to distribute information. The right […]
First Amendment to the Constitution: Freedom of the Press
February 25, 2013 by
Like Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Speech, in the United States the concept of Freedom of the Press as it developed has been uniquely American. Along with free speech for the general population, it is surely the source of what has become known as American Exceptionalism. American Exceptionalism Alexis de Tocqueville originally referred to […]
The First Amendment to the Constitution: Freedom of Speech
February 12, 2013 by
The US Constitution’s first ten amendments are called The Bill of Rights. The First Amendment limits the authority of government to enact laws impinging upon the natural rights of the people to practice religion, engage in speech, publish their ideas and assemble together to petition their government. Freedom of religion is the first named freedom. The second named […]
The Web of Law: International, Natural, Common, Constitutional, Statutes & Regulations
February 3, 2013 by
While the Constitution is the organic legal document of the United States, it is not the only source of law or legitimate government authority. There is a hierarchy and interrelationship among the laws that govern our lives. Each strand in the complex web of law has different sources and relationships to the other. People rely […]
First Amendment to the Constitution: Freedom of Religion
January 18, 2013 by
Freedom of Religion is the first of our natural rights acknowledged in the First Amendment and limits government’s power to establish an official religion or interfere with a citizen’s exercise of religion. This is a recognition of freedom of religion, not freedom from religion. The first ten amendments to the US Constitution are referred to […]
Separation of Powers in the US Constitution: 1800 Years of Thought
December 6, 2012 by
All American schoolchildren are taught about the three branches of the federal government: legislative, executive and judicial. The Constitution’s establishment of these branches came from over 1800 years of political thinking. Most of the Founding Fathers were well educated and had studied classical political philosophy. The American government’s structure did not spring miraculously from the […]
Bill of Rights of the US Constitution: Promise Made, Promise Kept
December 4, 2012 by
The first ten amendments to the US Constitution are known collectively as the Bill of Rights. These amendments limit the power of the federal government. By virtue of the 14th Amendment, most government restrictions in the Bill of Rights apply to the states as well. The Constitution was a grant of power to the central […]
Article VII of the US Constitution: Ratification
December 4, 2012 by
The Articles of Confederation was the original operating document of the United States. Under the Articles, there was a weak central government with little authority to raise revenue. The Articles were written with the idea that each State was sovereign in its own right and like a little country of its own. Recognizing that each […]
The First American Christmas: The Battle of Trenton
November 19, 2012 by
In December, 1776 the British had driven Gen. George Washington and his men out of New York and across New Jersey. Things looked very bleak for the Americans. In their escape from the British the Americans commandeered every boat they could find to cross the Delaware River into Bucks County, Pennsylvania. They were starving, sick […]
Natural Law and the Legitimate Authority of the United States
Government needs a basis to exercise authority over people. Citizens must accept government authority. A government lacking acceptance of the people over whom it exercises authority will not endure. Such acceptance comes from fear, tradition or philosophy. Dictators obtain authority by instilling fear of disobedience in the populace. A theocracy ordained by God arises from […]