Modern Relevance Of The Founding Fathers
...States many times have the people questioned the relevance and wisdom of the US Constitution as it applied to their time and situations. Along with this question came the inevitable question of the intent and meaning of those founding fathers that put pen to paper and created the document. These questions have again arisen in our time with the seeking to balance the “Global War on Terror” with what is written in the Constitution. This paper shall look at the following issues; The Founding Fathers and their positions on freedom, where constitutional rights have been usurped by the Patriot Act and the implications for the future if the Patriot Act is retained as law.
The Founding Fathers were concerned with individual freedoms being infringed upon by the state. The unrepresented taxation of individuals and business, housing of English troops in private homes within the colonies, as well as many other grievances with the crown. The ideas and concepts of personal freedoms that were first enumerated in the Articles of Confederation were then more clearly in the Constitutional amendments. The Continental Congress sought not to enumerate rights but to express the limits placed on the federal government. Starting with the First Amendment, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. “ This is an excellent example of attempting to limit the Congress from establishing a national religion, or preventing the ability of the populace to speak out against perceived wrongs of the government through the press, or through direct petition. This is expressed by Benjamin Franklin when he said, “Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation...
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