Hamilton Veterans Memorial

Hamilton Veterans Memorial. . , O say can you see, by the dawn's early light, , What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming, , Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight, , O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? , And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air, , Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there: , O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave , O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?, On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep, , Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes, , What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep, , As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses? , Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam, , In full glory reflected now shines in the stream: , Tis the star-spangled banner, O long may it wave , O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave., The Star-Spangled Banner , Francis Scott Key , 1814, We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America., Article 1- Creates the two parts of Congress. They are responsible for making laws., Section 1: All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives., Section 2: Defines the House of Representatives, known as the lower house of Congress. Must be 25 years old, will serve for two years each Must be a citizen 7 years. Each state gets Representatives based on state population. Has a leader called the Speaker of the House., Section 3: Defines the Senate, knows as the upper house of the Congress. Must be 30 years old, will serve for six years each. Thus be a citizen 9 years, Each state gets two Senators. Vice-President breaks the votes., Section 4: Says that each state may establish its own methods for electing members of the Congress. Requires that Congress must meet at least once per year., Section 5: Says that Congress must have a minimum number of members present in order to meet. Fines for members who de hot show up. It says that members may be expelled. Each house must keep a journal to record proceedings and votes. Nether can adjourn without the permission of the other., Section 6: Establishes that members of Congress will be paid. They cannot be detained while traveling to and from Congress. That they cannot hold any other affect in the government while in the Congress., Section 7: Say how bills become law: All bills must pass both houses of Congress in the exact same form. Bills that pass both houses are sent to the President. He can either sign the bill, in which case it becomes law, or he can veto it, If he vetoes a bill, it is sent back to Congress, and if both houses pass it by a two-thirds majority, the bill becomes law over the President's veto. This is known as overriding a veto., Section 8: Gives Congress the power to establish and maintain an army and navy. To establish post offices, to create cants, to regulate commerce between the states to declare war and to raise money., Section 9: Can not suspend right to remain silent laws. Can not pass laws that vrake things illegal starting yesterday or last weeks, eto. No law can give preference to one state over another. Can not spend money without permission., Section 10: States can't make their own money or declare war or law goods from other states., Article 2- Creates the job of President, called the Executive. Responsible for enforcing the laws., Section 1: Establishes the office of the President and the Vice-President. Both serve for four years. Presidents are elected by the Electoral, Must be 26 years old. Must be born in the USA. Their pay cannot change up or down as long as he ta is office., Section 2: President leads the armed forces. He has a Cabinet to aid him, and can pardon criminals. He makes treaties with other nations (2/3 of the Soniate have to approve of the treaty). Preks many of the judges and other members of the government., Section 3: President must give a yearly speech to the nation. Give suggestions to Congress. Meet with Ambassadors and other heads of state from other nations. Ensure the laws of the United States are carried out. Section 4 Explains how to kick the president from office, called impeachment., Article 3- Establishes Judges, called the Judiciary. They decide if a law is allowable, or if it goes against the Constitution., Section 1: Establishes the Supreme Court the highest court in the United States, Judge serve for life, or until they want to retire., Section 2: Says what cases the Supreme Court must decide. It also guarantees trial by jury in criminal court., Section 3: Belines, without any questiore what the crime of treason is., Article 4- Slaves Rights!, Section 1: All states will honor the laws of all other states., Sestion 2: Citizens of one state are treated equally and fairly like all citizens of another. It also says that if person accused of a crime in one state flees to another will be returned to the state that person fleil from., Section 3: How new states come into the Nation Control of federal lands., Section 4: Ensures a "Power by the People government. Guarantees that the federal government will protect the states against., Article 5- How to change the Constitution., 2/3 of the Representatives must vots on the change. 3/3 of the Senators must vote on the change: 3/A of the States must vote for the change. (34 or 50), Article 6- Concerns the United States, Guarantees that the Constitution and all laws and treaties of the United States to be the supreme law of the country. Requires all officers of the United States and of the states to wear an oath of allegiance to the United States and the Constitution when taking office., Article 7- Explained how the Constitution was agreed to., Of the original 13 states in the United States, nine had to accept the Consilium before i would officially quinto effect., Four score and seven years go our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal., Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a por- tion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this., But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate --we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so noply advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedi- cated to the great task remaining before us that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom-- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth., Abraham Lincoln , Gettysburg Address , November 19, 1863, The Bill of Rights , Amendment I , Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohitting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances., Amendment II , A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed., Amendment III , No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law., Amendment IV , The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized., Amendment V , No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in uses arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in tim or public danger nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice pub in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law, nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation., Amendment VI , In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense., Amendment VII , In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, anal no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United State, than according to the rules of the common law., Amendment VIII , Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted., Amendment IX , The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people., Amendment X , The powers not delegated to the United Stoves by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the state the states respectively, or to the people., Ratified on December 15, 1791, In Congress, July 4, 1776., The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation., We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world., He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good., He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them., He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only., He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures., He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people., He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within., He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands., He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers., He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries., He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance., He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures., He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power., He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:, For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:, For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:, For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:, For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:, For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:, For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:, For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:, For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:, For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever., He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us., He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people., He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation., He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands., He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions., In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people., Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends., We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor., Georgia . Button Gwinnett . Lyman Hall . George Walton, North Carolina . William Hooper . Joseph Hewes . John Penn, South Carolina . Edward Rutledge . Thomas Heyward, Jr. . Thomas Lynch, Jr. . Arthur Middleton, Massachusetts . John Hancock, Maryland . Samuel Chase . William Paca . Thomas Stone . Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Virginia . George Wythe . Richard Henry Lee . Thomas Jefferson . Benjamin Harrison . Thomas Nelson, Jr. . Francis Lightfoot Lee . Carter Braxton, Pennsylvania . Robert Morris . Benjamin Rush . Benjamin Franklin . John Morton . George Clymer . James Smith . George Taylor . James Wilson . George Ross, Delaware . Caesar Rodney . George Read . Thomas McKean, New York . William Floyd . Philip Livingston . Francis Lewis . Lewis Morris, New Jersey . Richard Stockton . John Witherspoon . Francis Hopkinson . John Hart . Abraham Clark, New Hampshire . Josiah Bartlett . William Whipple, Massachusetts . Samuel Adams . John Adams . Robert Treat Paine . Elbridge Gerry, Rhode Island . Stephen Hopkins . William Ellery, Connecticut . Roger Sherman . Samuel Huntington . William Williams . Oliver Wolcott, New Hampshire . Matthew Thornton