The 15th Amendment: A Step Toward Equality

The 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is one of the most important achievements in American history. It was ratified on February 3, 1870, giving African American men the legal right to vote. This was a huge step forward in the fight for civil rights after the Civil War. However, it wasn’t without its challenges.…

The 12th Amendment

The 12th Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1804, introduced significant changes to the process of electing the President and Vice President. Prior to this amendment, the original process, as outlined in Article II, Section 1, Clause 3 of the Constitution, often led to confusion and political conflict. The 12th Amendment aimed to…

The 26th Amendment

A significant turning point in American history was the ratification of the 26th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Millions of young Americans now have the ability to vote thanks to the reduction of the voting age from 21 to 18. Background and Context The campaign to lower the voting age gathered steam in the…

Compromises in the Creation of the U.S. Constitution

The United States Constitution was created through a series of compromises among the delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1787. The delegates, representing 12 of the 13 original states, met in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation, which had been the governing document of the United States since the American Revolution. However, the delegates…

What Are the Articles of Confederation and Why Did it Fail?

While the Declaration of Independence was the first step toward creating a new country, the United States still was not free. It needed to defeat the British Army and create a framework for its new government. From July 1776 to 1781, the Second Continental Congress served as the government for the new United States of…

Articles of Confederation

To all to whom these Presents shall come, we the undersigned Delegates of the States affixed to our Names send greeting. Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union between the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts-bay Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. I.…

How did the US Constitution Come About and Why Did it Succeed?

After the failed national response to Shays Rebellion, members of the unicameral congress realized that the Articles of Confederation needed to be amended. The Constitutional Convention was a gathering of delegates from 12 of the 13 colonies (except Rhode Island) in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787. The delegates were there to discuss the problems…

US Constitution

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. Article I Section…

The Bill of Rights and Amendments

1st Amendment Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. 2nd Amendment A well regulated Militia, being necessary…

The Federalist Papers

Federalist No. 1 General Introduction For the Independent Journal. Author: Alexander Hamilton To the People of the State of New York: AFTER an unequivocal experience of the inefficiency of the subsisting federal government, you are called upon to deliberate on a new Constitution for the United States of America. The subject speaks its own importance;…