Lincoln Discussion

In the movie Lincoln, we see Lincoln trying to pass the 13th amendment to abolish slavery and it is not easy. The Republicans wanted the 13th amendment to be passed, while the Democrats were against it. The main reason is racism. Democratic representatives did not want to pass the amendment because they did not want African Americans to be able to vote, own property, and most importantly, take jobs away from white men. They were afraid of the thought of all slaves being freed at the same time. It was also difficult because his own cabinet members did not agree with him for the majority of the time.

Lincoln also uses implied powers. For example he twists the truth about a peace delegation in Richmond, Virginia. To get the amendment to pass, he writes a note to the members of the House of Representatives that he does not know of any delegation. He also promised Lame Duck politicians jobs. Lame Ducks are politicians that are not to be re-elected in the next election. Because they would have to search for a job, they might have swayed to the majority opinion, to not pass the amendment. So the offer of a job appealed to them so they voted for the amendment. Doing that was not exactly morally right.

Lincoln needed to pass the 13th amendment because without changing the Constitution, the Emancipation Proclamation could be abolished. If he lost reelection, the Emancipation Proclamation could be removed. That is why Lincoln wanted to get the amendment passed as soon as he could. The passing of the amendment would also lead to the end of the Civil War.

Bill Of Rights Memes

The 4th Amendment gives people the right of privacy. Recently, Edward Snowden, a former  NSA (National Security Agency) worker, revealed that the NSA keeps track phone calls, messages, and online activity. This has become a very controversial issue because the NSA's purpose is to find any threats against the United States but we have our right to privacy.

The 5th Amendment states that you can't be tried for the same crime twice, which is called Double Jeopardy.  Once there is a verdict on a case, they cannot be tried again.

Petoria

Petoria has an authoritarian type of government with a unitary system. Peter is the President of Petoria and is the only leader of his nation. He is the central government and has all of the power. Two benefits he has are:

1. He can do whatever he wants within his own nation.
2. He has diplomatic immunity.

Peter can do whatever he wants in his nation. Whether it is to build a pool or vandalize his property, there is no legal system in Petoria that can stop him. He can make up his own rules and regulations.

He also has diplomatic immunity. Diplomatic immunity means that as a diplomat, he has "the privilege of exemption from certain laws and taxes granted... by the country in which [he is] working." In the episode, Peter is shown doing graffiti on walls in America, stepping on grass where it says not to, not paying for drinks, etc. 

Although it may seem like a luxury at first, by not having a federal government, the Griffins suffer by not having things a government would normally supply. For example the Griffin family has no water, electricty, or gas. The kids also can't go to school, because Petoria does not provide schools. So they have to be home-schooled. Lastly, Petoria has no army to defend the Griffins againts the U.S. Army or any other foreign attacks.

Ratification of the Consitution

Ratifying the Constitution was very difficult because nine out of the thirteen states had to approve it. The process lasted two years from 1787 to 1789. During this time America was split into two groups: Federalists who were for the Constitution and Antifederalists who were against it.

Antifederalists thought that the Constitution took too much power away from the people and gave too much power to the federal government. In contrast, Federalists did not want too much democracy and wanted a strong federal government. Federalists thought that the states were lower than the federal government. The Antifederalists disagreed and thought the federal government should be more powerful. The Antifederalists also wanted the Bill of Rights to be included while the Federalists did not think it was necessary.

In the end, the Federalists won the battle over the Constitution. But the Antifederalist had a victory in which they got the Bill of Rights in the Constitution.

Why did the Articles of Confederation fail?

The main problems with the Articles of Confederation involved the economy, national leadership, and legislation.

According to Article IX, the national government and each state could create their own currency. This made it difficult to trade because of the different currencies. Also, Congress did not have any power to place taxes. Instead, they had to ask states for money and they could not always get the money on time so we were in debt for a long time.

There was also no judiciary system within the national government in the Articles of Confederation. Article IV states that each state has its own judicial affairs. In addition, there was no executive branch and no president. This meant that our foreign affairs were very difficult to keep up.

It was also very hard to pass amendments for the Articles of Confederation because the vote had to be unanimous and it was, and still is, difficult to have every state agree on something. It also was frustrating for the people because each state only got one vote according to Article V. This was frustrating because one state may have half the population of another but still stopped a law from passing. 

What would life be like without the government?

If the United States did not have a government we would be living in one big mess. We would be living in an anarchy. Without the government we would not have laws, and without laws people would go around doing anything they want, good or bad. Without them our lives are unpredictable.

Life without laws would literally be like The Purge, the movie. In The Purge all illegal acts are legal for 12 hours. I believe this movie truly portrays what life would be like without a government. The crime rate in America would sky rocket and everything would just be a complete disaster. We would live our lives in fear every single moment because laws keep us safe and give us security.

You could also compare a life without government to The Dark Knight Rises where the people choose their leaders whether they are credible to do their job or not. For example the people in Gotham have their own court with Dr. Jonathan Crane as the "judge". The defendants are offered a choice, death or exile, although both choices end up the same. So there could possibly be some form of organization and structure, but it would most likely be controlled by anarchists and/or terrorists.

The government also provides us things such as education, roads and highways, hospitals, food, water, and money. Without it individuals and families would be on their own. We would all be living individually by getting our own food, teaching ourselves, etc. 

I believe that we organized a government to keep life orderly and safe instead of chaotic and dangerous. With the government our lives are secure. Although people do still commit crimes, laws are enforced better with the police and punishment. I also believe that it was created to help our relationships with other countries.

We are very lucky to be able to live the lives we have. Without a government our lives would be flipped upside-down.