DECLARATION OF THE AMERICAN RIGHTS

Declaration of the American rights

Taking as a starting point three fundamental texts  —the Large Charter, the Petition of right, and the American Declaration of the rights of 1774 — and indicating the first ten amendments of the Constitution of the United States, the Declaration of the rights (or  Bill of Rights) guarantees the safeguard of the individual rights against any attempt of ascribable restriction on the federal government, by ensuring the intangibility of the existing rights.

The Bill of Rights  or the first ten amendments with the Constitution of the United States (1791)

Article the first —Congress will not make any law which touches the establishment or prohibits the free exercise of a religion, nor which restricts the freedom of the word or the press, or the right which have the people to be assembled peacefully and to address petitions to the government for the rectification of its objections.

Art. 2 —a well ordered militia being necessary to the safety of a free State, the right which have the people to hold and to carry weapons will not be violated.

Art. 3 —No soldier will be, in time of peace, placed in a house without the assent of the owner, nor in times of war, if it is not in the way prescribed by the law.

Art. 4 —the civil right to be guaranteed in their person, residence, papers and effects, counters the searchings and unreasonable seizures will not be violated, and no mandate will be delivered, if it is not on probable cause, corroborated by oath or assertion, nor without it particularly describing the place to excavate and people or things to be seized.

Art. 5 —No one will not be put in judgement for a capital or differently defamatory crime, if it is not on declaration of committal for trial  (presentment)  or bill of indictment  (indictment)  presented by a large jury, except for the cases occurring in the sea or Army, or in the militia, when this one is in activity of service in times of war or public menace. No one will not be put twice in danger of life or member for same offence. No one will not be held to testify against itself in a criminal business. No one will not be private of life, freedom or property without regular legal procedure. Null private property will not be taken for public use without right allowance.

Art. 6 —In all the criminal continuations, the defendant will have the right to be judged promptly and publicly by an impartial jury of the State and district where the crime will have been committed  —the district having been beforehand delimited by the law — to be informed of the nature and the cause of the charge, to be confronted with the witnesses for the prosecution, to require by legal means the appearance of witnesses for the defence, and to be assisted by a council for its defense.

Art. 7 —In the lawsuits of common law  (common law)  where the value in litigation will exceed twenty dollars, right to the judgement by jury will be observed, and no fact judged by a jury will be examined again in a court of the United States differently than according to rules' of the "common law".

Art. 8 —Of the excessive guarantees will be required, neither of the imposed excessive fines, nor of the cruel and uncommon punishments inflicted.

Art. 9 —the enumeration, in the Constitution, certain rights will not be interpreted like denying or depreciating the other rights which the people would have retained.

Art. the 10 —powers which are not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor refused by it in the States, are reserved for the States respectively, or to the people.

Source:  The United States of America, a government by the people,  State Department, booklet resulting from the Naturalization and Immigration department from the Department of Justice, the United States.

Declaration of the rights (the United States)

Declaration of the rights (the United States), name given to the first ten amendments of the Constitution of the United States.

The first ten amendments guarantee the safeguard of the individual rights against any attempt of ascribable restriction on the federal government and ensure the intangibility of the existing rights. These provisions find their origin in three fundamental texts: the Large Charter, the Petition of right, and the American Declaration of the rights of 1774.

Virginia, in 1776, then Massachusetts, in 1780, had included declarations of rights in their constitutions of origin; these two States, joined by those of New York and Pennsylvania, refused to ratify the new Constitution as long as this one had not been amended in the direction of the protection of the individuals. In 1790, the Congress submitted twelve amendments to the vote of the States; ten of them were adopted in 1791, and form articles 1 to 10 of the Constitution of the United States.

WARS OF RELIGION

wars of religion

One calls "wars of religion" the long conflict which took place in France to  the xvi ^E century  between the Christians, divided between catholics and Protestants.

WHY CHRISTIANS OPPOSED Are?

Before the Protestant Reform, the religion of the kingdom of France was that of the king, i.e. the catholic religion. Starting from the introduction of Protestantism in France,  two religions  cohabit and certain catholics see there a threat against the unit of the kingdom.

Initially reconciling, the king François I ^er  undertakes to fight against the Protestants after the business of the Wall cupboards: in 1534, posters (called wall cupboards) against the mass were hung on the door of its room. Following François I ^er, the kings of France continue the combat against what they call from now on "the heresy ".

WHICH ARE THE PRINCIPAL STAGES OF THE WARS OF RELIGION?

In 1562, the conflict becomes soldier and, until 1598,  eight wars  tear the country: they are the wars of religion. They oppose the catholics to the Protestants, called the huguenots. This violence culminates with  the massacre of Saint-Barthélemy: in the night from the 23 to August 24, 1572, the queen  Catherine de Médicis  makes assassinate more than 3 000 Protestants in Paris.

The religious conflict degenerates into  civil war  and the king Henri III is assassinated in 1589. Its successor, Henri de Navarre (who is Protestant) converts with Catholicism to bring back peace. He is made crown king under the name of Henri IV.

Confronted with the extremists of the two camps (in particular the Holy catholic League),  Henri IV  succeeds in putting an end to the wars of religion thanks to the promulgation of the edict of Nantes  in 1598.

What the EDICT OF NANTES?

The edict of Nantes of 1598 founds  the freedom of the everywhere protesting  worship where it was practised before, except in Paris and in the royal residences. The already Protestant areas can thus remain it, but Protestantism cannot develop any more. In addition, the edict of Nantes returns their civic rights to reformed and a certain number of places of  safety grants to them  (of the strengthened cities) where they will be able to be protected.

The edict of Nantes institutes a new policy of  tolerance, exceptional in Europe.

WHAT IS THAT A DRAGONNADE?

Although it is more or less well accepted (Henri IV dies in 1610, assassinated by a catholic fanatic), the edict of Nantes brings back peace in the kingdom of France. However, during  the xvii ^E century, the most enthusiastic catholics make pressure on the kings of France so that they denounce this edict.

Sensitive to these pressures,  Louis XIV  multiplies vexatious measurements against the Protestants of the South. He sends  to regiments  of dragons in the South These soldiers, who are placed at the inhabitant (at the time there were not barracks), are systematically confined in Protestant families where they are devoted to exactions: it is what is called  the dragonnades.

WHY the EDICT OF NANTES Is REVOKED?

Many Protestants prefer to convert with Catholicism rather than to have to place dragons on their premises. At once, fascinating pretext of the multiplication of these  forced conversions, Louis XIV decides that the provisions envisaged by the edict of Nantes do not take place any more to exist since there are not (apparently) more Protestants in France. In 1685, it cancels the edict of Nantes.

This Revocation of the Edict of Nantes  causes the exile  of almost 200 000 French Protestants who refuse to convert with Catholicism; they flee mainly towards Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and England. In the Cevennes, a Protestant revolt bursts and Louis XIV is obliged to send the royal army against  the camisards.

To the xviii ^E century, the tolerance towards the Protestants develops but it is necessary to await the French revolution so that their religion is recognized with whole share.

TO GO FURTHER

? the Reform and Counter-Reformation
? Christianity
? absolutism of Louis XIV
? characters:  François I ^er –Catherine de Médicis –Henri IV –Louis XIV

? interactivity:  chronology of modern Times

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THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

the American Civil War

The American Civil War is  a civil war which opposed, in  the United States,  the States of North in the States of the South, between 1861 and 1865.

CAUSES OF THE WAR

The United States, born one century earlier, is still a young country when the American Civil War bursts. The population is then 30 million inhabitants (ten times less than today).

? The States of North, accounting for 2/3 of the population,  are very urbanized: their economy is based on industry  and the trade.

? The States of the South, accounting for 1/3 of the population, live for their part almost exclusively of agriculture. The majority of the world production of cotton comes from their  plantations  (large exploitations), where the tobacco and the cane with sugar are also cultivated. The agricultural workers of these plantations are  slaves  (approximately 4 million people): they are the property of their Masters, do not perceive any wages, and are simply placed and nourished.

Little by little, the idea of the abolition of slavery is essential in North. In the South, the landowners are completely against, applicant who slavery is essential to their economy. The question could have been solved as follows: North abolishes slavery and the South maintains it. But the things are not so simple bus the United States are then in full conquest of the West. Between 1815 and 1850, on average a new State is created every three years. Will these States be slave or free trade? The partisans of the two camps clash on this question.

UNFOLDING OF THE WAR

Secession of the States of the South

At the time of the presidential election of 1860, the question of slavery is in the foreground of the concerns. The winner, Abraham Lincoln, are for his abolition. One month after the elections, the State of  South Carolina, defender of slavery, announces that it  makes secession, i.e. it separates from the Union of the United States.In a few weeks, six other States encase the step to him; they are  soon eleven States secessionists. They decide to leave the United States of America and to create  the confederated States of America  (or Confederation Southerner). A little later president Lincoln states the secession illegal: the war is inevitable.

secession in the United States in 1861
North	South
chair: Abraham Lincoln	chair: Jefferson Davis
capital: Washington	capital: Richmond
the Union nordist	the Confederation Southerner South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee
industrial area	agricultural area
against slavery	for slavery
Generals: Ulysses Grant and William Sherman	General: Robert Lee

The victories Southerners

The first exchanges of shootings take place in April 1861 in Fort Sumter, as a Caroline of the South Bombarded by Confédérés (Southerners), the fort is constrained to go. The Southerners gain then another great victory in the north of the country, at the time of the battle of Bull Run (July 1861). In 1862, under the command of the Southerner  Robert Lee, they penetrate in unionistic territory (nordist). They are not stopped that at the time of the bloody battle of Antietam (September 1862).

A new projection Southerner towards the North-East is stopped with  the battle of Gettysburg  (July 1863): at the end of three days of combat, more than 50 000 men are killed, wounded or reported missing. After this defeat, the troops of the Confederation never manage again to invade the States of the Union.

The victories nordists and emancipation of the slaves

On the western face, the situation also turns in favour of  the nordists. The General nordist  Ulysses Grant  seizes part of the territories of Confédérés in 1862. After  the catch of the fortress of Vicksburg  (in Mississippi) in July 1863, the forces of the Union succeed in concluding their plan: to cross into two territories of the Confederation.

Meanwhile, the nature of the war changed. At the beginning, president Lincoln wished to bring back the States of the South within the Union; but, the 1 ^er January 1863, it publishes  the proclamation of Emancipation, informant that all the slaves of the insurgent States (i.e. of the Confederation) are free. The conflict is transformed then into  a war for or against slavery.

The final defeat of the Southerners

The year 1864 is terrible for the confederated States. Under the orders of the General nordist  William Sherman, the army of the Union seizes Tennessee and Georgia, extreme Atlanta and destroying all on its passage. In April 1865, to court of supply,  Robert Lee goes to Unionistic, Appomattox (a small town of Virginia): the war is finished.

CONSEQUENCES OF THE WAR

Very fatal, the American Civil War made  600 000 victims. The deep wounds caused by this civil war will spend many years to be healed.

? In the States of the South, the consequences of the war are dramatic: a man on three died in the combat and of many cities and plantations are devastated.

? The States of North are not delighted a long time by their victory: six days after the capitulation of the Lee General, president  Abraham Lincoln is assassinated  by a Southerner.

? The large winners of the conflict should be  the slaves, from now on free. However, in practice, the majority of them have of another choice to only continue to work in their former Master, for a starvation wage. Moreover, the landowners manage to make adopt "black codes" which limit the right of ownership and the freedom of movement of the Blacks. In the South, it still should be waited 100 years before the Black-Americans can have the same rights as the White.

TO GO FURTHER

? the United States
? history of America
? Abraham Lincoln

? interactivity:  chronology of  the xix ^E century

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