Identifying and Analyzing Alternatives

1. An everyday problem in a teenager's life is going out alone with friends. This is part of growing up. It's a stepping stone to adulthood. To do this, they must gain their parents' trust.

2. The first solution that is usually proposed is to not go out. Parents might feel that it's dangerous to go out alone. They also might not trust their children when they are not supervised. Some parents don't even hear the children out. The second solution would be for a parent to come with the teenagers. This would be embarrassing, and they might not be comfortable.

3. If the children don't go out, then they will be safe but disappointed. By doing this, the children probably won't be trusted by their parents. If the parents come with the children, the children won't learn how to be independent and will probably also be disappointed.

4. I think that the teenager should gain the parents' trust. They could do this in small steps like babysitting younger siblings for example. Over time the parents will gain the teenager's trust and then they will be able to go out alone. The teenagers could also go out with a parent and show them that they are ready to go out alone by acting mature.

American Politics

Jefferson and Hamilton had very different viewpoints. Hamilton believed in strong national power and he didn't have faith in the people. He also favored a loose construction of the Constitution meaning that he thought that the government could use implied powers of the Constitution to do anything as long as they weren't prohibited by the Constitution. He also thought that America should pay back the debts gained during the Revolutionary War by putting taxes on whiskey and on imported goods. Jefferson, on the other hand, had more faith in the people than he had in the government. He favored a strict construction of the Constitution meaning that he believed that the government should use implied powers only when it was necessary. Jefferson thought that Hamilton was betraying the ideals of the American Revolution because Hamilton was taking away some of the liberties of the American people that they had worked hard for.

A political party is a group of people who seek to win elections and hold public office in order to control government policy and programs. The first political parties were the Federalists an the Jeffersonian Republicans, who were state leaders who promoted resistance to the Federalists.

John Adams' presidency was very difficult for him because he had to deal with and mend situations that occurred during Washington's presidency. He had to deal with the parties that were new to the country and the feuding between them. Also, he had to deal with the consequences of making a treaty with Britain. The French were angry that America made a treaty with Britain. Adams tried to solve this by sending officials to Paris but this only resulted in more controversy and eventually an undeclared war.

Jefferson's presidency in his first term was satisfying for both political parties. The first thing he did was reduce the influence of the government in the Americans' lives by undoing some of the acts of the Federalists like reducing taxes, cutting the size of the federal bureaucracy, and reducing the size of the army. This was in favor of the Republicans. He also let some of the Federalist's acts be like letting the Bank of the United States function. This was in favor of the Federalists. Pleasing both parties was a good move, because he later won reelection. One of the last things John Adams did before leaving office was to appoint John Marshall as Chief Justice and William Marbury as justice of the peace for the District of Colombia. This angered Jefferson because he wanted to appoint judges from his own party. So Jefferson had James Madison never deliver the papers to give Marbury official authority. Marbury sued Madison and wanted the Supreme Court to make Madison let him take his office. Marshal decided that the Supreme Court couldn't make this order to the executive branch. It was unconstitutional. This was a victory for Jefferson and the Supreme Court because it established judicial review. Judicial review helped make laws more fair. Jefferson also bought Louisiana from France which increased America's size as well as it's debt. Jefferson convinced Congress to pass the Embargo Act of 1807 which made most trade with foreign countries illegal when Jay's Treaty expired and America was being threatened by Britain and France. This ruined Jefferson's second term because it hurt Americans who made their living through trade.

The Constitution and Bill of Rights

1st Amendment.
The 1st Amendment states five liberties. The first is the freedom of religion which protects religious practice and makes sure the church doesn't interfere with the state. The second and third liberties are the freedom of speech and press. These are rights to speak, publish, and express one's views. The fourth and fifth liberties are the rights of assembly and petition. These are rights to join with associations to discuss public affairs and influence public policy.
I think this is important because it's about general freedoms that can help a society. It's important that one can practice the religion that they want. It's also important that people can speak freely.

13th Amendment.
The 13th Amendment forbids slavery in the United States except as a punishment for a crime in which not all forms are allowed.
I think this is really important because it ends slavery in the United States. It could have influenced other nations to do so as well.

19th Amendment.
The 19 Amendment states that no one can be denied the right to vote in any election in the U.S. because of their sex.
I think this is important because it is a start to women rights. It's very important that there is no discrimination of women. Women should have the same rights as men. I think this was a turning point in history.

Article III, Section 2, Clause 3
This states that a person accused of a federal crime has the right to trial by jury and that the trial will be held in the state that the crime was committed in.
I think this is important because you have many points of view and opinions that decide if your guilty or innocent instead of just one person. This helps make more sensible and accurate decisions that will put people in their right place.

Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1
This states that only Congress can add States to the Union. A new State can't be made by taking territory from an existing State without consent of the State's legislature.
I think this is important because it can prevent war within the nation. States wouldn't be able to conquer other states. It assures peace.
Images here and here

Early Human Rights

Popular Sovereignty:
Popular sovereignty is when the people in a republic are supreme and the political authority in the society comes from the will and approval of the subject population. The government is of, by, and for the people.

Natural Rights:
Natural Rights are rights that are considered part of human nature and cannot be taken away. The rights grow out of nature of being a human and are essential to human progress. They are different from rights given to people by law because natural rights are universal whereas legal rights are politically relative.

Right of Self Determination:
The right of self determination is the right of a free choice of ones own acts and the right to decide how they want to be governed without influences of a country or outside force. In other words, it's the freedom of people to determine their own political status.

Right to Revolution:
The right to revolution simply means that the subjects of a state have a right to overthrow their government or revolt if the government does not fulfill its duties.

Social Contract:
A social contract is an agreement that people of a society make to protect their natural rights. In this agreement the people give up some of their freedom to the government so that they can protect their natural rights.

I chose this order of importance because it was the most sensible to me. I think the most important is that the government is for the people because that leads to getting rights. The second most important is natural rights. I think it is important that there is a basis for the rights that can't be taken away. The third most important is the right of self determination. I think it's important to make free decisions. It shows that the people somewhat independent. The forth most important is the right of revolution. It's important because if all else goes wrong, the people can just revolt and overthrow the government. Last but not least is the social contract. I don't see why the people should give up their freedom since that's what their trying to gain, but i do think it's important to preserve their natural rights.
Image via http://actagainsttorture.org/photogallery/human_rights_for_all.jpg

Sudanese Woman Sent to Jail for Wearing Pants

A Sudanese woman, who was also a journalist, was jailed for wearing pants in Khartoum. Ms Hussein could have been released on bail but wanted to stand up for woman rights.

Other women protesters that were wearing trousers were arrested and then released on bail. Ms. Hussein was arrested along with 12 other women wearing pants. Some of the 12 women were given 10 lashes. Even Christian and animist south women in that group were lashed. Islamic law isn't supposed to apply to non-Muslims, even in the city of Khartoum.

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She was freed from a one month sentence after one day when the Union of Journalists paid the fine.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8241894.stm