Tag: documents
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The Emancipation Proclamation
After 17 months of what had been expected to be a short war, Lincoln issued The Emancipation Proclamation and gave a 100 day grace period before it was to be effective. I remember being taught that this was a publicity stunt with no effectiveness because it only applied to states that were in rebellion. I…
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Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address
Context is everything so I thought it very appropriate that today was the time for me to review Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address right after reading State Sovereignty and the Senate with its review of the damage to federalism that was a result of the passage of the 17th amendment. The casket of federalism was virtually…
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Lincoln’s House Divided Speech
I had never before read Lincoln’s House Divided Speech. Considering that it came in the very early days of the Republican party it could have been applied to or derived from the split between the Republicans and the Whigs and not simply the nation as a whole. Here is the heart of what most people…
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The Monroe Doctrine
I remember learning about The Monroe Doctrine in history classes – mostly about the interpretation of it called Manifest Destiny. I found it enlightening to review some background surrounding this speech to Congress. In Wikipedia the doctrine is summed up like so: President Monroe claimed the United States of America, although only a fledgling nation…
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The Star Spangled Banner
Francis Scott Key witnessed a battle in 1814 during the War of 1812 as a captive on a British naval ship. He was so inspired by what he witnessed that he wrote the Star Spangled Banner which was eventually be adopted as our national anthem. Today the song is often sung as an artistic piece…
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Constitutional Amendment 12
After five presidential elections in which the second choice for president became the vice president, the nation decided to alter the presidential elections with the Twelfth Amendment. Prior to this amendment it was common for the president and the vice president to stand in opposition to each other as the strongest candidates in the election.…
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George Washington’s Farewell Address
I have always had great respect for George Washington, but in the cannon of political doctrine his Farewell Address should be considered equal to the doctrine of the book of Isaiah in the Old Testament and the prophecy in the book of Revelation in the New Testament. Washington himself boils down the topics of his…
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Constitutional Amendment 11
The amendments in the Bill of Rights seem to be viewed by many people as part of the original constitution. It looks to me that later amendments can be categorized as either clarifications of the constitution or alterations to it. The Eleventh Amendment would fall under the category of clarification: The Judicial power of the…
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Anti-Slavery Petition of 1790
In my study of our founding documents I found this Petition from the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery, signed by Benjamin Franklin and published in 1790, to be rather interesting. In the Letter the society asks Congress: that you will be pleased to countenance the Restoration of liberty to {slaves}, that you will…
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Constitutional Amendment X
Up until the last few months, when states have started to assert their rights through such actions as resolutions and the formation of the Patrick Henry Caucus, I am convinced that the Tenth Amendment has long been the most widely ignored of our Bill of Rights amendments. The powers not delegated to the United States…