Politics Of Action Amending The Constitution - 1758 Words

Pg. 29-39 Politics in Action: Amending the Constitution †¢ One of the most famous protests that truly revealed how the American government operates would have to be when Lee Johnson burned the American flag. o The president and the people insisted that an amendment be made to the Constitution so that flag desecrators can officially be punished. o As popular as this move was, the Supreme Court agreed that it did go against the Constitution by limiting people’s right to freedom of speech. †¢ This just goes to show not only how hard it is to make a permanent amendment to the Constitution but shows that the it was not meant to give power to the government. †¢ The true purpose of the Constitution was to protect the people and their rights by†¦show more content†¦o Slaves and servants are the only major exception but this is a topic for another day. †¢ For the most part, the King and Parliament let the colonies govern themselves with exception for foreign policy and trade. o However, this would all change in the year 1763 when the French and Indian War finally came to an end with the British as the victors. †¢ Due to the tremendous expenses war brings, a series of taxes was forced upon the colonists along with strict trade regulations. o This angered colonists because they had no representation in Parliament, meaning they were forced to do whatever the King ordered at this point. †¢ The first expression of revolution towards Great Britain would have to be Thomas Paine’s Common Sense in 1776. †¢ The committee that got together to discuss the possibility of obtaining independence and relations with Britain included many famous people like: o Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Robert Sherman. †¢ Declaration of Independence- The document approved by representatives of the American colonies in 1776 that stated their grievances against the British monarch and declared their independence. †¢ Even though Thomas Jefferson was primary writer of the document, the Declaration was highly influenced from several different sources: o Beliefs behind several European philosophers, the way the colonists felt about the King’s evil