Constitutional Principles And Rights: Origins Of Constitutional Values

Origins of Constitutional Principles and Rights

Core democratic values are principles and beliefs that help unite all americans. It is essential that our government establishes and supports these in our everyday decisions for the country. The Magna Carta, 1215, Petition of Right, 1628, Bill of Rights, 1689, and Second Treaties by John Locke, 1689 all help show why these values are essential. Equality and Justice are two of the values and are the most significant, showing both how the government implements each value and why the government should establish this.

Government implements equality for the fact that everyone feels accepted and treated fairly. Without equality our government would plummet, if we were to treat one person who served

Why should we establish equality into our government? According to 1689 Bill of Rights, “5. That it is the right of the subjects to petition the King, and all commitments and prosecution for such petitioning are illegal.” With the quote, you are considered to not be discouraged if you wish to petition your leader and it is your right to do so and he in charge has no authority to prosecute you in any form. According to John Locke, “ Everyone as he is bound to preserve himself and not to quit his Station wilfully; so by the like reason when his own Preservation comes not in competition, ought he, as much as he can, to preserve the rest of mankind…” (Second Treatise, 1689). By this means that man should not only preserve himself, but help preserve everyone and everything else. Both quotes help prove why equality is essential in our government. If you could not petition your leader or he were to prosecute you if you ever did, then that would be somewhat considered a dictatorship because he doesn’t want you to think differently of him and he wants everyone to agree on his terms and that is not equality. Also, if you will not help preserve everybody else and our world (Nature) than you would only be worried about preserving yourself and that is

When we think of justice we usually think of judges, which is one of the many definitions, but there are many more. With all of those, they help keep our government together. According to Montesquieu, “By virtue of the first, the prince or magistrate enacts temporary or perpetual laws, and amends or abrogates those that have been already enacted...By the third, he punishes criminals, or determines the disputes that arise between individuals. The latter we shall call the judiciary power..” ( Spirit of the Laws, 1748). This states that the judges have the authority to punish and accuse criminals that break the law. With saying that, the government needs judges to do so or none of the criminals could be punished. If we had no criminals punished for their crimes or we had unfaithful judges than that can cause a major downfall of our government. According to the Petition of Right from 1628, “ and that no freeman, in any such manner as is before mentioned, be imprisoned or detained; and that your Majesty would be pleased to remove the said soldiers and mariners, and that your people may not be so burthened in time to come…” This is stating that a freeman should not be imprisoned and your judge would gladly take out soldiers from the situation but can not so fellow americans will not be bothered by it. Government should establish honest judges in order to have equal sentencing and rights distributed among all americans. In doing so,