Iria Vasquez-Paez
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I have a B.A. in creative writing from San Francisco State. Can people please donate? I'm very low-income. I need to start an escape the Ferengi plan.
Stories (411)
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The 17th Amendment
This Amendment was passed by Congress, May 13, 1912 and ratified on April 18th, 1913. As such, the Constitutional Amendment declares that Congressional Senators can serve a six-year term in Congress. This came out of the fact that late in the 19th century, some state legislatures were in a deadlock over the election of a senator if different parties controlled different houses. This Amendment was designed to alleviate the deadlock by making sure that Senate vacancies were able to last months or years. It was also built to prevent special interest groups or other political situations to gain control over the state legislature.
By Iria Vasquez-Paez7 years ago in The Swamp
The 16th Amendment
The 16th Amendment was ratified in 1913, due to the American federal government wanting a source of revenue while in fact reversing the 1896 Supreme Court decision that did not allow for a nationwide income tax build-up. The income tax is a modern invention because the United States had its eye on making more money to fund itself with.
By Iria Vasquez-Paez7 years ago in The Swamp
The 15th Amendment
The 15th Amendment was about giving black men the right to vote, seeing as it stated that the United States cannot deny the vote based on race, color, or whether one had been a slave or not. The 15th Amendment was the beginning of a step out of class struggle, and into radical social equality when it granted black men the right to vote. The government could not be allowed to vote based on race, color, or “previous condition of servitude.” The Southern states, however, used intimidation tactics such as a poll tax, literacy tests and more to scare black voters out of casting their vote. Black men, many of whom had been slaves, were ruled to have the right to vote, because, by 1869, amendments were passed to abolish slavery as Republicans of the time felt that it was crucial to the survival of their party to be against slavery.
By Iria Vasquez-Paez7 years ago in The Swamp
The 14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment is a heavy situation to write about. You see, natural citizens are born in the United States. To take away birthright citizenship is to destroy a huge cornerstone of what American law is about. In 1868, a historic decision was made to allow all persons born or naturalized in the United States, including former slaves, to have “equal protection of the laws.” This was the first of three amendments to abolish slavery or so we are told in history class. The Reconstruction era was a time of establishing civil and legal rights for black Americans, as well as becoming the ultimate cornerstone of Supreme Court decisions.
By Iria Vasquez-Paez7 years ago in The Swamp
The 13th Amendment
The 13th Amendment had passed on April 8th, 1864, and then by the House on April 8th, 1865. The 13th Amendment then became about the abolition of forced slavery or labor regarding involuntary servitude except as a punishment for a crime. On December 6th, 1865, the 13th Amendment was ratified. By December 18th, 1865, this amendment had been adopted into the Constitution overall by the states who agreed with the basic weight behind this amendment, to abolish slavery or indentured servitude. After the American Revolution, states had divisions on whether they allowed slavery or not.
By Iria Vasquez-Paez7 years ago in The Swamp
The 12th Amendment
The 12th Amendment to the United States Constitution was first developed on December 9th, 1803, and was thereafter ratified on June 15th, 1804, because it provided new legislation for electing the President and Vice President. Currently, the Electoral College is being reevaluated as a useful part of our government since before the Electoral College was put together, each member cast a single vote. The amendment states that the Electors shall meet in their respective states so as to vote by ballot for President and Vice-President. There is a new consideration given to the fact that the Electoral College must vote a president into office by having 270 votes.
By Iria Vasquez-Paez7 years ago in The Swamp
The 11th Amendment
The 11th Amendment reads as follows: the judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of another state, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign state. (Cornell: 11th Amendment) This means that states do not have to hear lawsuits based on federal law. States deal with state law, but individuals can sue states if they want to. Anti-Federalists were opposed to the Constitution itself as well as individual rights to sue a state in federal court. In opposition, the Federalists favored the Constitution, while being eager to see it passed.
By Iria Vasquez-Paez7 years ago in The Swamp
The 10th Amendment to the Constitution
The 10th Amendment reads as follows: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." The Constitution wanted to be specific about the power the Federal government has over the people, as in, the State versus the Feds. The original Constitution that was ratified in 1788 contained few restrictions about the way the Federal government could use its power against the people or for the people since sometimes, major decisions are left to the States even to this day.
By Iria Vasquez-Paez7 years ago in The Swamp
The 9th Amendment
“The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people,” this is the text of the 9th Amendment. On September 17, 1787 the Anti-Federalists demanded a Bill of Rights be added to the final draft of the Constitution. Federalists felt that a Bill of Rights would give the government too much power. The Anti-Federalists had to be contrarian and were against ratification of the Bill of Rights. Fascism means that the government has the right to do whatever they wanted, so the Anti-Federalists were paranoid that having too many rights would lead to this.
By Iria Vasquez-Paez7 years ago in The Swamp
The 8th Amendment
The 8th Amendment to the United States Constitution is about not having excessive bail to get you out of trouble. Excessive bail is not supposed to be a thing, especially heavy fines, or cruel punishments inflicted. Cruel and unusual punishments are not directly specified in this Amendment. It means to measure a punishment’s cruelty or unusualness. In 1689, England adopted their Bill of Rights that prohibited “cruel and unusual punishments,” well before the 8th Amendment cropped up 100 years later in 1791. The first version of the Constitution, however, when ratified didn’t have a prohibition against cruel and unusual punishments, which was not added until the Constitution was ratified.
By Iria Vasquez-Paez7 years ago in The Swamp
The Seventh Amendment
The seventh Amendment has to do with the legal system at large, and how one percent of juries actually decide civil cases that fall under the jurisdiction of the seventh Amendment. The seventh Amendment is about guaranteeing the right to a trial by jury. Civil claims apply to the seventh Amendment as you are seeking financial compensation because you need to sue somebody in a civil case. The lawsuit has to be worth more than 20 dollars, which at the time of the Founding Fathers was a great amount of money.
By Iria Vasquez-Paez7 years ago in The Swamp
The Sixth Amendment
The Sixth Amendment covers the right to a trial by jury, and the right to having representation in an expedited public trial. Jail time means being supported by public expense, so it makes sense to have a speedy trial as a constitutional right. Some people, however, will wind up in jail no matter what they do. The right to a fair trial is a fundamental right covered by the Bill of Rights.
By Iria Vasquez-Paez7 years ago in The Swamp
