Today we begin the task of preparing for the junior research paper. You are to examine the bill of rights. When you complete the study and discussion of each bill you will be responsible for selecting one amendment that provokes your interest in the ideal or injustice associated with the right that the document sought to ensure.
Consider foremost the importance of language. Study to two preambles provided below:
Preamble to the Declaration of Independence (1776):
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Preamble to the Constitution (1787):
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.
What emphasis was changed in the constitution preamble from the preceding Declaration of Independence preamble?
You are to make a list of events throughout American history that center on the chosen amendment. Use any resource that you can employ to produce your list. Next, and most importantly, select an event from the list that interests you. Write a thesis statement that represents the essential understanding of your chosen event. The list of events as well as your expressed thesis statement are due on Turnitin.
For example: The second amendment states: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
An event: Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting.
Thesis: Too many tragedies involving school shootings like Sandy Hook elementary school have occurred to continue to ignore the archaic translation of the second amendment.
After completing submit your list to Turnitin
You will eventually write your research paper based on an event of interest to you that directly connects to one of the amendments in the Bill of Rights.
