Constitution

The paper discuses the United States of America road to self governance from hands of British colonialism. First it looks on the war between the United States America and Britain. The war took place in late 18th century when the thirteen states of America colonialist joined forces to overthrow the British emperor. Although the states militiamen were untrained and used simple weapons, they were determined to topple down Britain from America. The paper also focuses on how the militiamen though inexperienced in war, caused sleepless night to the British army.

With time the war seemed unending until reached a point where a deal had to be reached to end the war. The war was ended with a deal being reached between the United States of America and the Britain. A Paris treaty signed in France between the parties in war ended the stalemate. The article of confederation is looked into. This document (the articles of confederation), outlined the rules governing the operations of the united thirteen states. The article outlined the powers of the confederation government and how the states had to relate to each other.

The strengths and weakness of the article is outlined in the paper. Article of confederation was replaced by constitution soon after America attained her independence. At the end the paper compares with other world revolutions such as, French revolution, the Russian and the Iranian revolutions. The British army and the militiamen During the last half of 18th century, the thirteen colonies of North America overthrew the governance of British emperor and merged to become the nation of the “United States of America”.

The colonies regrouped to form one self governing state that fought with British army. Americans lacked trained army and each group of the colonies relied on militia groups which had simple arms and slight knowledge on fighting for defense. Although, this militia had no fighting skills, their high number gave them an advantage over the few British soldiers in the battle fields. “In 1775, America established a regular continental army to give more support to the militia in battles. The British army was about 36,000 men, but within the course of war, Britain hired more soldiers from Germany” (Savas, 2006).

The combined army was huge, but its strength was weakened by the virtue of being spread across large regions of Canada and Florida. The revolutionary war on North America started when the commander in charge of British army sent his men to seize ammunition held by the militiamen in Massachusetts. On arrival, they found that the Minutemen (a group of men from the colonial militia) had been alerted of unexpected visit by the British army. This group of militia (minutemen) consisted of young and more mobile men who were ready to fight British army any minute they are called to do so.

A battle started between the two sides with the British army killing a number of militia. As the war continued, a great damage was inflicted on British army, as thousands of militia fought them, before reinforcement was brought to help them to prevent more damages. On their way to capture Canada from British emperor, the militiamen were grouped into two groups with each having a leader. The group lad by Richard Montgomery with more than 1500 men attacked northern Canada forcing the governor of Quebec to escape. The second group led by Arnold, was not a success because many men succumbed to smallpox.

Although Montgomery was killed, the groups after merging again, held the city of Quebec until British war ships arrived to get hold of the siege. The militia played a cat and mouse game to the British army. They could engage the British army in fighting, retreat and the came again when the army was not aware. The militiamen were determined, courageous and ready to overthrow the British emperor at all cost for their independence. Paris Treaty In 1777, France and her allies (Spain and Dutch) entered in the war to support the Americans.

Her involvement proved decisive when the second British army surrendered to her naval army. “As a result a treaty had to be signed to end the American war and recognize the sovereignty of United States of America over the territory bounded by what is now called Canada to the north, Florida to the south, and Mississippi river to the west” (Bobrick, 1998) As the political support of war plunged, the British prime minister resigned in 1782 leading to the house of common to vote in favor of ending war with Americas.

Signing of preliminary peace articles followed in Paris but the war ended when the Paris treaty was signed between America, France and Britain in 1783. The American-French alliance proved too strong to British army. As a result, British government together with American representatives in Europe began peace negotiations to stop the alliance against Britain. In the negations Britain negotiator was supposed to acknowledge that he was negotiating with American states not colonies.

“First the French and Spanish military were to besiege fortress of Gibraltar, which was the seaway connecting Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea” (Burnett, 1941). What followed is that the alliance was weakened and France relentlessly accepted a preliminary peace treaty between Britain and United states which was formalized later. The treaty was signed in September 1783 despite British parliamentary protest of some of agreements contained in the deal. The Article of Confederation “The article of confederation was the governing constitution of thirteen independent and sovereign states style “(United States of America)” (Ward, 1952).

The article was proposed in 1777 and ratified in 1781 uniting the states into the “United States of America” as a union with confederation government. The article gave the states the power to all government functions not posed by the central government. The article stipulated the rules for operation of the “united states” confederation. The article allowed the confederation to make war, negotiate agreements and settle maters concerning the western territories. However, the confederation had no power to mint coins or borrow with or outside United States. Each state had its own currency.

The main reason for drafting the article was to provide a plan for securing the freedom, sovereignty and independence of United State. The article stipulated that the confederation to be known as “the united States of America”, each stated to retain its freedom, independence and sovereignty. The article also established the United States as league of states united and freedom of movement across the states. In the article; each state was allocated one vote in congress of confederation, the central government was only the one to conduct foreign relations and declare war.

The article further stated that; expenditures by the United States would be paid by funds raised by state legislatures, defined the powers of central government and the admission of new state was to be approved by nine states. The article also mandated a committee to be a government when the congress was in session. In addition, the article reaffirmed that the confederation accepts war debt incurred by congress before the articles. Finally it declared that the article was final and only could be altered by approval of congress.

Some of the weaknesses of the article includes; power of central government was weak because each states had powers, there was no balance between the large and small states in legislative decision making, the congress lacked taxing authority hence could not plan on expenditures, some argued that the provisions of the article were no favorable for effective government, and under the article, congress did not had powers to regulate trade. Its main strength was that it gave direction to the continental army and thus helped to win the American revolutionary war.

Ways that the Constitution remedied the flaws in the Articles The article of confederation was replaced by the U. S. constitution which changed the government from confederation to federation. The constitution is the supreme law that outlines the organization of United States of America. Constitution defines that the government has three branches namely; the legislative, an executive branch led by the president and judicial branch headed by Supreme Court. The document also states the powers of each branch and reserves rights of each state, hence establishing United States federal system of government.

“The constitutional reallocation of powers created a new form of government, unprecedented under the sun. Every previous national authority either had been centralized or else had been a confederation of sovereign states. The new American system was neither one nor the other; it was a mixture of both” (Collier, 2007) The constitution established the manner of election and vested all legislative powers to the congress of United States of America which consisted of; senators who headed states and House of Representatives who represented the lower house.

The executive branch outlined the qualification of president and also makes provision for the post of vice president. The vice president was given powers to succeed the president incase the president; died, resigned, removed or unable to discharge duties. The constitution requires that there will be one court (supreme), but the congress could create lower courts that judgments are reviewable by the Supreme Court. The constitution sets all the cases and defines who to hear the same. The constitution defined the relationship between the states and the federal government and amongst the state.

The state government was prohibited from discriminating against citizens of other states. There must be fair treatment to all citizens regardless of which state he/she comes from. Legal basis of freedom of movement and travel amongst the states was laid in the constitution. This provision was not taken more seriously as it was the case in the time of articles of confederation, where crossing of states lines was costly. Within the constitution, there provision for creations of new states and the congress is given the power to make rules concerning the disposal of federal property.

The United States is required to allow each state to have a republican government and protect the states from all attacks. The constitution and laws of states were to set in such a way that it did not conflict with the laws of the federal government and incase of conflict, judges were supposed to honor federal laws over those of states. Constitution addressed the freedoms of; religion, speech, press, assembly and petition. States were give were right to keep and maintain militia and individuals to poses arms. Government was prohibited from using private homes to keep soldiers without consent of owners.

The constitution required that; a warrant of arrest be issued, prohibited repeated trial, guaranteed a speedy trial for criminals and forbade excessive bail or fines. How was revolutionary revolution The American Revolutionary was actuary a revolution, there was change of power and change in organizational structures. American wanted a change; wanted to be represented in the parliament, wanted to get benefits of the tax they paid etc. It was the result of the war and signing of Paris treaty that Britain moved from America and America was declared independent.

This is a political revolution where a political regime was “overthrown and thereby transformed by a popular movement in an irregular, extra constitutional and/or violent fashion”(Ward, 1952) The U. S. constitution replaced the articles of confederation, which change government from confederation to federal one. Both the French, American, Russian, and Iranian revolution were accompanied by turmoil and blood shade. The French revolution was transformation of government from anarchy to a form based on reason, nationalist, citizenship and inalienable rights.

Russian revolution was made to change the nature of society and transform the state with replacement of Tsarist autocracy with Soviet Union The Iranian revolution transformed Iran from a monarchy to an Islamic republic. In general all the revolution involves transformation of government from one form to another, although American underwent both government transformation and change of land ownership. Reference Bobrick, Benson (1998). Angel in the Whirlwind: The Triumph of the American Revolution. Penguin, paperback reprint Burnett, Edmund Cody (1941).

The Continental Congress: A Definitive History of the Continental Congress from Its Inception in 1774 to March, 1789 Collier, C. (2007) Decision in Philadelphia: The Constitutional Convention of 1787. New York: Random House. Savas, Theodore, P. and Dameron, J. David (2006). A Guide to the Battles of the American Revolution, New York. Ward, Christopher (1952). The War of the Revolution: History of land battles in North America, 2, New York: Macmillan. Greene, Jack P. (1987). Introduction. The American Revolution, Its Character and Limits. New York University Press: New York.

The protection of civil rights and liberties is bestowed upon the government who enforces their enjoyment through appropriate use of the rule of law. It is this balance between the government as a guarantor of civil rights and liberties and the government as a violator of civil rights and liberties that define whether the citizenry will or will not rise against the political structures to safeguard their inviolable and inalienable natural rights and liberties. The struggle for civil freedom and rights has pned centuries, sometimes with too much bloodshed.

With each passing decade new statutes are passed to safeguard and counteract the new challenges. This paper is a succinct analysis of the government and its role in advancing the visions of human rights and liberties as had been proclaimed by the Founding Fathers of the United States of America. The American Government: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights Civil liberties can be defined as those individual rights held and enjoyed over and against the governments. There is no free society that can exist in the absence of civil liberties.

This is the basic distinguishing feature between a free state and a totalitarian where an individual is but a subservient to the state. In such regime, freedom of press, freedom of speech, or the freedom of assembly is non existent and any individual who openly disagrees with the system risks arrest, imprisonment and or execution (Walker 2004). In the context of American culture civil rights is applicable in reference to the Black Americans civil rights struggle which fought for equality for ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, women, gay and lesbian people and other minority groups.

Due to the prominence of the fight for civil rights in the United States of America; civil rights are regarded differently from civil liberties. However, it is only proper that the concept of civil rights is regarded as a subsection of civil liberties. Civil liberties therefore cover the right of every individual to fair treatment from the government. On the other hand civil rights sometimes called social rights specifically cover the right of each and every individual to fair treatment from other citizenry as well as from the local governments.

The beginning of civil liberties and civil rights can be traced to the signing of the Declaration of Independence which stated that “We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal. . . ” This was the basic blueprint for future statutes that would prohibit any form of gender and racial discrimination from the public and private sphere. The history of the United States of America is adorned by brave individuals who were able to stand against the authorities of the day and proclaim the Declaration of Independence even when the prices they had to pay for such confrontations was their lives (http://www.

u-s-history. com). Civil Rights and Liberties Colonial Period Influenced by the developments in individual freedoms in England, settlers who migrated to America had with them the desire to fight for reforms that would guarantee them religious freedoms, give them rights to property ownership and most importantly protect them from the oppressive arms of the government. The signing of historical documents like the Magna Carta laid the foundation for the institution of revolutionary ideals in the new world. These men had fled Europe because they could not be permitted to freely pursue their social, economic and religious lives.

It is not therefore surprising that after settling in America, these colonists wrote charters and documents that established the Republic which was explicitly based on liberties. Some of the most important charters that expressed this desire to be liberated and free were the Massachusetts Body of Liberties drafted in 1641, Pennsylvania Charter of Privileges in 1701 and the New York Charter of Liberties of 1683. The intensification of conflicts in England after 1765, made the new colony realize that the systems of government in England was a threat to all liberties and rights that the new colony cherished (Jillson 2007).

This meant that the purposeful stride towards the Declaration of Independence had a jealous motive of preventing the brimming over of tyranny as was witnessed in England into the New colony created with the belief that human rights and liberties was of greater importance. Apart from what was practiced in the English Caste system where women had virtually no choice in life and men had no option but to be locked in their fathers social class, the New world provided an experimental ground for the revolutionary ideals.

Early expressions of such ideals began to be seen as early as 1735 when in Philadelphia, an Attorney called Andrew Hamilton successfully defended an accused; John Peter Zenger, against seditious libel charges. At that time criticism of the colonial government was unheard of. Through this successful suit, Hamilton was able to establish via his New York Weekly Journal that the punishment of truthful publications disseminating matters of public concern constituted an infringement on the inalienable rights of citizens (http://www. u-s-history.

com). During those early years after the formation of the American Republic, the Sedition Act of 1978 criminalized the publication or utterance of anything that was perceived to be false, malicious or scandalous against the government of the day or its officials. It is because of this statute the Federalists imprisoned Republicans during the administration of John Adams. In recent times such laws would be a clear contravention of the constitution. During this time lifestyles between the three colonial regions in the New World varied greatly.

In the North, where only extreme whether prevailed, small family farms were more predominant. Since life was difficult lonely those who could endure the climatic hardships settled. The coming of the Dutch led to the founding of New Amsterdam. This was later on christened as New York. The Society of Friends (Quakers), who were mainly inhabitants of the Mid-Atlantic colonies moved to Pennsylvania and New Jersey where they continued to enjoy the freedom of worship. The Southern Colonies of Maryland, North and South Carolina, Virginia and Georgia became home to wealthy English Settlers.

These settlers imported indentured servants from England to work in their farms. With the increase in the number and size and plantations, slave labor from Africa heightened to meet the labor demand. The Southern colonies had extremely large slave laborers that a society of slaves began to develop. By the writing of the Constitution, slavery as a violation of civil liberties was greatly avoided. By 1800, the number of slaves in the United States had reached a peak of nearly nine hundred thousand individuals which were mainly concentrated in the South.

To solve the increasing populations of slave trade, the Three-Fifths Compromise was legislated. Because of this statute slavery blossomed for the next 20 years without any hassle whatsoever. Congress came in 1808 to end, slavery and slave trade but the illegal importation was to continue in the Southern States. The Industrial Revolution In the context of civil rights and liberties, the era of industrial revolution acted as an incentive to the formation of organizational entities to fight for the rights of the oppressed laborers.

Labor problems began between 1861-1880 with the entry of newly educated women and farmer’s sons into the industrial workplace. As was characteristic with the industrial revolution; overcrowding, sweatshops, poor working conditions, child labor, extremely long hours of work were prevalent in the industrializing Northern States. In quest of better working condition and terms, labor unions sprung. By 1869, the Order of the Knights of Labor was created to increase the negotiation powers of workers through the unionization of all American workers.

The period pning between the 1870s to the 1900s witnessed violent protests against the ills of industrialization. Unions fought for labor law changes, collective bargaining rights, maximum hours in a day’s work and finally minimum wage laws. Even though, there were a variety of unions at this time they did not cater for the rights of blacks due to the occupations occupied by blacks. Moreover, the extent of racial discrimination in these labor unions was so high that even blacks that constituted these unions were unable to improve the working conditions of their brothers in occupations not covered by the labor unions.

The formation of National Negro Business League which was then headed by Booker T. Washington encouraged blacks to accept the presence of segregation between them and other races while working towards starting their own business enterprises where they could frequent. Some labor leaders such as Eugene V. Debs, Terrence V. Powdery, Marry Harris Jones and Samuel Gompers even fought for equal level of civil rights that was accorded to the wealthy union leaders such as Andrew Carnegie and J. P. Morgan.

It is this initial insistence on equal rights for all that led to the rising of powerful unions like the Congress of Industrial Organization and consequently the pressure to Congress to pass the labor reform laws like the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act with the main objective of eliminating the labor conditions that were detrimental to maintaining minimum living standards crucial for the health, efficiency and the overall well being of the workers. This was the call touted by President F. D. Roosevelt as one of the most important, far reaching and far sighted labor law reforms.

It is this Act that created the maximum weekly hours or work as well as the minimum hourly wage by 1945. as years trudged on, some labor leaders engaged in gross abuse of power hence bridling effort to further increase the workers benefits (http://www. u-s-history. com). Ideas and Movements during the Civil War unto Modern Times It should be understood that the cause towards the full enjoyment of the civil rights and civil liberties trudged on decade unto decade albeit at a much more slower pace even though the Declaration of Independence had specifically spelled out these desires.

However, the issue of slavery and whether one state would tolerate the practice of the same in border neighbors created a heated struggle thrusting the civil rights movement into the mainstream of American theater. During the civil war the issue of slavery created a disparity between the Southern and Northern States and with this struggle a new fight for the protection of the rights and liberties of the minorities began. Prior to the Civil War a majority of those living in the Southern regions could not afford the labor services of a slave.

For this reason they migrated out of the Southern region in search for better opportunities for themselves. Likewise, owners of large plantations also knew that the provision of cheap slave labor would soon dry out, but instead of moving out or changing the nature of their business enterprises; they struggled to promote the existence of slavery. Moreover, the plantation owners believed that slavery was justifiable because it was only through slavery that the economies of the North and the South could be maintained.

Since slavery also guaranteed the lifestyle that was led in the South, Southerners generally held no negative view concerning the impacts of slavery on the well being of workers. This was an opposing view to that held by the Northerners who were mainly traders and small farmers. According to them slavery was supposed to be confined to the Southern States arguing that its spread to other territories was undesirable. They were also of the opinion that its existence in the Southern States should also be abolished.

Disregarding the economic consequence of the abolition of slavery, they posited that if that was the case then is it. According to them slavery was immoral and it should be dome away with. Their persistent call through very prominent leaders, created the fuel of secession. Even though the Emancipation Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 freed slaves, it was only through the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution that slavery was abolished throughout America. The 14th Amendment ensured that freed slaves became entitled to equal protection by the Federal Law.

The ratification of the 15th Amendment ensured that all Americans enjoyed the rights to vote irrespective of gender or race. By 1920, the ratification of the 19th Amendment extended voting rights to women. Even though the Emancipation Proclamation explicitly removed all forms of discrimination, the black population was still subject to discrimination in almost all centers of the economy. They could not even be allowed to play in the National Association of Baseball Players despite their self evident talents. Black players were subjected to murder attempts, bomb threats and hate mails.

However, as the century turned, the 19th century presented great opportunities for black integration into the American society and the solving of women’s rights issues. The dawn of the 20th century promised great expansions in civil rights and civil liberties. These expansions were to be the yardsticks upon which a new nation would be formed. The transformation in the 20th century was so rapid and tremendous that powerful civil right activists took the mantle from their forefathers to steer the fight for equal rights and liberties to a new level. Such Leaders included Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr, and Rosa Parks.

It is only through years of bloodshed and civil arrest that tremendous gains were achieved. Civil Liberties and Rights in the Modern Era. The purpose of the government as a political governance structure is to secure civil rights and liberties. This power is limited to the powers expressed by the citizenry who delegate such powers to the government. The citizenry is by nature more superior to the government and they cannot cede the governments power. This ultimately means that government’s power is extremely low and incomparable to the inviolable rights that individuals possess.

This is the concept behind the possession of natural rights which are pre-existing in each and every individual. Since each and every individual possesses pre-existing natural rights, their expression as civil rights in a society must be in congruence with the principle of equality. Americans by nature of their existence are members of a political society governed by a political governance structure. Through elections, the protection of civil rights and liberties is bestowed upon the government who enforces the enjoyment of these rights and liberties through appropriate use of the rule of law.

Since the government enjoys the monopoly over the use of coercion or physical force in advancing the virtues and values of the society, the protection of the same ultimately rests with the government. It is this balance between the government as a guarantor of civil rights and liberties and the government as a violator of civil rights and liberties that define whether the citizenry will or will not rise against the political structures to safeguard their natural rights. The vision of natural rights and liberties found its expression in the Declaration of Independence and all the other founding documents (Bolick 1996).

Since the United States of America is a Federalist system of government, it is not static in operation. The Constitution which lies at the bedrock of the nation itself is flexible as to allow the Congress, the Supreme Court and the President the chance to institute amendments that are in congruence with the issues of modern society. Initially, the proposed Federalist Constitution ignored the protection of the common citizenry. Since this was a direct affront on the existence of a free and democratic nation, the first Congress quickly made a proposal of twelve amendments.

These were then transmitted to the States for comprehensive ratification. By the end of 1971, ten states had ratified the amendments and these amendments became known as the Bill of Rights. The First Amendment granted the freedom of religion which specifically prevented the Congress from creating state sponsored religions thus prohibiting Americans from exercising their freedom to worship. Additionally, these amendments also granted equal freedoms of speech, press and assembly (Pate & Napoli 2007).

As citizens, who are by their existence members of the political society called a nation, they held some rights, duties and responsibilities. Since the government draws its existence from the people and the Constitution it has the responsibility of protecting the fundamental rights and liberties under the common law. During the ratification of the Constitution, delegates relied on the promise of the Congress to protect the rights and liberties of individuals in the face of a government intent on abusing these inalienable rights and liberties (Strausser 2004).

Despite the belief that the Constitution effectively provided for almost everything in the amendments that were to constitute the Bill of Rights, congressional delegates went on and ratified the amendments that form the basis of civil rights and civil liberties. These two are definitively distinguishable but their distinctions are not usually clear cut and a variety of issues affect both hence their erroneous exchangeability.

The Second Amendment guaranteed the liberty to store and bear arms as a form of state militia who could be relied upon for security reasons should a state of emergency arise. Currently, this amendment is exhibited by the presence of the National Guard. The 1700s was ripe with troops being stationed in American homes. To safeguard the citizenry from any future hosting of troops in homes without personal consent, the Congress passed the Third Amendment which prohibited the stationing of troops in personal homes.

The protection of those accused of criminal acts was enshrined under the Fourth Amendment, Fifth Amendment and the Sixth Amendment. The Fourth specifically protects against unwarranted searches by the government. A warrant of search can only be issued by the court to the law enforcement agencies if they satisfy the conditions for the warrant. If a search was done without the courts recognition of a probable cause, then evidences gathered from the search can not constitute prosecutor evidence in the Courts (Strausser 2004).

In this post modern era, the preservation of civil rights and liberties remains an important instrument for maintaining our democratic health, particularly under the current threats of national security and patriotism. The government as the main instrument of change must never lose these essential rights as these are democratic tenets that hold American as the greatest nation in the world. Every single citizen has the right to equal legal treatment. All people regardless of the fact that they may not be American citizens have the right to all essential civil rights and civil liberties.

America through its government holds the power of ensuring that all nations in the world progress towards an apex of a free and democratic society. In fulfilling this promise, the government may pursue policies aimed at granting all world citizens the rights to fairness and justice based on the presumption of innocence. Rights to freedom and privacy from searches and seizures in the absence of warrants, freedom of speech, assembly and discrimination based on religion, ethnicity, race, national origin, political beliefs or gender.

Since the tragic September 11 attacks, America created a new statute; The Patriots Act, which has been instrumental in fundamentally violating civil rights and liberties of citizens and non citizens alike. That is the reason why, the government and the general citizenry and called upon to engage in worthwhile introspection and stand up with enough courage to uphold age old values of liberty, democracy and universal justice in the face of modern challenges. References Bolick, Clint. (1996).

The Affirmative Action Fraud: Can We Restore the American Civil Rights Vision? Cato Institute, p. 27-28 History of Civil Rights in America. http://www. u-s-history. com/pages/h2871. html Jillson, Cal. (2007). American Government: Political Change and Institutional Development. Routledge Press. Pate, S. & Napoli, T. (2004). CSET: Social Science: Social Science. John Wiley and Sons. Strausser, J. (2004). Painless American Government. Barron’s Educational Series Walker, S. (2004). Civil Liberties in America: A Reference Handbook. ABC-CLIO.

As Americans, we live in a nation that provides unlimited opportunity and freedom that is unparalleled in the history of the human experience. Through it all, the flag of our country has stood as a symbol of that freedom and opportunity. Men and women have died to protect it and Americans from all walks of life have sacrificed a great deal to freely display it. However, all of this is countered with a frightening fact- The Constitution of the United States of America promotes desecration of the flag through the protection of flag burning as an expression of free speech (Goldstein, 1994).

Therefore, the Constitution cries out for an amendment to protect the flag at all costs because without protection of the very symbol of freedom, the underlying democracy will in time fall by the wayside as well. This should not be taken as a harbinger of the end of democracy, however. In this speech, the following main points will be discussed: • There are far too many cases of flag desecration, as will be proven by statistics • The problem of flag desecration will not go away by itself, so action is needed

• Without action, the freedom that the flag represents will go up in flames like the abused flags themselves II. NEED STEP: Flag Desecration is Far Too Common The disrespect that has been shown the flag of the United States, in the most extreme cases, involves the flag being burned. While this makes an excellent photo opportunity for the media, the other examples of disrespect that the flag has been shown in recent years is far more common and degrading than an outright burning.

Specific examples of this disrespect include the perversion of the flag under the excuse that the flag is being used for artistic purposes and therefore is legitimate as artistic expression, such as the use of the flag as a canvas upon which pornographic scenes are painted, use of the flag as offensive products such as the Old Glory Condoms offered online for sale, and the presentation of destruction of the flag in plays and movies, disguised as an essential part of the plot (Chu, et al, 2003).

All of this is reinforced by powerful organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union that use their clout in courts of law to defend those who come under legal scrutiny because of their flag abusing activities (Arbuckle, 2003). Because there are so many perversely innovative ways to disgrace the American flag, the problem of desecration will not go away by itself; rather, evidence suggests that it will only get worse.

Therefore, ways to protect the flag must exist. III. SATISFACTION STEP: There are Ways to Protect the Flag It would seem that the flag should be protected from those that would casually destroy it for their own benefit. So, how can this be accomplished? First, the implementation of a Constitutional amendment to ban the desecration of the American flag must take place, regardless of the weak excuses that have been offered to legitimize it.

The justification for such an amendment lies in an important distinction between freedom of expression and freedom of conduct. The Constitution provides for the right of the individual to express themselves freely, which gives the impression that one is given the freedom to speak freely, peacefully assemble, challenge the government if they perceive that injustice exists, and the other rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights and elsewhere.

However, there is a limit on conduct, constitutionally speaking. No one is given the right to act out in any way that they’d like. Therefore just as one would not be permitted to assault an individual with whom they disagreed, no one should be allowed to, in essence, assault the flag if they disagree with the government, or for any other purpose (Foerstel 1997). When and only when the Constitution bans the destruction of the flag will we see a total protection of the freedoms that the flag represents.

IV. VISUALIZATION STEP: Without Protection, Democracy Suffers If the flag is not protected, it would seem that it would only be the beginning of a wholesale sacrifice of all of the freedoms that have been provided by our founding fathers, protected with the blood of many of our best and brightest citizens, and laid out in the Constitution. It will only be through an amendment of that very Constitution that the flag is safe.

If the flag is not safe, it is entirely possible that from that point the powerful ACLU and other organizations like it will use their power to make it acceptable for other unacceptable actions to be condoned under the guise of expression of freedom, such as illegal drug use, child abuse, and the like. The awful possibilities are truly endless. Simply put if we do not constitutionally protect the flag, a free-for-all will likely result as the other rules of civil conduct, one by one, are subsequently challenged and defeated. In the end result, only those with the money and power will have their agendas-for better or worse- advanced.

Anarchy and evil will prevail without solid regulations to prevent such occurrences. V. ACTION STEP: Everyone Needs to Get Involved Sadly, the ultimate sacrifices that Americans have made in the name of freedom, from the hills of Lexington and Concord to the deserts of Iraq and Afghanistan, are likely to continue as long as the American nation exists. However aside from these valiant efforts, everyone who loves democracy and freedom must get involved in the effort to protect the American flag. There are several ways for the common person to personally solve the problem of flag desecration:

First, support for the Constitutional amendment must exist. Citizens should take advantage of their freedom of expression to speak out in support of this effort. The circulation of petitions to gain the support of others will go a long way to appeal to elected officials about the importance of the amendment. Likewise, soliciting these elected officials to speak publically in support of the amendment would be an excellent method. From the sacred point of view, church groups should also gather together regardless of religious affiliation to make a difference (Wall, 1995).

Speaking out and organizing will be the best way to facilitate a flag protection amendment. VI. CONCLUSION: Summing it Up In an age where traditions and symbols are being discarded one by one, the flag must be protected at all costs; if not, the bloodshed in the past will all be in vain. Sadly, as has been discussed, the flag is sacrificed for profit, personal interests and entertainment- basically, the slimmest of reasons. Thus, the call goes out to everyone to be vocal, solicit flag protection from their friends and neighbors as well as elected officials, and never give up.

The America that our children and grandchildren ultimately inherit is the one that we create today. We owe it not only to ourselves but also to generations yet unknown to us to preserve liberty, and justice for all. The task before us is clear- if we protect the flag, the flag will ultimately protect us! Works Cited Arbuckle, M. R. (2003). Vanishing First Amendment Protection for Symbolic Expression 35 Years after United States V. O’Brien. Communications and the Law, 25(2), 1+. Chu, J. , & Couper, D. P. (2003). The Flag and Freedom. Social Education, 67(6), 327+.

Foerstel, H. N. (1997). Free Expression and Censorship in America An Encyclopedia. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. Goldstein, R. J. (1994, July 18). This Flag Is Not for Burning: Snuffing out Symbolic Speech. The Nation, 259, 84+. Goldstein, R. J. (1995). Saving Old Glory: The History of the American Flag Desecration Controversy. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. Monroe’s Motivated Sequence. Retrieved November 22, 2008 from the World Wide Web: http://www. worldofspeech. com/speech1/monroe. html Wall, J. M. (1995, July 19). Flag-Burning Revisited. The Christian Century, 112, 699.