The Musical 1776 essays

The Musical 1776 essays The movie titled 1776 is an excellent musical version of what happened at the Continental Congress in the months leading up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The original thirteen colonies signed this declaration and agreed to separate from England thus the United States of America was formed. Tension with Englands King George III was at an all-time high. Colonists were frustrated with the actions of their rulers overseas. Taxes were placed on them, and British soldiers occupied their towns and cities. A few members of the Continental Congress began speaking of independence. In the musical version of 1776, viewers are given a new perspective on the writing of the document. The Movie shows the date of June 6 1776 with our forefathers in Philadelphia discussing what they should do about the adoption of independence. The following scenes focus on events that surround the beginning of this country's most historic document; the Declaration of Independence. It is wonderful how the movie has a historical accuracy. The set was interesting; it showed colonial houses and the downtown area of Philadelphia that revealed the chambers where the delegates met. This brought an authentic look to the show. This movie focuses mainly on the character of John Adams as he tries to pass a motion for independence. John Adams was in Philadelphia for more than a year before his goal of gaining independence started to originate. His dream appears to be unattainable until Virginia backs his cause. On June 7, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia proposed to the Continental Congress the resolution calling for a Declaration of Independence: that "these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States..." Teaming up with Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, Adams manages to overcome obstacles by the loyalists who supported England in Pennsylvania and the slaveholders in Georgia, North Car...

5 Common African American Stereotypes in TV and Film

5 Common African American Stereotypes in TV and Film African Americans may be scoring more substantial parts in film and television, but many continue to play roles that fuel stereotypes, such as thugs and maids. The prevalence of these parts reveals the importance of  #OscarsSoWhite and how African Americans continue to struggle for quality roles on both the small and big screens, despite having won  Academy Awards  in  acting, screenwriting,  music production and other categories. The Magical Negro Magical Negro characters have long played key roles in films and television programs. These characters tend to be African American men with special powers who make appearances solely to help white characters out of jams, seemingly unconcerned about their own lives. The late Michael Clarke Duncan famously played such a character in â€Å"The Green Mile.† Moviefone wrote of Duncan’s character, John Coffey, â€Å"He’s more an allegorical symbol than a person, his initials are J.C., he has miraculous healing powers, and he voluntarily submits to execution by the state as a way of doing penance for the sins of others. A ‘Magical Negro’ character is often the sign of lazy writing at best, or of patronizing cynicism at worst.† Magical Negroes are also problematic because they have no inner lives or desires of their own. Instead, they exist solely as a support system to the white characters, reinforcing the idea that African Americans aren’t as valuable or as human as their white counterparts. They don’t require unique storylines of their own because their lives simply don’t matter as much. In addition to Duncan, Morgan Freeman has played in some such roles, and Will Smith played a Magical Negro in â€Å"The Legend of Bagger Vance.† The Black Best Friend Black Best Friends typically don’t have special powers like Magical Negroes do, but they mainly function in films and television shows to guide white characters out of a crisis. Usually, female, the black best friend functions â€Å"to support the heroine, often with sass, attitude and a keen insight into relationships and life,† critic Greg Braxton noted in the  Los Angeles Times. Like Magical Negroes, black best friends appear not to have much going on in their own lives but turn up at exactly the right moment to coach white characters through life. In the film â€Å"The Devil Wears Prada,† for example, actress Tracie Thoms plays friend to star Anne Hathaway, reminding Hathaway’s character that she’s losing touch with her values. Also, actress Aisha Tyler played friend to Jennifer Love Hewitt on â€Å"The Ghost Whisperer,† and Lisa Nicole Carson played friend to Calista Flockhart on â€Å"Ally McBeal.† Television executive Rose Catherine Pinkney told the Times that there is a long tradition of black best friends in Hollywood. â€Å"Historically, people of color have had to play nurturing, rational caretakers of the white lead characters. And studios are just not willing to reverse that role.† The Thug There’s no shortage of black male actors playing drug dealers, pimps, con-artists and other forms of criminals in television shows and films such as â€Å"The Wire† and â€Å"Training Day.† The disproportionate amount of African Americans playing criminals in Hollywood fuels the racial stereotype that black men are dangerous and drawn to illicit activities. Often these films and television shows provide little social context for why more black men than others are likely to end up in the criminal justice system. They overlook how racial and economic injustice makes it more difficult for young black men to evade a prison term or how policies such as stop-and-frisk and racial profiling make black men targets of the authorities. They fail to ask whether black men are inherently more likely to be criminals than anyone else or if society plays a role in creating the cradle-to-prison pipeline for African American men. The Brash Woman Black women are routinely portrayed in television and film  as sassy, neck-rolling harpies  with major attitude problems. The popularity of reality television shows adds fuel to the fire of this stereotype. To ensure that programs such as â€Å"Basketball Wives† maintain plenty of drama, often the loudest and most aggressive black women are featured on these shows. Black women say these depictions have real-world consequences in their love lives and careers. When Bravo debuted the reality show â€Å"Married to Medicine† in 2013, black female physicians unsuccessfully petitioned the network to pull the plug on the program. â€Å"For the sake of integrity and character of black female physicians, we must ask that Bravo immediately remove and cancel ‘Married to Medicine’ from its channel, website, and any other media, the physicians demanded.  Black female physicians only compose 1 percent of the American workforce of physicians. Due to our small numbers, the depiction of black female doctors in media, on any scale, highly affects the public’s view of the character of all future and current African American female doctors.† The show ultimately aired and black women continue to complain that depictions of African American womanhood in the media fail to live up to reality. The Domestic Because blacks were forced into servitude for hundreds of years in the United States, it’s no surprise that one of the earliest stereotypes about African Americans to emerge in television and film is that of the domestic worker or mammy. Television shows and movies such as â€Å"Beulah† and â€Å"Gone With The Wind† capitalized on the mammy stereotype in the early 20th century. But more recently, movies such as â€Å"Driving Miss Daisy† and â€Å"The Help† featured African Americans as domestics as well. While Latinos are arguably the group most likely to be typecast as domestic workers nowadays, the controversy over the portrayal of black domestics in Hollywood hasn’t gone away. The 2011 film â€Å"The Help† faced intense criticism because the black maids helped catapult the white protagonist to a new stage in life while their lives remained static. Like the Magical Negro and the Black Best Friend, black domestics in film function mostly to nurture and guide white characters.

Paraphrase Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 6

Paraphrase - Essay Example However, misconceptions can arise from such ads that will affect the very lives of consumers. For example, the product being advertised claims or gives the impression that it can make the consumer become as fit as the model when in fact it has nothing to do with how the model looks like. Viewers who associate the product with the model’s great physique will then buy without actually researching further about the effects or importance of the product. Consequently, the issue on intelligent buying arises which makes the topic on advertising even more important. In Charles O’Neill’s The Language of Advertising, he presents how advertisers convey their messages in subtle ways that often trap the consumers in various ways. One of his points is that, advertisers often appeal to people’s emotions. For instance, he explains that in promoting the pick-up truck called the Ram, an ad that features the background of a farm and portrays hard-working farmers is used along with the reading of a poem entitled, â€Å"So God Made a Farmer† (323). Although the ad was simple and it did not use any attractive, naked men or women in the scenes, it was very successful because many viewers were emotionally touched by the ad, having them associate with the American culture that the ad reflects. Another means advertisers utilize is the use of sexual perceptions. They use men and women that are famous and beautiful which the majority would appreciate and desire to be associated with. Moreover, the advertisements adjust to the modern peo ple’s attention span. Since people are often busy, they do not have the patience to listen to long sentences that will appeal to their logic. Instead, they need short, simple sentences that may give them empty and often unreliable information. O’Neill argues that advertisers are making consumers stupid in many ways. For instance, because advertisements primarily aim to convince consumers that they need to buy their products,

Globalization in Morocco Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Globalization in Morocco - Essay Example The population of Morocco is approximately 33,757,175 (World Fact Book) with a mixture of ethnic groups like Muslims, Christians, Arabs, Jewish and others. The official language spoken is Arabic and its dialects and the language used for business is French. Their legal system is based on Islamic law and French and Spanish civil law systems. The economic policies of Morocco brought some stability to the country in the 1990’s but could not initiate sufficient growth to put an end to the prevailing unemployment problems. The problem worsened when draught reduced the output in agriculture and as a result wheat had to be imported at sky rocketing world prices. Trying to build up small and medium enterprises and its continued dependence on foreign energy slowed down the economy still further. Therefore Moroccan authorities realize that understanding the reasons for their poverty and providing jobs to beat the problem of unemployment and improving agriculture are the key points necessary to improve domestic security and further development. To improve the living conditions of its people the Moroccan Government is trying to implement a few reforms in their effort of opening its economy to foreign investors. Their currency the dirham is wholly convertible only for current account transactions. In 2005, the Moroccan Government launched the National Initiative for Human Development (INDH), a $2 billion social development plan that addressed the poverty and unemployment issues of the country and to improve the conditions of the urban slums in the country. (World Fact Book) In 2006, it also took part in the FTA (Free Trade Agreement) (World Fact Book) with the United States to resolve some of the long term issues associated with improvement in education and Job prospects for Moroccan youth. The FTA is also responsible for bridging the gap between the rich and the poor by encouraging tourism and boosting competition in the textile

Eating and Mermaids Poolside Grille Essay Example for Free

Eating and Mermaids Poolside Grille Essay We have all decided to go on a Carnival Cruise line costing us all $601. 36 apiece; together it will cost $2,405. 44, for seven nights in the Bahamas and Florida area. We will all drive up to Maryland, Baltimore using $50 in gas for both ways and leaving the houses at 1:00 pm. We will also eat about $4 to $5 a person worth of food on the way down there then on the way back we will spend probably the same amount in order to eat again. On the first day of the cruise we will unpack and relax until 7:30P. M. and eat in the Normandie Restaurant. After dinner we will relax on the deck till 11:30P. M. The next day we will go to the pool and swim. At lunch we will have room service then go back to the pool. At dinner we will go to the Mermaids Poolside Grille. After dinner we are all going to the dance club on the cruise. The third day will consist of a Cookie Decorating class and ice cream eating contest. By dinner we will eat at Pizzeria which is located in the Mermaids Poolside Grille. After dinner we will all just relax. On the fourth day we stop in Florida and relax on the beach soaking up the sun. At dinner time we are eating at the sushi bar and going to the butterflies lounge in the cruise after dinner. On the fifth day we stop at the Bahamas and go shopping with our left over money, which would be $350 per person. When we get back on the cruise we will have room service again. By the sixth day we will be watching a Broadway musical and listening to comedians. We will eat Normandie Restaurant again. On the last and final day we will be packing and playing a couple of games on the cruise like battle of the sexes. When dinner comes around we will eat at Your Time Dining. On the eighth day we will be sadly departing at 8:00am. All of these activities, excluding shopping, will be at no charge because we paid for all of it at the beginning.

Network Essay -- Technology, Computers

Introduction â€Å"It is certainly safe to say that computers have become as integral to modern life as fast food, cell phones, and sport utility vehicles†. (Joe, 2004) We are living in the information-exchanged age. It has been dramatically changed since last decades. How could this happen? The answer will be network. A network can be anything from a simple collection of computers at one location which have been tied together using a particular connectivity medium (such as network cabling) to a giant global network, e.g. internet, which uses several different connectivity media, including microwave and satellite technology. Once, the network is going to falling apart which will be disaster for us. Thus, we should know what will cause of potential network failures when it happens. Nowadays, it should have physical network server if we require to connecting to internet. However, there is a new technology which is called Virtual servers, has been developed by Microsoft that is going to expl oring as well. For a network, security is priority thing. As a large manufacturing firm which has many factories in different regions, how to keep reputation for their business? How to convince customers that trades are safe? Finally, how to deal with the sensitive data which is the other issue should be considered. Chapter I: Potential Network Failures and Solutions In order to keeping network healthy, it should be monitoring network traffic and looking at the various processes and events related to network protocols, which mean it should be prepared to configure some potential network failures. There are several factors which cause the network failure. The following will be main issues which cause the network failure: I. Hardware In any organiz... ...w.computerweekly.com/Articles/2004/02/11/200073/Human-error-not-software-the-main-cause-of-network.htm (Accessed Date: 5th April 2011) Jerry, F. and Alan, D. (2005) Business Data Communications and Networking, (8th Edition), USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Page 12. Joe, H. (2004) Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Networking, (4th Edition), Published in USA, Page 1. Joe, H. (2004) Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Networking, (4th Edition), Published in USA, Page 401. Robert, H. and Deborah I. F. (Unknown) Causes of failure in IT telecommunications networks, Available at: www.ryerson.ca/clt/publications/papers/ITFailure.doc Webopedia, (2011) Virtual server, Available at: http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/V/virtual_server.html (Accessed Date: 8th April 2011) Wikipedia, (2011) Voltmeter, Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltmeter (Accessed Date: 1stApril 2011)

Hollitz Chapter Essay

What is the connection between the ‘’democratic spirit’’ of the American culture in the nineteenth century and the appeal of insurgent religious groups of the Second great awakening, according to Nathan Hatch’s essay? What role did the American Revolution play in growing appeal to these groups during the awakening, according to the essay? Nathan Hatch compares the Second Great Awakening to the Jacksonian era. He states that the men trying to persuade other people to join their religion was like tyrants trying to get people to follow them. That just like the beginning stages of the revolution, this was a time of power struggle for religious leaders. Hatch writes ‘These movements empowered ordinary people by taking their deepest spiritual impulses at face value rather than subjecting them to the scrutiny of orthodox doctrine†¦.’ Just like the revolution the Second Great Awakening brought individuals a sense of freedom to believe what they wanted to believe. In his last paragraph he writes one of the biggest influences I believe to be with this awakening. He writes ‘†¦they made salvation imminently accessible and immediately available.’ What evidence do the primary sources and the essay provide to support Nathan Hatch’s explanation regarding the growth of insurgent religious groups during the Second Great Awakening? Do there appear to have been social bias for it? There definitely was a social bias towards the opinions on the growth of the religious groups. The passage by Harriet Martineau explains to us readers how women at that time really had no great meaning or place in society and that religion gave them one. Also in the passage by a former slave the slave explains the appeal of Methodism. He explains how Methodism was more understandable and easier to listen to while as the religion he was practicing before he never came home understanding but half of the meeting. Both of these passages can show how these two groups which are not socially viewed as being higher up grow liking to the religious awakening b ecause it gives them a sense of higher self-worth. Do the primary sources offer alternative explanations for the appearance of the Second Great Awakening?

Literature research Essay

I found a lot of valuable information from doing my literature research. I was able to see that many people have different answers on how to combat bullying. I also found out very interesting stats on bullying over the past 3 years. They showed me that each year there was an increasing amount of children calling child line about bullying issues compared to the previous years. This is statistical evidence to support my hypothesis, â€Å"bullying is spiralling out of control†. If I had been able to conduct my interview my results would have been much more valid. Valid data is a true picture of what is being measured. From the interview that I did conduct I was able to look at the views of a head teacher who had been in education for many years so was able to see if bullying really was getting worse. She believes that bullying hasn’t got any worse it is just society now has a greater awareness of it. She also says as there is now much more media coverage that gives young people ideas to do different things to people to get attention. This would refute my hypothesis but as this is of only one persons view it is not as valid as I would like. When conducting my questionnaires I had 10 participants for the adult questionnaire and 10 participants for the children’s questionnaire. This was fairly small scale therefore making it lass valid. If I had a longer period of time I would be able to get much more respondents and get them from a wider area making my results more valid and more reliable My results from the adults questionnaire showed me that all the respondents believe that bullying isn’t spiralling out of control its just society has a greater awareness of it. 70% of my respondents were also aware of bullying when they were at school. My questionnaires that I received from the children showed me that they have a lot of knowledge on the subject. All of the children said that bullying had been around for a long time and 0ver half of them thought that it was getting worse. This could be due to the fact that as the get older they are starting to experience more bullying situations and see this as it is due to the fact that bullying is getting worse. In conclusion my results both support my hypothesis ( bullying is spiralling out of control) and refute it. I found supporting evidence for both of these so I cant say which one I believe is true. My questionnaires and interview are supporting evidence for my hypothesis but the literature research shows me strong evidence to refute it especially the statistical evidence I found. Therefore I cant conclude from my research that bullying is spiralling out of control but it is a strong possibility that society is now more aware of it which may make bullying look like it is spiralling out of control with all the recent media attention there has been. If I repeated my research project to make it more valid and reliable I would do a longitudinal survey. With these I would be able to analyse the changes of bullying and make comparisons over time making the results I already have more reliable as I would be able to back them up with these repeated results. I would be able to gain a lot of quantitative data which would enable me to produce more reliable stats and help me to analyse statistical data over a longer period of time. I could also use supervised questionnaires as I would then know that the person that I wanted to fill in the questionnaire actually did making them more valid. A way of getting more respondents to fill my questionnaire within the short space of time that I would have would be to use postal questionnaires. I could cheaply reach a large amount of people making my results more valid. The problem with these is that they have a low response rate (less than 50%). I could also look at bullying from a different angle, to gain a better understanding of it. I could look more at the types of bullying that happen and the different effects it has on the victims. This could give me a deeper insight into the different aspects of bullying and could possibly show me ways in which bullying could be stopped. Bibliography   http://news.bbc.co.uk

Applied Behavioral Analysis with Autistic Children essays

Applied Behavioral Analysis with Autistic Children essays Autism is a severe developmental disorder, which if left unchecked, can usually progress to developmental disabilities at a young age. The causes of this disorder are largely unknown. It includes genetic and environmental factors. Symptoms may be present from, or even before birth, or appear gradually or suddenly after two or more years of apparently normal development. There is some evidence of alerted neurotransmitter levels; some children show slight physical changes, such as the shape of their ears; there is a strong correlation with maleness and non-rightandedness; and there is correlation with certain genes. (www.autismbook.com) There is a one in nine chance that a child will have autism. Early symptoms may include grossly delayed language or motor development; atypical play; such as spinning, lining up, staring at or feeling toys; lack of peer play or friendships; pronounced fears, crying fits, sleeplessness, or noise sensitivity. (www.autismresources.com) Some autistic children may develop some skills early, such as the ability to recognize letters and signs. People think that children with autism are withdrawn; this is a misconception some autistic children are withdrawn but some children are perfectly friendly with the proper social and communication skills taught. Older children may develop aggressive, hazardous, a self-injurious behavior to such a degree that they need institutional care. Most children develop language, but it is consistly echoed words and phrases. If I were to say what is your name? The autistic child would echo what I have said and say, what is your name. There is strong evidence that many or even most children with autism are actually able to learn as much as typically developing children, when they are given the right environment. Most autistic children have what people call learning blockage. (www.autismtoday.com) No one really understands why autisti...

Understanding States Rights and the 10th Amendment

Understanding States' Rights and the 10th Amendment In American government, states’ rights are the rights and powers reserved by the state governments rather than the national government according to the U.S. Constitution. From the Constitutional Convention in 1787 to the Civil War in 1861 to the civil rights movement of the 1960s, to today’s marijuana legalization movement, the question of the rights of the states to govern themselves has been the focus of the American political landscape for well over two centuries. Key Takeaways: States' Rights States’ rights refer to the political rights and powers granted to the states of the United States by the U.S. Constitution.Under the doctrine of states’ rights, the federal government is not allowed to interfere with the powers of the states reserved or implied to them by the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.In issues such as slavery, civil rights, gun control, and marijuana legalization, conflicts between states’ rights and the powers of the federal government have been a part of civic debate for over two centuries. The doctrine of states’ rights holds that the federal government is barred from interfering with certain rights â€Å"reserved† to the individual states by the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The 10th Amendment The debate over states’ rights started with the writing of the Constitution and Bill of Rights. During the Constitutional Convention, the Federalists, led by John Adams, argued for a powerful federal government, while the Anti-federalists, led by Patrick Henry, opposed the Constitution unless it contained a set of amendments specifically listing and ensuring certain rights of the people and the states. Fearing that the states would fail to ratify the Constitution without it, the Federalists agreed to include the Bill of Rights. In establishing American government’s power-sharing system of federalism, the Bill of Rights 10th Amendment holds that all rights and powers not specifically reserved to Congress by Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution or to be shared concurrently by the federal and state governments are reserved by either the states or by the people. In order to prevent the states from claiming too much power, the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause (Article VI, Clause 2) holds that all laws enacted by the state governments must comply with the Constitution, and that whenever a law enacted by a state conflicts with a federal law, the federal law must be applied. The Alien and Sedition Acts The issue of states’ rights versus the Supremacy Clause was first tested in 1798 when the Federalist-controlled Congress enacted the Alien and Sedition Acts. Anti-federalists Thomas Jefferson and James Madison believed the Acts’ restrictions on freedom of speech and freedom of the press violated the Constitution. Together, they secretly wrote the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions supporting states’ rights and calling on the state legislatures to nullify federal laws they considered unconstitutional. Madison, however, would later come to fear that such unchecked applications of states’ rights could weaken the union, and argued that in ratifying the Constitution, the states had yielded their sovereignty rights to the federal government. The Issue of States’ Rights in the Civil War While slavery and its abolition are the most visible, the question of states’ rights was the underlying cause of the Civil War. Despite the overarching reach of the Supremacy Clause, proponents of states’ rights like Thomas Jefferson continued to believe the states should have the right to nullify federal acts within their boundaries. In 1828 and again in 1832, Congress enacted protective trade tariffs, which while helping the industrial northern states, hurt the agricultural southern states. Outraged by what it called the â€Å"Tariff of Abominations,† the South Carolina legislature, on November 24, 1832, enacted an Ordinance of Nullification declaring the federal tariffs of 1828 and 1832 â€Å"null, void, and no law, nor binding upon this State, its officers or citizens.† On December 10, 1832, President Andrew Jackson responded by issuing a â€Å"Proclamation to the People of South Carolina,† demanding that the state observe the Supremacy Clause and threatening to send federal troops to enforce the tariffs. After Congress passed a compromise bill reducing the tariffs in the southern states, the South Carolina legislature rescinded its Ordinance of Nullification on March 15, 1832. While it made President Jackson a hero to nationalists, the so-called Nullification Crisis of 1832 reinforced the growing feeling among Southerners that they would continue to be vulnerable to the Northern majority as long as their states remained a part of the union. Over the next three decades, the main battle over states’ rights shifted from economics to slavery. Did the southern states, whose largely agricultural economy depended on slave labor, have the right to maintain the slave trade in defiance of federal laws abolishing it? By 1860, that question, along with the election of anti-slavery President Abraham Lincoln, drove 11 southern states to secede from the union. Though secession was not intended to create an independent nation, Lincoln viewed it as an act of treason conducted in violation of both the Supremacy Clause and federal law.   Civil Rights Movement From the day in 1866, when the U.S. Congress passed America’s first civil rights law, public and legal opinions have been divided on whether the federal government overrides states’ rights in attempting to ban racial discrimination nationwide. Indeed, key provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment dealing with racial equality were largely ignored in the South until the 1950s. During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, southern politicians who supported the continuation of racial segregation and enforcement of state-level â€Å"Jim Crow† laws denounced anti-discrimination laws like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as federal interference with states’ rights. Even after passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, several southern states passed â€Å"Interposition Resolutions† contending that the states retained the right to nullify the federal laws. Current States Rights Issues As an inherent byproduct of federalism, questions of states’ rights will undoubtedly continue to be a part of American civic debate for years to come. Two highly visible examples of current states’ rights issues include marijuana legalization and gun control. Marijuana Legalization While at least 10 states have enacted laws allowing their residents to possess, grow, and sell marijuana for recreational and medical use, the possession, production, and sale of marijuana continues to be a violation of federal drug laws. Despite previously rolling back an Obama-era hands-off approach to prosecuting violations of federal marijuana laws in pot-legal states, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions clarified on March 8, 2018 that federal law enforcement officers would go after dealers and drug gangs, rather than casual users. Gun Control Both the federal and state governments have been enacting gun control laws for over 180 years. Due to an increase in incidents of gun violence and mass shootings, state gun control laws are now often more restrictive than federal laws. In these cases, gun rights advocates often argue that the states have actually exceeded their rights by ignoring both the Second Amendment and the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution. In the 2008 case of District of Columbia v. Heller, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a District of Columbia law completely banning its citizens from possessing handguns violated the Second Amendment. Two years later, the Supreme Court ruled that its Heller decision applied to all U.S. states and territories. Other current states’ rights issues include same-sex marriage, the death penalty, and assisted suicide. Sources and Further Reference Drake, Frederick D., and Lynn R. Nelson. 1999. States Rights and American Federalism: A Documentary History. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-30573-3.Mason, Alpheus Thomas. 1972. The States Rights Debate: Antifederalism and the Constitution. New York: Oxford Univ. Press. ISBN-13; 978-0195015539McDonald, Forrest. 2000. States Rights and the Union: Imperium in Imperio, 1776-1876. Lawrence: Univ. Press of Kansas.Interposition. Center for the Study of Federalism.

Recognition of a Human Right to a Clean and Healthy Environment Essay

Recognition of a Human Right to a Clean and Healthy Environment - Essay Example Conversely, Article 11 of the San Salvador Protocol asserts that everyone has a right to live in a healthy environment and to have ready access to basic public services, and that in this effect; states are to promote preservation, protection and improvement of the environment. The relegating of the human right to a clean and healthy environment to states’ prerogatives means that environmental law is neither serious nor powerful in international law, and thereby sparking the need for international recognition as shall be seen in the essay, forthwith. According to Cassuto, the notion that the recognition of human right to clean and healthy environment as the only means by which environmental law are to become serious and powerful in international law is validated by the assigning of this right, a less important status. The historical underpinning of this development is that in the 1960s and 1970s, rights were assigned different categories . In light of the above, civil and political rights were considered first category rights while the second category rights comprised socio-economic rights. Solidarity rights in this case made up the third category. This development has made the inclusion of healthy and safe environment as rarity in the human rights framework since such efforts are seen as being relatable to the third category right. This failure to assign the right to a clean and healthy environment its own category of rights has always made concerns for environmental safety be taken as subservient. Again, the rationale that the consideration of human right to clean and healthy environment as the only way by which environmental law are to become binding and powerful in international law is underpinned by its ability to integrate and galvanize different concerns and methodologies within the human rights frameworks. According to Kurup2, the recognition and legislation of the human right to clean and healthy environment i n turn will help in the codification of a separate rights chapter, section or article. It is also at this juncture that the new right can be made either procedural or substantive. By the right to clean and healthy environment being made substantive, emphasis will have been placed on concerns of definitions, in light of the human right to a clean environment. Conversely, making the matter of human rights more procedural in nature means that more emphasis will centre on the human right to procedural information. It is only through the legislation of this right that the approach (whether procedural or substantive) to tackling environmental crises can be determined, at both international and domestic levels. Currently, there are no international standards and norms that can be used to brook a consensus on the two options. Conversely, Hannan3 advances the idea that the need to legislate the human right to environmental protection is necessitated by the fact that environmental protection is derived from existing rights and freedoms- with these rights being expendable towards environmental ends. This does not necessitate the need to create new substantive human right to a clean environment but implies that environmental safety is derived from existing human freedoms and liberties. In a different wavelength, the need to legally recognize human right to cl