Due to the scope of the government the Constitution of Virginia applies to, the responsibilities outlined in it is different than the ones in the Constitution. Obviously, the Virginian government is on a more local scale and will deal with more day-to-day or smaller issues. The biggest example of this is voting. Article II is dedicated to outlining how people register and qualify to vote, how voting takes place, qualifications to run for office, and more. There are federal laws having to do with voting, such as Amendment 26, however, this is in much more detail, since it is the state’s responsibility to hold elections and count votes. Virginia seems to respect the federal government and its powers. However, it doesn’t exactly respect other …show more content…
state’s decisions. Article I Section 15-A of Virginia’s constitution can be challenged by the Full Faith and Credit Clause. This section states “That only a union between one man and one woman may be a marriage valid in or recognized by this Commonwealth and its political subdivisions. This Commonwealth and its political subdivisions shall not create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance, or effects of marriage. Nor shall this Commonwealth or its political subdivisions create or recognize another union, partnership, or other legal status to which is assigned the rights, benefits, obligations, qualities, or effects of marriage.” This section essentially states that any marriage from another state not between a man and a woman will not be recognized in Virginia. This blatantly homophobic law not only disrespects thousands of American citizens, but also Virginia’s fellow states and their laws. In 1967, through the case Loving v. Virginia, the Supreme Court declared laws against interracial marriage are unconstitutional. One may think that after making mistakes regarding marriage laws before, Virginia would learn from them. Hopefully this time, Virginia’s state government will take the initiative to fix this before they are forced to by the Supreme Court. Virginia’s state government structure is similar to that of the federal government, but there are several differences.
Their state legislature, the General Assembly, bicameral, consisting of the Virginia House of Delegates, with 100 members; and the Senate of Virginia, with 40 members. Congress is also bicameral, and the House has 435 members; and the Senate had 100 members. The Virginia House of Delegates have terms of two years, like the House of Representatives. However, the Senate of Virginia have terms of four years, and the Senate has six year terms. Unlike most states and Congress, Virginia’s legislature elections take place during odd-numbered years. There are no term limits for either of the two houses, just like Congress. State judges are elected by the General Assembly for terms of twelve years. Federally, they are nominated by the president and appointed by the Senate. There are seven justices in the Supreme Court of Virginia, and nine federal Supreme Court justices. Virginia’s governor is elected for four year terms, similar to presidential terms. Candidates for governor must be United States citizens who have lived and been a registered voter in Virginia for five years prior to the election. They also must be at least 30 years old. Unlike other state governors, Virginia governors are not allowed to serve consecutive terms. However, they can be reelected in the future. This is because of colonial Virginia’s lack of trust of the government. They implemented this
due to their distrust of authority figures and to take precaution against abuse of power. Only two governors, William Smith and Mills Godwin, were elected to additional terms. Clearly, the two systems are similar, but Virginia has multiple quirks that make it unique. Virginia is a state with a rich history and culture, and it shines throughout their constitution. The United States Constitution would not be the same without Virginia’s influence. The last article of the constitution is entitled “Future Changes,” which shows how forward looking Virginia is. Hopefully, they can use this article to change the problems within their current constitution, namely the homophobic laws. Virginia certainly has learned from mistakes in their past, and have incorporated them into later constitutions.
In the early stages of North American colonization by the English, the colony of Jamestown, Virginia was founded in 1607 (Mailer Handout 1 (6)). Soon after the Massachusetts Bay Colony was founded in 1629 (Mailer Handout 2 (1)). These two colonies, although close in the time they were founded, have many differences in aspects of their lives and the way they were settled. The colonies have a different religious system, economic system, political system, and they have a different way of doing things; whether that be pertaining to making money, practicing religion, or electing governors. Along with the differences, there are also a sameness between these two colonies. Each colony has been derived from England and has been founded by companies
The Virginia constitution was created in 1776 and it is about the basic ruling of the commonwealth of Virginia. Their constitution limited the power of the government and created the basic rights for their people. Similar to all states ' constitution, their constitution is the supreme document of Virginia; however, the U.S. constitution or federal laws can take over. Virginia was the first to enact their constitution and their constitution influenced many states. The constitution limited its rights to vote for white men who
At the time, larger states like Virginia were creating an unfair amount of power for themselves that the small states didn’t have. In the new government, Congress was created to make laws, and was made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives would give states a number of Representatives they could have based on their population. This would give fair power deserved to the larger states. The Senate however would be two and only two Senators for each state, no matter how large or small, bringing some equality to Congress.
The colonists of Roanoke disappeared mysteriously around 1590. All the colonists were gone without a trace and without any exact way of letting anyone know what happened to them. When the governor of Roanoke, John White, arrived to Roanoke in 1590,there was only one clue about the disappearance that remained. The letters ''CRO''were written on a tree nearby. No one had knowledge of what happened to the colonists or where they might have gone. The question that is still being asked is,'' What happened in the time between when White left and returned?'' and , '' How did the events leading up to and after Roanoke affect the later colonies?'' There were eleven children, seventeen women, and ninety men that were supposed to be in Roanoke , but no remained. It is a mystery that hasn't been solved up to this day.
The constitution was mainly written in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was made to make guidelines for the building of a federal government so that there wouldn’t be any tyranny. Some examples of these are indicated in Document A. It describes that the central government can, “regulate trade, conduct foreign relations and declare war.” Meanwhile, the states can, “set up local governments, hold elections and establish schools.”
In “From Notes on the State of Virginia,” Thomas Jefferson includes some proposed alterations to the Virginia Laws and discusses some differences between blacks and whites. First, he describes one of the proposed revisions regarding slavery: All slaves born after the enactment of the alteration will be freed; they will live with their parents till a certain age, then be nurtured at public disbursement and sent out of state to form their own colonies such that intermarrying and conflicts can be avoided between blacks and whites. Next, Jefferson indicates some physical differences between blacks and whites, including skin color, hair, amount of exudates secreted by kidneys and glands, level of transpiration, structure in the pulmonary organ, amount of sleep, and calmness when facing dangers. As he notes, these differences point out that blacks are inferior to whites in terms of their bodies. In addition, Jefferson also asserts that the blacks’ reasoning and imagination are much inferior to the whites’ after he observes some of the art work and writings from the blacks. As a result, based on his observation, he draws a conclusion that whites are superior to blacks in terms of both body and mind. However, Jefferson’s use of hasty generalization, begging the question, and insulting language in his analysis is a huge flaw which ruins the credibility of his argument and offenses his readers.
During the 1700’s, one of the most discussed topics, was the kind of government that should be incorporated into each state. Several men with skeptical beliefs and contradicting ideas, led to many (indirect) disputes about which route should be taken. Virginia and Pennsylvania’s constitutions were a hot topic during the era, they stimulated an intriguing matter amongst many politicians. From Thomas Paine to Carter Braxton’s writings, each individual had an important role arguing and making claims toward the type of government they found to be the most effective. Virginia’s constitution was considered to be a mixed government, while Pennsylvania’s constitution was a simple government. Each structure had men who praised it and men who critiqued it. Through their writings we find many pros and cons for each style of governing, as well as the different theories each individual had when it came to structuring a state’s constitution. We also gain an insight of what possible concerns came about during the time and what solutions they offered, if any were offered at all.
In the Constitution, central and state governments received power that was shared and split in a federalist system, preventing tyranny of one over the other. Madison put forward his idea of federalism in Federalist Paper #51. “...the power surrendered by the people is first divided between two distinct governments...The different governments will each control each other, at the same time each will be controlled by itself” (Doc. A). A Venn diagram derived from the Constitution shows that the central government controlled national affairs such as war, foreign trade, and foreign relations, and states controlled internal affairs such as establishing public services and regulating in-state businesses. The shared powers included taxes, loans, and laws. Despite Madison’s bias towards the federalist system (rarely does one truly attack one’s own political treatise within it) in his quote, the apportioning of powers shows that neither the central or st...
Federalism was majorly influenced by Alexander Hamilton, who was the dominant author of the Federalist Papers. Hamilton did not want to repeat the mistake that Great Britain made and believed that spreading the power to multiple sources of government, along with checks and balances would abolish tyranny. Furthermore, it would aid the people to be heard and their concerns to be resolved faster and with attention from their government. Federalism is when a nation has two sources of government instead of one, the two levels are national and state/local. Similar to many American qualities, having a federal government has its advantages and disadvantages. Three positive factors of federalism are that there is a more orderly system to dispute and
“If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the new stand side by side...when the glories of the old can be compensated by the rich possibilities of the new era? This time...is a very good one.”
The lives of men and women, women more than men, have changed a lot of the past couple years even decades and more than that. The interconnection of race and gender in the evolving social hierarchy of the early South, Colonial North Carolina, has changed. In Colonial North Carolina the main difference was on how the ways of “ordinary people” interacted with different genders and how race was different between the people of North Carolina. Peoples’ beliefs were the main thing that changed these views, but sometimes it reflected on political beliefs also. Between men and women sex was seen differently. Men and women’s views on sex were far from similar and this has affected their views on race and their views on each other. Views on sex has been
Clearly, under the Virginia Plan, the more heavily populated states would control Congress. Of course, the small states were opposed. Delegates from Connecticut, Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey spoke out against the Virginia Plan. William Patterson of New Jersey presented an alternative plan based on the wishes of the small states. The New Jersey Plan called for a one-house legislature in which each state would cast only one vote, as in the Confederation Congress. Unlike the Articles of Confederation, however, the New Jersey Plan would allow Congress to regulate trade and to impose tariffs. It would provide for an executive council and a federal judiciary, but Congress would restrict the powers of
Though the two-party system of American politics has been in place since the late 18th century, exactly which two parties are contending for control of the government has occasionally shifted. One of the powerful political entities that formed at the beginning of this period, the Federalist Party, built up a large, well-known presence in the early republic, advocating for centralized government and banking, and a positive relationship with the British as the way forward for the burgeoning United States government during the period surrounding the turn of the 19th century. This affinity for the United States-Britain relationship and the accompanying overseas trade practiced by the United States would eventually spell doom for the future of
Democracy has been the root of a limited government, the system of which government powers are distributed so that one group of leaders do not have too much influence. The limited government has been structured to keep peace amongst all parties that are involved in the government. And under the U.S. Constitution, citizens are given ultimate power by their right to choose their representatives through the democratic process of voting. Each levels of the government are limited as they have their own responsibilities. The city government has the most local level of government as the residents elect a city council and mayor to represent their interest at the city level. All city governments establish housing and health regulations, and are responsible
The jostling interests that presented themselves between the political parties on the debate over slavery during the Antebellum Period (approximately between 1820-1860), led to “A Nation Divided” and ultimately to the Civil War in the United States.