Rye Neck High School - Scraps Yearbook (Mamaroneck, NY)

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but now firmlyattaching them as part of the government. Afterahis death followed the 14th and 15th'Amendments as indirect ref sults of his struggles, giving the now free negroes, citizenship, representation, and the ballot- , , V Everything Lincoln said and did helped, to enforce and preserve the Union of States which he declared indissoluble and which formed a permanent -bond under the Consti- tution. His very spirit marked him as the ideal of what he called .that Government of the people, by the people, for the people. I Throughout his 'whole term of office, Lin' coln Stood by the Constitution never falter' ing in his noble purpose-to save the Union. Glory was not to ,be his.: Of encouragement he found little outside his own family circle. Criticism was hurled from every direction but Lincoln heeded not. Practically alone he struggled onward doing what he- knew to be right until .he finally reached the altar of freedom where he laid down his own life in sacrifice for his nation. V ' How beautifully Lowell's simple lines com' memorate h-im, as- - - A The kindly, earnestjbrave, foreseeing man, Sagacious, patient, dreading praise not blame, New birth of our new soil, the first Amerif can. ' -f ' First? Yes. -For in Lincoln were combined all the elements of the true American-g in him were embodied all the ideals of Libf erty, Equality, Fraternity for all mankind, and from hisxlife sprang a-new and finer tendency to uphold Union and Liberty, -prov' ing him -in a true sense -to be the Standard Bearer of the Constitution. . Herbert R. Houghton, jr. THE EVOLUTION OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS No power has ever been able to touch m'an's irrestible sense of justice. This nat' ural ideal which from the very start was crippled and beaten, slowly rose to its feet in the course of the ages. It is to this long process that we owe the 'liberty which to us is so natural but was to those who fought for it but a vague and untried' thing. A govf ernment of the people, for the people, by the people is the fruit of an old tree which was to grow in a dry and sandy soil irrigated now and then by a wandering brook. Let us see for ourselves what brooks came to irrlf gate this soil which has borne us our mcst prized treasure, liberty. Centuries of events have shown us that each dispute had its compromiser, each ref bellion its pacifier, and each complaint its reformist. Athens complained and reformists such' as Solon and Cleisthenes 'rose to thc occasion. -Soon they had created an assem- bly giving a share in government to the com' mon people, extended citizenship, established Ostracism, a just means of expelling oppress' ing and dangerous political leaders. A spirit of democracy began to lift itself from its dusty vault. The early development of the Roman Ref public is orfe.of a democraticrtendency, which was advocated by its statesmen. We feel that Brutus' famous speech at Caesar's fu' neral was a warning against tyranny and ex' cess of power. He meant to free the people from this even at the cost of his best friend's life! This democratic tendency continued in an' answer to the revolting Plebes of Rome. The paciiers were the Tribunes, who came as protectors of their 'rights and' admitted, them to high offices. But the bold and --profitable example .set by the Greeks and the Romans was thrust aside during the years of gloom and obscurf ity-Which mark the beginning of the Middle Ages. ' It was a period of decay. Accordingly, that- which was feeble as were the rights of man, suffered and fell more rapidly. Barbarism crushed it, the su- preme rule of emperors forbade it,- till the faint light of Christianity came to light it afnew. Its doctrines' were fair and simple So simple were they, in fact, that they did not attract the eyes of its dainful contempof raries. We today can hardly conceive the persecutions which its followers withstood. This was not a time of peaceful freedom of worship but one of narrow principles. Yet as all worthy elements do, Christianity grew and with it the doctrine that men are cre- ated equal in the sight of God. There developed- at about this' time, a sense of justice and respect for the rights of others. The guilds, which came into exist' Page Twentyfsevcn

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comes more beautiful and perfect. A great golden golden light seems to hover about it, and emanate from it. It is the light of truth and equity, which makes the hearts of the American People glow with true happiness and prosperity.- The Constitution is the expression of the will of the people. It directly depends upon, and -had its birth from,ithe American citizen The British Parliament has the extreme power to make or unmake any law as it sees fit, in the United States only the people can change the American Constitution. It is the American individual, taken as a nation, that is omnipotent. His will is law, and hisflaw is Democracy. , Judson Benjamin LINCOLN, THE STANDARDBEARER OF THE 'CONSTITUTION V Looking back over the brief period of our Conastitutiorfs existence, we find, outstanding, the names of many who have, in one way or another, contributed to that sacred docuf ment. Never shall we forget Hamilton or Jefferson, those stalwart .patriarchs of its be- ginnings. Nor can we omit Monroe or Jack- son who so firmly upheld its principles from the Presidency. But, when we come to Lin' coln, we must stop, for fthe- contributions he made to the Constitution are far too great to be passed over witha mere breath. . The story of Lincoln and the Constitution is not one of direct incidents connecting,.LAinf coln with the Con-stitution but one of indif rect influences and implied powers. The only direct connection -Lincoln had with the Constitution was the 13th Amendment, which was adopted during his term of office- However, by his struggle for the vUnion,. by his struggle against slavery, 'Lincoln defended and upheld the Constitution. 3- - I When Lincoln stepped into the Presidency, he stepped into a-breach that could have been filled by no lesser man than he and into-the midst of such a crisis as had never before been known -in the history of the nation. However, Lincoln was prepared. He had not gone through those years of hardships in the backfwoods for tnothing. if He had not met with all the difficulties of his life merely to-throw this hardfearned experience away. So, realizing that this must be the task for which he had been prepared, realizing that he was the only one who -could cope with it, Lincoln fearlessly met it as the task for which his life had been destined, nor did he falter once or turn aside until it had been completed. , Secession! It hung like the mighty sword of Damocles over the seething nation threat' ening at any moment to descend and to rend it asunder. It seemed that the whole nation would be drowned in the turmoil of disunf ion. The North ever held firmly to the steadfast principles of union, while the South was balanced on the very edge of separation with' the mighty arm- of slavery pulling it down on the other side. 'Lincoln prophesied, I do not expect the Union to be dissolved, I-do not expect the house to fall, but I do expect it will cease to be divided. . In his purpose, however, Lincoln was somewhat misjudged, for, by some he was believed to give attention only to.the work of freeing the slaves. He did, indeed, wish slavery done away with, but above this, above everything else, he placed the -importance of the preservation of the Union under the Constitution. ..In aqletter he wrote to Horace Greeley, he stated, My paramount objectfin this struggle is to save the Union, and it is not either to save or to destroy slavery. However, Lincoln' did believe that the spirit of the Constitution was wholly op' posed to slavery, and although it could do nothing with the -slaves in the States, he firmly asserted thatcCongress had the power to+prohibit slavery in the territories. Then came the famous Dred Scott Case. The def cision, when made by the Supreme Court, declared that Congress had no such power. Lincoln, disagreeing with the decision, said, The people of these United States are the rightful masters of both Congress and courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrowthe men who pervert thc Constitution. . i .V Finally, moreover, when Lincoln, believed that it was possible by freeing the slaves tO save the Union, he did not hesitate to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. This docuf ment was followed almost directly by the 15th Amendment having the same principles Page Twentyfsix

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ence, served as checksto attempts of cheatf ing the public and guaranteed fair and honf est dealings in tradeor in manufacturing. Trial by jury, written constitutions, right to rebel against tyranny, were other points which were developed to some extent. just as the Christians had been persecuted so they in turn began to persecute those. who opposed their faith, They considered it a vital necessity to preserve a set common faith. So follows aperiod of intolerance in which the Church predorninated and estabf, lished the Inquisition, a radical means of dealing with heretics. . . The close of the Middle Ages marks an age of autocracy. This age brought forth a great document, the Magna Carta, which forced King John to sign an agreement to respect the variousliberties of the people, not to delay, sell or deny justice and ref strained his power of levying taxes. This document has been and always will be the vital pillar of English government. But the points of ivalor are the four great,..refvoluf tions which came to put an end to this auto- cratic government. The failure of the first English revolution and the death of Cromf well. had left England in the same condif tions. Then, happily, Parliament triumphed in the second and-glorious Revolution and in sixteen eightyfnine drew up the Bill of Rights, a safeguard to parliamentary powers. All this was but the shadow of democracy. There came a revolution, however, the one most dear to us, the same one which later encouraged the French 'people to throw off their yoke. It originated in that wild, ivast, promising, new land to which those who sought religious and political liberty escaped. What had been a shadow in Englandfibef came a living thing in this prosperous counf try. ' ' ' ' The Colonies had no representatives in Parliament, they had no voice in governmentg they were oppressed by trade and revenue laws. Their protestsgwere supported by Eng: lish orators among whom we single out Ed- mund Burke. He saw the hidden spirit of liberty and pioneer blood of our forefathers. The sentiment of the whole people. was voiced by one man when Patrick Henry stood before the Virginia assembly and said Forbid it Almighty God, Iknow not what course others may take but as for me, give me liberty or give me death . And so after many useless warning and petitions the bat tles of Lexington, Concord and many others were fought till the colonists had 'finally broken the chains which bound them 'to British Government. The T great men of America then met and wrote the 'Declaration of Independence which was but-a repetition of what had been done in'England less than Une hundred years ago in the' form of a Magna Carta and Bill of Rights. One 'by one all the states but two thrust aside their charters and formed' a constitution of their own. The narrow Puritan' doctrines and' limited franchise tocproperty owners 'and church members were wiped out and a bill of rights held firm position in each of these new constitutions .'c' ' ' 'Once more the fathers' of our country came together. timeto form a more perfect union, a strong central government, the Constitution of the United States. This great compact was, a ,gathering of .all the exf periences of Englandiand of the State Cogqg stitutions. It was greatly ,opposed by, some who feared the possibility ,of oppression. Some demanded a bill of rights, for they seemed to distrust it as they had distrusted the British rule. The demand was upheld by Thomas jefferson who has -been justly called the Apostle of the People. He looked after their interest and wished to see them express their opinion in government affairs. Surely we can place him almost side by side with our great Lincoln, in that, long before it had ever entered the minds of other men he had said, The hour of emancipaf tion is advancing in the march of time. It will come. Lincoln the great, neverftofbef forgotten man ,of the people, put this great statement into even greater action. Those were the highlights of- the develop' ment of democracy, to these- we must look back and payout respect to the great men and striving people who achieved the goal of true democratichappiness: liberty for all. Jeanne Egger Page Twentyfeight