Bill of Rights and Amendments Essays - James Madison, Free Essays

Bill of Rights and Amendments Essays - James Madison, Free Essays Bill of Rights and Amendments Bill of Rights and Amendments The United States of America is by far the most successful Republic governed country in the world and has managed to survive for over 223 years. What has made the United States such a success is the foundation that the framers created, the United States Constitution. The framers knew that with time the needs of the people would evolve due to changes in society, so regulations in the Constitution would need to be adjusted or expanded for the changing times. The adjustments are called Amendments. Since 1788 only Twenty-Seven Amendments have been ratified and added to the United States Constitution and amazingly enough ten of them known as the Bill of Rights were proposed under the First Congress. As society continues to evolve the Constitution may need to update existing regulations or improvements may need to be made and added to cover issues that were not originally covered in the Constitution such as: abolishment of slavery, the right to vote for all American citizens including women and former slaves, taxes, and right to citizenship just to name a few. Without the admission of amendments the Constitution would be in danger of becoming less relevant to the needs of modern society; for example after the civil war the slaves were free, but where in the constitution did it make it illegal to have slaves? Where did it state that they had a right to vote? It didn?t, that is why the Thirteenth Amendment which abolished slavery was added in 1865, then in 1870 the Fifteenth Amendment was added and in Section 1 reads: 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 race, color, or previous conditi on of servitude. This now declares their freedom and their rights to vote in the Constitution. The framers knew that amendments would need to be added, that is why they are covered in Article V in the Constitution. Amending the Constitution is not an easy or quick process. There are two significant steps in the Amendment process. The first step in the process is the proposal, in which either two-thirds of both of the houses of Congress have to agree and deem it necessary to propose a new amendment or two-thirds of the legislature from the fifty states calls a Constitutional Convention to propose Amendments. Once Amendments have been proposed they will then need to be ratified, this too can happen one of two ways. An amendment can be ratified when three-fourths of the legislature from the states vote in favor of the amendment or Congress can direct a ratifying convention where three-fourths of the convention has to vote in favor of the amendment; all but the twenty-first amendment have been ratified by the state legislatures. The first 10 amendments known as The Bill of Rights are the most important amendments in the Constitution. When the framers were drafting the Constitution their primary focus was establishing a strong and effective federal government, since this was their main focus the Constitution addressed a very limited number of rights for the people. The framers, and notably James Madison, the principal architect, believed that the Constitution protected liberty primarily through its division of powers. ("The Bill Of Rights: Its History And Significance", n.d). This made the Anti-Federalist who opposed the Constitution very uncomfortable; they feared that a large central government would not be any different than being ruled by a monarchy, their liberties were being threatened and they believed that if the framers really cared about their personal liberties and individual rights they would have been covered in the verbiage of the Constitution. Because of the Anti-Federalist concerns and their d isdain for the Constitution the Federalist became concerned about the ratification of the Constitution, due to their concern they agreed to add several amendments known as the Bill of Rights which were written by James Madison. Without the addition of the Bill of Rights the Constitution may not have been ratified. The Bill of Rights are precious and they have become an ethical code for America, because of these 10 amendments, the United States has

Verbs Followed by Infinitive

Verbs Followed by Infinitive Many verbs are followed immediately by the infinitive form of the verb. Other verbs are followed by the gerund form of the verb. Finally, other verbs are followed by a noun, noun phrase or pronoun and then the infinitive. All of these verbs follow no specific rules and must be memorized. You can practice your knowledge once youve reviewed this sheet, as well as the other verb pattern reference lists by taking these quizzes: Verb Form - Gerund or Infinitive Quiz 1 Verb Form - Gerund or Infinitive Quiz 2 Gerund or Infinitive? An Interactive Reference Chart and Quiz The following list provides verbs that are immediately followed by the infinitive form of another verb (verb to do). Each verb followed by the infinitive is followed by two example sentences to provide context. affordI cant afford to go on vacation this summer.Can you afford to buy that sweater?agreeI agreed to help him with the problem.Do you think he would agree to take the test again?appearHe appears to think Im crazy!They appear to be available tomorrow.arrangeI arranged to spend the week in New York.Mary arranges to meet everyone each time.askShe asked to do the job.Franklin will ask to be promoted.begShelley begged to be released as soon as possible.The minister begged to donate as much as possible.careDo you care to spend some time with me?Tom doesnt care to ask any more questions.claimconsentWe consented to adopt the measure in the next year.Sherry will consent to marry you. Im sure!dareThose kids wont dare to break into that house.She often dares to break convention.decideIm going to decide to appoint the teacher next week.Mary and Jennifer decided to purchase an old house to fix up.demandThe protesters demanded to see the president about the economy.The client demanded to speak wi th his lawyer before making a statement. deserveI think Jane deserves to get the promotion.Our boss deserves to be fired!expectTom expects to finish the job soon.The students expect to receive their grades before the end of the day.failSusan never fails to mention that she knows the president personally.You shouldnt fail to mail in the form by the end of the week.forget - NOTE: This verb can also be followed by the gerund with a change in meaning.I think Peter forgot to lock the door before he left home.We seldom forget to do our homework, but last week was an exception.hesitateI hesitate to mention this, but dont you think ...Doug hesitated to tell us about his plan.hopeI hope to see you soon!He had hoped to have more success before he lost the election.learnHave you ever learned to speak another language?Our cousins are going to learn to mountain climb on vacation.manageTed managed to get his work done on time.Do you think well manage to persuade Susan to come with us?meanTim certainly meant to finish the job on time.They mean to do business here in town. needMy daughter needs to finish her homework before she can come out and play.They needed to fill out a number of forms in order to purchase the house.offerJason offered to give Tim a hand with his homework.She offers to help students whenever they have a question.planOur class plans to put on a play next semester.Im planning to visit you when Im in New York next month.prepareOur teachers are preparing to give us a test today.The politicians prepared to debate the issues on television.pretendI think he is pretending to be interested in the subject.She pretended to enjoy the meal, even though she didnt think it was good.promiseYes, I promise to marry you!Our coach promised to give us next Friday off if we win the game.refuseThe students refused to quiet down at the assembly.I think you should refuse to do that job.regret - NOTE: This verb can also be followed by the gerund with a change in meaning.I regret to tell you that it is not possible.The officer regretted to inform the citizen s of the horrific facts about the case. remember - NOTE: This verb can also be followed by the gerund with a change in meaning.Did you remember to lock the doors?I hope Frank remembered to telephone Peter about the appointment.seemIt seems to be a beautiful day outside!Did he seem to be nervous?struggleThe boys struggled to understand the concepts presented in the lesson.I sometimes struggle to stay concentrated when Im on the job.swearDo you swear, to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?Alice swore to help in any way possible.threatenChris threatened to call the police.The owner will threaten to kick you out if you dont stop making noise.volunteerId like to volunteer to judge the competition.Sarah volunteered to take Jim to the piano lesson.waitIm waiting to hear from Tom.She waited to eat until he arrived.wantJack wants to help everyone with the new concepts.The principal wanted to put on a teacher workshop.wishI wish to see you soon.Franklin wished to come and visit last month. More Verb Pattern Reference Lists: Verbs followed by the gerund - Verb Ing Verbs followed by a (pro)noun plus the infinitive - Verb (Pro)Noun Infinitive Verbs followed by the infinitive - Verb Infinitive