The Morgan County Bar Association has announced the winners of its annual essay contest. The winners and their essays are presented below.
First place:
Brooklyn Tissiere
(Pictured with Koert Brown)
Our Wonderful Constitution
“The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil constitution, are worth defending against all hazards.” This quote is from Samuel Adams, who was one of America’s founding fathers, along with others such as Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. They all had a big impact on the making of the U.S. constitution, which means that some parts of our rights and the way our country is shaped are because of them. They took the risk to make the people of America have a free life, which, to me, is one of the things that I am most grateful for. For me, the U.S. constitution portrays a sense of liberty and privilege for the American people.
Some citizens of America say things such as, “America is a horrible country.” or “I wish I didn’t live in this country.” I’ve even heard some of my peers around me say these. Personally, I don’t relate to these things at all. I don’t think that they realize how truly lucky that they are to live in a country as amazing as America. Lots of counties, such as North Korea, can’t even leave their own country. Sometimes, there are scary things that happen here, but that’s just how the world is. Nonetheless, it would be even worse outside of our country. The people that say they wish they lived elsewhere are ignorant to the fact that so many people want to have a better opportunity for life and give their kids better opportunities for life, which to them means America. To almost the whole globe, America symbolizes freedom, and since I got the amazing opportunity to be able to be born here in America, I’m so grateful for my freedom and rights. I get the opportunity to have the Constitution be able to give me rights. I have basic liberties that
other countries don’t get, so I have no clue as to why there are people that want to leave our beautiful country.
Continuing, I’m also grateful for my rights as a woman. I get the ability to vote when I turn 18, thanks to the 19th amendment. Without the 19th amendment, women really wouldn’t have any rights. The 19th amendment gave a huge advance for the rest of rights being granted towards women. So now, we can get a job with equal pay to others, we are able to vote, and we have the ability to state how we feel freely. We now don’t have the expectations from society to just sit still and look pretty for the man of the house, and to cook, clean, and care for the children. We get the choice if we want to do that, but it isn’t required or expected from us. This can also tie back to my last topic, because in a lot of countries such as Afghanistan or Pakistan, women are still required to do these things even though it’s the 21st century. We would be considered extremely lucky by so many, and lots of people take for granted the amount of freedom we get, even me, from our United States Constitution. The Constitution allowed for me to be able to have an equal opportunity to men, thanks to people like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott.
Furthermore, in America, we get lots of choices. Choices that some countries don’t get. We get the choice of if we want to have children and how many we want to have, if we want to join the military, what religion we want to practice, if we want to vote and who we want to vote for, how we decorate, or the ability to speak our opinions. All of these things are because of our Constitution, which we all are due to give a thank you to. If we didn’t live in a republic, or didn’t have a Constitution in general, we wouldn’t get any of these choices. We would be required to do these things if we lived somewhere else, or if our constitution was set up differently. So for that, I thank the founding fathers for their great idea of the Constitution and a Republic government that grants us all of the basic liberties that we are due as humans. Without these things, we would become controlled without any choices, which to me, I wouldn’t want. It wouldn’t be fair.
How I see it is that the Constitution grants us so many privileges, liberties, and rights as Americans. All of this gives me overwhelming gratitude to our Constitution, because without it, I don’t know what I would do. I wouldn’t be able to live in such a great country as America that doesn’t require me to try and leave to create a better life for myself, I wouldn’t be able to have such great rights as a woman with as much freedom as I’m privileged to have, and I wouldn’t be able to have the choices of life that let me decide how I want to live. In all, I’m so grateful for all that I’ve been given as an American citizen, especially the Constitution. Even though sometimes I take for granted how lucky I am, I still have an abundance of thankfulness for the United States Constitution.
Second Place:
Ethan Kruzan
(Pictured with Koert Brown)
What the Constitution Means to Me
“The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation’s first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally including seven articles, the Constitution delineates the national frame and constrains the powers of the federal government.” (The Constitution) The Constitution took five years and nine months to write. The document was written predominantly by James Madison, but there are more than twenty other different authors. This document is nearing 250 years old, it will live on for much longer than that and still today it has such an effect on all of our lives.
The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments of the Constitution and describe each nationally accepted civil liberty and how the government can operate effectively. Currently we are learning about WWII and horrific facts about the Holocaust. The U.S. Constitution would never let such shocking atrocities occur in our nation. This part of the document represents what we in this country stand for and what this country was founded on. The Bill of Rights is the backbone of the United States and absolutely vital to how this country runs so efficiently and beautifully. To me the Bill of Rights is a symbol of freedom, liberty, and justice, as well as a shining beam of light that freedom exists, not just in the United States, but in other places as well.
I think that there is a small percentage of the population that have given any thought of the power and effect of the constitution in our past, present and future. The constitution doesn’t
care what you do, what you look like, how you dress, or about any other external factor . This document rules with absolute certainty and objectiveness and helps us live knowing that corruption cannot be tolerated and will be punished in this nation. The U.S Constitution gives confidence and reassurance that me, my children, and their children will be safe under this just, unbiased, and objective document with national and unwavering power over this entire nation for many years to come.
Works Cited The Constitution, https://www.whitehouse.gov
https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/our-government/the-constitution
Third Place:
Carly Rife
(Pictured with Koert Brown)
It is a hot summer day in Philadelphia. The date is September 17, 1787. One by one, people go up to sign a piece of paper with elegant cursive. Some of these people include consequential historical figures such as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Alexander Hamilton. This is the signing of our Constitution, the law of the land. It shows the American people what their rights are and how their government works and is set up. To me, the U.S. Constitution represents unity, freedom, and improvement.
The Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments of the U.S. Constitution, lays out the individual rights of every American citizen. Then, the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 19th Amendments gave many minorities rights, like women and African Americans. I know we don’t have as much freedom as somewhere like Denmark with their very free and fair elections, but at least we don’t have as many restricted freedoms and horrible human rights as Syria and North Korea. As a girl in the United States, I am very grateful that I don’t live in countries like that because I would be constantly scared. I would persistently be scared I might be tortured, forced to do labor, or executed for saying something the government doesn’t like, because that’s what those countries do, especially in Syria. I can’t possibly imagine what kind of life I would have without the 19th Amendment. I do not want to not be able to have opportunities or the ability to proclaim my opinions.
The 26 total amendments in the constitution showed me that it still changes rapidly as our country grows. The United States may not be as old as Egypt, India, or China but one thing is clear. We have changed so much in such a short amount of time. Many amendments such as the
13th, 14th, 15th, and 19th Amendments gave more people a safer, more free place to call home. Before this, everybody thought that mistreating African Americans and women was okay. What I am trying to say is that the U.S. Constitution is still flawed and we can’t fix it until we acknowledge those flaws. This way we can make our country better by not limiting as many freedoms. This aspect of the constitution reminds me that nothing is flawless essentially like our country. How I can improve myself more to be a better person for myself and the people I care about the most. This is why the founding fathers allowed the U.S. Constitution to be amended.
During the making of the U.S. Constitution, our founding fathers were brought together to make a stronger system of government. This took many hours of working and talking to each other. Since the beginning, the Constitution has brought its citizens closer together. Then it brought us progressively closer together when the government added the reconstruction amendments to our constitution. It gave several minorities their rights and therefore people who weren’t minorities were competent in communicating with them more. If it weren’t for the reconstruction amendments I wouldn’t have most of my friends. Several of my friends are African Americans and I also have an amazing teacher that is, too. Without them, I don’t know where I would be today because they’ve been there for me through thick and thin.
The U.S. Constitution has generally brought this nation together, improved it, and gave its citizens freedom. It honestly means a lot to me since it has helped me connect with my friends, given me the sovereignty that I am so desperately grateful for, and it has inspired me to improve myself. At the end of the day the constitution is still flawed, and it is up to the adherence to ameliorate it. It might be burdensome to change our country or even think of doing that. But please for once think about the generations in the future. It would be malicious of us to leave more burdens for them. If we deal with our constitutional inadequacies now then we and the future generations can live a more comfortable and fulfilling life. You might not think about how the constitution affects your everyday life but one thing is sure to me. Acknowledging how it does has opened my eyes more.
