American History Essay Example for Free

American History Essay Introduction: American History has always been persuasive and this paper enlightens most influential events in the U. S history. Following paper explains the events from 1950’s, 1960’s, 1970’s, 1980’s and 1990’s. Events that have been selected are the one that had an overriding influence on U. S. culture, economy, or governmental policy in that decade. A Step towards Technology: In early 1950’s film theater presence radically declined due to the innovation of television which impacted everyone politically, socially and economically. Hollywood commenced to build up ways to counter free televisions expand by the mounting use of color, and also by bringing in wide-screen films for example: Cinemascope, Cinerama, Vista Vision and etc. Gimmicks for example 3-D presentation with cardboard glasses were also initiated. Several technical improvements within amusement facilitated citizens to survive in a great compact of better-off and thrilling living. The foremost mania that came approximately to standard public was television in 1950’s. It was required by each family in the fifties and it overwhelmed millions of kids whose connection with Television has everlastingly inclined this countrys customs and political affairs. TV enforced numerous journalists and broadcasting corporations to labor hardest in maintaining their businesses in level to Television. (1950s, 2000) In the fifties TV merely had series which were accessible to watch in early afternoons and evenings plus it wasn’t colored only black and white. A number of the popular television shows were westerns like The Honeymooners, I love Lucy, The Twilight Zone, Private Eyes and Superman (Diriks , n. d. ). An Inspiration: Moving towards 1960’s most significant event came in view. Martin Luther King’s Speech ‘I have a dream’ in 1963 was a dynamic force in the push for racial equality. (The Groovys 1960, 2009). The purpose of this speech â€Å"I Have a Dream† which was conveyed which was held at Lincoln Memorial, Washington D. C took place the 28th August 1963 through more than 200,000 citizens was to give confidence for the performing of change among the American citizens and government it was related to their shocking observation towards diverse races or ethnic groups among their people. Martin Luther particularly placed stress on the black Americans being sufferers from professional and personal both ranks. His task was to place major strain on the government which was regarding passing the Civil Rights Bill and its people by telling the errors of their behavior and the pledges which were undeniably not kept all through the history. He also demanded changes and provided answers and in doing that required a lot of persuasion towards them to approach together as a one nation. The Rising civil-rights movement moving across the nation at that time; Productive speech of Martin Luther King made it more effectively, electrified it. Due to the previous immersive civil rights movement of the 1960 U. S went through a huge racial split which is more likely to be on racial discriminating at its climax. The Americans who were white felt themselves as superior and therefore the realism of life for the black Americans was rather unwelcoming. That’s why the enormous bulk of black Americans became as a separation of life, breathing with unpleasant injustice in service, housing, medical services, education and civic adjustment. Even the so called selection of a chosen president could not help them because a lot of were deprived from taking part in any of American political system. Everything was surrounded by an unfair ambiance that he was the only who was capable to raise as an influential leader among the civil rights movement. The Act controlled countless things that Martin Luther King had before asked of the government publically which showed the rule was in fact taking note to the people concerning the following matter. Martin Luther King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his effort, he was the youngest among to get such a Nobel award. (I Have a Dream, 2000) Getting the Blame: The blame for murdering the entire civilization of Vietnam was put on American soldiers. This was considered as one of the most tragic event in the American History. Almost every person in Vietnam especially people in south had to go through the large scale bombing and target killings. The effect in the south during the war’s height in 1960 was so extreme that about half of the population of 20 million was dislocated. The northerners also suffered a lot; warfare and resentment continued on with neighboring countries until 1989. The after effects of the war were humongous. Many civilians lost their relatives and expensive assets. After the war Vietnam was not active in any military conflict. Following the war, the North and South Vietnam were again unified beneath the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Postponement of the hateful battle in North Vietnam was also announced on 15 January 1973, it was afterward tagged along by a biased departure of American troops on Vietnam. Americans concerned and involvement in the Vietnam clash officially came to an end by the signing of Paris Peace Accords on 27 January 1973. On February 11 and March 29, the first batch of U. S. prisoners was released and American army was structured to depart respectively. The most astonishing factor was the fact when the army was coming back from War who was suppose to be treated as heroes incase that did happen, even at times damned for their contribution towards the Vietnam war. Even the contract of peace did not last for an extended period. American army consequently faced by the expectation of having won mainly of the war battles, however it was like having missing the peace. (Timeline of the 1970s, 2000). The American president Nixon was the one, who assured South Vietnam that he would give armed forces hold to them in experiencing the degeneration of military situation. But Nixon was having other problems at his end as well. Nixon was combating for his political profession and his existence. The Watergate humiliation which was intense at the moment faced a gradually more aggressive parliament that held the power of an antagonistic community who were tired of the Vietnam War. Therefore Nixon ruined his pledges towards South Vietnam which was expected. Both fiscal and monetary assist towards South Vietnam sustained although it was almost cut within half. Mainly the help went to the corrupt officials and a minute of it truly went to the needy and people who suffered from the war. Further USSR and China both augmented their support towards the North Vietnam. This clearly showed the imbalance between the North and South Vietnam and thus North Vietnam initiated a foremost military unpleasant stroke which was against south. The course which was completed by Congress; Foreign Assistance Act of 1974 held in December 1974. This completion cut off all military funding to the Saigon government and made unenforceable the peace terms negotiated by Nixon. The reason behind such an action was that it was assumed so as to any innovative military tools shipped to South Vietnam would rapidly handed over to the winning communists. Economical reforms acknowledged as d? i m? i (renovation), introduced by the management since the late 1980s, have been constructing stunning outcomes. Vietnam today is one of the greatest escalating economies in the world, which is filled by exports and overseas direct savings. America became the major export marketplace for Vietnam into fewer than two years after the signing the bilateral deal concurrence in 2001. (The end of U. S invovement, 2007) The Hero: Another event which motivated and provoked almost every woman in the history and the addition of heroes was taken place. The definition and theory of a hero is one that is greatly questioned and pondered. Some people look up to parents, a few admires Lincoln or Martin Luther King while rest of them has superstars. But for my part my hero would be one who had accomplish somewhat that placed a fresh normal in this nation. Sandra Day O’Connor is my hero. President Reagan designated O’Connor on August 19, 1981, for the post of Associate Justice in the United States Supreme Court. On September 25, Sandra was established with the voting of 99-0 and she was avowed in being the first female judge to be on the United States Supreme Court. And for the further 24 years, she controlled upon the Supreme Court. She was the common swing vote amongst closest verdicts. Sandra was frequently portrayed as being the changeable in a way, constantly gave trust to each side. She showed her concerned and knowledge during the time she served for her nation being associate justice. For example, in the decision of Roe v. Wade, her vote, though not the choosing one was serious in allowing abortion privileges. (Derek) From the time period of 1981 to 2006 she was a former American judge and elected official who served as being the first feminine Associate Justice of the Supreme Court in the United States. Her case-by-case move toward jurisprudence and her comparatively reasonable political views, Sandra was the vital swing vote of the Court for quite a few of her final time on the counter. Forbes magazine called her the fourth most influential woman in the United States and the sixth most commanding in the world in 2004. (OConner, Sandra Day, 2006) Bill Clinton Impeached: Moving toward the late 1990’s the most shocking event ever which happened for the first time in U. S political history; The impeachement of Bill Clinton. (President Clinton Impeached, 1994) The House impeached Bill Clinton on accusation of false swearing and hindrance of justice in connection to his concern among Monica Lewinsky who was White House intern. Clinton was ultimately acquitted by the council. In 1998 the U. S. House of Representatives chose in goodwill of two articles of the impeachment. Days sooner than departure of office, he hit a contract with the office of the particular prosecutor in that case so to keep away from an indictment. He further confessed to building deceptive testimony and then was suspended from working law in Arkansas up to five years. Although his wife, Hillary Clinton was voted as a U. S. Senator in 2000 from New York. It was the first point in time a lady had ever been voted to public workplace. Bill Clinton achieved admiration for his determination and his management of the workplace despite of a variety of controversies, strong-minded to increase above them somewhat than be pulled behind by them. It was a major shock to the public because such a leader is a mentor towards them and people still love they were disappointed and disturbed. (The History Place, 2000) Conclusion: History is not about getting disppointed towards our leaders or getting disturbed. Its about learning from our mistakes. American History holds great goals toward every aspect whether it is economical or political or social. There is a lot to learn and improve though many misunderstanding led to wars and severe damage but a lot of thing can still be done. Right now U. S is going through many crisis which are hidden. Changes can be done if racial discrimination can simply vanish. A lot of economical crisis have faced which can’t be changed by U. S by it has to be done on a global level as the whole world is facing them. References: 1950s. (2000). Retrieved July 10, 2010, from 123helpme: http://www. 123helpme. com/view. asp? id=22923 Derek. (n. d. ). My hero project. Retrieved July 10, 2010, from my hero: http://www. myhero. com/go/hero. asp? hero=Oconnor_Cupertino_hs_06_ul Diriks, T. (n. d. ). 1950s. Retrieved July 10, 2010, from filmsite: http://www. filmsite. org/milestones1950s_2. html I Have a Dream. (2000). Retrieved July 10, 2010, from maikeru: http://www. maikeru. cc/english_ihaveadream_martinlutherkingjr. htm OConner, Sandra Day. (2006, March 22). Retrieved July 10, 2010, from girlscantwair: http://girlscantwhat. com/oconner-sandra-day-supreme-court-justice/ The end of U. S invovement. (2007). Retrieved July 10, 2010, from factasy: http://www. factasy. com/vietnam_war/index. shtml

Comparing Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience and Kings Letter From a Birming

Comparing Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience and Martin Luther King's Letter From a Birmingham Jail The two essays, "Civil Disobedience," by Henry David Thoreau, and "Letter From a Birmingham Jail," by Martin Luther King, Jr., effectively illustrate the authors' opinions of justice. Each author has his main point; Thoreau, in dealing with justice as it relates to government, asks for "not at once no government, but at once a better government. King contends that "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Both essays offer a complete argument for justice, but, given the conditions, King's essay remains more effective, in that its persuasive techniques have more practical application. Both essays extensively implement both emotional and ethical appeal to give their respective ideas validity. One persuasive technique that each author implements to support his ideas emotionally is the use of biblical allusion. However, in comparison, King's use is stronger in that the tone of his allusions is more appealing to the reader. King's allusions cause the reader to want take action against injustice, whereas Thoreau's are darker -- more likely to make the reader want to submit to and accept the injustices portrayed. For example, King, in his first biblical allusion, manages to draw glory into his struggle by comparing himself with the Apostle Paul, feeling "compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my particular home town," just as Paul "left his little village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to practically every hamlet and city in the Graeco-Roman world.. . ." This stirs admiration in the reader for King and adds relevance to his struggle. Later King discusses the history of his style of civil dis... ...ide: ". . .one does not remain inert to make way for the other, but both obey their own laws, and spring and grow and flourish as best they can, till one, perchance, overshadows and destroys the other." All three of these comparisons, while being beneficial to the essay's main idea, are too obscure and irrelevant to have any real persuasive power. Granted, both essays effectively implement both emotional and ethical appeal to the reader in order to be persuasive, and each, given the right conditions has the potential to be equally effective. But, given the conditions we are under, including the time frame, ("Civil Disobedience" was written over one hundred years before "Letter From a Birmingham Jail") King's essay, overall, features more of the characteristics, as well as the accessibility to produce a higher level of comprehension and relevance for the reader.

How Tourism Promote Culture of Peace Essay

â€Å"I have watched the cultures of all lands blow around my house and other winds have blown the seeds of peace, for travel is the language of peace.† .. . Mahatma Gandhi Does tourism promote culture of peace? The tourism has become the important industry in the developing countries for the economic development. Tourism appears to be one of the few economic sectors able to guide a number of developing countries to higher levels of prosperity and for some to leave behind their least developed country status: As tourism is one of the world’s major industries and in continuously expanding. Tourism is the biggest and fastest growing industry in the world. Peace is a precondition for travel and tourism and all aspects of human growth and development. Tourism can rise above governmental boundaries by bringing people closer together through the understanding of different cultures, heritages, and beliefs. Therefore, it is potentially one of the most important vehicles for promoting peace among the peoples of the world. Tourism society of England (1976) defines tourism as â€Å"Tourism is a temporary short term movement of people to destination outside the places where they normally live and work and their activities during the stay at each destination.† It includes movements for all purposes. Alister Matheison and Geoffrey wall in their book â€Å"Tourism Economic, Physical and Social Impact† 1980 have tourism as â€Å"it is the temporary movement of the people to destination outside their normal places of work and residence, the activities undertaken during their stay in those destination and facilities created to cater to their needs.† Tourism has a wide range of positive economic impacts. It contributes directly to sales, profits, jobs, tax revenues, and income in the primary tourism sectors such as hotels, restaurants and transportation. Positive aspects of Tourism * Provides employment opportunities * Increases incomes and governmental revenues * Increased gross national products * Can promote local products and resources * Promotes a global community * Promotes international understanding and peace As there are also negative aspect of tourism which creates the social problems, degrades natural physical environment and creates pollution. It also increases the crime, prostitution and gambling but in another way it can be develop as a part of tourism. There are some criticisms on tourism that creates conflict in the host country, and commercialize culture, region and arts. So we can relate tourism and peace as peace can be simply known as â€Å"the absence of war† and calls for new positive concept of peace accepting the perspective of an organic and interconnected world. Regarding the peace; World tourism conference in Manila in 1980, declared that world tourism can be vital force for the world peace. So the tourism industry has a role of promoting global understanding, trust and world peace. Further, United Nations has also focused on peace and tourism and has identified creating peace through tourism is an important means to create peace in the world. Marxist theorist also assumed that inequality is a cause of conflict. More than inequality between individuals, rather inequality between ethnic groups or between regions referred as horizontal inequality. The major thing is the movement of people as a tourism triggers important process of capital formation and wealth distribution. It also helps to change the fundamental nature and social cultural relation of the people. Moreover, tourism reduces social inequalities by uplifting the living conditions of marginalized people which also helps to reduce structural violence. From the peace studies point of view, we considers tourism has potential to reduce violence as tourism is consumed at the point of production of increasing opportunities for individual and micro enterprises to sell additional products or services. Tourism is also based on diversity drawing from a large resources base which increases scope of wider participation. Tourism helps to raise living standard of people and deprived communities. Based on the common perception of the link between Tourism and peace, a number of scholars have argued for a role for tourism in the promotion of peace for specific countries. The relationship of the USA and the People’s Republic of China is a good example of the contribution of tourism to world peace. After the terrorists’ attack to the World Trade Centre on the 11th of September 2001, there was a significant decline (6.8 per cent fewer international tourists visiting than the previous year) in the number of tourists as was seen in the financial difficulty of many aviation companies. Terrorist attacks have sprung up in many tourist destinations, such as Bali and more recently Madrid. D’ Amore (1988) suggested that the key to a changed political relationship between the USA and the People’s Republic of China was opening travel in various forms such as conferences, sports and trade. The role of tourism in the promotion of peace compatible with liberalism has been supported by a number of examples such as relations between the USA and the People’s Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan. The nature of traditional society is both an expression and cause of underdevelopment. So major and fundamental changes must occur across social, cultural, political and economic values, institutions and patterns of action if modernization to occur. There is a close relationship between economies and violent conflict. Conflict begins with the economic factor that makes some societies move to conflict. One of the main factors is poverty, mostly feature in civil wars. Economic growth is also associated with lower levels of conflict. If there would be policy that aim to promote growth in developing countries are in effect, agents of conflict prevention. Absence of war is an essential condition for peace and for the development, but it is not at all sufficient for any people to feel peaceful. Peace contains more positive concept. Tourism is not only the beneficiary of peace, but also vital force for negative and positive peace. Tourism should be designed and conducted in a proper way because it has both benefits and costs to local and global economy and society, culture and environment. If all the actors play their own role, tourism can gradually lead to peace. Tourism can lead peace when it is properly conducted by each actor and when more people can have opportunities to serve in this sector. Tourism is recognized as an instrument of social and cultural understanding by the opportunity offered to bring different people in contact and to provide facility of a acquisition and exchange of information about the way of life, cultures, languages and other social and economic endowments of the people as well as a change for making friendships and achieving goodwill and peace. The basic assumption of those who see tourism as a peace generator is that tourism allows people to know each other, to work with each other, and to learn to appreciate each other’s cultures and by so doing come to appreciate each other. The role of tourism and peace can be viewed from two perspectives, namely socio cultural and political (Kunwar, 2010). The political perspective on tourism and world peace focuses upon tourism as a promoter of national integration and international understanding, goodwill and peace. Peace tourism sees every traveler as an ambassador to peace. Socially and environmentally responsible tourism helps to foster stability, economic equity, and ultimately, a more peaceful society. Tourism can become a vital force to promote positive peace. Although tourism has negative and positive impacts, all the actors involved in tourism seems to recognize the necessity of global perspective, aided by the growing concern for sustainability in tourism. Based on a long-term perspective, tourism in a sustainable way can maximize the revenues of destination communities and governments and the profits of tourism enterprises, and keep attracting tourists and motivating local populations. Sustainable tourism satisfies tourists and host regions by protecting and enhancing opportunities for the future. The ultimate aims of tourism should be heading towards creating a better quality of life for all people, tolerance, economic sustainability and the reduction of structural violence. It has been argued that tourism is a positive force able to reduce tension and hostility by promoting peace in international relations. Tourism has significant political implications in world politics and international relations. Governments can use tourism as a political leverage to either promote tourism with friendly countries or restrict tourism with hostile countries by controlling the movement of tourists and the opportunities to have people-to people contacts. Therefore promotion of tourism leads to establish the global â€Å"culture of peace†. REFERENCES * Alon Gelbman (2008): Border Tourism in Israel: Conflict, Peace, Fear and Hope, Tourism Geographies: An International Journal of Tourism Space, Place and Environment, 10:2, 193-213 * Dallen J. Timothy (1999): Cross-Border Partnership in Tourism Resource Management: International Parks along the US-Canada Border, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 7:3-4, 182-205 * Ap, John, and Turgut Var (1990): Does Tourism promote World Peace? Tourism Management 11(3):267-273 * Anson, Caroline (1991): Planning for Peace: The role of tourism in the aftermath of violence. journal of travel Research 38(1): 57-61

The First Amendment And Equal Protecting - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2300 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2019/04/26 Category Law Essay Level High school Tags: First Amendment Essay Did you like this example? The first amendment states that Congress shall make no â€Å"law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof (Lemon v. Kurtzman). This section of the first amendment refers to the establishment clause and free exercise clause and in other words this prevented the government from investing any of its resources to a particular belief system, or prevent anyone from practicing their own belief system, creating a separation of church and state. When it comes to education states have to fund their public schools mostly with taxes, but what about non-public and non-secular schools? â€Å"The Pennsylvania Nonpublic Elementary and Secondary Education Act was passed in 1968 in response to a crisis that the Pennsylvania Legislature found existed in the States nonpublic schools due to rapidly rising costs. The statute affirmatively reflects the legislative conclusion that the States educational goals could appropriately be fulfilled by government support of ‘those purely secular educational objectives achieved through nonpublic education† (Lemon v. Kurtzman). Pennsylvania adopted statutes that provided the state the ability to fund the salaries of teachers, textbooks, and instructional material for secular educational services to non-secular and non-public elementary and secondary schools at the expense of taxpayers. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The First Amendment And Equal Protecting" essay for you Create order Alton Lemon was the lead plaintiff on the case. Appellant Lemon, in addition to being a citizen and a taxpayer, is a parent of a child attending a public school in Pennsylvania. Funds for this Act came from taxes on horse and harness racing and cigarettes. â€Å"Lemon also alleges that he purchased a ticket at a racetrack and thus had paid the specific tax that supports the expenditures under the Act. Appellees are state officials who have the responsibility for administering the Act† (Lemon v. Kurtzman). Lemon had a standing in this case as a tax-paying citizen of Pennsylvania, as a parent of a child that attended a Pennsylvania public school, and specifically for the taxes collected from the sales of a racetrack ticket he purchased. All these actions directly infringed on his first amendment right, because the money collected from these associated taxes went to Catholic schools since they made up a majority of the states private schools, and this is money that could have wen t to public schools and supported a religion he did not believe in. â€Å"A school seeking reimbursement must maintain prescribed accounting procedures that identify the ‘separate’ cost of the ‘secular educational service.’ These accounts are subject to state audit† (Lemon v. Kurtzman). This is an example of the government’s involvement with non-secular non-public schools and how they have entangled themselves and are now respecting the establishment of religion since, they are directly funding, and now auditing them to ensure public money allocated to the schools are going to secular education programs only, both unconstitutional under the Establishment and Exercise Clause. The case was initially brought before a Pennsylvania District Court where three federal judges thought, â€Å"the individual plaintiffs-appellants had a standing under Flast v Cohen (1968). The court granted appellees motion to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim for relief. It held that the Act violated neither the Establis hment nor the Free Exercise Clause, Chief Judge Hastie dissenting. We reverse. â€Å"(Lemon v. Kurtzman). In 1971 Supreme Court ruled that public funds from taxes to pay for non-secular schools violated the establishment clause of the first amendment in the United States Constitution. This ruling resulted in the creation of the Lemon Test, which is a three-part evaluation of any legislation related to religion. Sponsorship, financial support, and active involvement were the focal points of the provision. The court held that the law must pass a tripartite test to avoid violating the establishment clause. The statute must also have a secular legislative purpose, and its primary focus must be to neither promote or prevents religion and should not endorse government entanglement with religion. â€Å"No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury† (US v. Calandra). This first part of the Fifth Amendment is designed to protect all persons from the government against the unlawful persecution of a crime without due process. A grand jury is a panel of twelve to twenty-three citizens deciding whether or not there is enough evidence against the accused by a prosecutor to grant an indictment and bring charges against the person. This is one of the five main provisions found under the Fifth Amendment; the Fourteenth Amendment helps apply it to the states. The sixth amendment â€Å"guarantees the right to an impartial jury† (Apprendi v New Jersey). In other words all persons have the right to a fair trial and protection from jurors with biases. An impartial jury are judges whose actions and decisions are free of bias or prejudice, all people regardless of race, nationality, sex, religion, or economic status, have the right to a trial by a fair and impartial jury. Both a grand jury and impartial jury are similar and different in many ways, but also compliment each other. â€Å"On December 11, 1970, federal agents obtained a warrant authorizing a search of respondent John Calandras place of business, the Royal Machine Tool Co. in Cleveland, Ohio. The warrant was issued in connection with an extensive investigation of suspected illegal gambling operations† (US v. Calandra). No evidence of illegal gambling was found but evidence of loan sharking was. In this case the prosecutions presents this evidence illegally obtained through the search of Calandra’s business to a grand jury where he is indicted. This should have been protected under the Fourth Amendments Exclusionary Rule since this was an unlawful search and seizure, and the prosecution knows this. â€Å"Exclusionary rule of Fourth Amendment, under which evidence obtained from prior unlawful search and seizure is excluded in trial of criminal prosecution† (US v. Calandra). So even though the trial jury will never hear or see this evidence, it is used on the grand jury to bring an indictment, which is very hypocritical and in some ways very bias. When questioned about his activities John P. Calandra refused to answer, stating that the search violated his Fourth Amendment right. Supreme court ruled that the exclusionary rule could not apply to grand jury proceedings because their purpose is to find out whether a crime had been committed and formally charge someone with said crime, and deter misconduct by those trusted to investigate the crime, and the exclusionary rule interferes with that. â€Å"Apprendi fired several shots into the home of an African-American family and made a statement-which he later retracted-that he did not want the family in his neighborhood because of their race† (Apprendi v. New Jersey). He was charged under New Jersey’s law with inter alia, second-degree possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose that carries a prison term of 5 to 10 years and due to a plea deal with the prosecutor was never charged with a hate crime, but the penal code does have hate crime provisions written within the criminal code allowing a trial judge to impose an enhanced sentence, if evidence of a racial bias is presented. During Apprendi’s trial testimony from the officer was presented in court. â€Å"The judge, however, found the police officers testimony credible, and concluded that the evidence supported a finding that the crime was motivated by racial bias† (Apprendi v. New Jersey). As a result Apprendi was sentenced to 12 year of im prisonment 2 years over the original maximum, but since he is now being charged with an additional offense the punishment was within range of the statute. Supreme court ruled this was unconstitutional because under the Due Process Clause any penalty beyond the maximum prescribed must be submitted to a jury and proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Here evidence presented is being marked as insufficient because it was not formally brought up as a charge by a grand jury. This is complimentary to what is seen in the Fifth Amendments provision, because a grand jury is presented with evidence too indict. These actions by the trial judge in this case created a contradiction in the law the way he sentenced Apprendi. Without a grand jury’s approval he cannot just increase the sentence this is part of common law In US v Calandra we see that the grand jury is being presented with evidence to aide the prosecution in bringing an indictment, but in Apprendi v. New Jersey the prosecution withheld evidence to aide the suspect as part of a plea deal. This is why the there is a lot of criticism surrounding grand juries as they have been labeled a â €˜rubber stamp’ for the prosecution and have little to no independent function to protect people from the government. Edith Windsor is a taxpayer who, as surviving spouse of a same- sex couple, was denied benefit of spousal deduction due to definition of â€Å"marriage† and â€Å"spouse† provided by Defense of Marriage Act DOMA. She brought action for a refund of federal estate taxes and for declaration that the provision of DOMA violated her Fifth Amendment right. Windsor is the widow of Thea Clara Spyer, who died in 2009. They were married in Toronto, Canada, in 2007, and their marriage was recognized by the state of New York. When she died Spyer left her property to her spouse, and because federal law did not recognize their marriage, the government imposed $363,000 in taxes. If their marriage was recognized, the estate will be eligible for an exemption from marriage, and no taxes will be imposed. In US v. Windsor the inhertance of an estate disproves polygamy because the division of assetts amongst two spouses would result in a dispute. The proceedings would draw out in a court matter requiring government entanglement in marriage, which could be argued to not separate church and state. â€Å"n 1996, as some States were beginning to consider the concept of same-sex marriage, see, e.g., Baehr v. Lewin, 74 Haw. 530, 852 P.2d 44 (1993), and before any State had acted to permit it, Congress enacted the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), 110 Stat. 2419. DOMA contains two operative sections: Section 2, which has not been challenged here, allows States to refuse to recognize same- sex marriages performed under the laws of other States† (US v. Windsor). Even though New York State accepted her marriage federally it was still not recognized at the time, or by o ther states that did not acknowledge same-sex couples. As a result there is little to no regard for polygamy, which is far more extreme that same-sex marriage. In Lawrence v. Texas for polygamy is also not going to be protected as seen in the â€Å"Texas statute making it a crime for two persons of the same sex to engage in certain intimate sexual conduct was unconstitutional, as applied to adult males who had engaged in consensual act of sodomy in privacy of home, as impinging on their exercise of liberty interests protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment† (Lawrence v. Texas). Supreme court ruled that the criminal complaintants rights were violated under the Due Process Clause of he Fourteenth Amendment, because two consensual adults conducting in sexual activity in the home is considered privacy protected. Even though this protects the right to practice sexual activites deemed ‘different’ in the privacy of ones own home. A marriage is a legally recognized union between two people established by law, and applied throughout the nation in many provisions. Current United States law does allow or reco gnize polygamy and many statutes and provisions established beforehand support this current state. Even though what you do in your home constitutes as your privacy once apart of society there are laws to follow and guidelines to abide by and as far as marriage constitutes in the United States polygamy does not fit under those provisions. Whether polygamy be morally wrong or a constitutional right is not federally protected, and it is up to future courts to decide if the case should ever come up. As seen in states like Utah where polygamy is heavily practiced. Statutes establishing an anti-polygamy agenda have been declared unconstitutional, yet the ban on multiple marriage licenses stays intact. The 14th Amendment Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted on 9 July 1868 as one of the reconstruction amendments. One of the most important amendments to this day is that the because it deals with citizenship rights and equal protection of laws, and has been proposed in response to issues relating to former slaves following the American Civil War. This amendment is a crucial one, because states had to ratify it in order to restore representation in Congress. This especially hurt the Confederate Southern states who lost the war. This amendment is crucial in providing equal protecting under the law to the entire nation, and as a result help to unify the states under a federal legislative branch, but also garaunteed rights to those formally unrecognized under statehood. The provisons also took the current laws and applied them to states that failed to follow federal guidelines and brought about change and opportunity that many people once could not afford. The Due Procees clause granted protection from the federal government but now also applied it to states that were rebelling and abusing its citizens. For example in Brown v. Board of Education where courts stated that â€Å"separate is inherently unequal† and ruled that public school segregaton violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause, gave opportunites to African Americans that did not have them attending segrated schools, opening doors and giving people a chance to reach the American dream. Work Cited New Jersey Supreme Court. Apprendi v. New Jersey. 26 June 2000. United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circut. United States v. Calandra. 26 June 2000. United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circut. United States v. Windsor. 26 June 2013. State Appellate Court. Lawrence v. Texas. 26 June 2003.