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Rights and Responsibilities of Am. Citizens. A. All gov’ts have and use authority over individuals: the differences between democracies and dictatorships is simply the extent of authority. Authority= Executive Branch, Legislative Branch, majority rule, interests of society vs.
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A. All gov’ts have and use authority over individuals: the differences between democracies and dictatorships is simply the extent of authority. • Authority= Executive Branch, Legislative Branch, majority rule, interests of society • vs. • Freedom=unalienable rights, minority rights, individual liberty.
B. Declaration of Independence reflected love of liberty: • 1. All Men Created Equal • 2. Endowed by Creator w/ unalienable rights. • 3. Gov’ts are created to secure these rights. • 4. Gov’ts power is based on consent of the governed.
C. Anti-Federalists opposed the new Const. of 1787 because it did not contain a Bill of Rights: they drew upon their experiences as British subjects. The Revolutionary war was fought primarily because the colonists thought their rights and liberties as Englishmen had been violated.
D. The U.S. Constitution reflects the Framers’ love of liberty: • 1. “We the people…” established the Constitution to secure the blessings of liberty. • 2. The gov’t created by the Const. is based on the principle of limited gov’t, which can be traced back to the Magna Carta (1215) – the gov’t is limited to guarantee personal freedom.
E. Federalism complicated our system of civil rights because we live under two separate gov’t entities. Some rights may be guaranteed only against the nat’l gov’t or only against the states.
F. Originally Bill of Rights applied only to the national gov’t, not states. In Barron v. Baltimore the S.C. under John Marshall, ruled that the states did not have to respect the first ten amendments. The 14th Amd’s Due Process Clause has since been used by S.C. to nationalize the Bill of Rights – to apply them one by one to the states. The 14th Amd says no state may deprive any person of liberty w/o due process of law – the “liberty” it refers to includes all of the basic freedoms found in 1st amd and the “due process” it referes to includes most of the protections in Amds 4,5,6 and 8.
G. However at the same time the cts have ruled that rights and liberties can be limited or even suspended during war or national emergencies. • 1. State police powers are those powers that the state must possess to ensure the health, safety, welfare and morals of the majority and as such, the individuals actions may be restricted. • Ex.: Korematsu v. US
