Civics: Failed Amendments, The Community Center, Wednesday Evening
As always, there were moddable snacks and drinks along the side table: chips, pretzels, soda, coffee. There were chairs and desks lined up, and another desk at the front, slightly bigger. Behind her was a whiteboard, one on which she had already written a lengthy quote, in blue dry-erase marker.
"Welcome," the blonde woman said, seating herself on the front desk and setting down her briefcase. "My name's Alex Cabot, and this is Civics. I taught this workshop during the first half of summer, or at least, I taught the reverse of it. During that session, we talked about the United States Constitution, or more particularly, we talked about the Bill of Rights.
"I'll make this short, so anyone returning doesn't have to go through too much review, but I want to give enough information that those of you just joining us don't feel lost. The United States was a country that formed when a number of colonists made a clean break from their previous country. They wrote the rules of their new land, and immediately decided to write in certain rights -- ones that the citizens had that the government could never infringe upon or take away. The right to a free press, that could criticize the government without fear of reprisal. The right of citizens to own firearms. The right of citizens to a fair, speedy trial, and to not testify against themselves should they choose."
She stopped to take a sip of tea. "They also left the document open, so more rights could be added as years passed. They understood that the country would grow and change in ways they couldn't predict. Not all of the amendments proposed were necessarily about granting rights to citizens, but a number of them were. And some were about bridging gaps in what the current government saw as flaws to the original document."
"In the two hundred years since that date, twenty-seven new amendments have been added. More than that have been proposed, and failed. Some never got farther than one man suggesting the amendment and drumming up limited support; others, like the one we'll discuss today, were passed by the legislature, and would have been added if enough states had agreed. A majority has to agree, and in this case, that particular measure failed."
At this point, she moved out of the way so that everyone could read the quote on the board.
If any citizen of the United States shall accept, claim, receive or retain, any title of nobility or honour, or shall, without the consent of Congress, accept and retain any present, pension, office or emolument of any kind whatever, from any emperor, king, prince or foreign power, such person shall cease to be a citizen of the United States, and shall be incapable of holding any office of trust or profit under them, or either of them.
"I thought I'd start us off with something straightforward," she said. "If you're a citizen of this country, you can't accept gifts or titles from other foreign powers. Especially not titles. I should add, the United States itself is not a monarchy, so there aren't any titles of that kind granted by the United States government itself. So. What interest would a government have in suggesting this kind of a law? Is this fair? Why was this proposed, and why would it get support? Why do you think it failed? Should it have failed?"
Alex set down her mug of tea and resumed her place on the edge of her desk. "Welcome to Civics."
"Welcome," the blonde woman said, seating herself on the front desk and setting down her briefcase. "My name's Alex Cabot, and this is Civics. I taught this workshop during the first half of summer, or at least, I taught the reverse of it. During that session, we talked about the United States Constitution, or more particularly, we talked about the Bill of Rights.
"I'll make this short, so anyone returning doesn't have to go through too much review, but I want to give enough information that those of you just joining us don't feel lost. The United States was a country that formed when a number of colonists made a clean break from their previous country. They wrote the rules of their new land, and immediately decided to write in certain rights -- ones that the citizens had that the government could never infringe upon or take away. The right to a free press, that could criticize the government without fear of reprisal. The right of citizens to own firearms. The right of citizens to a fair, speedy trial, and to not testify against themselves should they choose."
She stopped to take a sip of tea. "They also left the document open, so more rights could be added as years passed. They understood that the country would grow and change in ways they couldn't predict. Not all of the amendments proposed were necessarily about granting rights to citizens, but a number of them were. And some were about bridging gaps in what the current government saw as flaws to the original document."
"In the two hundred years since that date, twenty-seven new amendments have been added. More than that have been proposed, and failed. Some never got farther than one man suggesting the amendment and drumming up limited support; others, like the one we'll discuss today, were passed by the legislature, and would have been added if enough states had agreed. A majority has to agree, and in this case, that particular measure failed."
At this point, she moved out of the way so that everyone could read the quote on the board.
If any citizen of the United States shall accept, claim, receive or retain, any title of nobility or honour, or shall, without the consent of Congress, accept and retain any present, pension, office or emolument of any kind whatever, from any emperor, king, prince or foreign power, such person shall cease to be a citizen of the United States, and shall be incapable of holding any office of trust or profit under them, or either of them.
"I thought I'd start us off with something straightforward," she said. "If you're a citizen of this country, you can't accept gifts or titles from other foreign powers. Especially not titles. I should add, the United States itself is not a monarchy, so there aren't any titles of that kind granted by the United States government itself. So. What interest would a government have in suggesting this kind of a law? Is this fair? Why was this proposed, and why would it get support? Why do you think it failed? Should it have failed?"
Alex set down her mug of tea and resumed her place on the edge of her desk. "Welcome to Civics."