constitution

Essay by charlene13College, Undergraduate October 2014

download word file, 3 pages 0.0

In my opinion, I think Anne- Marie Slaughter would be for the adoption of the U.S. Constitution of 1789. After we got independent from the British and gained our freedom, our founders saw a need for ordered liberty that is, liberty under the law. This is because they noticed that if citizens had total liberty, it would soon generate chaos. Hence, to prevent this, laws needed to be made. Therefore, as stated in the book, "Liberty is also the founding commitment of the Constitution, which institutionalized the ideals proclaimed during the Revolution;

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

However, one thing to remember is that in her book "The Idea that is America," Slaughter keeps on emphasizing that as times change so should we amend our rules.

For example in regards to Liberty she states that "Equally important, ordered liberty can never be static. An established order enshrines a particular definition of liberty at a particular time in a society's history- just as our Constitution constituted liberty for white men. But liberty itself is an ideal; its practical contours are continually defined and redefined." For example, " We have made great strides in some places and backslid in others: freeing the slaves and promising them equal rights and then denying their descendants the right to vote or to get an education or a job; guaranteeing freedom of speech but then blacklisting or even imprisoning groups of Americans who say unpopular things; promising all citizens the liberty to marry and raise a family but then...