American Civil War Essay

The founding father most concerned with free speech and free religious exercise was Thomas Jefferson, who had already implemented several similar protections in the constitution of his home state of Virginia. It was Jefferson who ultimately persuaded James Madison to propose the Bill of Rights, and the First Amendment was Jefferson’s top priority. The First Amendment states: 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. It is the bedrock of the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments of the Constitution that define the basic rights of all who live in the United States. It changed the way we were able to live our lives and protect our nation. Our Constitution is one of the only lasting ones in history. This amendment has been successful because it is meant to protect our citizenship from tyranny or any violations of our freedom. This is the first and important amendment because it addresses our rights and freedoms as human beings first. It has helped, along with checks and balances, federalism, other amendments, to keep America for and by the people. We have not changed this amendment even to today, but abided by it. Immigrants have come to our country for generations seeking these very things: freedom of religion, speech, etc. The 16th amendment is an important amendment that allows the federal government to collect an income tax from all Americans. Income tax allows for the federal government to keep an army, build roads and bridges, enforce laws and carry out other important duties. The federal government realized in 1913 that in order for it to collect taxes effectively, and not have to share that tax money with the states, federal income tax was necessary. There was an income tax before the 16th amendment, and it was in effect during the Civil War. This income tax ended in 1866. The desire of Americans to pass an income tax on the rich was strong in 1909, when President William Taft proposed a 2% of big businesses know as corporations. Following this lead, Congress wrote the 16th amendment and after agreeing on the rules of the amendment about income tax, sent to the states to be voted on. Although many northern states did not like the idea of an income tax in the 16th amendment, western states strongly supported it. For the amendment to become part of the constitution, 36 states needed to approve it. The 36th state to approve the 16th amendment was Delaware in 1931, almost four years after the first state, Alabama, ratified the 16th amendment in 1909. The 16th amendment became part of the constitution after it was ratified and since then the federal government has collected taxes from Americans every year on their income. 16th amendment affects us very much. For those who pay income taxes, the pay most of it to the Federal government. And most of our government’s money comes from these income taxes. If it were not for the 16th Amendment, we would have a dramatically different system of taxation, or the government would be essentially unable to function in any way similar to the way it does now. There would be no social security or Medicare. We would not have been able to intervene in World War II. We probably would never have come out of the Great Depression unless we had a revolution. In conclusion amendments have changed our government and society. United States was very much influenced by these amendments. If it wasn’t for these amendments the United States wouldn’t be where it is right now. People from all around the world wouldn’t want to live in the United States, if it wasn’t for these amendments.