We often hear someone mention they have a right to something. On the one hand, Americans generally think of things being fair or unfair. However, it's more complicated than that. What is the source of our rights? Who has the authority to tell us what our rights are? In your assigned readings, Thomas Jefferson and Martin Luther King Jr. make theological arguments (our rights come from God or "Nature's God). Some 19th Century Progressives argued that our rights came from government. Some of our nation's founders and framers argued that the role of government is to protect our rights.
As we explore our own Constitution, we realize that in addition to outlining how our government operates, it also lists many of the rights that Americans have come to expect. You will notice that in its initial version, the Constitution did not include a mention of our rights. Thomas Jefferson was adamant that our rights be recorded in the Constitution and thus was born, The Bill of Rights (which are the first ten amendments).
Research indicates that only 28% of Americans have read the Constitution.
Only 36% of Americans can name all three branches of our government.
Part A: In a reflection piece, examine the three documents: The U.S. Constitution (1787), France's Declarations of Human and Civic Rights (1789), and the United Nation's The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). Find examples of four rights that are shared by all three documents. Think about this a moment: where do our rights come from? Speculate on how the authors of these documents knew which rights to include. What can we surmise by finding a shared body of rights in all three documents?
Part B: Write a formal letter to all of your Congressmen (House of Representatives and Senators) from your state, (Research and find the contact information for your own Congressmen) asking them to propose a new amendment and why (see below). It must contain a good balance of emotion and passion, and the necessary facts and research to be a viable amendment. You can write just one letter, but you must research your state's Congress(wo)man and find their contact information and list them at the end of your letter. You must be persuasive and convince your state's Congressmen to believe in your viewpoint and help you get the new amendment proposed. Be sure to cite at least three of the course's assigned reading articles in your research in order to to give credibility to your proposal. Choose either A or B below.
A). Find a right in France's, Declarations of Human and Civic Rights of 26 August 1789 that is NOT found in the American Constitution. Discuss why, or why not, this right should be included in the U.S. Constitution. Support your position using supporting research from your course readings and/or other outside sources. Include a references slide at the end of your presentation. Please note, these documents were written in the same era. How might that have been an issue? Also be aware that France had suffered a bloody revolution while the United States, relatively speaking, did not. Consider how pluralism and the changing demographics of American society might impact how American's would view a potential new right added to the Constitution. Please note in Federalist Paper No. 10 Madison's view on the obligations of the "majority" in society.
(OR)
B). Find a right in the United Nation's, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights that is NOT found in the American Constitution. Discuss why, or why not, this right should be included in the U.S. Constitution. Support your position using supporting research from your course readings and/or other outside sources. Include a references slide at the end of your presentation. Please note, these documents were written more than 150 years apart from each other. How might that have been an issue? Also, the United Nation's document was written shortly after the end of WWII and at the start of the so-called, Cold War. Consider how pluralism and the changing demographics of American society including the pending Civil Rights movement might impact how American's would view a potential new right added to the Constitution. Please note in Federalist Paper No. 10 Madison's view on the obligations of the "majority" in society.