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January 28, 2021 History NotesTHE MASSACHUSETTS COMPROMISEDespite the TYRANNY-PROOFING built into the new Constitution, it was still NOT enough to convince early American citizens to support RATIFICATION. The wise people of Massachusetts demanded that a list of PERSONAL RIGHTS GRANTED TO EVERY CITIZEN that GOVERNMENT COULD NOT TAKE AWAY be added to what Madison had written. In what has become known as the Massachusetts Compromise, the addition of a ‘bill of rights’ was supported by ALL 13 states.Below is a summary of the 10 Amendments added to the Constitution that made ratification possible. These are rights that belong to ALL AMERICANS! These are YOUR rights. You should know them. THE BILL OF RIGHTSAmendment 1: freedom of RELIGION, SPEECH, PRESS, peacefully ASSEMBLE, PETITIONAmendment 2: right to keep and bear ARMS (guns)Amendment 3: no QUARTERING of soldiers required of citizensAmendment 4: no SEARCHES, SEIZURES of personal property without a WARRANTAmendment 5: DUE PROCESS* guaranteed to all citizens accused of committing crimes access to GRAND JURY TRIALS no SELF INCRIMINATION (you don’t have to testify against yourself) no DOUBLE JEOPARDY (you can’t be tried bus once for a crime)Amendment 6: DUE PROCESS* guaranteed to all citizens accused of committing crimes SPEEDY PUBLIC TRIAL with a JURY of PEERS the accused must be INFORMED OF CHARGES against him/her right to COUNSEL (to have a lawyer) right to FACE THE ACCUSERAmendment 7: right of TRIAL BY JURY in CIVIL cases (contract disputes, family disputes, etc.)Amendment 8: CRUEL, UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT outlawedAmendment 9: citizens’ rights are NOT LIMITED to those listed in the first eights AmendmentsAmendment 10: STATES are guaranteed the right to make government decisions in all matters not expressly given to the national government in the Constitution*AMERICANS ARE ALWAYS PRESUMED INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY IN A COURT OF LAW!Due Process refers to FAIR TREATEMENT of Americans who have been accused of committing a crime and to protect innocent Americans from ‘bogus’ accusations.(May you never be accused of criminal behavior, but if you are, you are guaranteed fair treatment because of the Constitution.) Page 2**Seventy-six years ago on January 28, 1945, Russian troops liberated Auschwitz Concentration Camp where over 1,000,000 Jewish people had been murdered with poison gas. Pictures of that day reveal surviving prisoners who were grossly malnourished with insufficient clothing to stay warm in the cold European winter. It is unimaginable that the German government would treat its own citizens (or citizens from other countries) in such a brutal manner! Our Founders knew nothing of Nazi Germany, but they clearly understood tyranny of bad government. Thanks be to God for the wisdom of the Founders for writing a Constitution with its Bill of Rights that has protected American freedoms since 1787. So, what kind of government did our founders create under the Constitution? No, they did NOT create a perfect government! (Go to heaven if you want that!)NO, they did NOT create a democracy! They creased a Constitutional Federal Republic. CONSTITUTIONAL FEDERAL REPUBLICThe Constitution created a Constitutional Federal Republic. Our government operates under the rules of our Constitution, so it is called a CONSTITUTIONAL Federal Republic.Our government is a REPUBLIC because we elect representatives to conduct government business for us. Remember this line from the pledge… l pledge allegiance to the flag and to the REPUBLIC for which it stands…) Our government is a FEDERAL because power is shared between the national government and the states. Therefore… A constitutional federal republic is one in which the people govern through their elected representatives, where the government can only do what is allowed under the Constitution, and where the national government exercises power in some areas and the states hold power in other areas.**Amendment #10 guaranteed rights to state governments not expressly given to the national government.Examine this idea of FEDERAL more closely.Our National Government holds power over issues that affect all Americans:National Defense, border and immigration issues, trade, currency, post office, etc.State governments decide individually on issues like:State taxes, schools, speed limits, concealed carry laws, legal drinking age, etc.This is good because many many tasks of government cannot be done efficiently from Washington. Check the table below: Page 3NATIONAL GOVERNMENT JURISDICTIONSTATE/LOCAL GOVERNMENT JURISDICTIONMilitary, National DefenseSchoolsRegulation of TradeSpeed limitsPost OfficesLocal Law Enforcement (sheriffs, police, HP) Federal Income TaxesLocal taxes (property tax, sales tax)Border Patrol/SecurityLicenses and PermitsInterstate highwaysStreets, Local Highways, and RoadsNational Weather ServiceFire Departments Understanding our Founding Fathers 2 great concerns about this new Federal Republic: 1. Government based on democratic principles cannot long survive unless its people have a firm belief in and reliance upon our Creator—God and lead MORAL lives. 2. Government based on democratic principles cannot long survive unless the citizens keep themselves informed; an ignorant citizenry will at some point fall prey to tyranny. 2 WARNINGS FROM THE FOUNDERS (in simple words) if you want to remain free from tyrannySTAY INFORMEDLEAD MORAL LIVES These words are meant for you and me. Heed them!There are many examples throughout history of corrupt, evil, powerful governments and government leaders who became too powerful! The result was that citizens no longer enjoyed their inalienable rights, were harshly oppressed, and many were killed for expressing opinions opposed to their oppressive leaders. EXAMPLES OF POWERFUL GOVERNMENTS GONE VERY WRONG STALIN’S COMMUNIST RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT in Russia in the early and mid-1900’s killed or banished to Siberian prisons approximately 30,000,000 fellow Russians who dared to disagree with his communist policies. Many in that 30,000,000 died of starvation because of what Stalin did. MAO ZEDONG’S COMMUNIST CHINESE GOVERNMENT killed 45,000,000 Chinese people in a 4 year period in the late 1940s. Zedong is regarded as the greatest mass murderer in all of history. This is one of his famous quotes: “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.” Page 4NORTH KOREA where the government will shoot any citizen trying to leave the country without permission and where the internet is censored. Government spends its resources on its military so the people are very poor. Most North Koreans are small in size because just about everyone except for government officials are malnourished.VENEZUELA—you have read the story of what happened to our neighbors to the south when leaders with neither integrity nor good character were elected as head of the Venezuelan government. Promises of free stuff never materialized as corrupt government leaders literally stole from the people. Today, Venezuela is a country in shambles where food supplies are woefully short and the people have no LIBERTY! And don’t forget the TYRANNY of HITLER’S GERMANY. Today is the 76th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, a concentration camp where hundreds of thousands of Jews were murdered by Nazi Germany. Prisoners who were still living tell the story of brutality and extreme oppression. See the picture below.Know about real tyranny should made you remember the admonition of our Founders…STAY INFORMEDLEAD MORAL LIVES ................
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