Test Review

Today in class we went over all we needed to know for the test that we are having tomorrow. We discussed the expectations that we are wanted to meet when we had President O'Hara in class Thursday. We went over what the test will be like and how it will be different. The test will be mainly fill in the blank, and several multiple choice questions, most on the bill of rights. That works for me because most of my notes, and my best notes were on the Bill of Rights. I feel prepared for the test. This class is challenging but I think its not hard to the level where i can't take it. The only part for the test that might be a little bit hard could be the section on the articles of confederation that i didn't get the best notes on. I think i will have to study a little bit in order to get an A on this test.

The Bill of Rights

Today in class we went over the Bill of Rights. Our President/ principal joined in and watched and it was fairly awkward and weird. James taught the second amendment after we went over the freedoms addressed in the first amendment, freedom of religion, speech, assembly, press, and petition. We began our usual debates on the third and fourth amendments, dealing with the militia and the police. Police are just sick so they should be able to do whatever but that wouldn't make much sense so there are just a bunch of rules when it comes down to it. Cops in order to arrest people would need either probable cause or a warrant, and a person in order to be arrested again would need another reason. We also went over the fun fact that cops can use random peoples cars in a chase if thats really needed. To me that just means cops are 105% savage.

Amendments 4-7

Today in class we went over the the 4th though the 7th amendments. Amendment 4 states that the federal government trumps all the states, meaning that the states law can never overpower the federal law, which is basically the constitution. Next with the states is that only the congress can admit new states, the states don't have the power to add a state. States in all cases will basically have less power that the federal government. In article 5, it basically means that amendments can be rectified with 2/3 of congress. This includes the house of representatives and also the senate. Next is that state judges need to uphold the constitution. All federal and state officers need to swear on an oath to uphold the constitution. I thought the debate on if a christian worker would need to have a gay marriage was interesting and wouldn't mind keeping that debate going.

Article 2 and 3

Today in class we finished up our discussions on article 2 and began article 3. The president can appoint supreme court judges, but can necessarily decide who the judges will be. The president can make treaties only with the senates advice. The president has the power to fill vacancies and this sort of can allow the president to make the decision on supreme court judges if they die all of the sudden. The president has the ability to give the state of the union, basically telling everyone what state were in, and also can be removed from office with impeachment. Next we began article 3, dealing with the Judicial branch. I was surprised today that we didn't have any debates, but i sort of like them anyway. Debates to me are a good way to be able to us your voice, yet also get the opinion of the other classmates. Me personally, some of the debates can get out of hand, but thats only because two good points are coming across.

President Trump

Today in class we began with talking about the election in certain states compared to the election in our school. In our school, if one person that's a trump supporter switched to be a Hillary supporter, then Hillary would win the state of New Hampshire. We went over how this election is one of a kind and is very unique. Trump needs to not get any profit from any of his companies, but at the same time he is still technically related to his company since his sons and daughter are running his companies. Donald isn't exactly paying taxes because his money is spread, and honestly he can spend money on tax smart people, that can help find loopholes in the guidelines. Thats why President Trump was able to just say "Im smart" to Hillary in one of the debates. To me when Trump tweeted that Nordstrom isn't smart to drop his daughters line, it was more of a statement as father, rather then as a president.

Dress Code

During class yes, we ddi more then just talk about the dress code, but thats the part that bothered me the most. I don't think the school can make us pay more money for the new clothes they're enforcing. I feel like as of now we already are somewhat strict on uniforms, and adding more rules would just be too much. Leggings are enough to not make the seat as cold, but still, leggings won't make too much of a difference in a cold room. We should be able to wear all the uniform shorts we have this year, and next year, and so on and so on. Im not sure if this means the rule on socks will become enforced, but that to me is the most pointless rule out there. Thats like saying guys can only wear black and white underwear. Different sock colors shouldn't matter, and neither should undershirt colors.

Religion Debate and the First Amendment

Today in class we basically just debated the whole time. We started off with reviewing the 1st amendment, and stating what each statement in the amendment gives us. We then took it back to the debate on religion and schooling. To me its obvious that since the tax payers give fund to public schooling, and not all tax payers are christian, then public schools should not have any religion thrown into them. The only way that private schools can have religion is because whoever attends them, gives the funds to have the school teach catholically.  The constitution included religion because at that time that was something the country was proud of, letting the people have the religion they want. They did not specify a God, so yes it does fit almost all people, and back in that time, there wasn't many attest people. It can be debated today with the rise of the atheist religion, but we are trying to keep the country the way it has always been, and really i don't think it is even a conflict we need to be concerned about.

Test Review

In class today we went over the test for most of the class, and got the last fifteen minutes to do whatever. The test said I had 4 questions wrong on the bubble in, but I actually got 3 wrong because there was no group of protesters called the Tea Party. I made a super super super stupid mistake when i got the question on the date of Paul Reveres ride right, then i said the wrong date on one of my essays. My grade moved up to an A because of the one question I got right, that said it was wrong on the test. I was surprised to learn that the red underlines on my essays meant a good point, because at first i was scared i got a lot of points off because of my points that i thought were great. I have done all of my blogs so far and I'm fairly proud that i have them all done.

Three Branches

In class today we went over the three branches. The Judicial branch deals with the supreme court. The Legislative branch deals with the senate and congress. Finally the Executive branch deals with the president, the vice president, and some of the other people below them. We then began to talk about church and state and how they should or shouldn't be connected. A lot of debates were brought up on how state should be able to teach what ever religion is needed, but also we brought up the conflicts that could come up with doing that. To me, I'm not sure why there can't be public schools that teach religions and theres only so many of them in an area. That would be much better that having to pay $16,500, just in order to be able to learn religion in school. The debate wen ton for the entire class, so other then the branches, we didn't get too much on what we were meant to be on, but i liked hearing the debate.

American Constitution

The constitution was written by James Madison. The parts were blogging on are the preamble and articles 1-7. The Preamble is written to introduce what the writers are righting for, a better government including tranquility, justice, and liberty. Article one established a Legislative branch to our government (the states and house of representatives). Article two establishes the Executive branch, Which is basically the president and other important roles. This is followed up by article three, which establishes the Judicial branch. The judicial branch, I always remember as the judges. Article four describes how the states will relate to the federal government and article five deals with how to amend the constitution. Article six states that this constitution is supreme law to the country. Finally, article seven lists the requirements for ratifying the constitution. The constitution protects the freedom of the people, and the basic rights that us americans all have.

3/5 compromise

Today in class we went over what we did last class and learned a little bit of new things. We learned that the great compromise what about what states got what votes for certain decisions. We then brought up the topic of the 3/5 compromise that is applied to all slaves. The northern states wanted the slaves to count as nobody in votes and the south wanted the slaves to count as the average white man. Slavery was wrong in general and to some extent I think giving them 3/5 is worse then just zero. The 3/5 just seems like they're acknowledging the fact that they're not white men and it just seems straight wrong. Even though the slaves were getting votes, they really would only vote for what the owner wanted to vote for, making the voting almost useless. I think this is a good time to bring up this because it is in fact black history month and I think we should learn a bit more on black history.

Starting the Nation

Today in class we went over the start of our country. We talked on how Hamilton wanted all states to help if one state has a breakdown and Jefferson wanted each state to deal with their own issues. Jefferson's point i barely can understand because it goes against what the point of being a part of a country.  To me, i support Hamilton because if you are united states, then you need to help one another out, like a family. The state of Virginia is wealthy but i they were poor, I bet they would want other states to help them out. We listened to the rap battle in Hamilton and discussed each side of the debate. Over summer i listened to Hamilton a couple of times, and I'm fairly familiar with his story. I like him a ton even though he had an affair, because it takes a lot of very hard work to get from where he started to where he ended.

Articles of Confederation, Constitution, and Bill of Rights

The Bill of rights  was our first ten rights of the Constitution. These rights were our basic rights that American citizens would all receive (really only white men). These rights included free religion and speech, the right to bear arms, power to the states and the people, the right to be defended in your cases, and other basic rights. The Constitution is an overall summary of American power and ideas. The first three articles define where our power comes from and how it is all split up. Articles four five and six deal with our concept of federalism and our states governments, as well as our state relationship to the government. Article 7 relates to the ability for the states to ratify. The Articles of Confederation was our first constitution and stated our states would be sovereign and independent, and congress would be the deciding factor for the disputes. Congress was given the power to create treaties and declare war, and the states could not decide on these. New laws were formed in 1787 by the constitutional convention