Essays by students at Stargate
America is free
The country of America has many great rights to help keep all Americans free. Although all are very helpful, I value a few key rights.
When America first started in 1776, many of our current rights didn't exist. One was the right that women have to vote. Only men could vote, and by that, I mean land-owning white men. African-Americans couldn't. They were too busy being slaves. It says in the Declaration of Independence that we are all created equal. That's women, too! Now, women can vote, as long as they are over eighteen years old. However in many places around the world, women can't vote. Americans are lucky to have that right.
Another great right that I value is the Freedom of Speech. This right ensures that we can be ANY race, religion, we are free to chose a job, and we have Freedom of the Press. It doesn't matter if we are African-American, Hispanic, Swedish, German, Italian, we are all equal. We are all people! Martin Luther King Jr. said that he had a dream, and one day all men would be treated as his neighbor. We have that right! Slaves are not allowed in the United States, just because they might be a different race. Why should good men have to do other men's dirty work? Different races have that right!
We also have the right to be any religion. We can be whatever we want ourselves to be. There is no king to tell us to be this or that. WE make our own decisions. We, as people, as Americans, have that right.
We have the right to chose for ourselves, a job. Not one single person can tell us we cant be a doctor or a teacher or a vet. We make our own decisions. Any race can make that decision, and women can make it, too. Nobody can take that away.
As a community of the United States of America, we have a job to ensure these rights for many years to come. I, as a new generation, have a job to help the next generation to get their freedom and rights. And I, as an American citizen, am proud of my homeland for coming such a long way since 1776. God bless America.
Essay by Hannah Sagehorn
Stargate Charter school
Search and Seizure
There are many freedoms we are granted in the United States Constitution. Some have been fought over for years and some just needed to be included, such as the freedom of speech and religion. Of all of these rights that shape our nation, the one I like the most is the right is the right against unnecessary search and seizure.
Government officials, such as the police and the FBI should not be granted permission to rummage through our houses, cars and belongings without an actual reason or the owner's consent. If they did, then America wouldn't really be the "land of the free", and we would be slaves of the government.
In the time of the American Revolution, British soldiers would march into villages, towns, and even cities and invade any colonist's home they thought could possibly be a spy or agreed with the patriots. Families would be stripped of their possessions, including land, livestock and food so that it could be given to the British Administraiter. If the family was found guilty, the family would be locked up in prison. In the middle of the revolution, Louis Morris, the representative for New York had to go through this process when British solders burned down his house because he attended the Continental Congress.
When the Constitution was written, people like George Mason who remembered these tyrannical searches demanded that it was made an amendment. The citizens thought this was so important because without it, their new country wouldn't be free.
Today, there are no British soldiers coming to scrutinize our homes, but every body takes this right for granted, not knowing how free they really are. We might still have these searches if it wasn't for amendment four. But if this amendment was not in the Constitution, police officers might do similar searches when they had suspicions of illegal trade or vandalism. So in a way, with warrants and the Miranda rights, we are still protected from the unnecessary search and seizure. We are an extremely fortunate country to have a Bill of Rights and its fourth amendment as an essential rule in American justice.
Essay by Emily Kennedy
Stargate Charter School
As a citizen of the United States of America I value all of the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The freedom and amendment I value most is freedom of religion and amendment one.
Having the freedom of religion is something my family and I value a lot. Religion is a big part of my family, without it we wouldn't be as strong as we are. Also, without religion in my life I wouldn't be the person I am today.
Every Sunday my immediate and extended family attends the same church. Life wouldn't be as enjoyable without the happiness that attending church brings to me every Sunday. Being forced to be a religion that you don't believe in is wrong. What could you possibly get out of being forced to believe in something you don't have faith in? The answer is nothing; you can't get anything out of that except the feeling of being bored. That is why I value freedom of religion the most in my life.
Another freedom that I value most in amendment one is freedom of speech. I like to voice my opinions to the government and authorities. I don't want to feel like I have to hold back on what I believe or think. So I'm glad I don't have to. I believe that citizens of the United States should be able to voice their opinions freely and say exactly what they want, when they want. That is why I value freedom of speech.
I also value the freedom of the press in amendment one. I value this freedom for many reasons. First, is that I don't feel that we are being sheltered from the real world. If I wanted to, I could go out and buy a magazine and find an article about the faults in the government. Or, I could read about why someone doesn't like the president. Second, you can really make your voice heard by publishing articles in magazines. That is why I value the freedom of the press.
Lastly, I value the equality of people with colored skin. Even though my race didn't have to fight from freedom, I still value the equality. I have a lot of good friends that have colored skin and they are not any different than me. Just because someone has colored skin doesn't mean that they aren't as smart or as talented as someone who has white skin. That is why I value the equality between races.
All in all I value every single freedom that the Constitution and Bill of Rights guarantee. America is a very special place to possess such wonderful privileges that each of us can value.
Essay by Abby Carlson
Stargate Charter School
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