Difference between revisions of "Portal:Inalienable Rights"

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The American Civil War (1861–1865) was a bitter sectional rebellion against the United States of America by the Confederate States of America, formed of eleven southern states' governments which moved to secede from the Union after the 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States. The Union's victory was eventually achieved by leveraging advantages in population, manufacturing and logistics and through a strategic naval blockade denying the South access to the world's markets.
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American independence owes much to English Common Law.  The majority of the colonists were English who would eventually insist on being treated as English subjects in that, English subjects enjoyed rights that were conferred by the English constitution.  And the English constitution rested on Common Law.  From the beginning of the English colonies in America, there was conflict between the interest of the colonists and the interests of the English crown and the chartered companies behind the colonies.  Parliament created a number of Acts that regulated and taxed colonial trade in ways that were expensive for the colonists - and, in which, the colonists had no voice.  For more than a century, these conflicts could be, and were, ignored when they interfered too greatly in the ability of the colonists to pursue their economic interests. In the mid 18th century, a point was reached at which one or the other would have to prevail.  In that time leading up to American independence, influential arguments were made in colonial court cases pressed by English authorities that relied less on specific legal arguments and more on appealing to the rights conferred by English Common Law.  The colonists wanted the rights of subjects living in England.  They had little interest in independence until it appeared to be the only way to achieve them.
  
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In many ways, the conflict's central issues – the enslavement of African-Americans, the role of constitutional federal government, and the rights of states  – are still not completely resolved. Not surprisingly, the Confederate Army's surrender at Appomattox on April 9, 1865 did little to change many Americans' attitudes toward the potential powers of central government. The passage of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments to the Constitution in the years immediately following the war did not change the racial prejudice prevalent among Americans of the day; and the process of Reconstruction did not heal the deeply personal wounds inflicted by four brutal years of war and more than 970,000 casualties – 3 percent of the population, including approximately 560,000 deaths. As a result, controversies affected by the war's unresolved social, political, economic and racial tensions continue to shape contemporary American thought. The causes of the war, the reasons for the outcome, and even the name of the war itself are subjects of much discussion even today.</td>
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This portal is the place to assign categories and pages that present and discuss the link between American independence and English rights.
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<p style="font-size:80%">Morgan's Raiders entering Washington, Ohio in August, 1863</p>
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<p style="font-size:80%">Morgan's Raiders entering Washington, Ohio in August, 1863<br><b>This Civil War image is a placeholder.</b></p>
 
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<h2 style="border-bottom:none;margin-top:8px;margin:0;background:#000080; font-size:120%; font-weight:bold; text-align:center; color:#FFF;">Things you can do</h2>
 
<h2 style="border-bottom:none;margin-top:8px;margin:0;background:#000080; font-size:120%; font-weight:bold; text-align:center; color:#FFF;">Things you can do</h2>
 
Here are some things you can do:
 
Here are some things you can do:
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*Write (or edit) a page about about [[Inalienable rights|inalienable rights]].  What are inalienable rights? What did the concept mean to American independence?
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*Improve the introduction above (text and image).
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*Thing 2
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**Find a good image to represent the portal. 
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*Write (or edit) a page about about [[Inalienable rights|inalienable rights]].  What are inalienable rights? Their connection to Common Law? What did the concept mean to American independence?
 
*Thing 3
 
*Thing 3
 
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Revision as of 17:31, 25 January 2014

Our Common Law Heritage

American independence owes much to English Common Law. The majority of the colonists were English who would eventually insist on being treated as English subjects in that, English subjects enjoyed rights that were conferred by the English constitution. And the English constitution rested on Common Law. From the beginning of the English colonies in America, there was conflict between the interest of the colonists and the interests of the English crown and the chartered companies behind the colonies. Parliament created a number of Acts that regulated and taxed colonial trade in ways that were expensive for the colonists - and, in which, the colonists had no voice. For more than a century, these conflicts could be, and were, ignored when they interfered too greatly in the ability of the colonists to pursue their economic interests. In the mid 18th century, a point was reached at which one or the other would have to prevail. In that time leading up to American independence, influential arguments were made in colonial court cases pressed by English authorities that relied less on specific legal arguments and more on appealing to the rights conferred by English Common Law. The colonists wanted the rights of subjects living in England. They had little interest in independence until it appeared to be the only way to achieve them.

This portal is the place to assign categories and pages that present and discuss the link between American independence and English rights.

MorganWashington.jpg

Morgan's Raiders entering Washington, Ohio in August, 1863
This Civil War image is a placeholder.

Categories

Click on arrows to see subcategories and articles.
Article titles are in italics.

Our Common Law Heritage
English Common Law and Constitution
  American Freedom's Feudal Beginning

Things you can do

Here are some things you can do:

  • Improve the introduction above (text and image).
    • Find a good image to represent the portal.
  • Write (or edit) a page about about inalienable rights. What are inalienable rights? Their connection to Common Law? What did the concept mean to American independence?
  • Thing 3
  

Sand Box

  • Here is a link to test article 1. It was created without using the Article form.
  • Experiment 2
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