Posted by
Dana on Wednesday, June 13, 2007 12:29:12 PM
Modern politicians, on both sides of the aisle, are using immigration as a tool to establish their dominance of the political landscape. These politicians have no concern for our national or economic security, they simply want to hold onto power. This attitude is not new, if we look back into history we can see another example of how eager politicians made decisions regarding what was best for their party, and how the decisions led to the utterly ridiculous idea of the 14th amendment.
The 14th amendment simply states that : " All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States, and the State where they reside." The amendment also assures that these new "citizens" will not be deprived of life , liberty, or property, without due process of law. Much of our current immigration mess can find it's roots here in the 14th amendment, this law encourages illegal to attempt to make it to America to give birth, thus making the child a citizen. The amendment os another example of the federal government expanding it's powers, not to mention the fact that there is much evidence to suggest that the amendment is unconstitutional.
How did the 14th amendment become law? With the end of the Civil War in 1865, thoughts turned towards the government's policy towards the South. President Lincoln's Reconstruction Plan called for treating the South with respect, he wanted amnesty for those who take an oath of loyalty to the Union and would abolish slavery laws, once 10 percent of state took the oath of loyalty, that state could form a government and send representatives to Washington. Lincoln took this approach because, in his mind, these states did not actually secede, but rather they rebeled against the Federal government.
These policies did not please everyone though, a group called Radical republicans wanted stricter laws. These laws would greatly increase the power of the government. These Radicals insisted on guarantees for black suffrage, not because they were actually that concerned about the rights of blacks to vote, but because they assumed that all blacks would immediately become Republican voters. This would most certainly assure the perpetual dominance of the Republican Party. The Radicals were not about stop here, flush with confidence after their election victory of 1866 they set out to push their agenda.
They set about to pass the Freedman's Bureau Bill , and the Civil Rights Act of 1866. The Freedman's Bureau was to provide food, shelter, medical care and education to the former slaves. The Bureau was also to establish labor agreements in the former plantation areas. The Civil Rights Act of 1866 overturned the Dred Scott Decision, a decision by the Supreme Court that said a slave brought from a slave state to a free state could not sue for his freedom because he wan not a citizen, by stating that all persons born in the United States were citizens. As citizens, they could enforce contracts, sue and give evidence in court, receive protection from the law. President Johnson vetoed these bills, he thought were serious constitutional problems with the bills, as well as opportunity for abuse of power. In fact the Civil Rights Act contained enforcement provisions that allowed the transfer of legal proceedings from state courts to federal courts, if those states did not confirm the Acts provisions. This allowed the federal government to grow even more powerful. The Presidential veto, and obvious Constitutional question did not deter the Radicals, they simply passed the legislation.
The Radicals realize that their Civil Rights Act could be legally challenged, so they came up with the idea to put the Act into the form of a Constitutional Amendment. The radicals simply took the language of the Civil Rights, and incorporated it into the Amendment. Southerners mainly objected to the Amendment because , in their opinion, it would grant the federal government the ability ,to eventually, strip the states of their rights. In fact, most of those opposed to this legislation feared it concentrate too much power in a central government. When the Amendment was presented for the states consideration, 10 of the 11 former Confederate states fail to ratify it. Would this put an end to the Radical's plan? Absolutely not! The simply declare that all the states who failed to ratify the Amendment do not have legal governments. They would break up the states into five military districts, and rule by martial law. What would these states have to do to join the Union again? They would have to elect delegates to state constitutional conventions and draw up new state constitutions. These new constitutions would acknowledge the abolition of slavery, and the introduction of black suffrage. Of course these states would have to ratify the 14th Amendment.
The Southern states eventually ratified the 14th Amendment, but the process had many irregularities; In Tennessee, opponets refused to be present for the vote so that ratification would be impossible, the men were seized and held in a nearby room so that the vote could proceed, in Oregon , the vote occurred during a time when two Republican seats were being challenged on legal grounds. After the vote, the Republicans were removed from the legislature.
These actions have influenced the modern day political landscape in many ways, the 14th Amendment has helped to encourage the influx of illegals, the federal government continues to usurp state and local governments at every whim, and political parties still think that they can import new voters, no matter what the social, security or economic impact to the nation. As in the day of the Radical Republicans, modern day politicians are more concerned with party power, than their constituents. We need to take a strong look at the 14th Amendment, it seems unreasonable that just because your mother, if she is not a citizen, gives birth to you within our nation's border, that you are entitled to all the rights we hold so dear. We must continue to stand together , so that what is best for future comes to pass, not just what is best for the RNC or DNC. If we as a nation are not willing to fight the good fight, history will most certainly repeat itself.