In 1791: The Bill of Rights Takes Effect
On December 15, 1791, the Bill of Rights, comprising the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, officially went into effect after Virginia ratified the document. These amendments, which safeguard individual liberties such as freedom of speech, religion, and the press, became the cornerstone of American democracy. The Bill of Rights was a response to widespread fears of federal overreach, ensuring the balance of power between citizens and the government.
In 1890: The Death of Sitting Bull
On this date in 1890, Hunkpapa Lakota Chief Sitting Bull was killed alongside 11 tribe members near Grand River, South Dakota, during a violent clash with Indian agency police. Sitting Bull, a revered leader and a symbol of Native American resistance, had played a pivotal role in the defeat of Custer’s forces at the Battle of Little Bighorn. His death, just weeks before the Wounded Knee Massacre, marked a tragic turning point in the U.S. government’s suppression of Native American cultures and sovereignty.
In 1939: “Gone with the Wind” Premieres
On December 15, 1939, the Civil War epic *Gone with the Wind* premiered in Atlanta, Georgia, with Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable in the leading roles. The film, based on Margaret Mitchell’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, quickly became one of the most iconic movies in Hollywood history, praised for its lavish production and dramatic storytelling. While celebrated, it also drew criticism for romanticizing the antebellum South and glossing over the horrors of slavery.
In 2011: The End of the Iraq War
On December 15, 2011, the United States formally ended its nearly nine-year military campaign in Iraq with a ceremony at a Baghdad airport where the American flag was lowered. The war, launched in 2003, resulted in profound political and human costs, leaving over 110,000 Iraqis and 4,500 American soldiers dead. The conflict reshaped the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East, sparking debates over the war’s necessity and long-term impact.
In 2013: Nelson Mandela Laid to Rest
On December 15, 2013, Nelson Mandela was buried in his childhood village of Qunu, South Africa, concluding a 10-day period of national mourning for the country’s first Black president. The state funeral reflected Mandela’s remarkable journey from political prisoner to global icon for peace and reconciliation. Combining Christian traditions with AbaThembu customs, the ceremony honored Mandela’s role in dismantling apartheid and uniting a divided nation.
Lamenting The Loss Of The Bill Of Rights
December 15, 2024
Part 1: The Bill of Rights is not a sacred document.
The Bill of Rights became the bedrock of American civil liberties on December 15, 1791. Two-hundred-thirty-three (233) years later, Americans face an impending loss of their civil rights unless they take actions to preserve them.
Ten amendments make up the Bill of Rights. The ten amendments contain no auspiciousness, and cannot be compared to the Ten Commandments. Any of the ten amendments in the Bill of Rights can be repealed by an act of Congress. What Americans fear is that an incompetent Congress will allow a corrupt president to disregard all laws, and relieve all Americans of the freedoms and protections granted by the Constitution.
To date, for the last 233 years, Congress has most often acted on the side of expanding people’s freedoms by limiting the government’s powers.
James Madison, who contributed greatly to the framing of the Constitution, was the author of the Bill of Rights. While the Constitution assigns enormous powers to the federal government, Madison insisted on limits to the government’s powers in order to protect the people’s liberties and freedoms. He wrote the Bill of Rights to ascertain the specific rights people have that could not be taken from them by the government.
Madison presented seventeen (17) amendments to Congress. The Senate approved twelve (12) of them and sent them to the states for ratification. The states agreed to ratify ten (10) of Madison’s original list of people’s rights. All ten were appended to the Constitution on December 15, 1791, and from then on the first ten amendments to the Constitution have collectively been known as the Bill of Rights.
The first thing to conclude is that neither the Constitution nor the Bill of Rights is infallable. When a weakness in the Constitution is uncovered, Congress is able to correct the weakness by adding an amendment or repealing an amendment. Seventeen more amendments have been added to the Constitution since the Bill of Rights was introduced. Only one of those amendments has been repealed.
Part 2: Increasing Diregard for the Bill of Rights
Usually, when an amendment is added, it is to expand the rights of the citizens. Once, however, with the 18th amendment, persuaded by an activist group, an amendment was ratified that would ban the sale of alcohol for fourteen years until the amendment was repealed. To date, the 18th amendment has been the only amendment that restricted the rights of the people, and expanded the power of the government. It is the only amendment that has been repealed.
The growing consternation in the United States regarding the future of the freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights is not without justification. As of this writing, citizens of the United States are bracing for a drastic change in quality of life in one month, when one political party, specifically the Republican Party, will control all three branches of government.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, at least, Republicans have shown a growing willingness to shore up greater powers in the executive branch of government at the expense of the people’s representation in Congress. In addition, a Republican Supreme Court has overturned prior decisions that gave extra protections to minorities to prevent discrimination in the exercise of civil rights. The same Supreme Court also has overturned a decision that protected all women’s rights to reproductive health care. As a result, in Republican-led states, in the exercise of civil rights, such as voting, minorities face greater obstacles than before, and women’s lives are more endangered than before.
The same Republican Supreme Court has recently released the current president-elect from the fundamental restrictions that have kept all previous presidents in check. Unlike all citizens of the U.S. the current president-elect will not be bound by the law when he becomes president. To further exacerbate the public’s apprehensions, the president-elect has made it clear that he intends to use the power of his office to imprison opponents without legal cause, and to take down news organizations that have been critical of his behavior and incompetence, in direct contradiction to the first amendment of the Constitution.
What to conclude: Recent developments have given Americans ample reason to fear the loss of freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution. At the same time, Americans have reason for hope, for two reasons. The Republicans do not have a large majority in either house in Congress. Americans have a chance to work together to take away Republican control of Congress in two years. If modern Americans can muster the same resolve that motivated the founding fathers, the framers of the Constitution, and the authors of the Bill of Rights to forge a nation dedicated to human rights and civil rights, then Americans have a good chance to take back control of their own country within four years, and return it to being a nation of laws, and a nation of protected rights and freedoms.
Today in History: December 29
A Look Back At Today: December 29
The Wounded Knee massacre took place
Germany dropped incendiary bombs on London, setting off “The Second Great Fire of London”
Vaclav Havel assumed the presidency of Czechoslovakia
Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was slain in Canterbury Cathedral
Today in History: December 28
A Look Back At Today: December 28
The Lumière brothers held the first public showing of their films in Paris.
An earthquake followed by a tsunami devastated the Italian cities of Messina and Reggio Calabria
San Francisco’s Municipal Railway began operations
The Endangered Species Act was signed into law
The U.S. war in Afghanistan came to a formal end
Today in History: December 27
A Look Back At Today: December 27
Charles Darwin set sail on the ship HMS Beagle
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated
“Peter Pan” opened in London.
Radio City Music Hall opened in New York
The International Monetary Fund was formally established
Soviet forces seized control of Afghanistan
American naturalist Dian Fossey was murdered
Today in History: December 26
A Look Back At Today: December 26
The tsunami of 2004 devastates southeast Asia
Winston Churchill spoke to the U.S. Congress
First celebration of Kwanzaa
The Soviet Union was dissolved
  | Better Yourself, Lead Others 
| Personal Development Life Coach Certification 
|  
|
