Governor Edmund Randolph’s Speech and the Supreme Court’s Ruling
Question
In one or two paragraphs for each, answer
the following questions: 1-What, according to Governor Edmund Randolph, were the defects of the Articles of Confederation? 2-By what logic did the majority of the Supreme Court rule in 2015 that state laws forbidding same-sex marriage violated the Fourteenth Amendment? The questions should be answered based on the files attached. |
Answer
Name of Student
Name of Professor
English 101 Paper
15 October 2015
Governor Edmund Randolph’s Speech and the Supreme Court’s Ruling
Question One
Governor Edmund Randolph presented several arguments in an effort to show that the Articles of Confederation were defective, and thus time had come to replace them with the Constitution. To begin with, Governor Randolph pointed out that the Articles of Confederation were defective because they perpetuated disunity among the states. He also said that they supported paper money, which had triggered numerous disputes due to creditor fraud, thereby destroying credit and commerce. Another defect highlighted in his speech was that the Articles of Confederation merely gave Congress recommendatory power, thereby reducing them to mere supplicants. In Governor Randolph’s view, this was a mockery of government because there was no way the federal government could function efficiently if Congress was not given substantive powers to ensure that all states complied with their federal duties.
The Articles of Confederation were defective because they did not contain provisions for the establishment of a government that could guarantee stability and security for all Americans. Instead of cherishing and protecting the states, they promoted disunity. For example, they created a defenseless Confederation that could easily be conspired against and encroached upon by individual states. Whenever the states chose to invoke their power to counteract the activities of the Confederation as provided for under the Articles of the Confederation, the operations of the Confederation would be of no validity.
Moreover, the Articles of Confederation gave executive, legislative, and judicial powers to one body. According to Governor Randolph, history had shown that uniting any of the two powers leads to tyranny and the ultimate destruction of liberty. He also claimed that the Articles of the Confederation were defective because of the provision that nine states must provide assent before a law is passed. In Governor Randolph’s view, this constituted a major restriction whose preventive power outweighed any good consequences it portended for the states.
Question Two
The Supreme Court’s ruling in June 2015 was informed by four arguments. The first one was that every person has a right to make a personal choice regarding marriage in a manner that demonstrates individual autonomy, and that this applies even to same-sex couples. The Court held that marriage is inherently connected to liberty as demonstrated in previous rulings such as Turner v. Safley and Loving v. Virginia. The second argument was based on the fundamentality of the right to marry given that a union between two committed individuals represents the most important decision that those two individuals can ever make. The third argument was that laws forbidding same-sex marriage cause harm and humiliation to the children of the affected same-sex couples. Lastly, the Supreme Court argued that all marriages, both same-sex and opposite-sex, contribute equally to the purpose of promoting social order in society.
In light of these arguments, the Supreme Court determined that the Fourteenth Amendment, guarantees equal protection for all persons, including same-sex couples. In the Court’s view, the laws being challenged are a burden to the liberty of those persons who would wish to enter into same-sex marriages simply because they go against the principle of equality and they bar the affected persons from exercising one of their fundamental rights. The Supreme Court also drew attention to the long history of opposition to same-sex marriages, arguing that this attitude, together with the laws being challenges, serve to marginalize and subordinate gays and lesbians.
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