Category: Articles of Confederation

Public goods are a commodity or service that cannot be excluded to anyone. This is most commonly provided by the government, but in some cases can be provided by a private individual or an organization. This means that you can’t exclude those who don’t pay their taxes from using public roads, even though they didn’t technically pay for it The same concept applies to public schools, people who don’t pay their taxes or foreigners who come here illegally still have access to these public schools. Another characteristic of a public good is shared consumption or non-rivalry, this means that if one person uses a public good it doesn’t ruin it for other people. The collective action problem is when people who act independently cause a much worse outcome than they would if they came together to fix the problem. An example that comes to mind is voting. Let’s say you’re an individual who thinks that it doesn’t matter if you vote or not. You think this because you play such a small role in the decision or you don’t have the time, that you tell yourself that your vote won’t matter, but, it does. Whoever wins that election and provides the promise they campaigned for; you will reap the benefits even though you didn’t provide any to contribution to their success. If many people think like this, we end up with a lot of missing potential ballots that could’ve changed the decision. That is why it is important for everyone vote and practice democracy. This is called the free rider problem and is essentially when someone gains a benefit from a public good or service without them contributing.

Democracy

In short democracy is the rule of the people. Democracy is a system of government in which the citizens exercise their power directly or vote for representatives that express their ideology. There are many types of democracy in the world, but the United States is under two types of democracy. The first is representative democracy otherwise known as indirect democracy. This is where the people choose and vote for candidates that represent them, their ideas, and interest. This type of democracy is the most common type because it has many pros to it. Representative democracy gives people a voice and allows their opinions to be heard. With this it prevents a certain group to have more power over another since the people gets to decide the majority vote. Another form of democracy is direct democracy, here people directly get to vote for the policy they want without having to elect a representative to express their ideas. This give citizens a lot of power in the decision making. As a citizen of the United States, there is this responsibility placed on you, that responsibility is to make sure that your opinions are said, and your voice is heard. Even though there are many people of difference race, skin color, ethnicity, religion, beliefs, and backgrounds, you are one and that one can make a difference. That is why democracy to me is very important because you play a role that ultimately affects the final decision.

A perfect example of representative democracy is the election of president and the election of Congress. Citizens that are registered to vote in the United States go to any polling place to cast their vote for president. Whoever gets the most votes get to be elected for president for 4 years and after that the cycle repeats itself. The same goes for electing your representatives, but instead these are called midterm elections.

Civil Liberties and Civil Rights

Civil liberties are essentially limitations placed on the government that prevent the government from interfering with your personal freedom. These limitations are not easily violated and are some of the basis of the Bill of Rights. There are four overreaching liberties, each designed to protect one’s personal freedom. The first is freedom of religion, this allows citizens to follow any religion they believe in and prevents the government from favoring one religion or another, basically the government can’t make let’s say Hinduism the official religion of the United States. Included is the free exercise clause and according to Hancock (2019, Civil Liberties) “focuses on the notion that individuals in the United States have the freedom to decide what beliefs they have about spirituality and the freedom to exercise the actions that carry out such beliefs.” The second is freedom of speech and this means you have the right to express any of your opinions without the interference of the government, but that doesn’t mean you are safe from everyone else. This means you don’t have the absolute right to say whatever you want, wherever you want, to whomever you want. The third is right to privacy and this is a compilation of many things such as marriage, abortion, family, personal data, and even contraception’s. When these rights are denied it violates equal protection and the government must follow the strict scrutiny standard, basically must follow this law unless it is necessary and serves a compelling interest. Lastly there is right of the accused and according to the sixth amendment “ In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.”

Civil rights are a list of rights that give a citizen freedom. This includes political freedom, social freedom, and equality. Civil rights are guarantees equal citizenship and protected from all kinds of discrimination. Civil rights closely ties into the 14th amendment because it grants all people born in the United States to be guaranteed equal protection of the laws. A very good example of civil rights is the Brown vs Board of education case. The supreme court established a law that prevented the racial segregation of public schools. It didn’t matter if these schools were equally good, you can’t separate children based on their race.

Civil liberties protect the individual while civil rights protect the discrimination against groups of people. Together these two are very important because they protect the people from the government and anything else that prevents them from having freedom.

Pluralism

Pluralism in government is when groups of people share political power and accepts other ideas, culture, ethnicities, etc. Pluralism is all about acceptance an no one group has more power than the other and is shared equally. A pluralist is someone who believes that a group of sharing powers can work together. These people according to Strolovitch (2019, Groups and the Democratic Exercise of Power) “believe that power in America is diffuse, that power structures are easily permeable, and they are open to all takers.” This ideology was first introduced by Alexis de Tocqueville a political scientist that analyzed democracy in America and the political/social system. He “viewed political associations as a boon to American democracy and as essential guards against majority tyranny, marveling that Americans of all ages, of all stations in life, and all types of dispositions are forever forming associations.” (Strolovitch, 2019 Groups and the Democratic Exercise of Power) Basically stating that groups are helpful in American democracy because they prevent tyranny or complete control of one group. Pluralism is also a form of democracy as it displays the opinions and ideas of a group. This is where interest groups come to play. Interest groups are groups of people that have similar ideas, interest, and all share a common goal. This goal is to influence policy makers and make policy related appeals.

Plagiarism is a big part of democracy because it keeps elected officials responsive and makes sure that they address the promises they made. Stimulate political interest among members of the public mass by keeping citizens engaged and providing information about new policies. Ensure the accountability of the officeholders. Provide shortcuts about policy positions/issues. Allow a broader range of participants to become involved in politics. This last one is very important since democracy is all about the people and we need to get as many people involved with what’s going on around them and especially in politics. (Strolovitch, 2019 Political Parties)

First Amendment

The first amendment was created in 1789 and ratified in 1791 by our founding fathers along with 12 other amendments but was later cut short to 10. These 10 amendments make up the Bill or Rights and guarantee certain rights to all its citizens living in the United States of America. According to the first amendment “freedoms concerning religion, expression, assembly, and the right to petition. It forbids Congress from both promoting one religion over others and restricting an individual’s religious practices. It guarantees freedom of expression by prohibiting Congress from restricting the press or the rights of individuals to speak freely. It also guarantees the right of citizens to assemble peaceably and to petition their government.” Essentially people are free to practice whatever religion they choose, and that the government cannot have a set religion for everyone to follow. The first amendment also provides freedom of speech, allowing individuals to speak their mind and express their ideas. This can also include the freedom to peaceful protest.

Political Socialization

Political socialization happens early in life and affects the way you participate in democracy and shapes your political opinions and ideology about the government. There are many factors that contribute to your ideology like gender, ethnicity, media, peer groups, schools, religion, and even family. Studies show that men are more likely to vote for their republican candidate compared to women. Studies also show that black voters are more likely to vote for their democrat candidate. Every one of these opinions are formed because in some point in your life, race, gender, religion, schools, family, etc. played a role in that decision. If you came from an immigrant family your views on immigration can differ greatly compared to someone who was born in the United States and lived somewhere in the South. But that doesn’t mean where you come from or all the other factors exactly represent who you are.

Political socialization is important because it plays a big role in your political awareness. Since you are exposed to these ideas at a young age you form some knowledge about the things going on around you. Since democracy gives power to the people and gives them a voice, they should be more attentive and participate with the affairs going on. Having some kind of background with the subject can help you look over the decisions of the government and hopefully participate if it’s something you don’t agree with or if you do participate to push it out to others.

Essay Question

The Articles of Confederation was essentially our first constitution and was the base of what we have today. The AOC was written on November 15, 1777 and was written to establish the role of the American government after separating from Great Britain and claiming independence. The AOC set up a government that consisted of a one house body of delegates and each state (New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia) had only one vote. This was implemented to help diffuse the power instead of leaving one state with everything. These states would come together to make decisions on certain issues that affected all the states. Any decision affecting the states required nine out of the thirteen for it to be passed. This was very inefficient because not all states agreed on the same things and nothing would be done. Congress was also very limited to what it could do and could only declare war, conduct foreign affairs, and make treaties. All of these was essentially so America can go to war with England, but to go to war you would need a military and money to help fund the army. This leads to the first weakness with the Articles of Confederation. Usually the government can get these funds through taxation, but with the AOC they couldn’t. They needed each of the state’s permission to do so. This leads back to the problem with one vote per state. Nothing was accomplished with this system as not everyone agreed with the same ideologies and opinions and therefore did not meet the required nine out of thirteen votes to be passed. On top of that both the national government and the individual states accumulated massive debt to pay for the war and their main source of incomes were tariffs, but since congress couldn’t pass them because of the indecisive states, each state had to get the revenue themselves. This created a very weak central government but was in a way designed to be like this because the fear of becoming a tyrannical government.

Shay’s rebellion was an example of how too much taxation causes problem within a state. During 1786 Daniel Shay a farmer, gathered up thousands of supporters to help protest the government for its economic injustices. Shay’s rebellion was one of the many things that showed why the Articles of Confederation wasn’t going to work out. Delegates came together to try and come up with a stronger national government and so on September 17,1787 was the birth of the Constitution of the United States was established to fix the shortcomings of the Articles of Confederation. Delegates made this in mind of preventing tyranny of the government and tyranny of the people. Therefore, they decided on electing a president every 4 years with the help of people and electoral colleges. Another problem they addressed was the population of each state. Smaller states feared that bigger states would out rule them and so the Great Compromised was created. This was two houses; one was the house of representatives which gave proportional representation for each state’s population and a senate with two members of each state. To combat tyranny once again, the constitution created the separation of powers and federalism. This divided the government into three separate branches; judicial, legislative, and executive branch. Each branch was designed to keep in check the power of each other to separate the powers. Federalism was the idea that governmental authority was given to both national and state government

Citations

1. LII Staff. (2017, October 10). First Amendment. Retrieved from https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/first_amendment

My argument is that the Articles used a centralized system in the US. This system was inefficient and caused many protests and controversies between the states. Although our modern government isn’t perfect, we learned a lot from the government under the Articles of Confederation. There will always be flaws in government, but what is so great about our country is that we are able to adapt and change over time, thus creating the most effective government we can.

The Articles of Confederation created an ineffective government because they were unable to provide economic policies including taxes, a military, and difficulty passing and amending laws.

Supporting Point 1 Under the Articles of Confederation, the taxes were left for the individual states to decide. Resulting from this, states taxes were not equal. This caused numerous protests. If the government had the ability to regulate state taxes, then a lot of the commotion could have been avoided. Compared to the other states, Massachusetts had very high taxes. This caused many farmers to speak out against and protest. This helped cause the Shay Rebellion, as well. The Articles didn’t allow the government to regulate the state taxes. Each state had the decision of how high or low to set the taxes. Therefore, the Article of Confederation created major conflicts between the states and colonists.

Supporting Point 2 Congress was unable to enforce the laws which required a state-funded military. Due to this, the states were unprepared and unable to protect themselves. This was shown in protests, one of those being the Shay Rebellion. At the time of the Shay Rebellion, Congress wasn’t able to stop the growing protests quickly enough, due to the lack of militia. They were unsuccessful in stopping the protesters. The Articles of Confederation kept the states from enforcing their own military laws. Therefore, this gave them a great disadvantage when the time came where they needed to act quickly.

Supporting Point 3 Under the Articles of Confederation, it was difficult to pass and amend laws. If there was an issue, nobody was available to solve it. They had no way to enforce the laws across the nation. Since the states had their own laws, it was easier to enforce them within their own states. This gave the states more individual power because the national government didn’t have a way to make or enforce official laws. All of the states had to agree to pass a new law, but being as there are 13 states, most of them would not agree with one another. Also, the bigger states believed that they should have more power, while the smaller states believed that every state should be equal.

If someone were to be charged with a crime, the state officials would be the ones with complete jurisdiction over his crime. This could mean that some states were more just than others with their rulings. Since there was no central government controlling the state courts, then their justice systems would not be equal.

The government’s inability to create and enforce laws and control the nation shows how the Articles created an ineffective government. Therefore, leading to a lot of separation conflicts between the individual states.

A confederation was made—a substance in which free, self-governing states structure an association to act together in territories, for example, defense. The founding fathers chose a confederacy because it would unite all of the confederate states. The nation needed to be unified as one country instead of 13 small unorganized nations. Shays rebellion proved the need to strengthen the government. Shays rebellion was a series of violent attacks on courthouse and other government properties in Massachusetts that began in 1786 and led to a full military confrontation in 1787. This war led to so many bloodshed and so many losses, that the founding fathers want to bring the nations as one. Instead of so many wars the founding fathers wanted to unite these nations instead of having war. That’s when the founding fathers created the Articles of Confederation.

The Articles of Confederation has created a loose confederation of sovereign states and a weak central government, leaving most of the power with the state governments. The Articles of Confederation were not successful for many reasons. The biggest was that there was too much power to the states and not enough power to the federal government. This caused too much chaos and difficulty since every state had its own money system, own government, everything was too complicated and the entire nation was under huge debt. The central government was designed to be very weak and didn’t have enough power to even collect enough taxes. The congress needed 9 out of the 13 states to pass any laws which made it very difficult to do.

One of the weakness of the Articles of Confederation is that congress had no power to coin money, therefore each state developed their own currency. This was a problem if people traveled to different state’s they weren’t able to buy anything because their currency is not the same. This created a lot of problems for traveling and buying goods. Another problem was no national court system was established to protect the rights of U.S. citizens. This was also a problem especially for freed slaves because even though they were free they still had a problems with their rights. They couldn’t work and they were still treated like slaves even though they were free.

The Constitution was then created to fix the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation which gave the federal government more power but is checked and balanced between 3 branches of government. It gave federal power and right to amend the constitution when needed, gave the government power to get out of debt, raise an army and collect taxes.

Events that led to the belief that the Articles weren’t working well was that they had a very frail government. It took about four years for the ratification of the Articles of Confederation. To approve the Article of Confederation, all 13 states had to sign off on it. Can you imagine trying to get everybody to concur on something. Now scale that up to the entire Country there’s a weakness right away.

The Articles of Confederation were in national debt. The United States owed money to France, Holland, Spain, and their soldiers. “Whatever the achievements of the Confederation government, in the eyes of many influential Americans they were outweighed by its failings. Both the national government and the Country at large faced worsening economic problems. To finance the War of Independence, Congress had borrowed large sums of money by selling interest-bearing bonds and paying soldiers and suppliers in notes to be redeemed in the future. Lacking a secure source of revenue, it found itself unable to pay either interest or the debts themselves” (pg.514).

Congress could not regulate trade. Either foreign trade or interstate trade between two states. New York was charging Connecticut New Jersey a ton of taxes to ship goods in and out of New Harbor. New York was charging them a very high tax amount. So they got very angry that they planned an armed attack on New York. Which is a clear indication of how powerless congress was to either stop this taxing or regulate any type of trade and it led to fights and bickering among the states. And also between the United States and other nations.

There was no executive branch to enforce laws The executive branch executes our laws. The nation did not have a CEO. No system for law enforcement. There was no person to represent that state as a whole as a country there’s no leader. We also don’t have a court system. There’s no national court system. And no ways to solve issues between states. States acted as individual countries and seldom agreed. Connecticut and Virginia also went to war over land claims. One vote for each, regardless of size. This meant that road Island with not a very high population had the same amount of power as a state like New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts which had a really large population back then. This angered the large States to some degree and it made the small states happy. It made congress very ineffective.

Congress could rarely pass any laws. Congress had one house law that was difficult to pass because it needed the approval of nine of thirteen states. That’s a very difficult number to attain. It meant that laws were rarely passed and although Congress didn’t have much power the powers they had were virtually ineffective because they couldn’t pass laws.

There was no common currency. Americans carried money from the federal government and forgien nations.

The idea of amendments changes to the Article of Confederation could only happen if all 13 States agreed which would be impossible. If you think about it today if we can get 50 states to agree on something that would be astonishing. Getting 13 states to agree back then was hard so it guaranteed that amendments weren’t going to be added in this document it was not going to change. When you add these issues together you have a very delicate national government. Powerful states that argue with each other. In the end, this inquiry of the government fails.

James Madison and his crew decided that all authorities on all levels of government eventually flowed through James Madison and his contemporaries. In this manner, either the federal government or state governments are not sovereign. Such as the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution authorized the Federal Government to enforce, regulate exchange, control money and adopt needed laws. Madison ensured that because of it there were so many parts that no single group could ever control this big republic would not become a dictatorship. They have created a separation of powers with checks and balances. It started working out all the issues with a centrally controlled party that didn’t work excellently. It gives the American people a strong central government and a reason to believe in it.

Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay wrote a collection of essays- published in newspapers throughout the country explaining the means and virtues of the Constitution. They desired to counter the effective arguments that the anti-federalists had been making.

After the Revolutionary War, America was in predominant debt and eventually staggered into a depression. Hamilton first proposed that the new government take accountability for the present public debt. Hamilton suggested, ‘funding’ the debt in which the government would change the deprecated certificates of indebtedness of the wealthy people for interest-bearing bonds. Hamilton believed that eventually, the rich lessons would most possibly lend cash to the government. Hamilton additionally wanted a countrywide bank to supply a stable middle to the nation’s banking system. Hamilton proposed two new sorts of taxes for new sources of income for the government. One used to be a tax for distillers of alcohol it would fall closely on the whiskey distillers in the backcountry. The other tax used to be a tariff on imports, which now not solely would elevate revenue but would additionally defend American manufacturing from overseas competition. Hamilton’s proposals caused notable controversy among people.

They disrupted the economic system from the war. Trade was damaged quote from a loss of American ships, destroyed through the British navy. When buying and selling with Britain was cut off, Britain additionally prohibited exchange with the Caribbean colonies, so now two important sources of commerce had been eliminated. The steadiness of America was once threatened by financial crises. Both the country and national stage had to make necessary selections on how to reply to the problems. Laws have been handed in to assist regular people, like farmers, on how to deal with debt. The higher class clashed with the center and lower class on who would pay the debt. Along with a financial crisis, politically, the government was faltering with the failure of the Articles of Confederation.

Jefferson interestingly won however considering the fact that one Republican elector did not vote for Burr the votes tied leaving no candidate with the majority. The House of Representatives had to determine between the two candidates Jefferson and Burr. The hassle was that until a new president was elected, the Federalist Congress had to decide. The Congress had many unique motives to choose either candidate however sided with Jefferson due to the fact that Burr was once too unreliable. The only Federalist department of government was now the Judiciary. The country believed they had been saved from tyranny and now a generation in which the authentic American concepts would govern the land. This was modern due to the fact it definitely altered the way that the American federal government would be working with a new party primarily based fully on American principles.

Politics can be defined as the struggle to have power over others. Politics does not end with our politicians; it follows us into our homes. There is always a struggle over who is the head of the house. Government can be defined as having the power to distribute resources, make laws, and enforce laws. The government decides where resources go, what laws are made, and what will happen if you break their laws.

A democracy can turn into a free for all and a certain group can have extreme amounts of power. In a democracy, the people meet, vote directly on an issue, and the majority rules. In a republic, the citizens vote for an elected representative, and that representative “works” for the citizens. The representative’s main goal is to do what the people want and get them what they need. The United States of America is a democratic republic.

The United States of America is a democratic republic. We, the people, vote for our representatives and in return, they fight for us. We have a president who represents us and does what is best for us. We could also be labeled as a representative democracy. The main point is that the U.S. is a republic, we vote for our representatives, and we do not have a king or a monarch.

I picked the Colonizing America video as my first choice. This video talked about our first colonies and their first governments. The video talked about how colonies collected their revenue, through the sales of tobacco. Lastly, this video taught me about the sermon A Model of Christian Charity by John Winthrop. This video is important because it talks about where we came from and the struggles that we faced. It is important because it talks about how the colonies made money to support themselves. The video also teaches us about our history with Great Britain and how we broke away to gain our independence. The second video that I picked was the Tea, Taxes, and the American Revolution video. It gave light to what started the American Revolution. The video also highlighted the Boston Tea Party and the creation of the Committees of Correspondence. Lastly, this video gave us some key points about the Articles of Confederation. This video is important because it teaches us our history. It taught me how our Constitution came to be. Lastly, it is important because it cleared all the blurry spots on how we became states and not just colonies. The last video that I picked was the US Constitution and Articles of Confederation video. This video went into how the Articles of Confederation were drafted and how it became the base for the Constitution of the United States. The video demonstrated how we became bicameral and how our new government was set up. Lastly, this video tells what these documents do and what they allow the central and state governments to do.

The Democracy or Republic Blog makes us look to our government and classify it. What the blog tells me is that our government is Republic and we vote for our elected officials. These elected officials are then supposed to fight for us. The blog emphasizes the point that we do not vote directly and go by majority rule. Lastly, this blog tells the differences between a democracy and a republic.

Colonial history is important to the evolution of the United States because it gave birth to the first forms of government. The first colony was established in 1607 and it was called Jamestown. Jamestown was an English colony that established laws and guidelines. In 1620 the first New England colony was formed, and the Mayflower Compact was signed. This colony was called Plymouth. The Mayflower Compact was an agreement signed by 43 of the 43 separatists that stated the laws and guidelines that should be followed. Our original 13 colonies were established by 1732. The colonial period gave birth to multiple laws like the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut and the Pennsylvania Charter of Privileges.

The Pennsylvania Charter of Privileges was the “original” Constitution and Bill of Rights. Lastly, the colonial period gave us our independence from Great Britain. Thanks to Great Britain pushing the colonists to their breaking points, the Declaration of Independence was signed. It also started the Revolutionary War. The Common Sense was written by Thomas Paine during this period.

The confederacy period is important in understanding the creation of the US Constitution in many ways. During the Second Continental Congress, the Articles of Confederation were brought to life. On November 15, 1777, the Articles of Confederation were finalized, but they were not put into action until March 1, 1781. The Articles of Confederation made the 13 colonies into states and gave them a form of government. This form of government consisted of one chamber of legislature and each state had one vote. The Articles of Confederation lacked funding and enforcement of laws. During the Confederacy period, western land debates were settled, and the Northwest Ordinance was put into play in 1787. The confederacy period only lasted 8 years. There were many faults with the Articles of Confederation. Some of these faults are as follows: 9 states’ consent was needed for changes, revenues could not be demanded from the states for war, and there was no funding for the militia. After the Revolutionary War, our militias had to be relieved of their duties. During this time period, the central government had little authority and could not prevent the states from fighting with each other. This led to Shays’ Rebellion and the talk of the Constitution of the United States. Two plans for a new system of government were brought forward and they were the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan. The Virginia Plan called for 2 chambers of legislature, federal law to be supreme, state representation by population, and the creation of the 3 branches of government. The New Jersey Plan called for a single chamber of legislature that called for each state to have one vote, Congress would have the power to tax, federal law would be supreme, people would be elected to represent their state, and a Supreme Court would be made by the executive office. Neither of these plans were put into action, but they created the Great Compromise. The Great Compromise was a bicameral legislature that gave the states equal representation in the Senate and it gave us the checks and balances system (for the Senate and the House of Representatives). This plan resolved slavery issues and gave a base for the Constitution of the United States. A rough draft of the Constitution was finished on August 6th. The final touches were put on the Constitution, including the following: the 3 branches of government, the checks and balances system, and the electoral college.

The most interesting thing that I have learned would be all the steps we took to get to our Constitution. I remembered bits and pieces from previous classes, but I never paid attention. I now realize that we have come a long way from Jamestown, and we have overcome many obstacles. I think that we are still progressing as a country and we are still abiding our Constitution. Our founding fathers gave us a starting point and it was up to us to figure out the right solution.

I chose the Cram for the Exam video. This video explained the definition of federalism. The 10th Amendment was emphasized because it gave the states rights and powers. Lastly, this video breaks down federalism and puts it into simpler terms. Federalism is important because it gave both state and federal governments power. Federalism gave us the 10th Amendment, which gave the states certain powers. Lastly, this video is important because it shows the progression of the United States of America.

I think that the division of powers in American Federalism is a key lesson that I learned. The division of powers in important because it gave the central and state governments certain powers and rights. The central government have the power to declare war and the state governments have the power to regulate commerce. Another key lesson that I learned is that the federal system of government was the best solution for the United States. The federal system of government gives both the state and central governments power. It allows the people to vote for their representatives and states that the Constitution of the United States is Supreme Law. This is important because it limits the power that the state and central governments have. It also gives us the right to appoint our elected officials (every 4 years we get to vote for our president).

The last key lesson that I learned centered around the Supremacy Clause. I learned that state laws cannot override federal laws and that the Constitution will always rule over any law. A prime example of an issue with the Supremacy Clause is the legalization of marijuana. Under federal law, marijuana is illegal, but because of the CSA Preemption Clause, states can legalize marijuana.

I like how we have blog posts because it helps to cement the topics in place. My favorite topic so far would have to be the colonial and confederacy periods. They show what we evolved from and how much we have improved. I also like how we have detailed videos to explain the chapters and the topics. By far, my all-time favorite part of this class is the daily schedule. The schedule keeps me on track, and it lets me know if I need to slow down or pick up the pace. What am I taking away from this course so far? I have learned about our very first colonies and how they formed the first governments. They also declared their independence from Great Britain. By doing this, they created the Declaration of Independence, which got the ball rolling towards the Constitution of the United States. I have learned about the Confederacy and how the Articles of Confederation came to life, along with the Bill of Rights. The Virginia and New Jersey Plans were re-cemented into my brain, along with that fact that they formed the Great Compromise. The Great Compromise was the footings for the Constitution of the United States. I learned how the 13 original colonies became states and how our governments are split vertically and horizontally. Lastly, I learned the difference between the division of powers and the separation of powers.

Introduction

Who in this room has heard of a Sovereign Citizen was the question asked at an airport security pre-shift briefing. Out of 20 individuals only one person raised their hands. Sovereign Citizens are a group of anti-government; anti-law enforcement individuals who believe that even though they physically reside in the country, they consider themselves “sovereign” from the United States (U.S. Dept. of Justice, 2010). The danger of this group lies precisely in the fact that the majority of the population has never heard of them, and some law enforcement agencies undermine the growing threat this group poses. The ideology can be complex and varies depending on the type of Sovereign, but the main tenant of the Sovereigns is the belief that the U.S. Government is illegitimate. Sovereign Citizens have been listed as the number one growing terrorist organization in the United States by the FBI (Carter, Chermak, Carter & Drew, 2014). Does that mean that all Sovereign Citizens are terrorists? And, if you don’t consent to being governed, does the law still apply to you? This Thesis will highlight some of the differences or variances in ideology and the profiling of factions within the Sovereign Citizen Movement, explore various Government organizations that assess the Sovereign Citizen Movement, and attempt to provide answers to the aforementioned questions.

Origins and Ideology of Sovereign Citizens Movement

Much of the Sovereign ideology reaches far back into American history using their interpretation from portions of the Articles of Confederation, 1781, and the Constitution of the United States which replaced the Articles of Confederation in 1787. Sovereigns use these two documents as a linguistic maze and parse the language to the benefit of their own goals which is to remain free from responsibility of U.S. laws.

There is an estimated 300,000 Sovereign Citizens Worldwide, so this is not a group that is exclusive to the United States. In the U.S. they are known as Sovereign Citizens, or Free Inhabitants, but other groups such as the Moorish Nation, The Aryan Nation, Washitaw Nation, and The North Carolina Republic, also fall under the same umbrella and share some of their views. In England and the Commonwealth realms the group in known as The Freeman on the Land, and in Germany they identify as Citizens of the Reich (Loeser, 2015). The main shared ideology between the groups is the rebellion of acknowledging the laws of the country they reside in as their own, and again, to remain free of being lawfully governed. In addition, there may be some elements of extremism and racism within factions of the groups as well, and even though the Sovereign Citizen Movement originated with roots of racism, currently this is not the main overreaching principle of the ideology and will not be examined further in this thesis other than in connection to Reverend William Potter Gayle (Loeser, 2015).

Reverend William Potter Gayle was a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel who served under Douglas MacArthur in World War 2 and retired in the 1950’s. Gayle is credited as one of the principal adherents of the Sovereign Movement in the U.S., and more specifically the Posse Comitatus, a term that roughly translates to “power of the county” from old English custom in which the Sheriff of a county was the ultimate law giver. Gayle held deep anti-Semitic and racist views which he would advocate when holding revivalist style meetings. Gayle did radio sermons, passed out flyers, in the effort of recruiting members into the Posse Comitatus. Gayle incited hatred and violence directly challenging local, state, and federal authorities (Levitas, 2002). Modern day recruitment tactics are now more sophisticated with the advent of the internet that include instructional videos on how to avoid paying taxes, traffic tickets, and indoctrination into the Sovereign Citizen movement. Seminars are also held for recruitment and to train in the falsification of legal documents (Loeser, 2015).

Three Main Factions of the Sovereign Citizens Movement

There are three types of Sovereign Citizens within the movement. First, is the Religious Type who only believes that God can rule over them. This is pretty straightforward with not really anything more to say about them. The second is a Diplomatic Type who believes they are not citizens of the United States, so therefore they feel entitled to Diplomatic Immunity. The fault in this theory is that even if diplomatic immunity was granted, one would still have to follow the laws of the country you are in. Diplomats have to follow U.S. laws just as laws are followed in other countries. In addition, to not be a citizen of the United States, one cannot simply declare themselves a “sovereign citizen” while still residing in the U.S. Citizenship must be renounced in a foreign country and in front of a U.S. Diplomat or consular (U.S. Dept. of State, n.d.). The third type is the Constitutional Sovereign Citizen and is the most complicated to understand. To better explain the ideology, three subgroups will be discussed.

Subgroup one: believes that the Constitution was never successfully ratified and follows the Articles of Confederation which were in effect 230 years ago. These types call themselves free inhabitants and refer to Article IV, of the Articles of Confederation in 1781 which in part reads: “The better to secure and perpetuate mutual friendship and intercourse among the people of different states in this Union, the free inhabitants of each of these states…shall be entitles to all privileges and immunities of free citizens in the several states” (Bright, Cheney, Kenison, Stewart & Allen, 2004, p. 10). The flaw with this interpretation is that if you are an inhabitant or citizen of a state that travels to another state, the laws of the state physically inhabited (visited) still have to be followed. In addition, the Preamble of the Constitution of the United States begins with “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union…” More perfect than what? The answer is, The Articles of Confederation, in 1781 which are by some standards considered imperfect (Bright et al., 2004, p. 19).

Subgroup two: at least acknowledges that the U.S. Constitution is law, but relies on the Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment (1868) to buttress the belief that Americans were duped by the federal government for the purpose of subjugation. Therefore, they declare themselves not U.S. citizens, but a citizen of one particular state within the several states. The first sentence in the Fourteenth Amendment states that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside” (Bright et al., 2004, p. 39). This particular ideology is flawed because one cannot be one or the other, but both. Example, one is both a Californian and an American.

Subgroup three: are the “Strawman or Corporate shell” type and perhaps the most complex of all. This type believes in what is a ‘Redemption Theory’. The theory according to the sovereign is that the law applies to an abstract concept of a person and not the actual flesh and blood person. This type of Sovereign believes that the government lost its legitimacy when it abandoned the gold standard in 1933. Sovereigns believe that the government uses the people as a form of “collateral” or “strawman” issuing social security numbers and birth certificates to register people in trade agreements with other countries and taking out loans using these documents and in turn depositing funds ranging into the millions per “strawman” into the U.S. Treasury Account (U.S. Dept. of Justice, 2011). This type of Sovereign uses all types of complex legalities to not pay taxes, pay off debts with bogus bonds or checks defrauding banks, take out their own drivers licenses, file false IRS returns, and in the end create what is associated with the Sovereigns as Paper Terrorism (Loeser, 2015).

FBI Counterterrorism Strategies: Viewpoint, Perception, and Terrorist designation status of Sovereign Citizens

This section will briefly address how some of the agencies within the government such as the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), and the Department of Homeland Security are dealing with this group. Even though the Sovereign Movement has been around for decades, it has rationally not been violent. Most Sovereigns favor paper over guns, using the court systems filing false property liens, filing false tax reports however, mostly against government officials, thereby earning the moniker Paper Terrorists. However, there has been a swell of numbers in the group and increased violence more recently stemming from increasing anti-government sentiment against lawmakers, law enforcement, and other government officials (Carter et al., 2014). The highest concentrations of Sovereign Citizens are in Illinois, California, Pennsylvania, and the southern east coast states (Carter et al., 2014).

Are all Sovereign Citizens terrorists? Well, that would depend on the definition of terrorism. A perfect definition isn’t available; it is still contested because there is always something left out. Miriam Webster, the FBI and different organizations define terrorism similarly, but not in the exact terms. Terrorism as defined now is essentially the use, threatened use, or attempted use of force or violence against a group of civilians or a sovereign government, for the purpose of creating fear for the purpose to influence that government or group to change something or bend to the will of the aggressor. So when PETA burns down a lab that is using animals for testing, is that an act of terrorism? When a Christian group bombs an abortion clinic, are they committing an act of terrorism? These organizations are in their perception not terrorists, just like Sovereign Citizens don’t consider themselves terrorists. Yet PETA, Green Peace, and the Sovereign Citizens have all been designated terrorist labels due to the occasional use of violence and intimidation (Carter et al., 2014).

The Department of Homeland Security has relegated almost all Sovereign Citizens intelligence gathering to the Federal Bureau of Investigations choosing to use their analysts towards the detection of international terrorism. The FBI is almost exclusively tasked with recognizing the behavioral markers and attempting to accurately designate domestic terrorist labels in the protection of this country.

Conclusion

The Declaration of Independence of 1776 states that “Governments are instituted among Men deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…” (Bright et al., p. 3). There is no word play in this statement. This simply means that the government gets all its power from the people. Answering the question of whether the law applies to you if don’t consent to being governed, the answer would have to be yes. Yes it does, because the rest of us as a society have agreed it does according to the Constitution of the United States, and as a society we empowered certain individuals to ensure our safety by ensuring everyone in this country follows the law.

Sovereign Citizens continue to threaten society every day and given the current adversarial political discourse and culture (especially in social media); chances are the threat will continue to worsen. Law enforcement is our front line against this ideology. Special training to local law enforcement agencies, the addition of intelligence analysts only dedicated to this group, information and intelligence sharing amongst all levels of government, activism, along with legislative reform will be indispensable to manage the Sovereign threat.

References

1. Bright, C., Cheney, J., Kenison, B., Stewart, A., & Allen, J. (Eds.). (2004). The foundation of freedom: A collection of historic American documents & speeches (pp. 3,10,19, 39). Salt Lake City, UT: FC Printing.
2. Carter, D., Chermak, S., Carter, J., Drew, J. (2014). Understanding law enforcement intelligence processes. Report prepared for the Office of University Programs, Science and Technology Directorate, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. College Park, MD. Retrieved from https://www.start.umd.edu/pubs/START_UnderstandingLawEnforcementIntelligenceProcesses_July2014.pdf
3. Levitas, D. (2002 November 17). ‘The terrorist next door’: First chapter. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/17/books/chapters/the-terrorist-next-door.html
4. Loeser, C. E. (2015). From paper terrorists to cop killers: The sovereign citizen threat. North Carolina Law Review, 93(4), 1106-1139. Retrieved from https://heinonline-org.mutex.gmu.edu/HOL/Page?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/nclr93&id=1141&men_tab=srchresults
5. U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2010 April 13). Domestic terrorism: The sovereign citizen movement. Retrieved from https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/stories/2010/april/sovereigncitizens_041310/domestic-terrorism-the-sovereign-citizen-movement
6. U.S. Department of Justice, FBI Counterterrorism Analysis Section. (2011 September 1). Sovereign citizens: A growing domestic threat to law enforcement. Retrieved from https://leb.fbi.gov/articles/featured-articles/sovereign-citizens-a-growing-domestic-threat-to-law-enforcement
7. U.S. Department of State. (n.d.). Renunciation of US nationality abroad. Retrieved on November 30, 2019, from https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/travel-legal-considerations/us-citizenship/Renunciation-US-Nationality-Abroad.html

We are a part of the greatest generation to have ever existed upon the earth. God has blessed us with strength and power to defeat the mightiest nation on earth. Now it is up to us to either establish a government that will stand for centuries, or crumble into oblivion. The Articles of Confederation do not give our young nation the power to defend our natural rights, which we are obligated to protect in order to have the liberty we fought for. Each state of our great nation must come together, or we will fall. This unification starts with a great leader. You know the indispensable man, even George Washington.

The man who crossed the Delaware, who defeated the unbeatable, conquered the unconquerable. He is the personification of the spirit of this great nation, and he believes in the unification of the states. You have the responsibility as a citizen of the United States to uphold the values you fought for in the revolution. Your children, grandchildren, and generations after will talk about how you fought to establish liberty during the revolution, but will they talk of how you lived for that liberty forever after? We have a responsibility to our children to be more than our forefathers.

We must not follow the cycle that has been viciously repeated since the dawn of mankind! We beat the tyrannical monster that held us bound, but now we have an even greater enemy: ourselves. You are endowed with the ability to choose, an agency that you will use for better or worse through your whole life. Mighty men have succumbed to the temptation that it is easier to give up, but as the world’s greatest generation, we must stand against the darkness and preserve our agency. There are three things we must defend at all costs. We must defend our right to our lives, our liberty, and our property. These rights are ours not because some men gave them to us, but because we are human.

We are equal, and through the establishment of a government that only has the power to protect our natural rights, we can spread that equality throughout a world full of disparity. Every person should have the opportunity to make of themselves what they are willing to work for. The United States of America can be the country where everyone who comes here has that chance. This can only happen if those already here are willing to inaugurate a government built for that purpose. For this government to exist, we need laws in place that will protect those rights. For centuries, our world has been plagued with institutions and individuals that have stripped others of their natural-born rights.

Tyranny occurred because the laws and other powers are unable to check these actions. They ruled by will; their desires and choices subjugated others. A government formed to provide liberty cannot tolerate rule of will. Do you remember the words, we the people? I do. Those words signify a bond that exceeds those of race, religion, creed, or any other temporary connection. We the people binds together all of humanity, regardless of any other difference. We have a duty to our fellow man to bring to pass a nation governed by a powerful force that has but one purpose; to protect the natural rights of all that reside here.

We have enjoyed much freedom since first coming to America, and we must not deny that much of that freedom existed before the revolution. We were content living under British rule, and we cannot forget that it was only after a denial of our representation that our opinion of them soured. We owe it to those who died in the revolution to aim for something better, not something less than what was. We claimed in the declaration of Independence that all men are created equal, endowed with rights that must not be infringed by anyone or any government. We must go farther, not only are we endowed with these rights, but with the responsibility to protect those rights, whatever it takes.

We have seen over the past seven years that the articles of confederation cannot protect those rights. This is leading to people taking problems into their own hands, like Daniel Shay. Without a stronger national government, our society will lead into anarchy, and situations like Shay’s rebellion will become commonplace. The solution to integrating a national government that will not take away our freedoms lies in dividing power. As the various state representatives gathered to modify the articles of confederation, we realized that our nation needed more. The constitution we produced met that need. It establishes a system of government that limits its own power, checking each of its three branches for the sole purpose of keeping the balance squarely between anarchy and tyranny.

We are not ignorant towards the problems that occur when being ruled by human beings. As mortals, our knee-jerk reaction is to look out for our self-interest first, leaving all others as secondary. We have seen this time and again in the annals of history, those in power looking out for their self-interests first and leaving all others to suffer the consequences. The government that this constitution develops will pit power against power, forcing those in positions of authority to concede and find a middle ground, leading to a fair system for all. These democratically chosen positions of power enable citizens the right to hire or fire anyone who holds a seat in government. To elect a president, a system designated the electoral college gives each state a certain number of votes starting with two and increasing depending on the population. As a state with a larger population, we will have more votes than smaller states like Vermont or Georgia. Slaves were also considered when discussing how they counted towards population, and we decided that each slave counted as three fifths of a person, dampening the affect they would have on the southern state’s population.

Ch.6, The Revolution Within

In what ways did political and religious liberties expand after the Revolution? (Democratizing Freedom + Toward Religious Toleration

The Revolution more desirable the variety of American Christianity and improved the idea of religious liberty. The separation of church and state created the social and political area that allowed all types of spiritual establishments to flourish, the way of life of character rights of which that separation was once a phase threatened to undermine church authority “ As remarkable as the expansion of political freedom was the revolution’s impact on American religion” (Foner, p.g. 223). At this time no one really knew if people could tolerate different beliefs because one of the main beliefs were “quakers”. Another main factor in the expansion was the “Quebec act” which was to allow Canadian Catholics to worship freely, as part of a plot to establish “popery” in North America. John Carrol of Maryland America’s first Roman Catholic bishop visited Boston and got a great welcome from the Americans. Another example would be that in the United States there was arranged marriages, but just like many in the US many younger members refused which led to the term “The American Freedom”. (Foner, p.g. 227). Church today has many growing religions, many support their faith first and many don’t believe in anything. Through religion throughout its time a lot has changed and many are Catholics or Christians from where i am from.

How did the Revolution affect the status of women? (Daughters of Liberty)

During the revolution, only few women contributed to the struggle for independence. In acts of trying to get independence one woman took it to the next level and disguised herself as a man in 1782. Her name was Deborah Sampson and she enlisted in the continental army. This really reminds me of the movie “Mulan” where she joins the army as a man to help fight off evil. From this Deborah influenced many other women to fight for independence. “Within American household, women participated in the political discussions unleashed by independence” (Foner, p.g 246). With just one spark into leading a nation into independence women like Sarah Franklin and Esther Reed organized an association to help raise funds to help assist American soldiers. Although men still wanted to be in command over the armies and household women still didn’t get treated equally and were forced to just wait on what will happen next. Women to this day still don’t really get the attention they deserve for their hard work and love women put themselves into. Just like Sarah Franklin and Esther Reed, both of those girls came from very glorified men. Would the situation change if they didn’t come from men with such power? Or like our Mulan girl she stood up for what she believed in and got a reward for doing what she thinks was right. Believing that all women should be treated the same just like men and have equal pay like men but that never happened. It took awhile until women would be in a position of power. Like today not many women are in the position of power because of their status. We still judge women to be weak and only meant to be in the kitchen. You even see it in commercials today how women aren’t taken seriously to the public and its true. I think it will never happen where a women can become in a position of power. It will be awhile until something like that will happen in my lifetime or possibly even my child’s lifetime, their child’s lifetime and so on. The status of women remains the same where men still think women are weak and belong at home where they can make a difference in the world. I see change in women to this day for example some movies, they show where women can be strong and lead by themselves and how they don’t need no man to help them succeed or fight off enemies. Change will happen for women but their status in the workforce is still deemed low.

Ch.7, Founding a Nation (1783-1789)

What events and ideas led to the belief in 1786 and 1787 that the Articles of Confederation were not working well? (America Under the Confederation)

Since America was at war, Americans found it hard to get money to finance the war. Congress issued tons of (written promises to pay money back from a loan). missing a source of money/ income the government couldn’t pay the promised loans. shays fighting against authority. in late 1786 early 1787, crowds of (money owed) ridden farmers closed the courts in massachusetts to prevent the seizure of their lands due to lack of paying taxes. governor james bowdoin ended them. the fighting against authority identified that the government must be strengthened so that it could develop uniform money-based policy. Money is always the problem and because of that people began to believe that the Articles of Confederation wasn’t working. “ The only powers specifically granted to the national government by the Articles of Confederation were those essential to the struggle for independence” (Foner, p.g. 255). This led to people believing it only supports certain areas of the United States. The articles of confederation made the national government impossible. Making certain laws that only relate to certain states would mean that other states wouldn’t get the same benefits, but throughout desperate time it really didn’t matter what the people think. Everyone always wants more, no matter what you change, no matter what you do, they will always want more. For example money, you can never have too much of it and you can never have too little of it. People will always want more from you and from the articles of confederation people wanted more and to this day people will continue to want more.

What were the major arguments in support of the Constitution given by the Federalists? What were the major arguments against the Constitution put forth by the Anti-Federalists? (The Ratification Debate and the Origin of the Bill of Rights)

The Federalists wanted a strong government and strong executive branch, while the anti-Federalists wanted a weaker central government. The Federalists did not want a bill of rights, they thought the new constitution was sufficient. The anti-federalists demanded a bill of rights

“Hamiltons essays sought to disabuse Americans of their fear of political power” (Foner, p.g. 271). Hamilton believed that the “Constitution” was the perfect balance between liberty and power. He believed that the constitution was already structured to prevent abuses of authority. However like many people to this day disagreed with Hamilton and they were called the “Anti federalist” They kept on predicting that the new government would be in the order of merchants, creditors and others. Believed that they were hostile to the interest of the ordinary American. Anti Federalist pointed out that the constitution lacks unprotected rights like trial by jury and freedom of speech. Interesting topics on how people wanted their governments to be like. However Hamilton won support by promising he would enact a bill of rights. Madison made his promise and came up with the “Bill of rights” That protected its people. For example the first amendment where the anti Federalists were saying that they weren’t protected by the constitution up until the bill of rights. In the end everyone is protected but however our world is always finding ways to abuse the bill of rights by saying that no one should own a gun or something. As a American I believe in the bill of rights and that it should be as followed and nothing should change. We just need people to change not the bill of Rights or the constitution.

Ch.10, Democracy in America (1815-1840)

In what ways did democracy expand in America in the early 19th century? In what ways was it still limited? (The Triumph of Democracy)

the (related to fighting authority or causing huge, important changes) thinking of (state where all things are equal) and (system or country where leaders are chosen by votes) had (taken/took control of) the imagination of the American people, who hugged/supported the idea that political participation should be for everyone, not just property-owning rich, powerful people. During the first half of the nineteenth century, (things that block or stop other things) preventing white men from participating in politics fell across the United States. None of the new states entering the Union needed/demanded white men to own property in order to vote, and by the Civil War all but one of the original thirteen states had eliminated property needed things. People (who vote), not state governments, began to choose presidential electors. This was called Jacksonian democracy. “Democracy reinforced a sense of equality among those who belonged to the political nation” (Foner p.g. 368). The limitations of democracy supported those who agreed but not those who didn’t for example poor men and waves of immigrants were able to participate but not women or non white men. A term “principle of universal suffrage” they used the wrong term in this one because universal literally means anything and anyone, but it only supported the whites because women and still black men were not able to have a say in what their government does or does not.

Ch.14, A New Birth of Freedom: The Civil War (1861-1865)

Describe how the North’s war aims evolved between 1861 and 1863, changing from simply preserving the Union to also ending slavery. What role did blacks play in winning the Civil War? (The Coming of Emancipation)

The armies wouldn’t have won without the support of the slaves. However questions come to my mind where slaves didn’t fight the white man who owned them rather they seemed to respect them and fight for what the white man wanted. Slaves didn’t know they were gonna be able to be free after the war. I would say that the Americans got lucky slaves didn’t fight their armies because then it would be another situation in the United States. However the emancipation proclamation was only made to have the British out of the war, because they did not support slavery however the South Americans did. “ SLaves took actions that helped propel a reluctant white america down the road to emancipation” (Foner p.g. 530). The main roles that the slaves played in winning the civil war was by running away to join the union lines of war, and by being military laborers.People were starting to call the civil war the “Freedom war” However slaves weren’t free until a while after the emancipation proclamation. After the war, however it was a necessity to get the proclamation in action as Abraham Lincoln concluded after the civil war. His quotes that made an impact on me was this: “we cannot escape history… In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom t the free honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve” (Foner p.g. 532). Abraham knew this act will go down in history however he doesn’t know if the later generations like ours will dishonor his decisions or honor the decision our past fathers have made into making this civilization what it is today. I would like to say that i support the decision that our past fathers made but some could have been avoided, we always need a strong foundation on everything, nothing is meant to be perfect but we can at least expect our government to try 100% on everything they do for the people. So far in my generation they’ve been doing a great job on trying to get women more involved in politics and movies. Supporting literally everyone and every religion no matter what color or race everyone has a say in something. We have grown into a government that would make our past fathers proud.