Laine McKay Norton

The first recorded use of the term “terror” or “terrorist” was in 1795 during the French Reign of Terror and referred to anti- government activity (Levin). Throughout history, terror has been used to motivate people to change their behavior through fear. Normally in today’s world, terror is referred to as violent actions that are performed by anarchists to decrease faith in the government. Today, usage of the word terrorist has become common place in schools, at home, and in daily conversation. Although solutions to terrorism are controversial, the view of the American people towards terrorists and the United States government’s actions encourage the activity of domestic terrorists. The Islamic State, or ISIS, is a Muslim extremist group that implements Sharia Law. According to the U.S. State Department, there are 45 terrorist groups outside of the United States (Levin). The Islamic State is one of the most publicly known terrorist groups. Since 2006, ISIS aims to create an Islamic...

In 1776, Thomas Jefferson penned one of the greatest documents of freedom of all time, the Declaration of Independence. He states in that document that, “...whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” The American Colonies believed that their unalienable rights were being infringed upon and their original system of government was being deteriorated. Jefferson once again wrote about injustice that he saw in the new American Republic in 1798. The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions were written by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, and were a response to the unconstitutional Alien and Sedition Acts. Jefferson wrote, “whenever the [federal] government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no fo...

One thing that I have learned is how incredible our Republican system of government is. James Madison described America as a “mixed government.” By taking the positive attributes from each form of government, monarchy, democracy, aristocracy, and oligarchy, they are made into the best form of government for human life by checking and balanced the natural tendencies of each one. Just like government has its flaws, so do we. Our natural submission or rebellion hurts a republic more than anything else. When we say that the government has too much power, we are submitting to the monarchy. The government only gains more control when we give it to them. When people in government break constitutional boundaries by passing unconstitutional laws, they have created injustice. Obedience to limitless laws creates a limitless government by our consent. These limitless laws are either submitted to or fought against in democratic ways. We start to bash the president for creating a bad executive or...

Shortly after the Constitution was ratified, two major political parties arose, the Federalists and the Democratic Republicans. These two very opinionated groups were always fighting with each other because of their different interpretations of the Constitution. This tore the nation apart and created turmoil in America's early years. Because of the Federalists' and Democratic Republicans' different interpretations of the Constitution, their views differed on the subjects of assumes Constitutional powers and a Bill of Rights. The Democratic Republicans held strong to a strict letter of the law way of interpreting the Constitution, whereas the Federalists lived by the spirit of the law. This differing way of reading the Constitution was prominent when the thought of assumed powers came up. Alexander Hamilton, who was the first Secertary of the Treasury and a Federalist, established a National Bank to restore the nation's credit. Thomas Jefferson was strongly opposed to...