The Constitution and the Court

The Constitution and The Court

What does The Supreme Court do?

Within the government system of the United States, there are three branches of the federal government. We know these branches as the Executive, Judicial and Legislative branches. While each branch has its own set of duties and rules to follow, they all work individually and together to achieve the same goal, keeping the nation safe and in order. One of the most important components of the federal system of government are the courts and more specifically here for our purposes, the Supreme Court. 

The Supreme Court of the United States is known to be the most powerful Judicial body in the world. The Supreme Court works hand in hand with the Constitution in order to follow the morals and laws set forth by this ancient document. According to the History Channel, “The Constitution of the United States established America’s national government and fundamental laws, and guaranteed certain basic rights for its citizens”.  With this precedent in mind, the Supreme Court and its justices works constantly to do just that and to set this nation up for success in how it operates. 

Being a part of the Supreme Court allows nine justices to serve at once, all for varying amounts of time, even if they outlast the president who appointed them. The job is not one to take lightly and certainly not one for the faint of heart. Each justice gets a small staff of law clerks and secretaries to work collectively with them for deciding cases they receive. These justices hold a lot of power in that they come up with boundaries and rules for governmental power and further they are responsible for telling the states and even the president what they can and cannot do. They even have the power to completely strike down an act of Congress, assuming they are able to call it unconstitutional. 

The Supreme Court stays extremely busy receiving approximately one hundred cases every week and about seven thousand per year. However, a lot of these cases are ones that arrive as petitions for certiorari. This means the Supreme Court is presented with a written argument attempting to convince the court that a ruling at a lower court was incorrect and should be revisited. In an effort to keep them working at a reasonable rate, the court usually accepts only some of those cases for full consideration, an estimated one hundred per year. The goal of this really is so that every gets equal representation and consideration, regardless of things like status. Supreme Court Justices themselves even say that their job is a lot more difficult and just a lot different that of the president or other branches. Instead of meeting and coming up with and addressing problems in the nation, they essentially wait for the people to bring these problems and concerns to the courts. 

It is clear that the Supreme Courts holds a significant amount of power as a whole and there are a lot of components to accomplishing a job such as theirs. Even though we are moving through history every day, the court finds a way to not only still rely on a 200 year old document but they do so while juggling the happiness and trust of the American people. It has taken many years for the court to get where the supreme  it is today and it would not be possible without these justices taking into account the time and effort past justices have put in to make this court what it is today for our nation. As stated by Justice Souter, “Most people are willing to accept the fact that the court tries to play it safe. That acceptance haas been built up by the preceding hundred justices of this court, going back to the beginning. We are in fact trading on the good faith and the conscientiousness of the justices who went before us. The power of the court is the power of the trust earned- the trust of the American people”.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_United_States

https://www.history.com/topics/united-states-constitution/constitution

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca8qSuWxcG8&t=622s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWRoXYRsaeo

The Frederick Douglass Game: William Lloyd Garrison

 The Frederick Douglass Game

William Lloyd Garrison

What follows is a summary and biography on historical figure William Lloyd Garrison. Born in 1805 in Massachusetts, Garrison was born into a very poor family, having to work for everything he wanted in life. By the age of 13, he began working for his first job at the Newburyport Herald gaining experience as a writer and editor. From there, he decided he wanted to be part of the Abolition Movement at age 25 where he decided to join the American Colonization Society. What were William Lloyd Garrison's views on slavery and what did the rest of his life look like as a result?

"My name is William Lloyd Garrison. In 1805, I was born in Massachusetts to my mother and father who were living in poverty. By my teenage years, I began working for a newspaper called Newbury Herald which sparked my interest in writing and editing. From there I joined the Abolitionist Movement and became part of the American Colonization Society. When slavery first came to be, I immediately knew I was against it. In fact, that was why I joined the American Colonization Society, however I quickly realized their ideals were not the same as mine and I eventually left the group. At first, like myself they were anti-slavery, promoting the freedom of blacks, but like much of society, many of them really believed in reducing the number of free blacks in this nation. I organized what became known as the New England Anti-Slavery Society in 1832 and helped found the American Anti-Slavery Society. I came to believe that colonization was a catalyst of the paralysis of the anti-slavery movement which I spoke about that year in Thoughts on African Colonization. This is what kickstarted the rest of my career as a strong-willed abolitionist. 

After some further exploration with some other papers, I started my own paper, The Liberator, first published January 1, 1831. Now, before I continue, let me make clear my views on the disgusting acts we call slavery. I fully believe in the immediate emancipation of all slaves with NO compensation to slaveholders, all blacks being freed completely and allowed to become a part of society as equals. They, too, are entitled to the country’s life, liberty and happiness! I was never quiet about the way I felt about slavery, in fact I made sure to make my voice heard in every issue of my paper. Because of this I was often attacked, both verbally and physically, lynched, but why would I ever let that slow me down? I prefer to be nonviolent unlike those radicals. Talking to the people and discussing my views allows me to persuade them just as well. Though I did use verbal persuasion, this also became written persuasion which had me imprisoned many times for a few of my writings. I was jailed, indicted for “the provoking of slave revolts” and even had some offered large sums of money for my capture and murder. None of it ever slowed me down.

A major problem here is our very own Constitution. When you really read it and understand its points, you can clearly see it is a proslavery document! Apparently this was not much of a shared view as I became alienated from politics almost entirely because of that point I made. And so then I simply refused to vote until the government sanctioned slavery. It was at this time I discovered a dear colleague of mine who had just escaped in Massachusetts. He and I were able to join together to go around and speak to people while he shared his experiences in order to try to influence more to believe in the emancipation of slaves and the abolishment of slavery! I found that Douglass believed just as I did. Neither of us went to show our support of the Civil War until the Emancipation Proclamation came out in 1863. However, while the release of this document should have been a positive, it seemed to not fully be so. 

Frederick and I found that after the publishing of this document, the people showed their opinions loud and clear that they did not believe in achieving equality among races, as we had been trying to persuade them. Rather, they seemed to discriminate against them even more at times. As time went on, people adjusted to the idea of blacks being equals in our society and things started to get a little better in our society. Forever with few dollars in my pocket, I spent 35 years continuing to voice my opinions loud and clear in my paper all the way until the 13th amendment came to be and they finally abolished slavery in 1865. While we are nowhere near finished in making this country an equal place, I’d say this is a great start."

Sources:

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p1561.html

https://www.nationalabolitionhalloffameandmuseum.org/william-lloyd-garrison.html

https://www.nps.gov/people/william-lloyd-garrison.htm

http://www.crusadeforthevote.org/garrison

https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Lloyd-Garrison

https://www.masshist.org/beehiveblog/2022/07/eyewitnesses-to-history-the-attack-on-william-lloyd-garrison/

Bible Team Challenge

Bible Team Challenge

Slavery: Morally Wrong or Perfectly Fine?

The age old question that has affected religion for years, still rings to this day. How did religions feel on the topic of slavery? Some religions argued for slavery, saying the Bible contained little evidence of being against slavery. Others, however, made claims to be against  it. The research conducted was based on how all religions felt about the labor system of slavery, as a whole and how those views have changed over time.  

Arguments for Slavery

The traditional religion of Christianity has felt and viewed slavery as acceptable. The first example of slavery being accepted is found in a novel by J Edgar Godspeed. In his writing he says that from the words of Paul, “You who are masters must treat your slaves justly, and fairly, and remember that you have a master, too, in heaven.” The quote from Paul does not explicitly denounce slavery. However it is viewed as acceptable, because he just says to treat enslaved people with respect. 

The religious people of Christianity who are Caucasian were set in their ways making the argument that people who are against slavery known as abolitionists were going against God’s rule. According to the old distraction slur article “abolitionists as opponents of American salvation. It is sobering to realize that the greatest threat to abolition was not the 19th century version of alt-right White supremacists. It was those that were conversionists, the moderate White Christians.” However in the context stated above about White people being threats to abolition, it’s the opposite of how Black people in the 19th century thought. Black people of the 19th century have used the bible in anti-slavery arguments which stands as stated according to the old distraction slur article “and yet, Black thinkers, among others, have been challenging systemic racism from scripture for centuries.’’ There are several layers of irony, does God condone rape, and brutal treatment of others, does God condone lynchings and hangings, does God condone homicide? Questions that seem to be conveniently ignored when applying the bible to Christianity as a religion. 

In closing, the above arguments have showed that the first hypothesis of all religions condoned slavery. The condoning of slavery has validated the support from a religious standpoint to benefit the slave owner. The religion of Christianity was accepting of slavery, because it could have been used for gaining financial mean.

        

“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, there is neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”-Galatians 3:28

 

Arguments Against Slavery

In terms of the traditional religion of Christianity, there is evidence from the Bible itself that shows us that there was also condemnation of slavery occurring during this time. As a matter of fact, as shown in Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, there is neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”. The Christian faith, in some ways, did not believe in people being less or being equals, but rather that we all be one under our Lord Jesus Christ. Slavery goes against God’s intent for creation, in some ways, for his people, hence many harsh views against it. 

In Genesis 9:6, we hear, “Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind”. While it is argued that this verse establishes the use and idea of capital punishment, this clearly displays the idea of treating others equally and fairly. Slavery was not something viewed as insignificant, but rather in the bible it was a big deal and a major topic of discussion. This becomes even more abundantly clear in Exodus 21:16. “Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death”. This, therefore, would condemn the ideas of slavery. 

Where Are We NOW?

At the beginning of the slave trade, beliefs were different all over the world. Generally speaking, when you take a look at the bible and its scripture, you can clearly see this for yourself. In Christianity slave holders could not call themselves Christian unless they wanted to be considered as those who sin. It was wrong, immoral and unjust. Over time, the different views on slavery led to an uproar in our nation over the emancipation of slaves. As time went on, people just became more educated, more informed and more passionate about the concept. While between religions, the definition of slavery did vary, it all led to and meant the same thing. It wasn’t until decades later that people found ways to make their own judgments and form opinions on slavery, which eventually led to the argument against slavery and the eventual emancipation of slaves.  

In closing, the above arguments have showed that the first hypothesis of all religions condoning slavery at one point has checked out, and was true for the religion of Christianity at the time. The religion of Christianity was accepting of slavery, as they believed it was the rule of the Lord. Christianity was not, however, completely accepting and condoning slavery, rather they also found ways to condemn it. Finally, in closing research has shown that the religion of Christianity accepted slavery but also had arguments and views against it

 

 

Sources:

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2019/01/a-harvard-exhibit-on-slavery-and-christianity/

The old "distraction" slur: The logic of slaveholding religion lives on. - Document - Gale Power Search

Paul and Slavery on JSTOR

https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/slavery/experience/religion/history.html