Bill of Rights

How a Student's C-Paper Led to the Ratification of the Bill of Rights 27th Amendment After 200 Years
Current Events and History

How a Student’s C-Graded Paper Led to the Ratification of the Bill of Rights 27th Amendment After Two Hundred Years

08/24/2024 Bruce Strom 0

This original Bill of Rights amendment was mostly forgotten until nineteen-year-old Gregory Watson submitted a paper in a government class at the University of Texas suggesting that this amendment could still be successfully ratified. Although subsequent amendments usually included a deadline for ratification, the original Bill of Rights amendments had no deadline. The teacher’s assistant grading his paper ridiculed his research, saying that ratification would be totally implausible, giving the paper a C grade. He appealed the grade to the course instructor, Sharon Waite, who sided with the hapless teacher’s assistant. […]

States' Rights v Federal Power From the Nation's Founding to Civil War, Jim Crow, and Civil Rights Movement
Civil Rights

States’ Rights v Federal Power From the Nation’s Founding to Civil War, Jim Crow, and Civil Rights Movement

08/23/2024 Bruce Strom 1

The Constitution was drafted to correct the many weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation. Congressmen now swear allegiance to the United States rather than to their native states, as was done under the Articles. The Constitution grants the Federal government not only the power to levy taxes, but also to collect them, as well as sole control over trade and commerce. The Constitution establishes a Federal court system that can override state court decisions if there is a conflict. The US Congress, unlike the Confederation Congress, can pass routine legislation with a simple majority vote. […]