Ye Olde
Colonial Quill
Tues d ay, O c tob er 20, 2009
The First Amendment to the Constitution:
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.
We The People
Constitution Under Fire
Grandprize winner, Jacob Remick,
K.A. Brett School, Tamworth, NH
Editor in chief: Jacob Remick, October 5, 2006
In the United State’s Constitution it says “We the people of the United States, in order to
form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the
common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves
and posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United St ates of America (US
Constitution)”. Over 200 years ago the founders of this country wrote this introduction to the
U.S Constitution. Back then their belief was that the people were the most important part of
the government. But now in this country the politicians are doing what they want to do, not the
reason the people elect them.
For over 200 years the constitution has only been added to or changed 26 times. Recently
many of the principles in the U.S Constitution are being attacked. Free Speech is being targeted
by proposed regulations, known as the fairness doctrine. Gun owners also fear their second
amendment rights, the right of people to keep and bear arms. The tenth amendment actually
gives the states more power, but over time the federal government has taken more control for
themselves. For example say a guy in New Hampshire is growing trees and cuts the trees and
uses the firewood for himself. Under the constitution the government should have no right
to regulate his own trees. But a court ruling says the government can. This ruling is a direct
contradiction to the Tenth Amendment of the U.S Constitution.
The founding fathers of this country separated the powers of government into three parts; the
Judicial, the Executive, and the Legislative. Lately, President Barack Obama has been appointing
“Czars”, which do not belong to any of those groups. These “Czars” only report back to Obama
and no one else, which is not what the country was founded on. These “Czars” are also making
their own laws and regulations which do not follow the way the country was set up. Only the
Legislative branch makes the laws not these appointed “Czars”. In the United States we have
a representative democracy which the people have the power for everything. They elect the
Legislative and Executive branch, but not the “Czars”, so why should they have any say in
anything.
We the people need to get back control of our government and make them accountable to the
people. The 22nd Amendment states that “No person shall be elected to the office of the President
more than twice”. I think they should revise this Amendment to include all elected officials. For
our government to be for the people, by the people and of the people we need to have term limits
to get the career politicians out of government. We need to have people who have been in the real
world for some time to have an idea of what we need and what our interests are.
Editorial
Ye Olde Citizen
LET
IT BE OR
MAKE A STAND
Runner-Up, Athina Evans,
Gilford Middle School, Gilford, NH
September 28, 2009
The First Amendment in our Constitution is all about our freedom of speech and the
freedom of the press. But, if this is in the Constitution, then why is there a dress code
on shirts at school for the content on the students shirts? People may agree with
the First Amendment that students at schools should be allowed to wear whatever
it is they would like on their shirts because they did have to go out and spend the
parents money so the parents should have seen the shirt before the purchase. Parents
should also see the shirt before the purchase. Parents should also see the shirt before
the student leaves the house before school. These kids will one day be adults and
the freedom of speech is very limited at school. Also, you should think of the limit
to which these shirts lead too. If it is a horror movie shirt for example and has the
villian of the movie and possibly the victim of the movie on the shirt, it’s ok, but if the
villain is holding a weapon then that is considered inappropriate, and to me it is a little
confusing because the school boards would know that the shirt comes from a horror
movie. But, if the shirt is too graphic like blood, guts and swears, then I can come to an
agreement with the dress code because if there are people too distracted with the shirt
then they may get caught off track with there education because they won’t be paying
attention to the teacher and may possibly miss a lot of information on the subject. It
may be a disturbance to other students that have problems with horror movies. The
First Amendment makes the point clear “thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech,
or of the press” which means that they really can not stop these tee shirts from being
made or stopping people from wearing them. My opinion is that the school boards
should loosen up and let us wear shirts until it is too inappropriate.
The First Amendment
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
Quakers picture of the day
My Future
I am 13 years old and am worried about my future. I do not agree with the things the government
is doing. The government is trying to take control of healthcare, which eventually will turn into
failure just like the postal service, social security, and Medicare. The postal service, social
security, and Medicare are operating with a defecate, which is considered a failure. I also don’t
like them trying to make this country socialism. I think that our founding fathers made this
country the way it is for a reason and they meant for it to stay that way.
People my age are going to have to fix all of the problems we are getting ourselves into. I
am worried that we may not be able to fix these problems. There is a lot of corruption in
Washington on both sides Republican and Democrat. This has been going on for a long time and
they forgot that they are representing the people. At the moment they are representing their own
interests which is not right. We the people have a representative democracy, which means we
elect officials to represent what we want. We have the power to do what we want, its not just the
officials’ choices it’s all of ours.
I think that it’s the people’s job to pay more attention to the government. After all it’s the
people’s decision. It’s our job to stand up when they are doing something wrong. Not everybody
is doing their job. Some people aren’t even paying any attention to what the government is doing.
I don’t think that the United States should make voting mandatory like Australia. Some people
may have no interest in the elected candidate and that’s their choice but I think they should
care. Instead of making voting mandatory they should make term limits. Some senators and
congressmen have been in congress for over 40 years. I don’t think that they know what the real
world is like, so they have no idea what the people want they only know what they want. They
base everything on their own interests. Therefore I am worried about my future and what the
government is planning to do.
The First Amendment
The Quakers chose this picture because it showed pride in our country and freedom in our rights
with the United States Constitution.
Obama accused of lying
In the first Amendment of the U.S Constitution it states that “Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abiding
freedom of speech, or the press, or the right to people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the
government for a redress grievances”. This means the government is not allowed to interfere
with the people’s religion or their right to free speech.
In 1969 there was a Supreme Court case about free speech. In the Vietnam War there were
some students who wore black armbands to school in Des Moines, Iowa to protest the American
involvement in Vietnam. Once the school banned the wearing of black armbands the students
were outraged. If the students were caught wearing the armbands they were suspended and
sent home. The students told the school officials that they were violating their first amendment
right to free speech. The court decided with the students and got the schools to let kids wear the
black armbands to school. Therefore Free speech isn’t necessarily speaking it is about having
your own opinion.
Signers of the Constitution:
John Langlon, Nicholas Gilman, Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus
King, William Samuel Johnson, Roger Sherman, Alexander Hamilton, William Livingston,
David Brearley, William Paterson, Johnathon Dayton, Benjamin Frankilin, Thomas Miffin,
Robert Morris, George Clymer, Thomas Fitzsimons, Jared Ingersoll, James Willson, Gouverneur
Morris, George Read, Gunning Bedford Jr., John Dickinson, Richard Bassett, Jacob Broom,
James McHenry, Daniel of St. Tho. Jennifer, Daniel Carroll, John Blair, James Madison Jr.,
William Blount, Richard Dobbs Spaight, Hugh Williamson, John Rutledge, Charles Cotesweth
Pickney, Charles Pickney, Peirce Butler, William Few, and Abraham Baldwin.
Sources: Matz, Judith, ed. We The People. Calabasas, California: Center of Civic Education,
1987.
While President Barack Obama was giving a speech on health care and stated “This
will not be applied to people who are here illegally,” A congress man, Joe Wilson,
interrupted Obama and yelled out “You lie!” The audience gasped and were horrified
by his remarks, but Obama made it clear that it is not a lie.