Tag: Constitution

Constitution Series: Three Things That Make the United States Constitution Unique in World History

Tennessee Star Staff
Tennessee Star - Constitution Series

    This is the second of twenty-five weekly articles in The Tennessee Star’s Constitution Series. Students in grades 8 through 12 can sign up here to participate in The Tennessee Star’s Constitution Bee, which will be held on September 23.   Today’s high school students may yawn when they hear teachers describe what a world-changing document the United States Constitution was when it was ratified in 1788 and a new government was formed a year later in 1789. But a deeper look behind the scenes reveals the three dramatic innovations the Founding Fathers introduced in just 4,400 words that changed the course of history for the better over the next 228 years, not just in the United States of America, but around the word: A Single Written Agreement Was Now the Highest Authority for “The Rule of Law” in America Federalism The Separation of Powers 1. A Single Written Agreement Was Now the Highest Authority for “The Rule of Law” in America. Two-thirds of the four million residents of the United States in 1789 (67 percent) were of British ancestry. Another 14 percent were from other parts of Europe. Nineteen percent (750,000) were from Africa, the vast majority of whom…

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Constitution Series: A Republic, If You Can Keep It

Claudia Henneberry
Tennessee Star

  This is the first of twenty-five weekly articles in The Tennessee Star’s Constitution Series. Students in grades 8 through 12 can sign up here to participate in The Tennessee Star’s Constitution Bee, which will be held on September 23.   Minutes after the Constitutional Convention adjourned in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787, Elizabeth Powel, a friend of George Washington who hosted many social events for the political class of the time, asked Benjamin Franklin if the convention had given us a republic or a monarchy. “A republic, madam, if you can keep it,” the venerable 81-year-old delegate, ambassador, and inventor responded. Fifty-five delegates, from all the states except Rhode Island, attended that convention, which began four months earlier in May of that year under the premise of forming a more perfect union by revising the Articles of Confederation. You see, the United States of America was not officially formed as the republic of which we are currently citizens in 1783 when the Treaty of Paris, in which Great Britain acknowledged the independence and sovereignty of its former colonies, was signed. The Continental Congress of the thirteen rebellious colonies, convening in York Town, Pennsylvania (now simply called York), adopted the…

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Commentary: Constitutional Crisis or Judicial Tyranny?

Mark Skoda
Tennessee Star

  President Trump has now issued two executive orders temporarily halting refugees from all countries and immigration from several Middle Eastern counties deemed security risks to the United States of America. Trump’s actions are constitutional and lawful. These countries affected by the temporary travel ban have little to no infrastructure to properly vet incoming refugees or migrants to America, are known hotbeds of terrorist activity, and, in the case of Syria, are locked in a violent civil war. Three federal judges–Judge James Robart of Washington State, Judge Derrick Watson of Hawaii and Judge Theodore Chuang of Maryland–have recently issued temporary restraining orders blocking the implementation of Executive Order 13769 and Executive Order 13780. None of these three judges addressed the statutes and Constitution pertaining to the legitimate authority of the Executive Branch to regulate immigration. In each of these cases, we find that the opinions of the court reflected the political perspectives of Left wing ideologues, Democrat campaign operatives if you will, as they entered campaign rhetoric as evidence prior to Trump gaining the presidency. In all cases, the opinions did not address the underlying statutes, but instead dealt with the “mindset” of the government as developed through Trump’s campaign…

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Commentary: Knoxville News Sentinel Provides Former Editor Platform To Promote Left Wing Anti-Gun Propaganda

Richard Archie

The Knoxville News Sentinel recently provided former editor Frank Cagle a huge platform to influence and educate the public on the views of the left in regards to both the Tennessee State Constitution and the rights of the citizens that live and work in this state. The issue this time for the left is their pet peeve of firearms ownership. What I find worrisome is how they exaggerate information even when the facts are laid before them in black and white. Cagle is no exception to that rule and that is not surprising. Cagle, in order to make a plausible argument, must first create the villain and in doing so he must attach as many negative adjectives as he possibly can to bring the passion of the Tennessee reader to a boil. Words like scoundrels, rogues, blackguards, miscreants or lobbyists in the political world usually do the trick. Of course we are smarter than that. A lobbyist can be anything from a group of 10,000 to a group of one attempting to sway legislatures. But of course he wanted you to think the Tennessee Firearms Association (TFA) was out running around tossing money left and right. He wants you to believe…

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