It has never been more important than today to reflect on the creation of our country; it’s imperative to examine the founding ideals and principles that our nation was built upon. While some feel that we have strayed from these ethics others rest assured that we are doing right by both our country and its founders. There are no stronger or more direct connections that we have to our founders than the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Yet, they are not specific (or not as specific as we would like for them to be at times). This was purposeful; this gives the world and the country the freedom and ability to move, to change, to progress, while always having the basic principles of the United States close by.
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And in this same vein, we have led our Constitution nearer and nearer to inclusivity, to address the rights of women, of blacks, and of the LGBTQ community. It is due to the general nature of the Constitution that we are allowed to interpret, to view the Constitution as it is relevant in the current day. Viewing the Constitution as a living in breathing document is what allows us to move past the days where the life expectancy was 38, past the days of women being viewed as property, and past the days of nationwide moral indoctrination. If we took the Constitution solely at face value, if we only examined the words and not the meanings or ideals, we would have never moved past those days. Our world and our country is quickly changing; globalization is the inevitability, the world is shrinking, there are now more people to include. It’s vital that we continue to consider the Constitution as a statement of ideas and philosophies and not as an outline of strict facts. The right to privacy is seen nowhere in the Constitution, we only find it through interpretation of the Bill of Rights’ 3rd, 4th 14th amendments. This interpretation of privacy has led to the landmark case of Roe v. Wade and this interpretation is what will steer us into this new age of technology; cybersecurity, internet legislation. These things depend on a …show more content…
Americans did not exists yet, our founders held dear that every person, be it even those whose nationalities did not yet exist, was entitled to these three fundamental aspects of human life. This use of broad terms such as “Happiness” allowed to founders to define what each aspect meant to them, and in turn allowed those who came after, to redefine it for themselves year after year. We’ve used these terms as the basis for our Constitution and redefined them within the Constitution itself as we saw fit. And this redefining is what has made us into a country that values equality, that places worth on the rights of the individual as well as the wishes of the whole. We’ve extended liberty to include those born as slaves, those born as people of color, those born to a culture that existed long before our founders arrived. Through constitutional amendments, congressional legislation, executive leadership, and judicial intervention, we’ve come closer than ever before to creating the inclusive America that existed in our founders’ dreams. Still, it is in times like these that is becomes painfully clear the work ahead. It is in times like these that we must remember that it is all persons who are entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
And in this same vein, we have led our Constitution nearer and nearer to inclusivity, to address the rights of women, of blacks, and of the LGBTQ community. It is due to the general nature of the Constitution that we are allowed to interpret, to view the Constitution as it is relevant in the current day. Viewing the Constitution as a living in breathing document is what allows us to move past the days where the life expectancy was 38, past the days of women being viewed as property, and past the days of nationwide moral indoctrination. If we took the Constitution solely at face value, if we only examined the words and not the meanings or ideals, we would have never moved past those days. Our world and our country is quickly changing; globalization is the inevitability, the world is shrinking, there are now more people to include. It’s vital that we continue to consider the Constitution as a statement of ideas and philosophies and not as an outline of strict facts. The right to privacy is seen nowhere in the Constitution, we only find it through interpretation of the Bill of Rights’ 3rd, 4th 14th amendments. This interpretation of privacy has led to the landmark case of Roe v. Wade and this interpretation is what will steer us into this new age of technology; cybersecurity, internet legislation. These things depend on a …show more content…
Americans did not exists yet, our founders held dear that every person, be it even those whose nationalities did not yet exist, was entitled to these three fundamental aspects of human life. This use of broad terms such as “Happiness” allowed to founders to define what each aspect meant to them, and in turn allowed those who came after, to redefine it for themselves year after year. We’ve used these terms as the basis for our Constitution and redefined them within the Constitution itself as we saw fit. And this redefining is what has made us into a country that values equality, that places worth on the rights of the individual as well as the wishes of the whole. We’ve extended liberty to include those born as slaves, those born as people of color, those born to a culture that existed long before our founders arrived. Through constitutional amendments, congressional legislation, executive leadership, and judicial intervention, we’ve come closer than ever before to creating the inclusive America that existed in our founders’ dreams. Still, it is in times like these that is becomes painfully clear the work ahead. It is in times like these that we must remember that it is all persons who are entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.