Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Sonia Sotomayor

2009-05-28T18:35:18Z

Ambers: /* Background */

'''Sonia Sotomayor''' (born June 25, 1954) is a judge on the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. On May 26, 2009, President [[Barack Obama]] nominated her to the [[Supreme Court]], to replace retiring Justice [[David Souter]]. Sotomayor, {{age|1954|6|25}}, is the first [[Hispanic]] nominated to the high court. Indeed, she is the first American of Puerto Rican descent ever nominated to high office.<ref>Puerto Rico has been part of the U.S. since 1898, and residents gained full citizenship in 1917.</ref>

Obama said she "is an inspiring woman who I believe will make a great justice." According to the ABA Journal,<blockquote>
"... the Bronx-born Sotomayor has been regarded as a potential high court nominee by several presidents, both Republican and Democrat. Reared by her widowed mother after the death of her father, a tool-and-die worker, she has an attractive life narrative and an even more attractive resumé. She was an editor of the Yale Law Review, did heavy lifting as a prosecutor under legendary New York County District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, and worked in private practice as an intellectual property litigator. She was first appointed to the federal bench by President George H.W. Bush, then to the appeals court by President Clinton." <ref>http://abajournal.com/news/who_will_replace_justice_souter</ref>
</blockquote>[[File:Sotomeyer-Szep.jpg|thumb|240px|caricature by Paul Szep]]

==Opinions==

===Doctrine of [[Standing]]===
Decisions by Sotomayor, such as Taylor v. Vt. Dept of Ed. 313 F.3d 768 (2002), seem to show that she favors [[judicial restraint]] with respect to standing issues.

===Terminology===
An analysis of Sonia Sotomayor's decisions shows that she sometimes uses [[conservative]] terms, such as the following:

*'''strict constructionist''' ''New York Hotel & Motel Trades Council v. Hotel Ass'n,'' 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16615 (1993)

*'''judicial restraint''' "venerable ground of judicial restraint" in ''Michel v. INS,'' 206 F.3d 253, 267 (2000)

*'''competition''' (in an economic context) Many cases.

*'''efficiency''' ''Singh v. City of New York'', 524 F.3d 361 (2d Cir. 2008)

*'''free-market''' ''Silverman v. Major League Baseball Player Relations Comm.,'' 880 F. Supp. 246, 256 (1995)

*'''separation of powers''' ''European Cmty. v. RJR Nabisco,'' 424 F.3d 175 (2005)

*'''transaction cost'''' ''Calif. Pub. Emples.' Ret. Sys. v. N.Y. Stock Exch., Inc.'' (In re NYSE Specialists Sec. Litig.), 503 F.3d 89, 94 (2007)

*'''illegal alien''' ''United States v. Acevedo'', 229 F.3d 350 (2d Cir. N.Y. 2000). In fact, Judge Sotomayor has used the term "illegal alien" to describe a defendant in five opinions, ruling against the defendant all five times. In one of those decisions, Judge Sotomayor held that the court should defer to legislative classifications of alienage under the most deferential "rational basis" level of review.<ref>''See'' ''United States v. Ni Fa Yi'', 951 F. Supp. 42 (S.D.N.Y. 1997).</ref>

However, Sotomayor uses liberal terminology far more frequently,and often instead of more accurate words with conservative connotations:

*'''anti-abortion''' Sotomayor uses this term rather than "pro-life" in ''Amnesty Am. v. Town of W. Hartford,'' 361 F.3d 113 (2004) and ''Ctr. for Reprod. Law v. Bush,'' 304 F.3d 183 (2d Cir. N.Y. 2002)

*'''pro-choice''' ''Ctr. for Reprod. Law v. Bush,'' 304 F.3d 183 (2d Cir. N.Y. 2002) and ''Flamer v. City of White Plains,'' 841 F. Supp. 1365 (S.D.N.Y. 1993)

*'''environmental''' Heavily used in more than twenty of Sotomayor's decisions.

*'''racism''' ''Washington v. County of Rockland,'' 373 F.3d 310 (2d Cir. N.Y. 2004) and ''McNeil v. Aguilos,'' 831 F. Supp. 1079 (S.D.N.Y. 1993)

==Issues==

===Abortion===
Abortion supporters are alarmed that in a series of cases Sotomayor has consistently ruled against the abortion advocates. The White House has stated that Obama did not ask her views on abortion or privacy.<ref> See [http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/28/us/politics/28abortion.html?th&emc=th Charles Savage, "On Sotomayor, Some Abortion Rights Backers Show Unease," ''New York Times'' May 27, 2009]</ref>
* In a 2007 case, she strongly criticized colleagues on the court who said that only women, and not their husbands, could seek asylum based on China’s abortion policy. “The termination of a wanted pregnancy under a coercive population control program can only be devastating to any couple, akin, no doubt, to the killing of a child,” she wrote, also taking note of “the unique biological nature of pregnancy and special reverence every civilization has accorded to child-rearing and parenthood in marriage.”

* In a 2004 case, she sided with anti-abortion protesters who sued police officers for violating their constitutional rights by using excessive force to break up demonstrations at an abortion clinic. Judge Sotomayor said the protesters deserved a day in court.

*She wrote a decision against a pro-choice group in '''Center for Reproductive Law and Policy vs. Bush'''.<ref>http://blogs.cbn.com/thebrodyfile/archive/2009/05/26/sotomayors-abortion-ruling.aspx</ref> The decision dismissed the claim of a Mexico-based organization which challenged policies requiring that foreign organizations neither perform nor promote abortions as a condition for receiving US funding.

Sotomayor drew a distinction between "necessary" and "family planning" abortions: "For purposes of 22 U.S.C.S. � 2151b(f)(1), "abortion as a method of family planning" does not include abortions performed if the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term or abortions performed following rape or incest (since abortion under these circumstances is not a family planning act)."

Sotomayor concluded, "The Supreme Court has made clear that the government is free to favor the anti-abortion position over the pro-choice position, and can do so with public funds."

President Obama recently overturned this decision.

According to the ACLJ, "Though she once ruled in favor of upholding the Mexico City Policy, pro-life organizations say her comment trumps that decision because she appears to favor Roe and how the Supreme Court made abortion policy by allowing abortions throughout pregnancy for any reason."<ref>http://www.aclj.org/News/Read.aspx?ID=3322</ref>

===Parental Rights===

In Wilkinson v. Russell, 182 F.3d 89, 108 (2d Cir. Vt. 1999), Sotomayor quoted from Frazier v. Bailey, 957 F.2d 920. She described the case by stating, "In reaching its conclusion, the Frazier court emphasized the murky nature of parental rights". Quoting another case, she said, "Although recognizing that the Constitution extends "certain fundamental parental rights," the court held that plaintiff's allegations did not even "implicate the constitutional guarantees at issue."

===Establishment Clause===

'''Hankins v. Lyght, 441 F.3d 96 (2006)''' "In an age discrimination challenge by a Methodist clergyman, Judge Winter writing for the majority held that [the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act (RFRA)] is properly applied to an Age Discrimination in Employment Act claim. Judge Sotomayor dissented contending that RFRA does not apply to disputes between private parties and that the ADEA does not govern disputes between religious entities and their spiritual leaders." <ref>http://religionclause.blogspot.com/2009/05/sotomayor-is-high-court-pick-here-are.html</ref>

Sotomayor stated, "The majority's opinion thus violates a cardinal principle of '''judicial restraint''' by reaching unnecessarily the question of RFRA's constitutionality. For these reasons, I respectfully dissent." (emphasis added)

"I believe that a remand is a wasteful expenditure of judicial resources and an unnecessary and uninvited burden on the parties. The district court is in no better position than we are to decide either the statutory or constitutional questions presented in this case. In my view, the most appropriate disposition of this case would be to affirm the district court's dismissal of appellant's claims on the ground that the ADEA does not apply to employment suits brought against religious institutions by their spiritual leaders. Because the majority's contrary approach disregards a clear and voluntary waiver, conflicts with RFRA's text and with binding precedent, and unnecessarily resolves a contested constitutional question, I respectfully dissent."

===Second Amendment===
Independence Institute Research Director Dave Kopel said that Sotomayor's opinions "demonstrate a profound hostility to [[Second Amendment]] rights." Maloney v. Cuomo ruled that the Second Amendment does not apply against state and local governments. Sotomayor and the Second Circuit held, ''"It is settled law that the Second Amendment applies only to limitations the federal government seeks to impose on this right."'' This contrasted with the Ninth Circuit decision on Nordyke v. King which upheld the Second Amendment as a deeply held right embodied in the Constitution that transcends state law. <ref>[http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/sotomayor_gun_rights/2009/05/27/218441.html Sotomayor Hostile to Gun Rights, Scholar Says] Newsmax, May 27, 2009</ref>

===Free Speech===
Sotomayor appears to believe in a strong right to free speech.

Sotomayor dissented in '''Pappas v. Giuliani, 290 F.3d 143, 155 (2d Cir. N.Y. 2002)'''
<blockquote>

"The Court holds that the government does not violate the First Amendment when it fires a police department employee for racially inflammatory speech -- where the speech consists of mailings in which the employee did not identify himself, let alone connect himself to the police department; where the speech occurred away from the office and on the employee's own time; where the employee's position involved no policymaking authority or public contact; where there is virtually no evidence of workplace disruption resulting directly from the speech; and where it ultimately required the investigatory resources of two police departments to bring the speech to the attention of the community. Precedent requires us to consider these factors as we apply the Pickering balancing test, and each counsels against granting summary judgment in favor of the police department employer. To be sure, I find the speech in this case patently offensive, hateful, and insulting. The Court should not, however, gloss over three decades of jurisprudence and the centrality of First Amendment freedoms in our lives because it is confronted with speech it does not like and because a government employer fears a potential public response that it alone precipitated."
</blockquote>

===Title IX===
In Pell v. Trustees of Columbia Univ., 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 407 (1998), Sotomayor quoted Kracunas v. Iona College, 119 F.3d 80, 85 (2d Cir. 1997): "When a teacher sexually harasses a student, that teacher discriminates on the basis of sex in violation of Title IX."

===Judicial Activism===

"She is a rule-bound pragmatist--very geared toward determining what the right answer is and what the law dictates, but her general approach is, unsurprisingly, influenced by her unique background," says one former clerk.<ref>http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=45d56e6f-f497-4b19-9c63-04e10199a085</ref>

ACLJ warns of her record of judicial activism. "Will she embrace her past statement that the “court of appeals is where policy is made?” This nomination raises serious questions about the issue of legislating from the bench."<ref>http://www.aclj.org/TrialNotebook/Read.aspx?id=782</ref>

==Background==

She graduated from [[Princeton University]] in 1976 and earned her law degree from [[Yale University]]in 1979. Sotomayor was appointed a federal district court judge in 1992 by [[President George H.W. Bush]] and then elevated to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals by [[President Bill Clinton]].

Sonia Sotomayor is of Puerto Rican descent, and was born and raised in Bronx, NY. She graduated from Cardinal Spellman High School in 1972, which is a Catholic school, but it is uncertain where she currently stands in terms of religion.

On August 14, 1976, Sonia Sotomayor married Kevin Edward Noonan. However, they divorced in 1983 with no children.<ref>http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/politics&id=6831739</ref>

"Some sources, including Pete Williams, reported that the Judge is a Catholic. However, there has not yet been any indication of whether that report is accurate and, if so, if she actually practices her [[faith]]."<ref>http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=33654</ref>

"Sotomayor attended Catholic schools, but we haven't yet confirmed that she is, in fact, Catholic. If she is, she would become the sixth Catholic justice on the current Supreme Court."<ref>http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/politics&id=6831739</ref>

==Concerns==
[[File:Sonia Sotomayor.jpg|right|250px]]

* Abortion opponents reacted strongly against Sotomayor's nomination Tuesday. Charmaine Yoest, president of [[Americans United for Life]], called Sotomayor "a radical pick that divides America." []

In a speech in 2001, Sotomayor said "she believes it is appropriate for a judge to consider their “experiences as women and people of color” in their decision making, which she believes should “affect our decisions.”"<ref>http://www.verumserum.com/?p=5306&cpage=1</ref>

"I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life."<ref>http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2009/05/26/sonia-sotomayor-nominated-for-the-supreme-court/</ref><ref>National Journal, ''Identity Politics And Sotomayor, The judge's thinking is representative of the Democratic Party's powerful identity-politics wing.'', by Stuart Taylor, Saturday, May 23, 2009 [http://www.nationaljournal.com/njmagazine/or_20090523_2724.php]</ref>

"The most consistent concern was that Sotomayor, although an able lawyer, was "not that smart and kind of a bully on the bench," as one former Second Circuit clerk for another judge put it."<ref>http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=45d56e6f-f497-4b19-9c63-04e10199a085</ref>

"Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee called Sotomayor’s appointment “the clearest indication yet that President Obama’s campaign promises to be a centrist and think in a bipartisan way were mere rhetoric.”<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22965.html</ref>

"Charmaine Yoest, the president of Americans United for Life, blasted Sotomayor as “a radical pick that divides America. She believes the role of the Court is to set policy, which is exactly the philosophy that led to the Supreme Court turning into the National Abortion Control Board."<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22965.html</ref>

Sotomayor is a member of National Council of La Raza, a group that's promoted driver's licenses for illegal aliens, amnesty programs, and no immigration law enforcement by local and state police. <ref>[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=99420 Sonia Sotomayor 'La Raza member'] WND, May 27, 2009</ref>

She is currently under fire for a statement she made in a 2001 speech at University of California's Berkeley School of Law. "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."

==References==
<references/>

== See also ==

*[http://www.eagleforum.org/court_watch/alerts/2009/may09/05-26-09.html Analysis of Sotomayor's judicial philosophy]

[[Category:United States Judges]]
[[Category:Obama Administration]]

Sonia Sotomayor

2009-05-28T17:57:25Z

Ambers: /* Concerns */

'''Sonia Sotomayor''' (born June 25, 1954) is a judge on the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. On May 26, 2009, President [[Barack Obama]] nominated her to the [[Supreme Court]], to replace retiring Justice [[David Souter]]. Sotomayor, {{age|1954|6|25}}, is the first [[Hispanic]] nominated to the high court. Indeed, she is the first American of Puerto Rican descent ever nominated to high office.<ref>Puerto Rico has been part of the U.S. since 1898, and residents gained full citizenship in 1917.</ref>

Obama said she "is an inspiring woman who I believe will make a great justice." According to the ABA Journal,<blockquote>
"... the Bronx-born Sotomayor has been regarded as a potential high court nominee by several presidents, both Republican and Democrat. Reared by her widowed mother after the death of her father, a tool-and-die worker, she has an attractive life narrative and an even more attractive resumé. She was an editor of the Yale Law Review, did heavy lifting as a prosecutor under legendary New York County District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, and worked in private practice as an intellectual property litigator. She was first appointed to the federal bench by President George H.W. Bush, then to the appeals court by President Clinton." <ref>http://abajournal.com/news/who_will_replace_justice_souter</ref>
</blockquote>[[File:Sotomeyer-Szep.jpg|thumb|240px|caricature by Paul Szep]]

==Opinions==

===Doctrine of [[Standing]]===
Decisions by Sotomayor, such as Taylor v. Vt. Dept of Ed. 313 F.3d 768 (2002), seem to show that she favors [[judicial restraint]] with respect to standing issues.

===Terminology===
An analysis of Sonia Sotomayor's decisions shows that she sometimes uses [[conservative]] terms, such as the following:

*'''strict constructionist''' ''New York Hotel & Motel Trades Council v. Hotel Ass'n,'' 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16615 (1993)

*'''judicial restraint''' "venerable ground of judicial restraint" in ''Michel v. INS,'' 206 F.3d 253, 267 (2000)

*'''competition''' (in an economic context) Many cases.

*'''efficiency''' ''Singh v. City of New York'', 524 F.3d 361 (2d Cir. 2008)

*'''free-market''' ''Silverman v. Major League Baseball Player Relations Comm.,'' 880 F. Supp. 246, 256 (1995)

*'''separation of powers''' ''European Cmty. v. RJR Nabisco,'' 424 F.3d 175 (2005)

*'''transaction cost'''' ''Calif. Pub. Emples.' Ret. Sys. v. N.Y. Stock Exch., Inc.'' (In re NYSE Specialists Sec. Litig.), 503 F.3d 89, 94 (2007)

*'''illegal alien''' ''United States v. Acevedo'', 229 F.3d 350 (2d Cir. N.Y. 2000). In fact, Judge Sotomayor has used the term "illegal alien" to describe a defendant in five opinions, ruling against the defendant all five times. In one of those decisions, Judge Sotomayor held that the court should defer to legislative classifications of alienage under the most deferential "rational basis" level of review.<ref>''See'' ''United States v. Ni Fa Yi'', 951 F. Supp. 42 (S.D.N.Y. 1997).</ref>

However, Sotomayor uses liberal terminology far more frequently,and often instead of more accurate words with conservative connotations:

*'''anti-abortion''' Sotomayor uses this term rather than "pro-life" in ''Amnesty Am. v. Town of W. Hartford,'' 361 F.3d 113 (2004) and ''Ctr. for Reprod. Law v. Bush,'' 304 F.3d 183 (2d Cir. N.Y. 2002)

*'''pro-choice''' ''Ctr. for Reprod. Law v. Bush,'' 304 F.3d 183 (2d Cir. N.Y. 2002) and ''Flamer v. City of White Plains,'' 841 F. Supp. 1365 (S.D.N.Y. 1993)

*'''environmental''' Heavily used in more than twenty of Sotomayor's decisions.

*'''racism''' ''Washington v. County of Rockland,'' 373 F.3d 310 (2d Cir. N.Y. 2004) and ''McNeil v. Aguilos,'' 831 F. Supp. 1079 (S.D.N.Y. 1993)

==Issues==

===Abortion===
Abortion supporters are alarmed that in a series of cases Sotomayor has consistently ruled against the abortion advocates. The White House has stated that Obama did not ask her views on abortion or privacy.<ref> See [http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/28/us/politics/28abortion.html?th&emc=th Charles Savage, "On Sotomayor, Some Abortion Rights Backers Show Unease," ''New York Times'' May 27, 2009]</ref>
* In a 2007 case, she strongly criticized colleagues on the court who said that only women, and not their husbands, could seek asylum based on China’s abortion policy. “The termination of a wanted pregnancy under a coercive population control program can only be devastating to any couple, akin, no doubt, to the killing of a child,” she wrote, also taking note of “the unique biological nature of pregnancy and special reverence every civilization has accorded to child-rearing and parenthood in marriage.”

* In a 2004 case, she sided with anti-abortion protesters who sued police officers for violating their constitutional rights by using excessive force to break up demonstrations at an abortion clinic. Judge Sotomayor said the protesters deserved a day in court.

*She wrote a decision against a pro-choice group in '''Center for Reproductive Law and Policy vs. Bush'''.<ref>http://blogs.cbn.com/thebrodyfile/archive/2009/05/26/sotomayors-abortion-ruling.aspx</ref> The decision dismissed the claim of a Mexico-based organization which challenged policies requiring that foreign organizations neither perform nor promote abortions as a condition for receiving US funding.

Sotomayor drew a distinction between "necessary" and "family planning" abortions: "For purposes of 22 U.S.C.S. � 2151b(f)(1), "abortion as a method of family planning" does not include abortions performed if the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term or abortions performed following rape or incest (since abortion under these circumstances is not a family planning act)."

Sotomayor concluded, "The Supreme Court has made clear that the government is free to favor the anti-abortion position over the pro-choice position, and can do so with public funds."

President Obama recently overturned this decision.

According to the ACLJ, "Though she once ruled in favor of upholding the Mexico City Policy, pro-life organizations say her comment trumps that decision because she appears to favor Roe and how the Supreme Court made abortion policy by allowing abortions throughout pregnancy for any reason."<ref>http://www.aclj.org/News/Read.aspx?ID=3322</ref>

===Parental Rights===

In Wilkinson v. Russell, 182 F.3d 89, 108 (2d Cir. Vt. 1999), Sotomayor quoted from Frazier v. Bailey, 957 F.2d 920. She described the case by stating, "In reaching its conclusion, the Frazier court emphasized the murky nature of parental rights". Quoting another case, she said, "Although recognizing that the Constitution extends "certain fundamental parental rights," the court held that plaintiff's allegations did not even "implicate the constitutional guarantees at issue."

===Establishment Clause===

'''Hankins v. Lyght, 441 F.3d 96 (2006)''' "In an age discrimination challenge by a Methodist clergyman, Judge Winter writing for the majority held that [the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act (RFRA)] is properly applied to an Age Discrimination in Employment Act claim. Judge Sotomayor dissented contending that RFRA does not apply to disputes between private parties and that the ADEA does not govern disputes between religious entities and their spiritual leaders." <ref>http://religionclause.blogspot.com/2009/05/sotomayor-is-high-court-pick-here-are.html</ref>

Sotomayor stated, "The majority's opinion thus violates a cardinal principle of '''judicial restraint''' by reaching unnecessarily the question of RFRA's constitutionality. For these reasons, I respectfully dissent." (emphasis added)

"I believe that a remand is a wasteful expenditure of judicial resources and an unnecessary and uninvited burden on the parties. The district court is in no better position than we are to decide either the statutory or constitutional questions presented in this case. In my view, the most appropriate disposition of this case would be to affirm the district court's dismissal of appellant's claims on the ground that the ADEA does not apply to employment suits brought against religious institutions by their spiritual leaders. Because the majority's contrary approach disregards a clear and voluntary waiver, conflicts with RFRA's text and with binding precedent, and unnecessarily resolves a contested constitutional question, I respectfully dissent."

===Second Amendment===
Independence Institute Research Director Dave Kopel said that Sotomayor's opinions "demonstrate a profound hostility to [[Second Amendment]] rights." Maloney v. Cuomo ruled that the Second Amendment does not apply against state and local governments. Sotomayor and the Second Circuit held, ''"It is settled law that the Second Amendment applies only to limitations the federal government seeks to impose on this right."'' This contrasted with the Ninth Circuit decision on Nordyke v. King which upheld the Second Amendment as a deeply held right embodied in the Constitution that transcends state law. <ref>[http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/sotomayor_gun_rights/2009/05/27/218441.html Sotomayor Hostile to Gun Rights, Scholar Says] Newsmax, May 27, 2009</ref>

===Free Speech===
Sotomayor appears to believe in a strong right to free speech.

Sotomayor dissented in '''Pappas v. Giuliani, 290 F.3d 143, 155 (2d Cir. N.Y. 2002)'''
<blockquote>

"The Court holds that the government does not violate the First Amendment when it fires a police department employee for racially inflammatory speech -- where the speech consists of mailings in which the employee did not identify himself, let alone connect himself to the police department; where the speech occurred away from the office and on the employee's own time; where the employee's position involved no policymaking authority or public contact; where there is virtually no evidence of workplace disruption resulting directly from the speech; and where it ultimately required the investigatory resources of two police departments to bring the speech to the attention of the community. Precedent requires us to consider these factors as we apply the Pickering balancing test, and each counsels against granting summary judgment in favor of the police department employer. To be sure, I find the speech in this case patently offensive, hateful, and insulting. The Court should not, however, gloss over three decades of jurisprudence and the centrality of First Amendment freedoms in our lives because it is confronted with speech it does not like and because a government employer fears a potential public response that it alone precipitated."
</blockquote>

===Title IX===
In Pell v. Trustees of Columbia Univ., 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 407 (1998), Sotomayor quoted Kracunas v. Iona College, 119 F.3d 80, 85 (2d Cir. 1997): "When a teacher sexually harasses a student, that teacher discriminates on the basis of sex in violation of Title IX."

===Judicial Activism===

"She is a rule-bound pragmatist--very geared toward determining what the right answer is and what the law dictates, but her general approach is, unsurprisingly, influenced by her unique background," says one former clerk.<ref>http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=45d56e6f-f497-4b19-9c63-04e10199a085</ref>

ACLJ warns of her record of judicial activism. "Will she embrace her past statement that the “court of appeals is where policy is made?” This nomination raises serious questions about the issue of legislating from the bench."<ref>http://www.aclj.org/TrialNotebook/Read.aspx?id=782</ref>

==Background==

She graduated from [[Princeton University]] in 1976 and earned her law degree from [[Yale University]]in 1979. Sotomayor was appointed a federal district court judge in 1992 by [[President George H.W. Bush]] and then elevated to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals by [[President Bill Clinton]].

Sonia Sotomayor is of Puerto Rican descent, and was born and raised in Bronx, NY. She graduated from Cardinal Spellman High School in 1972, which is a Catholic school, but it is uncertain where she currently stands in terms of religion.

August 14, 1976, Sotomayor married Kevin Edward Noonan. However, they divorced in 1983 with no children."<ref>http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/politics&id=6831739</ref>

"Some sources, including Pete Williams, reported that the Judge is a Catholic. However, there has not yet been any indication of whether that report is accurate and, if so, if she actually practices her [[faith]]."<ref>http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=33654</ref>

"Sotomayor attended Catholic schools, but we haven't yet confirmed that she is, in fact, Catholic. If she is, she would become the sixth Catholic justice on the current Supreme Court."<ref>http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/politics&id=6831739</ref>

==Concerns==
[[File:Sonia Sotomayor.jpg|right|250px]]

* Abortion opponents reacted strongly against Sotomayor's nomination Tuesday. Charmaine Yoest, president of [[Americans United for Life]], called Sotomayor "a radical pick that divides America." []

In a speech in 2001, Sotomayor said "she believes it is appropriate for a judge to consider their “experiences as women and people of color” in their decision making, which she believes should “affect our decisions.”"<ref>http://www.verumserum.com/?p=5306&cpage=1</ref>

"I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life."<ref>http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2009/05/26/sonia-sotomayor-nominated-for-the-supreme-court/</ref><ref>National Journal, ''Identity Politics And Sotomayor, The judge's thinking is representative of the Democratic Party's powerful identity-politics wing.'', by Stuart Taylor, Saturday, May 23, 2009 [http://www.nationaljournal.com/njmagazine/or_20090523_2724.php]</ref> If the "white male" and "Latina woman" were switched in this sentence, it would be decried as racism.

"The most consistent concern was that Sotomayor, although an able lawyer, was "not that smart and kind of a bully on the bench," as one former Second Circuit clerk for another judge put it."<ref>http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=45d56e6f-f497-4b19-9c63-04e10199a085</ref>

"Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee called Sotomayor’s appointment “the clearest indication yet that President Obama’s campaign promises to be a centrist and think in a bipartisan way were mere rhetoric.”<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22965.html</ref>

"Charmaine Yoest, the president of Americans United for Life, blasted Sotomayor as “a radical pick that divides America. She believes the role of the Court is to set policy, which is exactly the philosophy that led to the Supreme Court turning into the National Abortion Control Board."<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22965.html</ref>

Sotomayor is a member of National Council of La Raza, a group that's promoted driver's licenses for illegal aliens, amnesty programs, and no immigration law enforcement by local and state police. <ref>[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=99420 Sonia Sotomayor 'La Raza member'] WND, May 27, 2009</ref>

She is currently under fire for a statement she made in a 2001 speech at University of California's Berkeley School of Law. "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."

==References==
<references/>

== See also ==

*[http://www.eagleforum.org/court_watch/alerts/2009/may09/05-26-09.html Analysis of Sotomayor's judicial philosophy]

[[Category:United States Judges]]
[[Category:Obama Administration]]

Sonia Sotomayor

2009-05-28T17:39:56Z

Ambers: /* Background */

'''Sonia Sotomayor''' (born June 25, 1954) is a judge on the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. On May 26, 2009, President [[Barack Obama]] nominated her to the [[Supreme Court]], to replace retiring Justice [[David Souter]]. Sotomayor, {{age|1954|6|25}}, is the first [[Hispanic]] nominated to the high court. Indeed, she is the first American of Puerto Rican descent ever nominated to high office.<ref>Puerto Rico has been part of the U.S. since 1898, and residents gained full citizenship in 1917.</ref>

Obama said she "is an inspiring woman who I believe will make a great justice." According to the ABA Journal,<blockquote>
"... the Bronx-born Sotomayor has been regarded as a potential high court nominee by several presidents, both Republican and Democrat. Reared by her widowed mother after the death of her father, a tool-and-die worker, she has an attractive life narrative and an even more attractive resumé. She was an editor of the Yale Law Review, did heavy lifting as a prosecutor under legendary New York County District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, and worked in private practice as an intellectual property litigator. She was first appointed to the federal bench by President George H.W. Bush, then to the appeals court by President Clinton." <ref>http://abajournal.com/news/who_will_replace_justice_souter</ref>
</blockquote>[[File:Sotomeyer-Szep.jpg|thumb|240px|caricature by Paul Szep]]

==Opinions==

===Doctrine of [[Standing]]===
Decisions by Sotomayor, such as Taylor v. Vt. Dept of Ed. 313 F.3d 768 (2002), seem to show that she favors [[judicial restraint]] with respect to standing issues.

===Terminology===
An analysis of Sonia Sotomayor's decisions shows that she sometimes uses [[conservative]] terms, such as the following:

*'''strict constructionist''' ''New York Hotel & Motel Trades Council v. Hotel Ass'n,'' 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16615 (1993)

*'''judicial restraint''' "venerable ground of judicial restraint" in ''Michel v. INS,'' 206 F.3d 253, 267 (2000)

*'''competition''' (in an economic context) Many cases.

*'''efficiency''' ''Singh v. City of New York'', 524 F.3d 361 (2d Cir. 2008)

*'''free-market''' ''Silverman v. Major League Baseball Player Relations Comm.,'' 880 F. Supp. 246, 256 (1995)

*'''separation of powers''' ''European Cmty. v. RJR Nabisco,'' 424 F.3d 175 (2005)

*'''transaction cost'''' ''Calif. Pub. Emples.' Ret. Sys. v. N.Y. Stock Exch., Inc.'' (In re NYSE Specialists Sec. Litig.), 503 F.3d 89, 94 (2007)

*'''illegal alien''' ''United States v. Acevedo'', 229 F.3d 350 (2d Cir. N.Y. 2000). In fact, Judge Sotomayor has used the term "illegal alien" to describe a defendant in five opinions, ruling against the defendant all five times. In one of those decisions, Judge Sotomayor held that the court should defer to legislative classifications of alienage under the most deferential "rational basis" level of review.<ref>''See'' ''United States v. Ni Fa Yi'', 951 F. Supp. 42 (S.D.N.Y. 1997).</ref>

However, Sotomayor uses liberal terminology far more frequently,and often instead of more accurate words with conservative connotations:

*'''anti-abortion''' Sotomayor uses this term rather than "pro-life" in ''Amnesty Am. v. Town of W. Hartford,'' 361 F.3d 113 (2004) and ''Ctr. for Reprod. Law v. Bush,'' 304 F.3d 183 (2d Cir. N.Y. 2002)

*'''pro-choice''' ''Ctr. for Reprod. Law v. Bush,'' 304 F.3d 183 (2d Cir. N.Y. 2002) and ''Flamer v. City of White Plains,'' 841 F. Supp. 1365 (S.D.N.Y. 1993)

*'''environmental''' Heavily used in more than twenty of Sotomayor's decisions.

*'''racism''' ''Washington v. County of Rockland,'' 373 F.3d 310 (2d Cir. N.Y. 2004) and ''McNeil v. Aguilos,'' 831 F. Supp. 1079 (S.D.N.Y. 1993)

==Issues==

===Abortion===
Abortion supporters are alarmed that in a series of cases Sotomayor has consistently ruled against the abortion advocates. The White House has stated that Obama did not ask her views on abortion or privacy.<ref> See [http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/28/us/politics/28abortion.html?th&emc=th Charles Savage, "On Sotomayor, Some Abortion Rights Backers Show Unease," ''New York Times'' May 27, 2009]</ref>
* In a 2007 case, she strongly criticized colleagues on the court who said that only women, and not their husbands, could seek asylum based on China’s abortion policy. “The termination of a wanted pregnancy under a coercive population control program can only be devastating to any couple, akin, no doubt, to the killing of a child,” she wrote, also taking note of “the unique biological nature of pregnancy and special reverence every civilization has accorded to child-rearing and parenthood in marriage.”

* In a 2004 case, she sided with anti-abortion protesters who sued police officers for violating their constitutional rights by using excessive force to break up demonstrations at an abortion clinic. Judge Sotomayor said the protesters deserved a day in court.

*She wrote a decision against a pro-choice group in '''Center for Reproductive Law and Policy vs. Bush'''.<ref>http://blogs.cbn.com/thebrodyfile/archive/2009/05/26/sotomayors-abortion-ruling.aspx</ref> The decision dismissed the claim of a Mexico-based organization which challenged policies requiring that foreign organizations neither perform nor promote abortions as a condition for receiving US funding.

Sotomayor drew a distinction between "necessary" and "family planning" abortions: "For purposes of 22 U.S.C.S. � 2151b(f)(1), "abortion as a method of family planning" does not include abortions performed if the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term or abortions performed following rape or incest (since abortion under these circumstances is not a family planning act)."

Sotomayor concluded, "The Supreme Court has made clear that the government is free to favor the anti-abortion position over the pro-choice position, and can do so with public funds."

President Obama recently overturned this decision.

According to the ACLJ, "Though she once ruled in favor of upholding the Mexico City Policy, pro-life organizations say her comment trumps that decision because she appears to favor Roe and how the Supreme Court made abortion policy by allowing abortions throughout pregnancy for any reason."<ref>http://www.aclj.org/News/Read.aspx?ID=3322</ref>

===Parental Rights===

In Wilkinson v. Russell, 182 F.3d 89, 108 (2d Cir. Vt. 1999), Sotomayor quoted from Frazier v. Bailey, 957 F.2d 920. She described the case by stating, "In reaching its conclusion, the Frazier court emphasized the murky nature of parental rights". Quoting another case, she said, "Although recognizing that the Constitution extends "certain fundamental parental rights," the court held that plaintiff's allegations did not even "implicate the constitutional guarantees at issue."

===Establishment Clause===

'''Hankins v. Lyght, 441 F.3d 96 (2006)''' "In an age discrimination challenge by a Methodist clergyman, Judge Winter writing for the majority held that [the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act (RFRA)] is properly applied to an Age Discrimination in Employment Act claim. Judge Sotomayor dissented contending that RFRA does not apply to disputes between private parties and that the ADEA does not govern disputes between religious entities and their spiritual leaders." <ref>http://religionclause.blogspot.com/2009/05/sotomayor-is-high-court-pick-here-are.html</ref>

Sotomayor stated, "The majority's opinion thus violates a cardinal principle of '''judicial restraint''' by reaching unnecessarily the question of RFRA's constitutionality. For these reasons, I respectfully dissent." (emphasis added)

"I believe that a remand is a wasteful expenditure of judicial resources and an unnecessary and uninvited burden on the parties. The district court is in no better position than we are to decide either the statutory or constitutional questions presented in this case. In my view, the most appropriate disposition of this case would be to affirm the district court's dismissal of appellant's claims on the ground that the ADEA does not apply to employment suits brought against religious institutions by their spiritual leaders. Because the majority's contrary approach disregards a clear and voluntary waiver, conflicts with RFRA's text and with binding precedent, and unnecessarily resolves a contested constitutional question, I respectfully dissent."

===Second Amendment===
Independence Institute Research Director Dave Kopel said that Sotomayor's opinions "demonstrate a profound hostility to [[Second Amendment]] rights." Maloney v. Cuomo ruled that the Second Amendment does not apply against state and local governments. Sotomayor and the Second Circuit held, ''"It is settled law that the Second Amendment applies only to limitations the federal government seeks to impose on this right."'' This contrasted with the Ninth Circuit decision on Nordyke v. King which upheld the Second Amendment as a deeply held right embodied in the Constitution that transcends state law. <ref>[http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/sotomayor_gun_rights/2009/05/27/218441.html Sotomayor Hostile to Gun Rights, Scholar Says] Newsmax, May 27, 2009</ref>

===Free Speech===
Sotomayor appears to believe in a strong right to free speech.

Sotomayor dissented in '''Pappas v. Giuliani, 290 F.3d 143, 155 (2d Cir. N.Y. 2002)'''
<blockquote>

"The Court holds that the government does not violate the First Amendment when it fires a police department employee for racially inflammatory speech -- where the speech consists of mailings in which the employee did not identify himself, let alone connect himself to the police department; where the speech occurred away from the office and on the employee's own time; where the employee's position involved no policymaking authority or public contact; where there is virtually no evidence of workplace disruption resulting directly from the speech; and where it ultimately required the investigatory resources of two police departments to bring the speech to the attention of the community. Precedent requires us to consider these factors as we apply the Pickering balancing test, and each counsels against granting summary judgment in favor of the police department employer. To be sure, I find the speech in this case patently offensive, hateful, and insulting. The Court should not, however, gloss over three decades of jurisprudence and the centrality of First Amendment freedoms in our lives because it is confronted with speech it does not like and because a government employer fears a potential public response that it alone precipitated."
</blockquote>

===Title IX===
In Pell v. Trustees of Columbia Univ., 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 407 (1998), Sotomayor quoted Kracunas v. Iona College, 119 F.3d 80, 85 (2d Cir. 1997): "When a teacher sexually harasses a student, that teacher discriminates on the basis of sex in violation of Title IX."

===Judicial Activism===

"She is a rule-bound pragmatist--very geared toward determining what the right answer is and what the law dictates, but her general approach is, unsurprisingly, influenced by her unique background," says one former clerk.<ref>http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=45d56e6f-f497-4b19-9c63-04e10199a085</ref>

ACLJ warns of her record of judicial activism. "Will she embrace her past statement that the “court of appeals is where policy is made?” This nomination raises serious questions about the issue of legislating from the bench."<ref>http://www.aclj.org/TrialNotebook/Read.aspx?id=782</ref>

==Background==

She graduated from [[Princeton University]] in 1976 and earned her law degree from [[Yale University]]in 1979. Sotomayor was appointed a federal district court judge in 1992 by [[President George H.W. Bush]] and then elevated to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals by [[President Bill Clinton]].

Sonia Sotomayor is of Puerto Rican descent, and was born and raised in Bronx, NY. She graduated from Cardinal Spellman High School in 1972, which is a Catholic school, but it is uncertain where she currently stands in terms of religion.

August 14, 1976, Sotomayor married Kevin Edward Noonan. However, they divorced in 1983 with no children."<ref>http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/politics&id=6831739</ref>

"Some sources, including Pete Williams, reported that the Judge is a Catholic. However, there has not yet been any indication of whether that report is accurate and, if so, if she actually practices her [[faith]]."<ref>http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=33654</ref>

"Sotomayor attended Catholic schools, but we haven't yet confirmed that she is, in fact, Catholic. If she is, she would become the sixth Catholic justice on the current Supreme Court."<ref>http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/politics&id=6831739</ref>

==Concerns==
[[File:Sonia Sotomayor.jpg|right|250px]]

* Abortion opponents reacted strongly against Sotomayor's nomination Tuesday. Charmaine Yoest, president of [[Americans United for Life]], called Sotomayor "a radical pick that divides America." []

In a speech in 2001, Sotomayor said "she believes it is appropriate for a judge to consider their “experiences as women and people of color” in their decision making, which she believes should “affect our decisions.”"<ref>http://www.verumserum.com/?p=5306&cpage=1</ref>

"I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life."<ref>http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2009/05/26/sonia-sotomayor-nominated-for-the-supreme-court/</ref><ref>National Journal, ''Identity Politics And Sotomayor, The judge's thinking is representative of the Democratic Party's powerful identity-politics wing.'', by Stuart Taylor, Saturday, May 23, 2009 [http://www.nationaljournal.com/njmagazine/or_20090523_2724.php]</ref> If the "white male" and "Latina woman" were switched in this sentence, it would be decried as racism.

"The most consistent concern was that Sotomayor, although an able lawyer, was "not that smart and kind of a bully on the bench," as one former Second Circuit clerk for another judge put it."<ref>http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=45d56e6f-f497-4b19-9c63-04e10199a085</ref>

"Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee called Sotomayor’s appointment “the clearest indication yet that President Obama’s campaign promises to be a centrist and think in a bipartisan way were mere rhetoric.”<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22965.html</ref>

"Charmaine Yoest, the president of Americans United for Life, blasted Sotomayor as “a radical pick that divides America. She believes the role of the Court is to set policy, which is exactly the philosophy that led to the Supreme Court turning into the National Abortion Control Board."<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22965.html</ref>

Sotomayor is a member of National Council of La Raza, a group that's promoted driver's licenses for illegal aliens, amnesty programs, and no immigration law enforcement by local and state police. <ref>[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=99420 Sonia Sotomayor 'La Raza member'] WND, May 27, 2009</ref>

==References==
<references/>

== See also ==

*[http://www.eagleforum.org/court_watch/alerts/2009/may09/05-26-09.html Analysis of Sotomayor's judicial philosophy]

[[Category:United States Judges]]
[[Category:Obama Administration]]

Sonia Sotomayor

2009-05-28T17:35:50Z

Ambers: /* Background */

'''Sonia Sotomayor''' (born June 25, 1954) is a judge on the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. On May 26, 2009, President [[Barack Obama]] nominated her to the [[Supreme Court]], to replace retiring Justice [[David Souter]]. Sotomayor, {{age|1954|6|25}}, is the first [[Hispanic]] nominated to the high court. Indeed, she is the first American of Puerto Rican descent ever nominated to high office.<ref>Puerto Rico has been part of the U.S. since 1898, and residents gained full citizenship in 1917.</ref>

Obama said she "is an inspiring woman who I believe will make a great justice." According to the ABA Journal,<blockquote>
"... the Bronx-born Sotomayor has been regarded as a potential high court nominee by several presidents, both Republican and Democrat. Reared by her widowed mother after the death of her father, a tool-and-die worker, she has an attractive life narrative and an even more attractive resumé. She was an editor of the Yale Law Review, did heavy lifting as a prosecutor under legendary New York County District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, and worked in private practice as an intellectual property litigator. She was first appointed to the federal bench by President George H.W. Bush, then to the appeals court by President Clinton." <ref>http://abajournal.com/news/who_will_replace_justice_souter</ref>
</blockquote>[[File:Sotomeyer-Szep.jpg|thumb|240px|caricature by Paul Szep]]

==Opinions==

===Doctrine of [[Standing]]===
Decisions by Sotomayor, such as Taylor v. Vt. Dept of Ed. 313 F.3d 768 (2002), seem to show that she favors [[judicial restraint]] with respect to standing issues.

===Terminology===
An analysis of Sonia Sotomayor's decisions shows that she sometimes uses [[conservative]] terms, such as the following:

*'''strict constructionist''' ''New York Hotel & Motel Trades Council v. Hotel Ass'n,'' 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16615 (1993)

*'''judicial restraint''' "venerable ground of judicial restraint" in ''Michel v. INS,'' 206 F.3d 253, 267 (2000)

*'''competition''' (in an economic context) Many cases.

*'''efficiency''' ''Singh v. City of New York'', 524 F.3d 361 (2d Cir. 2008)

*'''free-market''' ''Silverman v. Major League Baseball Player Relations Comm.,'' 880 F. Supp. 246, 256 (1995)

*'''separation of powers''' ''European Cmty. v. RJR Nabisco,'' 424 F.3d 175 (2005)

*'''transaction cost'''' ''Calif. Pub. Emples.' Ret. Sys. v. N.Y. Stock Exch., Inc.'' (In re NYSE Specialists Sec. Litig.), 503 F.3d 89, 94 (2007)

*'''illegal alien''' ''United States v. Acevedo'', 229 F.3d 350 (2d Cir. N.Y. 2000). In fact, Judge Sotomayor has used the term "illegal alien" to describe a defendant in five opinions, ruling against the defendant all five times. In one of those decisions, Judge Sotomayor held that the court should defer to legislative classifications of alienage under the most deferential "rational basis" level of review.<ref>''See'' ''United States v. Ni Fa Yi'', 951 F. Supp. 42 (S.D.N.Y. 1997).</ref>

However, Sotomayor uses liberal terminology far more frequently,and often instead of more accurate words with conservative connotations:

*'''anti-abortion''' Sotomayor uses this term rather than "pro-life" in ''Amnesty Am. v. Town of W. Hartford,'' 361 F.3d 113 (2004) and ''Ctr. for Reprod. Law v. Bush,'' 304 F.3d 183 (2d Cir. N.Y. 2002)

*'''pro-choice''' ''Ctr. for Reprod. Law v. Bush,'' 304 F.3d 183 (2d Cir. N.Y. 2002) and ''Flamer v. City of White Plains,'' 841 F. Supp. 1365 (S.D.N.Y. 1993)

*'''environmental''' Heavily used in more than twenty of Sotomayor's decisions.

*'''racism''' ''Washington v. County of Rockland,'' 373 F.3d 310 (2d Cir. N.Y. 2004) and ''McNeil v. Aguilos,'' 831 F. Supp. 1079 (S.D.N.Y. 1993)

==Issues==

===Abortion===
Abortion supporters are alarmed that in a series of cases Sotomayor has consistently ruled against the abortion advocates. The White House has stated that Obama did not ask her views on abortion or privacy.<ref> See [http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/28/us/politics/28abortion.html?th&emc=th Charles Savage, "On Sotomayor, Some Abortion Rights Backers Show Unease," ''New York Times'' May 27, 2009]</ref>
* In a 2007 case, she strongly criticized colleagues on the court who said that only women, and not their husbands, could seek asylum based on China’s abortion policy. “The termination of a wanted pregnancy under a coercive population control program can only be devastating to any couple, akin, no doubt, to the killing of a child,” she wrote, also taking note of “the unique biological nature of pregnancy and special reverence every civilization has accorded to child-rearing and parenthood in marriage.”

* In a 2004 case, she sided with anti-abortion protesters who sued police officers for violating their constitutional rights by using excessive force to break up demonstrations at an abortion clinic. Judge Sotomayor said the protesters deserved a day in court.

*She wrote a decision against a pro-choice group in '''Center for Reproductive Law and Policy vs. Bush'''.<ref>http://blogs.cbn.com/thebrodyfile/archive/2009/05/26/sotomayors-abortion-ruling.aspx</ref> The decision dismissed the claim of a Mexico-based organization which challenged policies requiring that foreign organizations neither perform nor promote abortions as a condition for receiving US funding.

Sotomayor drew a distinction between "necessary" and "family planning" abortions: "For purposes of 22 U.S.C.S. � 2151b(f)(1), "abortion as a method of family planning" does not include abortions performed if the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term or abortions performed following rape or incest (since abortion under these circumstances is not a family planning act)."

Sotomayor concluded, "The Supreme Court has made clear that the government is free to favor the anti-abortion position over the pro-choice position, and can do so with public funds."

President Obama recently overturned this decision.

According to the ACLJ, "Though she once ruled in favor of upholding the Mexico City Policy, pro-life organizations say her comment trumps that decision because she appears to favor Roe and how the Supreme Court made abortion policy by allowing abortions throughout pregnancy for any reason."<ref>http://www.aclj.org/News/Read.aspx?ID=3322</ref>

===Parental Rights===

In Wilkinson v. Russell, 182 F.3d 89, 108 (2d Cir. Vt. 1999), Sotomayor quoted from Frazier v. Bailey, 957 F.2d 920. She described the case by stating, "In reaching its conclusion, the Frazier court emphasized the murky nature of parental rights". Quoting another case, she said, "Although recognizing that the Constitution extends "certain fundamental parental rights," the court held that plaintiff's allegations did not even "implicate the constitutional guarantees at issue."

===Establishment Clause===

'''Hankins v. Lyght, 441 F.3d 96 (2006)''' "In an age discrimination challenge by a Methodist clergyman, Judge Winter writing for the majority held that [the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act (RFRA)] is properly applied to an Age Discrimination in Employment Act claim. Judge Sotomayor dissented contending that RFRA does not apply to disputes between private parties and that the ADEA does not govern disputes between religious entities and their spiritual leaders." <ref>http://religionclause.blogspot.com/2009/05/sotomayor-is-high-court-pick-here-are.html</ref>

Sotomayor stated, "The majority's opinion thus violates a cardinal principle of '''judicial restraint''' by reaching unnecessarily the question of RFRA's constitutionality. For these reasons, I respectfully dissent." (emphasis added)

"I believe that a remand is a wasteful expenditure of judicial resources and an unnecessary and uninvited burden on the parties. The district court is in no better position than we are to decide either the statutory or constitutional questions presented in this case. In my view, the most appropriate disposition of this case would be to affirm the district court's dismissal of appellant's claims on the ground that the ADEA does not apply to employment suits brought against religious institutions by their spiritual leaders. Because the majority's contrary approach disregards a clear and voluntary waiver, conflicts with RFRA's text and with binding precedent, and unnecessarily resolves a contested constitutional question, I respectfully dissent."

===Second Amendment===
Independence Institute Research Director Dave Kopel said that Sotomayor's opinions "demonstrate a profound hostility to [[Second Amendment]] rights." Maloney v. Cuomo ruled that the Second Amendment does not apply against state and local governments. Sotomayor and the Second Circuit held, ''"It is settled law that the Second Amendment applies only to limitations the federal government seeks to impose on this right."'' This contrasted with the Ninth Circuit decision on Nordyke v. King which upheld the Second Amendment as a deeply held right embodied in the Constitution that transcends state law. <ref>[http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/sotomayor_gun_rights/2009/05/27/218441.html Sotomayor Hostile to Gun Rights, Scholar Says] Newsmax, May 27, 2009</ref>

===Free Speech===
Sotomayor appears to believe in a strong right to free speech.

Sotomayor dissented in '''Pappas v. Giuliani, 290 F.3d 143, 155 (2d Cir. N.Y. 2002)'''
<blockquote>

"The Court holds that the government does not violate the First Amendment when it fires a police department employee for racially inflammatory speech -- where the speech consists of mailings in which the employee did not identify himself, let alone connect himself to the police department; where the speech occurred away from the office and on the employee's own time; where the employee's position involved no policymaking authority or public contact; where there is virtually no evidence of workplace disruption resulting directly from the speech; and where it ultimately required the investigatory resources of two police departments to bring the speech to the attention of the community. Precedent requires us to consider these factors as we apply the Pickering balancing test, and each counsels against granting summary judgment in favor of the police department employer. To be sure, I find the speech in this case patently offensive, hateful, and insulting. The Court should not, however, gloss over three decades of jurisprudence and the centrality of First Amendment freedoms in our lives because it is confronted with speech it does not like and because a government employer fears a potential public response that it alone precipitated."
</blockquote>

===Title IX===
In Pell v. Trustees of Columbia Univ., 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 407 (1998), Sotomayor quoted Kracunas v. Iona College, 119 F.3d 80, 85 (2d Cir. 1997): "When a teacher sexually harasses a student, that teacher discriminates on the basis of sex in violation of Title IX."

===Judicial Activism===

"She is a rule-bound pragmatist--very geared toward determining what the right answer is and what the law dictates, but her general approach is, unsurprisingly, influenced by her unique background," says one former clerk.<ref>http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=45d56e6f-f497-4b19-9c63-04e10199a085</ref>

ACLJ warns of her record of judicial activism. "Will she embrace her past statement that the “court of appeals is where policy is made?” This nomination raises serious questions about the issue of legislating from the bench."<ref>http://www.aclj.org/TrialNotebook/Read.aspx?id=782</ref>

==Background==

She graduated from [[Princeton University]] and earned her law degree from [[Yale University]]. Sotomayor was appointed a federal district court judge in 1992 by [[President George H.W. Bush]] and then elevated to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals by [[President Bill Clinton]].

Sonia Sotomayor is of Puerto Rican descent, and was born and raised in Bronx, NY. She attended Catholic school, but it is uncertain where she currently stands in terms of religion.

August 14, 1976, Sotomayor married Kevin Edward Noonan. However, they divorced in 1983 with no children."<ref>http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/politics&id=6831739</ref>

"Some sources, including Pete Williams, reported that the Judge is a Catholic. However, there has not yet been any indication of whether that report is accurate and, if so, if she actually practices her [[faith]]."<ref>http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=33654</ref>

"Sotomayor attended Catholic schools, but we haven't yet confirmed that she is, in fact, Catholic. If she is, she would become the sixth Catholic justice on the current Supreme Court."<ref>http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/politics&id=6831739</ref>

==Concerns==
[[File:Sonia Sotomayor.jpg|right|250px]]

* Abortion opponents reacted strongly against Sotomayor's nomination Tuesday. Charmaine Yoest, president of [[Americans United for Life]], called Sotomayor "a radical pick that divides America." []

In a speech in 2001, Sotomayor said "she believes it is appropriate for a judge to consider their “experiences as women and people of color” in their decision making, which she believes should “affect our decisions.”"<ref>http://www.verumserum.com/?p=5306&cpage=1</ref>

"I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life."<ref>http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2009/05/26/sonia-sotomayor-nominated-for-the-supreme-court/</ref><ref>National Journal, ''Identity Politics And Sotomayor, The judge's thinking is representative of the Democratic Party's powerful identity-politics wing.'', by Stuart Taylor, Saturday, May 23, 2009 [http://www.nationaljournal.com/njmagazine/or_20090523_2724.php]</ref> If the "white male" and "Latina woman" were switched in this sentence, it would be decried as racism.

"The most consistent concern was that Sotomayor, although an able lawyer, was "not that smart and kind of a bully on the bench," as one former Second Circuit clerk for another judge put it."<ref>http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=45d56e6f-f497-4b19-9c63-04e10199a085</ref>

"Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee called Sotomayor’s appointment “the clearest indication yet that President Obama’s campaign promises to be a centrist and think in a bipartisan way were mere rhetoric.”<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22965.html</ref>

"Charmaine Yoest, the president of Americans United for Life, blasted Sotomayor as “a radical pick that divides America. She believes the role of the Court is to set policy, which is exactly the philosophy that led to the Supreme Court turning into the National Abortion Control Board."<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22965.html</ref>

Sotomayor is a member of National Council of La Raza, a group that's promoted driver's licenses for illegal aliens, amnesty programs, and no immigration law enforcement by local and state police. <ref>[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=99420 Sonia Sotomayor 'La Raza member'] WND, May 27, 2009</ref>

==References==
<references/>

== See also ==

*[http://www.eagleforum.org/court_watch/alerts/2009/may09/05-26-09.html Analysis of Sotomayor's judicial philosophy]

[[Category:United States Judges]]
[[Category:Obama Administration]]

World History Lecture Four

2009-02-16T20:27:03Z

Ambers: /* The Roman Empire */

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World History

Fourth Lecture – Ancient History

Instructor, Andy Schlafly

The last great ancient civilization was the Roman empire. Many consider to be the greatest of all. It brought us Latin, good roads, Pontius Pilate, the brutal persecution of early Christians and, ultimately, the embrace and expansion of Christianity. One can spend an entire course on the Roman empire. We will devote our entire lecture to it.

==The Roman Empire==

Around 2000 B.C., Indo-Europeans settled the Italian peninsula where Italy exists now. Recall that "Indo-Europeans" is a very general classification that includes peoples stretching all the way from India to Europe, and who spoke any of dozens of Indo-European languages, including Sanskrit in India, Persian in the Middle East, Slavic in Eastern Europe and Germanic, Italic and Celtic languages in Europe. The Roman empire traces its roots to these Indo-Europeans just as India does.
[[Image:757px-Roman_Emperor_map.jpg]]

===The Beginnings of the Roman Republic===

The beginnings of the Roman empire, so called because its capital in the west was Rome, stretch back as early as the 8th century B.C. Dorians had invaded Greece around 1000 B.C. and forced it into a Dark Age; some [[Greeks]] fled to the Italian peninsula and named the region "Italy". By legend, in 753 B.C. two brothers named Romulus and Remus founded the city of Rome on the Tiber River, 15 miles inland from the Tyrrhenian Sea of the Mediterranean Sea. According to legend, the boys were descendants of Aeneas, who was a refugee of the mythical Trojan War featured in the masterpiece of Greek literature, "The Illiad," and their father was the god Mars. Abandoned as babies and thrown into the Tiber River by their jealous uncle, the boys were rescued and raised by a mother wolf who had lost her cubs.

When Romulus and Remus were grown, they killed their uncle and founded a city. Each wanted the new city to be in a different location, and in the fight that ensued, Romulus killed his brother Remus and the city was named Rome. This story illustrates well the violence and cruelty that was to become an essential characteristic of the Roman people.

But in 700 B.C. the Etruscans conquered Rome and King Etruscan ruled it like the city-states in Greece. The Etruscans had a huge influence on the Italian peninsula, as many of their hobbies (chariots), architectural forms (the arch), and beliefs (their main gods and goddesses Jupiter, Juno and Miverna—worshiped later by the Romans) remained influential for thousands of years. Some Greeks migrated to the Italian peninsula also. Rome was another small city-state then.

Landowners revolted and established a republic over the entire region, without any city-states. In 509 B.C., the Roman Republic was formed. After overthrowing the Etruscan king, Roman soldiers conquered the Etruscan city-states one-by-one. By 250 B.C., Romans had taken over every previously Etruscan-ruled territory.

Early Roman society had two classes of people: patricians (wealthy landowners) and plebeians (small farmers and shopkeepers). The patricians were only 10% of the society, but held most of the power through their 300-member Senate, where senators served for life and made decisions about war and peace and proposed laws to govern the country. Proposed laws required approval by the Assembly of Centuries, which was composed of all male soldiers, organized in units of 100 each, or centuries. At the head of the republic were two consuls, elected from the patrician class. The consuls ran the army and managed religious functions. They could veto each other and even turn their power over to a dictator for a maximum of six months. Citizenship was typically not offered to people in conquered lands.

Before long the plebes began to fight for more rights. They refused to serve in the army, however, and to appease them, the Senate granted plebians the right to elect representatives, or “tribunes”. The election of these tribunes occurred at a gathering of plebes called the Assembly of Tribes, which passed resolutions that the tribunes could present for ratification by the Senate. The Tribal Assembly could also veto some laws. The patrician monopoly on important positions was also lessened when intermarriage between plebes and patricians was legalized for the first time in 445 B.C. The republic recovered a setback when Rome was sacked by Gaul (modern France) in 390 B.C. Beginning in 376 B.C. plebes could serve in the consuls, and by 287 B.C. patricians could participate in the Assembly of Tribes. Class differences began to disappear and things became more democratic.

The Roman system was destined to become a great empire, perhaps the greatest the world would ever see. Two ingredients were crucial to its success: Roman law and Roman legions.

Roman Law developed in a rational and flexible manner, though obviously it failed Jesus, who was not a Roman citizen, during His trial. It began with a code of laws embodied in the Twelve Tables around 450 B.C. “Twelve” is an easy number to remember: it’s the same number of ancient tribes in Israel, though there is no obvious connection.

Judges (elected “praetors”) interpreted and applied the Twelve Tables in various locations, using local customs and precedents. This was the origin of the concept of “civil law”, expressed in Latin as “jus civile.” Roman law thereby became flexible and powerful in a way never seen before. The concept of “justice” developed whereby laws, not whim, governed society. Judgments were only to be entered based on evidence presented pursuant to established procedures, and people learned to respected the law through use of a symbol representing notions of justice (Justitia, the Roman goddess of justice, who wore a blindfold and held scales in one hand and a sword in the other). Rights were established for citizens and also for women and slaves. Foreign law was addressed through “jus gentium,” or “law of nations,” which handled conflicts between Rome and distant locations. Often judges would invoke the concept of universal law, or “jus naturale,” to decide controversies. Roman law valued private property and the central role played by families, and helped hold together the vast empire. Influence of Roman law is seen in many instances in America today, from the concept that all citizens are equal under the law to the principle of “innocent until proven guilty.” A great body of law that helped protect the underprivileged was codified as “Justinian’s Code” in A.D. 500s. Along with the benefits of a single currency (coins) for commercial transactions, a common legal system was a major reason why the Roman empire was so successful.

As good as Roman law was, the Roman military holds an even higher place in World history. Every Roman male who could serve in the army was required to serve. For whatever reason, the Roman soldiers were excellent. Companies of about 120 men formed Roman “legions” of 3000 to 6000 men, well-equipped with armor that included shields, helmets, swords and even javelins. They were considered nearly invincible and could easily defeat the Greeks. In 272 B.C., the Roman army crushed the army of Pyrrhus, the king of Epirus, who attempted to defend Greek cities in southern Italy. By 265 B.C., the Romans controlled all of Italy except for the Po Valley.

===The Punic Wars===

Rome fought and won a series of important wars known as the Punic (PYOO-nik) Wars between 264 and 146 B.C. against the Phoenician North African city of Carthage on the Mediterranean Sea. This enabled the Roman republic to gain control of the Mediterranean Sea and exclusive control over trade of wine, olive oil, food and many other goods. There were three Punic Wars in all, named “Punic” after the Roman term for Phoenician.

In the First Punic War (264-241 B.C.), Rome conquered Sicily and acquired grain-producing territory. Rome developed a navy as a result of this war. With no previous knowledge of shipbuilding, the Roman ships were no match for the powerful Carthaginian navy. However, the invention of the “corvus” (a hook-like device by which the Romans could attach their ships to Carthaginian ships) allowed the Romans to board enemy ships, displaying their superior hand-to-hand combat and effectively winning the war.

In the Second Punic War (218-202 B.C.), Rome fought against Hannibal, the leader of Carthage who took his entire army through Spain and then, in a preemptive move, crossed the Italian Alps in merely 15 days to the great surprise of the Romans. Hannibal’s crossing of the Alps with 30,000 men and some elephants is considered one of the greatest military feats of the ancient world. He then beat the Romans in a series of battles for 16 years but could not conquer Rome itself. Hannibal had to retreat to Africa when the Roman general attacked Carthage. Rome acquired Spain as a result of the Second Punic War.

In the Third Punic War, the Romans destroyed Carthage (146 B.C.), killed its inhabitants or took them as slaves, and salted its farms to make it impossible to grow crops. The Romans then went into Macedonia and Greece to defeat it in revenge for having helped Hannibal. By the end, Rome controlled all around the Mediterranean Sea, which was the entire western civilized world. The Roman senator Cato the Elder encouraged this revenge by ending every speech with the conclusion, ''Carthago delenda est'': “Carthage must be destroyed.” The Roman soldiers returned home with their winnings, and with Greek knowledge. Rome itself became Hellenistic, fascinated by the culture of the Greeks, including their architecture, their language, and their system of justice. The Roman empire helped spread Greek knowledge further than the Greeks themselves could.

===Leading up to an Empire===

In the eastern Mediterranean, Rome fought wars in Anatolia (present-day Turkey) and Macedonia between 215 and 148 B.C. to gain control over those territories. By 148 B.C., Rome controlled everything from Spain to Anatolia.

Afterwards a period of struggle ensued between the Roman military, fresh from its conquests, and the Senate that ruled in a republican form of government. Some corruption followed, and historians blame wealthy senators for blocking some economic proposals.

The Gracchi brothers, Tiberius and Gaius, served as tribunes in 133 and 123, respectively. They passed laws to help the poor by redistributing land from the wealthy estates known as “latifundia” to the poor. Gaius tried to end the practice of wheat speculation, by which wealthy citizens bought all the grain and then, during times of shortage, resold it to the poor at greatly inflated prices. However, the angry Senate instigated a riot that clubbed Tiberius to death in 133 B.C. and Gaius committed suicide before he could be assassinated for trying to resell grain to the poor at low prices in 121 B.C.

Finally, near the beginning of the first century B.C., a general named Gaius Marius was elected consul. He came up with the idea of Rome’s first professional army, and substituted it for the prior system by which only landholding citizens could serve in the military. Marius hired landless citizens for long terms and quickly gained support from his well-paid army. Soon, a civil war broke out between the Senate (which supported Marius) and the General Assembly (which supported a general named Cornelius Sulla.) Finally, Sulla, took power, executed Marius’s followers and pretended to reestablish the power of the Senate in 83 B.C. But in effect Sulla ruled as another dictator until Spartacus, a Greek slave, led a bloody slave revolt.

===Julius Caesar===

Order was not established until one of the greatest leaders and military minds emerged from the chaos. Julius Caesar (100-44 B.C.) was a brilliant general who laid the groundwork for the future Roman empire. In 60 B.C. Julius Caesar joined with the wealthy Marcus Crassus and the powerful Roman general and statesman Pompey the Great to rule Rome as the first triumvirate. In 59 B.C. Julius Caesar became consular and used his position to gain favor with the public, such as by distributing grain to the poor.

Julius Caesar then made himself the provincial ruler (proconsul) of Gaul (modern-day France). He conquered vast amounts of territory for Rome and, while fighting abroad, send written reports back to Rome of the victories he was winning to sustain his popularity and to ensure that the people did not forget him. Back in Rome, Julius Caesar’s plan was working, and Pompey became increasingly jealous (by this time, Crassus had died in battle). Pompey, with the support of the Senate, objected to Julius Caesar’s actions and ordered him to disband his army and return to Rome. He refused, and in an act of direct defiance to the Senate, led his loyal troops across the Rubicon River to Rome and conquered it in 49 B.C. The expression, “crossing the Rubicon” is used today to describe an act from which there is no turning back. Julius Caesar went on to defeat Pompey at the battle of Pharsalus in 48 B.C. This left Julius Caesar firming in control of Rome, and he then took his unbeatable army on campaigns in Egypt (where he installed ally Cleopatra as queen), Asia Minor, Africa and Spain before returning to Rome again in 45 B.C. Rome ruled much of the civilized world as result of these military campaigns. The Roman Senate appointed Julius Caesar as dictator for life in 46 B.C.

Julius Caesar instituted the 12-month, 365-day “Julian Calendar,” which provided the foundation for the “Gregorian Calendar” adopted later by a pope and used to this day. Julius Caesar also granted religious rights to the Jews in Palestine, so that the Jewish religion could be practice outside the requirements of Roman religious law. An uneasy practice of the Jewish faith thus continued in the Roman empire up to and through the time of Christ. Julius Caesar was good to veterans (former soldiers) and the poor.

The Roman Senate was less than pleased with how Julius Caesar acted like a dictator. In a conspiracy famously recounted in Shakespeare’s play “Julius Caesar,” Cassius and Brutus and up to 60 others agreed to stab and kill Julius Caesar when he entered the Senate on the “Ides of March” (March 15, 44 B.C.). After he died, Rome fell into chaos for 13 years as rivals strived for power. Julius Caesar wanted his 18-year-old grandnephew, Gaius Octavius, to be his heir and become emperor. Others wanted Mark Antony. Cassius and Brutus also had armies of their own. First a triumvirate of Octavian, Antony and Lepidus defeated the armies of Cassius and Brutus, and that ended the republican rule by the Senate.

Then the triumvirate fought with each other. First, Lepidus retired. Then Antony fell in love with Cleopatra, queen of Egypt and went to be with her there, ruling the eastern part of the empire. To turn public opinion against the popular Antony, Octavian read aloud a paper to the Senate that was supposedly Antony’s will. In it, Antony expressed his intent for Cleopatra and her children to rule the eastern part of the Empire after his death. At the Battle of Actium in 31 B.C., Antony and Octavian clashed and Octavian won. Antony and Cleopatra fled back to Egypt, but Octavian’s army hunted them down. Rather than be captured or killed, they took their own lives. Their affair was chronicled over a thousand years later by Shakespeare in his tragedy, Antony and Cleopatra. After their deaths, Octavian was the sole ruler.

Roman culture flourished under Julius Caesar and the struggle afterwards. Most notably, Marcus Cicero (106-43 B.C.) became the leading writer, orator and statesman. His works are read to this day in Latin courses, as he established a high standard for Latin prose. The language enabled powerful concepts to be expressed succinctly, and often Latin phrases are used today in the legal system and elsewhere. But there was no freedom of speech in ancient Rome, and when Cicero’s work the Philippics criticized Mark Antony in 43 B.C., he responded by putting Cicero to death.

===Birth of the Roman Empire===

In 27 B.C. Octavian struck a deal to share power with the Roman Senate, with the Senate bestowing on Octavian the name “Augustus” (a term usually used in reference to the gods), and the Roman empire was born. The power shared with the Roman Senate was mostly an illusion, however, as Augustus became the dictator, chief priest, and “imperator”, a title which meant he had complete control of the army. Augustus then ruled from 27 B.C. to A.D. 14, including the time of the birth of Jesus Christ.

Augustus essentially established a constitutional monarchy rather than a true republic, as the Senate’s role was only advisory. Yet under this system of government the Roman empire thrived for 200 years, with the population of Rome growing to more than one million persons by about A.D. 100, a huge number for the ancient world. The Roman empire included far more than 100 cities, which had their own local governments, and which engaged in trade with each other. Eventually, plague and economic disaster began to cause decreases in the populations of cities by about A.D. 200, and barbarian invasions caused more to flee to the countryside. By the 6th century A.D. the population of Rome was probably less than 50,000 people. The broadest dates assigned to the Roman empire are from 509 B.C. to A.D. 476, when the last emperor was deposed (removed from power). The greatest time period for the Roman empire was from 27 B.C. to A.D. 180 (known as “Pax Romana,” as described later).

The Roman empire is known for its organization and practical benefits for its citizens: great roads, drinking water, currency, laws, powerful military, useful sewers and the orderly administration of justice. Massive in geography, the Empire extended all along the Mediterranean Sea and brought civilization to vast tracts of land and many peoples. The “Silk Road” connected the Roman empire to Parthia (Persia or modern Iran), China and India, thereby facilitating trade. The Roman empire also established a language and alphabet that is the basis for Western European countries and the United States to this day. After initially persecuting Christians, the Roman empire enabled Christianity to expand and flourish. Summed up in one word, the Roman empire was “organized”.

The Roman empire flourished during “Pax Romana,” which is Latin for “the Roman peace.” This is the period from 27 B.C. (when Augustus Caesar declared an end to the civil war) to A.D. 180 (when the philosopher-emperor Marcus Aurelius died). During this period the Roman empire generally enjoyed peace, leadership by the “Five Good Emperors,” and substantial prosperity. Several of the emperors during this period were chosen for their talent rather than their family connections, such Nerva, who was elected by the Roman Senate. Nerva was then followed by four other talented emperors: Trajan (who ruled over more land than anyone), Hadrian (who built defensive walls), Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. The last of the Good Emperors, Marcus Aurelius, was a philosopher who wrote a book about spirituality called “Meditations”, which emphasized one’s duty. But he should have given more thought to his successor, because his death in A.D. 180 marked the end of Pax Romana. Chaos followed and the military then fought over who would be the next emperor.

During Pax Romana, the Roman empire governed a vast region extending throughout Western Europe and all the lands around the Mediterranean Sea, including Asia Minor, the Middle East (including Jerusalem) and Northern Africa. Emperor Claudius, who was in power from A.D. 41 to 54, even conquered what is now England, and added it to the Roman empire. The Pax Romana was not entirely peaceful, as there were some wars and conflicts, such as wars against the Germanic tribes and Persians, and turmoil in Jerusalem around the time of Christ. But there were no major civil wars, as there had been for much of the first century B.C., and no major invasions by foreigners into the Roman empire.

The Roman economy thrived during this time. The cities (such as Rome) had good sewage systems and theaters. Water was brought in from mountains by cleverly designed aqueducts. Roads were improved and were quite good, even by today’s standards. There was a common currency (coins) accepted throughout the empire. Wealthy Romans even had central heating systems in their houses. There was one set of laws for the entire empire. The great Roman poet Virgil wrote The Aeneid, which was a fictional story about how Rome was founded and the Roman counterpart to the Greek classics of The Illiad and The Odyssey. Historical accounts were written by Tacitus (“Annals” concerned public virtue and “Germania” concerned the Germanic tribes on the border of the Roman empire), by Livy (who wrote a history of Rome) and by Plutarch (biographies). Poetry was written by Ovid (“Metamorphoses”). Satires were written by Horace. Philosophy was written by Seneca on morals. Latin was the language used by teachers, writers, lawmakers, and the Catholic Church in its liturgy.

The Roman provinces, such as Gaul and Spain, did well during this period also. The Roman government built roads and cities for them and constructed aqueducts and sewers. Schools were built. A citizen in these provinces enjoyed the right to appeal to the emperor a decision by a provincial governor installed by Rome.

The uniform law was quite fair, even by modern standards. Women could own property, for example. The accused were supposedly guaranteed legal protection, and an accused was innocent until proven guilty. Obviously this did not occur in the trial of Jesus, however, so there was no safeguard against abuse. But in theory, all citizens were equal in the eyes of the law, though not everyone (and not Jesus) was a citizen.

There were multiple ways to obtain citizenship. Latins living along the Tiber River were automatically given citizenship. Others had to enlist in the Roman army for 25 years to earn it. Paul of Taurus obtained his Roman citizenship by birth to parents who were Roman citizens. He used his citizenship to invoke his right to appeal to Caesar in Acts 23:31-26:32.

Historians criticize huge differences between how the rich and poor lived in Rome, however. Wealthy Roman citizens enjoyed luxurious homes with private gardens, baths and even country estates. Banquets and entertainment was frequently for the wealthy, and they enjoyed watching brutal boxing matches to the death between gladiators and even chariot racing in the Colosseum. Criminals, Christians and slaves were forced to fight vicious animals and be killed by them. Meanwhile, the poor lived in cramped wood apartment houses, often in small rooms above shops, and often perished in fires.

===Roman Emperors===

Augustus, known until 27 B.C. as Octavian, was the first Roman Emperor. He was in charge when Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, which historians say was around 4 B.C. Augustus ruled until his death in A.D. 14, whereupon the Roman Senate appointed Augustus’s adopted son Tiberius as the next emperor, the first in a line of Augustus’ successors known as the “Julio-Claudian” emperors.

When Augustus became emperor, he established the praetorians to protect the Roman general (“praetor”) and the emperor. These elite, well-trained and privileged troops served as a kind of secret police, having more power than the Secret Service does today in protecting the president of the United States. It became essential to gain the support of the praetorians in order to hold high office in government. Constantine abolished the praetorians in the early A.D. 300s.

Tiberius ruled from A.D. 14-37, and thus was the emperor when Jesus was scourged (whipped) and crucified, barbaric treatment that was prohibited against Roman citizens. Tiberius had previously served a distinguished military career, and at first was a competent ruler extending the earlier policies of his stepfather Augustus. But increasingly Tiberius became paranoid, and ruled more and more like a tyrant. He oversaw many trials for treason and executions, and then left Rome itself in A.D. 26 to retire in Capri, where he was when Jesus was crucified.

The trial of Jesus revealed that while the Roman empire was tremendous in its military, there was much that it lacked in terms of understanding. Pontius Pilate, like most Romans, had no understanding or appreciation of the concept of objective truth. “Therefore Pilate said to Him, ‘So You are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.’ Pilate said to Him, ‘What is truth?’” (John 18:37-38 (NAS)). Pilate then left without giving Jesus the opportunity to teach him about truth. In the Roman empire, “truth” did not exist; it was merely whatever the emperor or Roman army said it was. Intellectual progress in the Roman empire was far less than the achievements of Ancient Greece.

Roman leadership weakened immediately following Tiberius. He was followed by Caligula (A.D. 37-41), who was a crazy and highly immoral tyrant whose reign ended in assassination by his own guards, a fate that would greet many despotic Roman emperors. His corrupt rule, which was one of the worst in all of history, can be best remembered as the first emperor to be installed after the crucifixion of Christ. At one point Caligula made his favorite horse a consul. In A.D. 39 he removed the consuls without even consulting with the Senate, because the Senate had not gone along with something he wanted to do. Then he publicly humiliated senators by forcing several of them to trot beside his chariot in public while wearing their full robes. Caligula even planned to impose and install a statue of himself as Zeus in the holiest part of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, which would have been the worst insult imaginable to the Jewish faith. His reign of terror came to an end when he was assassinated by one of his own guards, fulfilling Jesus’ teaching that “he who lives by the sword dies by the sword.” When news of Caligula’s death reached the public, they were afraid to show their joy lest it only be a rumor invented by Caligula himself that he might punish anyone who dared celebrate upon his death.

Caligula’s successor was his uncle Claudius, chosen by the guards who had killed Caligula. Some believe the only way Claudius lived through Caligula’s rule was by feigning insanity. Much to everyone’s surprise, Claudius proved to be a wise and able ruler, and under his rule, Britain became part of the Roman Empire. Shortly after becoming emperor, however, Claudius died from poisoned mushrooms given to him by his wife so that her son Nero could be king.

Nero was one of the most despised rulers of all time, and was an even more merciless persecutor of the growing numbers of Christians than Caligula. Nero became emperor at age sixteen, and despite being taught by the great philosopher Seneca, he quickly became a ruthless and irresponsible leader, ordering the murders of his wife and mother and instructing his teacher Seneca and the poet Lucan to commit suicide. When Rome experienced a ravaging fire in A.D. 64, Nero supposedly sat carelessly playing his fiddle and sang about the fall of Troy. Nero was initially blamed for the fire; however, another rumor quickly began circulating: the Christians had started the fire. Nero responded by embarking on one the most terrible executions of Christians the world has ever seen. He had men, women and children put into the arena and eaten alive by wild animals. Christians were tarred, tied to tall bundles of sticks and burned alive—human torches to provide light. Peter and Paul were probably killed during Nero’s reign. Nero finally killed himself in A.D. 69, much to the relief of Christians and Romans alike.

After Nero’s death, the first plebian emperor in Rome’s history rose to power: the wise and practical Vespasian, the first in the line of the “Flavian” emperors. His son Titus ruled after him, and it was during Titus’ reign that Rome experienced three disasters: destructive fires, a terrible plague, and the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, which completely destroyed the cities Herculaneum and Pompeii. Vespasian’s other son, Domitian, ruled next and was the last of the Flavian emperors. Next, the “Five Good Emperors” ruled: Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antonious Pius, and lastly, Marcus Aurelius.

Known as the “philosopher king,” Marcus Aurelius wrote Meditations, a Stoical work expressing compassion for the weak and less fortunate and resignation to one’s fate. During his reign, he led his powerful army against the Germanic tribes in the north, which had become a threat to the Roman empire. Before the job was finished, however, he fell ill and died in A.D. 180, leaving the job to his son Commodus. Lazy and much less capable than his father, Commodus preferred to stay in Rome, and made peace with the Germanic tribes, a decision that would eventually contribute to the destruction of the Roman empire.

Diocletian, who ruled from A.D. 284 to 305, attempted to save the Roman empire by dividing it into eastern and western regions, with Byzantium as the capital of the East and Rome as the capital of the West. He established the “tetrarchy”, or division of power among four rulers in 293 B.C. The “tetrarchy” included two primary rulers, each with the title “Augustus”, who ruled over the eastern and western empires, and two “Caesars” who served under the Augustuses. He imposed economic regulations, some of which seem silly today. For example, Diocletian required farmers to stay with their land and workers to stay on the job for the rest of their lives. He did this to prevent people from leaving their work to avoid taxation. For an empire that embraced slavery, this probably seemed like normal regulations. Diocletian also imposed wage and price controls to halt inflation. That economic regulation, which almost always fails, is still attempted by modern rulers, such as the United States President during World War II and even President Nixon in the early 1970s.

Diocletian also attempted to suppress Christianity by ordering Christians to worship him and brutally persecuting them when they did not. He was the last emperor to do this. Diocletian abdicated (resigned) in A.D. 305.

===Roman Contributions===

The Roman civilization began as part of Hellenism but developed its own major contributions in engineering (roads and aqueducts), law, the military, and the spread of Christianity. Roman architecture developed the use of cement and the large arches, domes and vaults, as implemented in the Pantheon (not to be confused with the Parthenon, which was Greek) and the Arch of Constantine. Roman art used mosaics. Latin, the great language of the Roman empire, formed the basis for the “romance” languages of Europe still in use today: French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, and is also the primary language of some churches, such as the Roman Catholic Church. But the Romans valued education only for its practical benefits and contributed little intellectually. On a practical level the Romans accomplished much with their roads, orderly society, and system of justice. Roman law held together its vast empire just as Greek culture held together the Hellenistic world. Christianity grew in the Roman empire.

==The Roman Empire and Christianity==

Jesus did not seek fame; recall that the betrayal by Judas was to identify Jesus for capture, because otherwise most people would not recognize Him. But non-believing historians recorded Jesus's life and the rise of Christianity. For example, the Jewish historian Josephus (A.D. 37-100) wrote:

:"At this time there was a wise man who was called Jesus. ... Pilate condemned Him to be condemned and to die. And those who had become His disciples did not abandon His discipleship. They reported that He had appeared to them three days after His crucifixion and that He was alive; accordingly, He was perhaps the Messiah concerning whom the prophets have recounted wonders"<ref>Antiquities, xviii.ch. 3, subtopic 3, Arabic text. http://www.bibleviews.com/non-biblical.html.</ref>

and

:"Now, there was about this time, Jesus, a wise man, ... for he was a doer of wonderful works--a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew ever to him both many of the Jews, and many Gentiles. ... [W]hen Pilate, at the suggestions of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to be condemned and to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and the ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day."<ref>Antiquities, xviii.ch. 3, subtopic 3, Greek text. http://www.bibleviews.com/non-biblical.html (possible subsequent editions to the text removed)</ref>

After the Resurrection, Peter and Paul brought Christianity to many parts of the Roman Empire, and Peter is recognized by the Roman Catholic Church ("catholic" is from a Greek word meaning "universal") as the first and longest-serving "bishop of Rome," or "pope" of the Church. The works of Peter, Paul and others in spreading Christianity are described in their own letters that follow the Gospels in the New Testament.

As Christianity grew, it began to organize itself along the lines of local parishes managed by priests, who in turn were selected by bishops. A group of local churches forms a diocese. Christianity is primarily an evangelical faith, and spreading its truths is considered a fundamental aspect of its doctrine. By seeking conversion of others to the Good News, Christianity differs from other religions that lack an evangelical component, such as Judaism. Popes were established in both Rome (a line of succession from Peter) and Alexandria, Egypt (a line of succession from Mark), and the Roman Catholic Church began to develop its own system of law known as "canon law."

While Christianity was and is primarily peaceful in its evangelism, Roman emperors were brutal in attempting to suppress the religion. Roman emperors Nero and Diocletian would actively persecute Christians, thereby creating many martyrs, but the religion continued to grow. Christians would hold worship services in secret places, making use of pre-existing catacombs or tunnels underlying Rome. There were numerous early Christian martyrs, such as Lawrence, who openly expressed their faith in Rome. In A.D. 258, the Roman emperor abruptly issued an edict that all bishops, priests and deacons be immediately killed ("episcopi et presbyteriet diacones incontinenti animadvertantur"). The bishop of Rome (the pope) was found in a catacomb and immediately executed. Lawrence, accordingly to verbal tradition, was roasted to death by a red-hot grid. A very inspirational martyr, Lawrence reportedly said during his execution, "Turn me over. I am done on this side!"

Thanks to martyrs like Lawrence and many others, Christianity ultimately prevailed over the mighty Roman empire. The persecutions of Christians continued until the Edict of Milan in A.D. 313, issued by the emperor Constantine. This edict established Christianity as an acceptable religion to be practice in Rome, and in A.D. 391, emperor Theodosius declared Christianity to be the official religion of the Roman Empire and the worship of Roman gods was outlawed. The only legal religions in the Roman Empire were then Christianity and Judaism. All the Roman emperors after Constantine were Christian, with one exception (Julian "the Apostate").

Constantine built a new Christian capital in the East for the Roman empire that would be safe from the German invaders, and he called it Constantinople. The city was located to benefit from the expanding trade with the East. He built a beautiful Church of Holy Wisdom there, now known as the "Cathedral of the Hagia Sophia." This city survived and thrived for another 1000 years, as '''the eastern portion of the Roman Empire did not decline and fall as the western portion did'''. The architecture of this city, now known as Istanbul, Turkey, is a mixture of Christianity and Hellenistic classicism. It is located on the Bosporus Strait at the point where Europe meets Asia, and was the wealthiest city in Europe throughout the Middle Ages. Half the city is in Europe and the other half is in Asia. It was sometimes called the "Queen of Cities."

Meanwhile, Christianity was hindered by internal conflicts over doctrine, otherwise known has heresies. The biggest heresy was "Arianism", based on teachings of a Libyan priest in Alexandria, Egypt, who declared that Jesus was an exceptional man but was not divine (God). To address this heresy, Constantine convened the Council of Nicaea, in A.D. 325 in Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), and he presided over it. This was the first of several important ecumenical councils held by Christians, typically one being held every 50 or 100 years. The 300 Christian leaders declared that Jesus was a human who was also fully and eternally divine, and they excommunicated and banished Arian (i.e., the emperor Constantine forced him into exile). This issue did not generate as much of a division amongst the bishops as some modern authors suggest, and only two of over 300 bishops dissented when the nature of Jesus's divinity was voted upon.

The Christian leaders issued the Nicene Creed, which confirms the divine Trinity of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Virtually all Christians of almost any denomination today, Protestant and Catholic, adhere to the Nicene Creed, and many Christians recite it daily or weekly. As to Arianism, it was simpler than Christianity and gained popularity among Germanic invaders of the Roman Empire, but lost influence after the 8th century.

Another Christian heresy was "Gnosticism", based on the Greek work for knowledge (“gnosis”). The Gnostics claimed to rely entirely on knowledge or reason, and later the word “agnostic” was coined to describe people who claim that recognition of God is impossible because it is somehow beyond human reasoning. There are implied criticisms of the Gnostics in the letters included in the New Testament (see, e.g., 1Timothy 1:4), so this dispute goes back to the very early days of Christianity. The Gnostics promoted works as scriptures that were doubted or rejected by other Christians, such as the “Gospels” of Thomas and Judas, with the latter obtaining much publicity just this year. Gnostics would also edit out passages from accepted Gospels if they felt it could not be proven, such the reference in Luke to an angel coming to strengthen Jesus during his agony prior to the Crucifixion (Luke 22:43-44). Gnosticism had its roots in pre-Christian philosophy, and it persists to this day in attempts to pick and choose from the New Testament, and supplement it with Apocrypha (non-authentic works) as in the Da Vinci Code book and movie.

The Roman Empire was brutal not only to the Christians. In A.D. 66, Jewish “Zealots” from Judea rebelled against the Romans and a bitter struggle followed. Titus’s Roman army was far more powerful, however, and killed many of the Zealots and then senselessly destroyed the sacred temple in Jerusalem in A.D. 70, leaving only the Wailing Wall that remains to this day for Jewish believers to pray before. Then, in A.D. 73, Jewish holdouts in a fortress near Masada finally succumbed after years of courageous fighting against the more powerful Roman army. Herod the Great had built a fortified palace there in a rocky hill on the southwest shore of the Dead Sea, between 37 and 31 B.C. Herod built it for his own protection in case there were a Jewish revolt against him, but the Zealots later captured it for the purposes of their own revolt. After two years of a courageous defense against the Romans, the Romans finally prevailed with a battering ram in breeching the defenses. The oral tradition is that the Romans used Jewish slaves who the Zealots were reluctant to kill. Instead, the Zealots all committed suicide rather than submit to Roman authority, though another oral tradition is that the Zealots killed each other (except for the last one) out of respect for the Jewish prohibition on suicide.

Another Jewish rebellion against the Romans occurred in A.D. 132, and this time the Romans completely destroyed the Jewish state and dispersed the Jewish people to faraway lands. This is known as the “Second Diaspora” (“diaspora” is Greek for dispersion). The “First Diaspora” was the Babylonian captivity. There would not be another Jewish homeland until 1948. After the Second Diaspora some Jewish people converted to Christianity, while others formed Jewish communities in faraway places. By A.D. 1000, Spain became a center for Jewish scholarship, but the Spanish Inquisition in A.D. 1492 is blamed for expelling Jews from that country. Eastern Europe welcomed displaced Jewish settlers, and by the 17th century it became the center of the Diaspora. In the late 1800s many Jewish people migrated to Germany and Britain, but the Holocaust in Germany during World War II destroyed Jewish communities there. The center of the Diaspora today is the United States, which has a Jewish population of nearly 6 million, more than the 5 million Jewish population of Israel, founded in 1948. Great Jewish centers such as Egypt and Babylon (now Iraq), which thrived in the first century, now have fewer than 1000 Jewish residents.

In the early fifth century, Augustine of Hippo (known to many as "Saint Augustine") wrote books entitled "Confessions" and "City of God," which merged classical and Christian viewpoints, and in particular reconciled the classical (Greco-Roman) view about knowledge and virtue with Christian views of sin. Born in North Africa to a pagan father and a Christian mother, Augustine went through personal spiritual crises before converting entirely to Christianity and advocating the concept of justification by grace alone. He criticized all the heresies of his time and supported the sacraments of the church. He also supported the concept of "predestination", which would later be emphasized by the Frenchman John Calvin during the Protestant Reformation in the 1530s (Calvin fled to Switzerland to promote his ideas).

A contemporary of Augustine was Jerome ("Saint Jerome"), who translated the Hebrew Old Testament and Greek New Testament into Latin. This became known as the Vulgate, and remained the authoritative Bible for over 1000 years.

==Military Reasons for the Fall of the Roman Empire (in the West)==

A barbaric, nomadic tribe known as the Asiatic Huns began moving into Europe from Asia in two independent tribes of nomadic barbarians, the Germanic Goths and Asiatic Huns. They launched fierce attacks on the Roman empire in the West in the late 300s (A.D.). The western Goths were known as “Visigoths”.

The key date was A.D. 375, when the Huns invaded Europe from Asia. The Huns then settled in present-day Hungary, forcing the Goths to flee their homeland on the northern shore of the Black Sea. The Huns displaced the Ostrogoths, who in turn displaced the Visigoths. The Visigoths initially requested and received permission from the Romans to cross the Danube River and settle in the Roman empire. However, before long the Roman authorities were fighting with the Visigoths, and at the Battle of Adrianople in A.D. 378 the Visigoths defeated the Romans and killed the emperor Valens. Meanwhile, other ethnic groups migrated around Europe in what is called the “Migration of the Peoples.” Times were changing and the Roman empire was not likely to survive. In A.D. 410, the Visigoths, led by their king Alaric, invaded and looted Rome.

Meanwhile the nomadic Huns were defeating everything in their path from A.D. 370 to 455 in southeastern Europe, creating widespread panic throughout the Roman empire. The fear they inspired in their enemies was worse than anything in history. The Huns had tremendous skills of horsemanship that enabled them to strike with lightning speed. They were also extraordinarily accurate archers from atop the horses, and made ferocious charges on their enemies. Ultimately two brothers, Attila and Breda, rose to power over the Huns, and then Attila took power for himself by killing his brother.

Attila became King of the Huns from A.D. 434 to 453, and he was perhaps the most vicious and barbaric military leader in history. Known as “Attila the Hun,” everyone was completely terrified of him and called him the “Scourge of God.” One rumor was that Attila was a cannibal. He married seven women in his lifetime. The Huns were so barbaric that they did not use fire, and would simply eat raw or semi-raw meat that they found in dead animals. They were extremely fierce in battle. Superb horsemen, the Huns could shoot a bow accurately while riding a horse, benefiting from stirrups that their opponents did not have. The Huns would scream in battle and not follow any system of organized warfare, instead preferring complete chaos on the battlefield. They would fight to the death without any regard for their own safety.

Attila the Hun himself lived a simple life, wearing plain clothes consisting of layered animal skin. An envoy from the Eastern Roman empire who met with Attila once at dinner described it as follows: “By mixing up the languages of the Italians with those of the Huns and Goths, [an entertainer] fascinated everyone and made them break out into uncontrollable laughter, all that is except Attila. He remained impassive, without any change of expression, and neither by word or gesture did he seem to share in the merriment ….” The impression left was that Attila lacked a sense of humor and cared about nothing but power.

As a young warrior, Attila had been captured and released by the Romans, and he vowed to return to Rome victorious as king. Relying on seers and “gods”, Attila nearly did conquer the Roman empire. For five years from A.D. 445 to 450 he devastated the eastern Roman empire, destroying anything in his path between the Rhine and the Caspian Sea. In 451 he amassed perhaps the largest army in the history of the world until that time, a total of a half-million men, and began marching towards Rome. He quickly conquered Gaul (present-day France) and devastated any European city in his path. He was not stopped until an alliance of the Visigoths and Romans surprised the Huns and forced them to retreat by about a hundred miles. One of the most bloody battles in all of history, the Battle of Chalons, ensued. The Visigoths and Romans defeated the Huns there.

But Attila was clever, and redirected his Huns towards Rome by invading Italy. He was headed towards the heart of the Roman empire: Rome itself. He destroyed everything in his path in the Roman countryside. Unable to stop Attila the Hun by force, a peaceful mission led by Pope Leo I traveled out to meet Attila in 452 and try to persuade him to spare Rome. Moral persuasion worked where violence had not, and Attila did not invade Rome.

A year later, at only age 47, Attila died apparently from a mere nosebleed. It was an ironic cause of death for one of the most feared warriors in the history of the world.

Attila was gone, but the Germanic tribes remained to wreak havoc on the Roman empire and ultimately ensure its complete fall. These Germanic tribes included the Saxons in northern Germany; the Angles and Saxons in England; the Visigoths in Spain; the Ostrogoths in Italy; the Vandals in North Africa; and the Franks in France.

The Germans to the north of the Roman empire began to show signs of their might that would resurface in the two world wars of the 20th century. In the ancient world the Germans had three dialects: Nordic (which later became Scandinavian languages), the western dialect (which later became modern German), and the eastern dialect (also known as Gothic).

To the Romans and Greeks, the Germans were an uncivilized people incapable of farming, as they lived in clans of 10-20 families, directed by tribal kings in war. They had no territorial allegiance, operating under fierce personal loyalty instead.

The German tribes would raid the Roman civilizations on the frontier along the Rhine, Danube and the north shore of the Black Sea, capturing women and slaves in the raids to send back to do domestic work. The Roman empire under Caesar was strong enough to repel these attacks, capturing the blond invaders and turning them into slaves of Rome. But over time the Germans learned to organize themselves and the Roman empire on the frontier became less civilized: the line between civilization and barbarism became blurry. By the third century AD, it was not always clear which side was the civilized one.

The Germanic nomads caused rural peasants to flee into the cities, which weakened them. In A.D. 410 the Visigoths, a wandering nation of Germanic people from the northeast led by King Alaric, sacked Rome itself. Another German chieftain named Odoacer finished the job off in A.D. 476, when he dethroned the last Roman emperor of the West: Romulus Augustulus.

Another powerful enemy was poised to attack from east of the Roman empire. The Persians had been weakened by internal conflict until Ardashir, grandson of Sassan, killed the last Parthian king in 224. That heralded the beginning of the Sassanian dynasty, which ruled for hundreds of years until the Arabs arrived in 637-51.

The Sassanians pulled together their crown and the provinces, strengthened their cities and improved their organization. Ardashir then proceeded to take north Mesopotamia back from the Roman empire. His son Shapur I (A.D. 240-72) invaded as far west as Antioch and even took the Roman Emperor Valerian prisoner in A.D. 260. Shapur I even took control of Afghanistan and Turkestan, and his Shapur II (A.D. 309-79) annexed them.

Shapur I improved the culture of Persia, commissioning translations of Greek and Indian works on philosophy, medicine and astronomy. He protected religious figures like Mani, who attempted to adapt Christian concepts to ancient Iranian principles of good and evil and thereby create a religion to suit the entire world at the time. A state church was created, but ultimately Mani was crucified and his followers, the Manicheans, were persecuted.

But the Persians had the same problem plaguing the Romans: raids by uncivilized peoples on their frontiers. The decline of the ancient world was not so much due to one civilized group defeating another, but rather the calamity of barbarians destroying civilization.

==Other Reasons for the Fall of the Roman Empire (in the West)==

Historians date the end of the ancient world at A.D. 500 or 600, or perhaps as early as 375 when the Huns invaded Europe from Asia. The last Roman Emperor was the nine-year-old Romulus Augustus, and he was deposed (removed from power) in A.D. 476. This is the date most often used by historians to denote the “fall” of the Roman empire. Keep in mind, however, that the eastern half of the Roman empire based in Constantinople that split from the west in A.D. 264 never “fell”, and thrived for another thousand years.

There was not a single event that ended the Ancient World, or even a series of events. But by A.D. 600, there was very little left of ancient civilizations, and the marvelous intellectual and cultural progress had ceased. The culture, the militaries, the upkeep of roads, the sense of justice, and the governments were finished.

The Roman empire was the last of the great ancient civilizations, and countless papers, books and Ph.D. theses have been written trying to explain why the Roman empire collapsed. In the 1700s, British historian Edward Gibbon wrote a six-volume classic entitled The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. This became the most celebrated work of English historical literature. Gibbon attributed the decline of the Roman empire primarily to the rise of Christianity. Roman citizens began to care more about heaven than earth, and supposedly stopped caring so much about work and government. However, this argument is not very persuasive, as nations with overwhelmingly Christian populations have thrived throughout history. Also, Gibbons’ theory does not explain why the western half of the Roman empire fell but the eastern half did not. Both were Christian.

The military invasions by barbarians described above were an obvious problem. These were a constant distraction to the Roman emperors and ultimately the Roman army could not continue to defeat the attacks. The army itself was vulnerable to disloyalty, as it enlisted barbarians who cared little about Rome. Enormous political instability resulted in 28 different generals (the “barracks emperors”) in less than 100 years.

Economists often say that all of history can be explained by economic trends, and the decline of the Roman empire is an example of this. Diocletian’s economic policies were dreadful, imposing price controls and ordering people to stay in their current jobs. Emperors spent lavishly on themselves and other friends and the currency suffered from inflation that accompanies overspending by government. Like modern governments, the Roman emperors produced cheap coins when they needed money, thereby causing inflation. Economic problems resulted, and small farmers sold their family land to large estates, and an early form of feudalism called “Patrocinium” developed whereby farmers worked on land owned by others. Eventually many farmers gave up and migrated to cities. But slave labor was popular in the cities, so the former farmers could not obtain jobs and large unemployment resulted. Having nothing to do, crowds began to look for entertainment.

The aphorism “idle time is the work of the devil” applied to the people of Rome. For entertainment, people would go to the Colosseum and watch people (at one time, Christians) be fed to lions, or see two gladiators fight each other until one died. The morality of the Roman people was in complete decline. It was like everyone now spending hours each day watching murder on television, except it was real then. Nothing gets done, and what the people are watching becomes increasingly immoral.

The imposition of heavy taxes also had a demoralizing effect. Failed harvests compounded the economic problem. Moreover, the reliance by the Roman economy on slavery caught up with them, as the wealthy became accustomed to doing nothing and having free labor to work for them. Social decay accompanied the idle time and abusive use of free labor. Furthermore, the peaceful time known as Pax Romana has been blamed for not bringing in revenue from foreign wars, as Rome was no longer looting foreign territory. The end of the expansion of the Roman empire led to an end of the new revenue, and collapse from within. It appears that the economic model for success of the Roman empire required continual expansion to succeed. Illness did not help either: a plague reduced the population of Rome.

Other historians cite a lack of leadership. Under the theory that leaders, not ideas, define history, the Roman empire can be described as thriving when it had strong leaders (emperors), and failing when it did not. Julius Caesar (100-44 B.C.) was a strong emperor, and he is credited with establishing the Roman empire in the place of the Republic, which did not have a strong leader. During Pax Romana, there was a series of strong emperors. But beginning with the end of Pax Romana in A.D. 180, there were a series of weak, incompetent or simply crazy emperors, many of whom served only a brief period before being assassinated. The end came with a nine-year-old emperor being removed from power by a foreign invader. That could hardly be a surprise to anyone.

Perhaps the Roman empire was too big and too diverse to maintain indefinitely. No other empire has been able to control that much territory, with all its diversity, for hundreds of years. There were future attempts to lay claim to the Roman empire. Charlemagne insisted that he had reestablished the Roman empire in A.D. 800. But its full power was gone forever.

==The Byzantine Empire (in the East)==

Constantine I (“Constantine the Great”) became emperor of the western half of the Roman empire after the death of his father (in battle) and a period of uncertainty.

Emperor Constantine promised to himself that he would convert to Christianity (as his mother had) if God would make him victorious in a key battle in A.D. 306. Constantine won and then converted, and by the time of his death in A.D. 333 he had declared Christianity as an official religion of the Roman empire. In A.D. 312 Constantine began using Christian symbols for his military after seeing a vision of the sign of the cross in the rays of sunlight. In 326, Constantine declared Sunday to be a religious holiday. The Eastern Orthodox Church adores Constantine as a saint.

While establishing Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire is what made Constantine so important, he was also brilliant in recognizing the significance of the eastern half of the Roman empire. Constantine fought the ruler of the eastern half beginning in A.D. 314. In 323, Constantine ultimately conquered the East and killed its emperor, Licinius, thereby uniting West and East into one mighty Roman empire. Constantine founded a second capital in the East at Byzantium, renaming it Constantinople in his own honor (which is now Istanbul, Turkey).

The eastern half was always richer and stronger and survived as the Byzantine Empire through the Middle Age. Constantine had placed his name on a city that would play an instrumental role in trade and military conflicts. While the western half of the empire declined and Rome fell in A.D. 476, the eastern half split from the west in A.D. 395 and grew in power and wealth, surviving for nearly a thousand years after the fall of Rome.

In A.D. 527, Justinian became a powerful emperor of this Byzantine empire and he recovered North Africa from the Vandals in 533, and Rome from the Ostrogoths in 535. Ultimately he recaptured all of Italy and even parts of Spain in his attempt to reestablish the Roman empire. Initially the primary language was Latin, as it had been in Rome, but eventually the Greek influence on the eastern half made it the primary language.

Justinian is remembered best for revising and updating the Roman laws and establishing a new Justinian Code for laws and treaties. This was so successful that it was used for the next 900 years. He also rebuilt Constantinople, which had been destroyed by riots against high taxes. He rebuilt the fabulous Hagia Sophia church, which features the Byzantine architecture of high domes. His wife’s name was Theodora, who advocated for modern women’s rights at a time when most Byzantine women stayed in the home.

The Byzantine empire survived from Justinian’s death in 565 to 1453, when the Muslim Ottoman Turks conquered it. There are several causes of the decline prior to 1453. A plague weakened the Byzantine empire in 700. In 1071, the Seljuk Turks defeated Byzantium at the Battle of Manzikert, and these Turks thereby acquired control of most of Asia Minor. Later Byzantium was weakened by an overly complex system of government, which led rise to the term “Byzantine” that is used today to describe a very complex and difficult-to-understand system of rules.

== References ==

<references/>

[[Category:World History lectures]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:World History Lecture 04}}

File:757px-Roman Emperor map.jpg

2009-02-16T20:22:02Z

Ambers: For World History lecture four.

For World History lecture four.

Essay:Draft Conservapedia Application to Become SES Provider

2009-02-12T13:40:15Z

Ambers: /* Section E */

This is a working draft of an application by Conservapedia to become an [[SES]] provider.

In New Jersey, there are seven key parts to the application for assessment, in addition to absolute requirements.<ref name="NJ Process">http://www.state.nj.us/education/title1/program/ss/application.pdf</ref> Each section below represents a part of the application:

== Section A ==

Alignment to the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards (CCCS)<ref>www.nj.gov/njded/aps/cccs</ref> and the district's instructional programs (40 points maximum)

The courses provided by Conservapedia include:

*American History
*World History
*American Government
*Writing
*Economics

In addition, courses can be easily developed to address:

*pre-college mathematics
*pre-college science
*reading
*grammar

=== 15 points ===
Describe how the services offered are aligned with language arts literacy, reading, science and mathematics standards as outlined in the NJ CCCS. Cite examples of specific standards and elements of the program.

=== 15 points ===
Demonstrate a clear link between the academic program that a student experiences during the regular school day and the instruction of the SES program provided. Explain how your program complements the district’s prevailing instructional program.

=== 5 points ===
Describe specific methods and strategies for serving eligible students from special populations such as students with learning disabilities, English Language Learners, etc.

=== 5 points ===
Describe the organizational structure of service delivery (location, supervision, staff). In this section, include a typical schedule for SES. The schedule must be included for any program that exceeds three consecutive hours of instruction in one time period. (Do not include “snack time”.)

== Section B ==

Key instructional practices and major program elements must be (1) high quality, (2) based on research (citations required), and (3) specifically designed to increase student academic achievement (10 points maximum)

== Section C ==

Provide a clear, concise narrative including evidence of program effectiveness in improving student's academic achievement (35 points maximum)

'''Examples of Evidence of Effectiveness:''' 

 -Student achievement data from valid and reliable performance tests from a state, district, and/or an independent test developer.

:: Can use SAT and CLEP exam scores here.

 -Student performance data using a measure that is not nation- or statewide, using a measure developed by the SES provider, or using school grades, homework completion, or results from a school/teacher administered subject area test.

:: Can use homework completion and in-class test scores.

 -Letters of reference from previous clients, such as parents or students, offering testimonials on the positive impact of your program.

:: Can use emails of gratitude, plus ask for testimonials now

 -Additional evidence of improved outcomes, such as student attendance, retention/promotion rates,graduation rates, family/parent satisfaction, and/or improved student behavior/discipline, as well as narrative excerpts from students themselves.

:: Can use college acceptances here. See [[User:Aschlafly]].

== Section D ==

Describe clearly the specific assessment programs and practices used to diagnose a student's needs, prescribe an instructional program to meet that student's needs, and evaluate and monitor that student's progress towards clearly identified goals (15 points maximum)

'''What the State is looking for:''' 

*Specific processes you will use to assess and diagnose a student’s needs, identify gaps in skills or knowledge, and prescribe an instructional program based on the student’s individual needs. 

*Specific processes you will use to evaluate, monitor, and track student progress on a continuous and regular basis. 

*How you will develop a timetable for each student’s achievement gain that includes clear goals for the student.

== Section E ==

Explain the proposed process of engaging parents/families and schools/teachers in the development of the Individual Student Learning Plans and the process of providing student progress reports to parents/families and schools (10 points maximum)

'''States will ask us to describe:''' 

*Specific procedures used to report student progress to parents and families. 

*Services provided to parents and procedures used for involving parents in creating time lines and goals for their child’s academic progress. 

*Accommodations made for working parents’ needs and schedules. 

*Processes used to resolve any disputes or conflicts that you or your staff may have with parents. 

*Expected role of parents in the services provided by you to their children, if any, and how you work with parents to explain this role. 

*Training that you offer to staff on working with parents, including what is the content of the training, who is the training offered to, and when does the training occur. 

*Information provided by you to parents and families in languages other than English, and if so, which languages.

== Section F ==

Provide evidence of employment of qualified instructional staff (at a minimum 60 college credits or an associate's degree) and a demonstrated commitment to the provision of ongoing professional development and improvement of services (10 points maximum)

== Section G ==

Provide evidence that the program complies with federal, state, and local health and safety standards and that your agency has a plan to address discipline problems and emergency situations to ensure the safety of students while in the program (20 points maximum)

== Application Format ==

The final application must:
*use single space and twelve-point font.
*In the footer, add the name of the applicant agency/district.
*be printed one-sided, on 8 1/2 x 11 '''three hole punched''' white paper.
*assembled in loose-leaf binders, with each section separated by inserting tabbed dividers with each section clearly identified;
*submitted as an original and two copies
*insert a copy of the Provider Profile in the clear slip sheet of the cover.
*limit necessary attachments to no more than will fit into a 2” binder.
*DO NOT PERMANENTLY BIND THE APPLICATION OR RELEVANT ATTACHMENTS.

Be sure to include:
*Provider Profile (Part I of the Application).
*Provider Program Proposal (Part II of the Application).
*Provider Assurances (Part III of the Application).
*Requested attachments.

== References ==

<references/>
[[Category:Essays]]

Essay:Draft Conservapedia Application to Become SES Provider

2009-02-12T13:37:39Z

Ambers: /* Section E */

This is a working draft of an application by Conservapedia to become an [[SES]] provider.

In New Jersey, there are seven key parts to the application for assessment, in addition to absolute requirements.<ref name="NJ Process">http://www.state.nj.us/education/title1/program/ss/application.pdf</ref> Each section below represents a part of the application:

== Section A ==

Alignment to the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards (CCCS)<ref>www.nj.gov/njded/aps/cccs</ref> and the district's instructional programs (40 points maximum)

The courses provided by Conservapedia include:

*American History
*World History
*American Government
*Writing
*Economics

In addition, courses can be easily developed to address:

*pre-college mathematics
*pre-college science
*reading
*grammar

=== 15 points ===
Describe how the services offered are aligned with language arts literacy, reading, science and mathematics standards as outlined in the NJ CCCS. Cite examples of specific standards and elements of the program.

=== 15 points ===
Demonstrate a clear link between the academic program that a student experiences during the regular school day and the instruction of the SES program provided. Explain how your program complements the district’s prevailing instructional program.

=== 5 points ===
Describe specific methods and strategies for serving eligible students from special populations such as students with learning disabilities, English Language Learners, etc.

=== 5 points ===
Describe the organizational structure of service delivery (location, supervision, staff). In this section, include a typical schedule for SES. The schedule must be included for any program that exceeds three consecutive hours of instruction in one time period. (Do not include “snack time”.)

== Section B ==

Key instructional practices and major program elements must be (1) high quality, (2) based on research (citations required), and (3) specifically designed to increase student academic achievement (10 points maximum)

== Section C ==

Provide a clear, concise narrative including evidence of program effectiveness in improving student's academic achievement (35 points maximum)

'''Examples of Evidence of Effectiveness:''' 

 -Student achievement data from valid and reliable performance tests from a state, district, and/or an independent test developer.

:: Can use SAT and CLEP exam scores here.

 -Student performance data using a measure that is not nation- or statewide, using a measure developed by the SES provider, or using school grades, homework completion, or results from a school/teacher administered subject area test.

:: Can use homework completion and in-class test scores.

 -Letters of reference from previous clients, such as parents or students, offering testimonials on the positive impact of your program.

:: Can use emails of gratitude, plus ask for testimonials now

 -Additional evidence of improved outcomes, such as student attendance, retention/promotion rates,graduation rates, family/parent satisfaction, and/or improved student behavior/discipline, as well as narrative excerpts from students themselves.

:: Can use college acceptances here. See [[User:Aschlafly]].

== Section D ==

Describe clearly the specific assessment programs and practices used to diagnose a student's needs, prescribe an instructional program to meet that student's needs, and evaluate and monitor that student's progress towards clearly identified goals (15 points maximum)

'''What the State is looking for:''' 

*Specific processes you will use to assess and diagnose a student’s needs, identify gaps in skills or knowledge, and prescribe an instructional program based on the student’s individual needs. 

*Specific processes you will use to evaluate, monitor, and track student progress on a continuous and regular basis. 

*How you will develop a timetable for each student’s achievement gain that includes clear goals for the student.

== Section E ==

Explain the proposed process of engaging parents/families and schools/teachers in the development of the Individual Student Learning Plans and the process of providing student progress reports to parents/families and schools (10 points maximum)

'''States will ask us to describe:''' 

*Specific procedures used to report student progress to parents and families. 

*Services provided to parents and procedures used for involving parents in creating time lines and goals for their child’s academic progress. 

*Accommodations made for working parents’ needs and schedules. 

*Processes used to resolve any disputes or conflicts that you or your staff may have with parents. 

*Expected role of parents in the services provided by you to their children, if any, and how you work with parents to explain this role.

== Section F ==

Provide evidence of employment of qualified instructional staff (at a minimum 60 college credits or an associate's degree) and a demonstrated commitment to the provision of ongoing professional development and improvement of services (10 points maximum)

== Section G ==

Provide evidence that the program complies with federal, state, and local health and safety standards and that your agency has a plan to address discipline problems and emergency situations to ensure the safety of students while in the program (20 points maximum)

== Application Format ==

The final application must:
*use single space and twelve-point font.
*In the footer, add the name of the applicant agency/district.
*be printed one-sided, on 8 1/2 x 11 '''three hole punched''' white paper.
*assembled in loose-leaf binders, with each section separated by inserting tabbed dividers with each section clearly identified;
*submitted as an original and two copies
*insert a copy of the Provider Profile in the clear slip sheet of the cover.
*limit necessary attachments to no more than will fit into a 2” binder.
*DO NOT PERMANENTLY BIND THE APPLICATION OR RELEVANT ATTACHMENTS.

Be sure to include:
*Provider Profile (Part I of the Application).
*Provider Program Proposal (Part II of the Application).
*Provider Assurances (Part III of the Application).
*Requested attachments.

== References ==

<references/>
[[Category:Essays]]

Essay:Draft Conservapedia Application to Become SES Provider

2009-02-12T13:36:48Z

Ambers: /* Section E */

This is a working draft of an application by Conservapedia to become an [[SES]] provider.

In New Jersey, there are seven key parts to the application for assessment, in addition to absolute requirements.<ref name="NJ Process">http://www.state.nj.us/education/title1/program/ss/application.pdf</ref> Each section below represents a part of the application:

== Section A ==

Alignment to the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards (CCCS)<ref>www.nj.gov/njded/aps/cccs</ref> and the district's instructional programs (40 points maximum)

The courses provided by Conservapedia include:

*American History
*World History
*American Government
*Writing
*Economics

In addition, courses can be easily developed to address:

*pre-college mathematics
*pre-college science
*reading
*grammar

=== 15 points ===
Describe how the services offered are aligned with language arts literacy, reading, science and mathematics standards as outlined in the NJ CCCS. Cite examples of specific standards and elements of the program.

=== 15 points ===
Demonstrate a clear link between the academic program that a student experiences during the regular school day and the instruction of the SES program provided. Explain how your program complements the district’s prevailing instructional program.

=== 5 points ===
Describe specific methods and strategies for serving eligible students from special populations such as students with learning disabilities, English Language Learners, etc.

=== 5 points ===
Describe the organizational structure of service delivery (location, supervision, staff). In this section, include a typical schedule for SES. The schedule must be included for any program that exceeds three consecutive hours of instruction in one time period. (Do not include “snack time”.)

== Section B ==

Key instructional practices and major program elements must be (1) high quality, (2) based on research (citations required), and (3) specifically designed to increase student academic achievement (10 points maximum)

== Section C ==

Provide a clear, concise narrative including evidence of program effectiveness in improving student's academic achievement (35 points maximum)

'''Examples of Evidence of Effectiveness:''' 

 -Student achievement data from valid and reliable performance tests from a state, district, and/or an independent test developer.

:: Can use SAT and CLEP exam scores here.

 -Student performance data using a measure that is not nation- or statewide, using a measure developed by the SES provider, or using school grades, homework completion, or results from a school/teacher administered subject area test.

:: Can use homework completion and in-class test scores.

 -Letters of reference from previous clients, such as parents or students, offering testimonials on the positive impact of your program.

:: Can use emails of gratitude, plus ask for testimonials now

 -Additional evidence of improved outcomes, such as student attendance, retention/promotion rates,graduation rates, family/parent satisfaction, and/or improved student behavior/discipline, as well as narrative excerpts from students themselves.

:: Can use college acceptances here. See [[User:Aschlafly]].

== Section D ==

Describe clearly the specific assessment programs and practices used to diagnose a student's needs, prescribe an instructional program to meet that student's needs, and evaluate and monitor that student's progress towards clearly identified goals (15 points maximum)

'''What the State is looking for:''' 

*Specific processes you will use to assess and diagnose a student’s needs, identify gaps in skills or knowledge, and prescribe an instructional program based on the student’s individual needs. 

*Specific processes you will use to evaluate, monitor, and track student progress on a continuous and regular basis. 

*How you will develop a timetable for each student’s achievement gain that includes clear goals for the student.

== Section E ==

Explain the proposed process of engaging parents/families and schools/teachers in the development of the Individual Student Learning Plans and the process of providing student progress reports to parents/families and schools (10 points maximum)

'''States will ask us to describe:''' 

*Specific procedures used to report student progress to parents and families. 
*Services provided to parents and procedures used for involving parents in creating time lines and goals for their child’s academic progress. 

*Accommodations made for working parents’ needs and schedules. 

*Processes used to resolve any disputes or conflicts that you or your staff may have with parents. 

*Expected role of parents in the services provided by you to their children, if any, and how you work with parents to explain this role.

== Section F ==

Provide evidence of employment of qualified instructional staff (at a minimum 60 college credits or an associate's degree) and a demonstrated commitment to the provision of ongoing professional development and improvement of services (10 points maximum)

== Section G ==

Provide evidence that the program complies with federal, state, and local health and safety standards and that your agency has a plan to address discipline problems and emergency situations to ensure the safety of students while in the program (20 points maximum)

== Application Format ==

The final application must:
*use single space and twelve-point font.
*In the footer, add the name of the applicant agency/district.
*be printed one-sided, on 8 1/2 x 11 '''three hole punched''' white paper.
*assembled in loose-leaf binders, with each section separated by inserting tabbed dividers with each section clearly identified;
*submitted as an original and two copies
*insert a copy of the Provider Profile in the clear slip sheet of the cover.
*limit necessary attachments to no more than will fit into a 2” binder.
*DO NOT PERMANENTLY BIND THE APPLICATION OR RELEVANT ATTACHMENTS.

Be sure to include:
*Provider Profile (Part I of the Application).
*Provider Program Proposal (Part II of the Application).
*Provider Assurances (Part III of the Application).
*Requested attachments.

== References ==

<references/>
[[Category:Essays]]

Essay:Draft Conservapedia Application to Become SES Provider

2009-02-12T13:27:32Z

Ambers: /* Section D */

This is a working draft of an application by Conservapedia to become an [[SES]] provider.

In New Jersey, there are seven key parts to the application for assessment, in addition to absolute requirements.<ref name="NJ Process">http://www.state.nj.us/education/title1/program/ss/application.pdf</ref> Each section below represents a part of the application:

== Section A ==

Alignment to the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards (CCCS)<ref>www.nj.gov/njded/aps/cccs</ref> and the district's instructional programs (40 points maximum)

The courses provided by Conservapedia include:

*American History
*World History
*American Government
*Writing
*Economics

In addition, courses can be easily developed to address:

*pre-college mathematics
*pre-college science
*reading
*grammar

=== 15 points ===
Describe how the services offered are aligned with language arts literacy, reading, science and mathematics standards as outlined in the NJ CCCS. Cite examples of specific standards and elements of the program.

=== 15 points ===
Demonstrate a clear link between the academic program that a student experiences during the regular school day and the instruction of the SES program provided. Explain how your program complements the district’s prevailing instructional program.

=== 5 points ===
Describe specific methods and strategies for serving eligible students from special populations such as students with learning disabilities, English Language Learners, etc.

=== 5 points ===
Describe the organizational structure of service delivery (location, supervision, staff). In this section, include a typical schedule for SES. The schedule must be included for any program that exceeds three consecutive hours of instruction in one time period. (Do not include “snack time”.)

== Section B ==

Key instructional practices and major program elements must be (1) high quality, (2) based on research (citations required), and (3) specifically designed to increase student academic achievement (10 points maximum)

== Section C ==

Provide a clear, concise narrative including evidence of program effectiveness in improving student's academic achievement (35 points maximum)

'''Examples of Evidence of Effectiveness:''' 

 -Student achievement data from valid and reliable performance tests from a state, district, and/or an independent test developer.

:: Can use SAT and CLEP exam scores here.

 -Student performance data using a measure that is not nation- or statewide, using a measure developed by the SES provider, or using school grades, homework completion, or results from a school/teacher administered subject area test.

:: Can use homework completion and in-class test scores.

 -Letters of reference from previous clients, such as parents or students, offering testimonials on the positive impact of your program.

:: Can use emails of gratitude, plus ask for testimonials now

 -Additional evidence of improved outcomes, such as student attendance, retention/promotion rates,graduation rates, family/parent satisfaction, and/or improved student behavior/discipline, as well as narrative excerpts from students themselves.

:: Can use college acceptances here. See [[User:Aschlafly]].

== Section D ==

Describe clearly the specific assessment programs and practices used to diagnose a student's needs, prescribe an instructional program to meet that student's needs, and evaluate and monitor that student's progress towards clearly identified goals (15 points maximum)

'''What the State is looking for:''' 

*Specific processes you will use to assess and diagnose a student’s needs, identify gaps in skills or knowledge, and prescribe an instructional program based on the student’s individual needs. 

*Specific processes you will use to evaluate, monitor, and track student progress on a continuous and regular basis. 

*How you will develop a timetable for each student’s achievement gain that includes clear goals for the student.

== Section E ==

Explain the proposed process of engaging parents/families and schools/teachers in the development of the Individual Student Learning Plans and the process of providing student progress reports to parents/families and schools (10 points maximum)

== Section F ==

Provide evidence of employment of qualified instructional staff (at a minimum 60 college credits or an associate's degree) and a demonstrated commitment to the provision of ongoing professional development and improvement of services (10 points maximum)

== Section G ==

Provide evidence that the program complies with federal, state, and local health and safety standards and that your agency has a plan to address discipline problems and emergency situations to ensure the safety of students while in the program (20 points maximum)

== Application Format ==

The final application must:
*use single space and twelve-point font.
*In the footer, add the name of the applicant agency/district.
*be printed one-sided, on 8 1/2 x 11 '''three hole punched''' white paper.
*assembled in loose-leaf binders, with each section separated by inserting tabbed dividers with each section clearly identified;
*submitted as an original and two copies
*insert a copy of the Provider Profile in the clear slip sheet of the cover.
*limit necessary attachments to no more than will fit into a 2” binder.
*DO NOT PERMANENTLY BIND THE APPLICATION OR RELEVANT ATTACHMENTS.

Be sure to include:
*Provider Profile (Part I of the Application).
*Provider Program Proposal (Part II of the Application).
*Provider Assurances (Part III of the Application).
*Requested attachments.

== References ==

<references/>
[[Category:Essays]]

Essay:Draft Conservapedia Application to Become SES Provider

2009-02-12T13:27:00Z

Ambers: /* Section D */

This is a working draft of an application by Conservapedia to become an [[SES]] provider.

In New Jersey, there are seven key parts to the application for assessment, in addition to absolute requirements.<ref name="NJ Process">http://www.state.nj.us/education/title1/program/ss/application.pdf</ref> Each section below represents a part of the application:

== Section A ==

Alignment to the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards (CCCS)<ref>www.nj.gov/njded/aps/cccs</ref> and the district's instructional programs (40 points maximum)

The courses provided by Conservapedia include:

*American History
*World History
*American Government
*Writing
*Economics

In addition, courses can be easily developed to address:

*pre-college mathematics
*pre-college science
*reading
*grammar

=== 15 points ===
Describe how the services offered are aligned with language arts literacy, reading, science and mathematics standards as outlined in the NJ CCCS. Cite examples of specific standards and elements of the program.

=== 15 points ===
Demonstrate a clear link between the academic program that a student experiences during the regular school day and the instruction of the SES program provided. Explain how your program complements the district’s prevailing instructional program.

=== 5 points ===
Describe specific methods and strategies for serving eligible students from special populations such as students with learning disabilities, English Language Learners, etc.

=== 5 points ===
Describe the organizational structure of service delivery (location, supervision, staff). In this section, include a typical schedule for SES. The schedule must be included for any program that exceeds three consecutive hours of instruction in one time period. (Do not include “snack time”.)

== Section B ==

Key instructional practices and major program elements must be (1) high quality, (2) based on research (citations required), and (3) specifically designed to increase student academic achievement (10 points maximum)

== Section C ==

Provide a clear, concise narrative including evidence of program effectiveness in improving student's academic achievement (35 points maximum)

'''Examples of Evidence of Effectiveness:''' 

 -Student achievement data from valid and reliable performance tests from a state, district, and/or an independent test developer.

:: Can use SAT and CLEP exam scores here.

 -Student performance data using a measure that is not nation- or statewide, using a measure developed by the SES provider, or using school grades, homework completion, or results from a school/teacher administered subject area test.

:: Can use homework completion and in-class test scores.

 -Letters of reference from previous clients, such as parents or students, offering testimonials on the positive impact of your program.

:: Can use emails of gratitude, plus ask for testimonials now

 -Additional evidence of improved outcomes, such as student attendance, retention/promotion rates,graduation rates, family/parent satisfaction, and/or improved student behavior/discipline, as well as narrative excerpts from students themselves.

:: Can use college acceptances here. See [[User:Aschlafly]].

== Section D ==

Describe clearly the specific assessment programs and practices used to diagnose a student's needs, prescribe an instructional program to meet that student's needs, and evaluate and monitor that student's progress towards clearly identified goals (15 points maximum)

'''What the State is looking for:''' 

*Specific processes you will use to assess and
diagnose a student’s needs, identify gaps in skills or knowledge, and prescribe an instructional program based on the student’s individual needs. 

*Specific processes you will use to evaluate, monitor, and track student progress on a continuous and regular basis. 

*How you will develop a timetable for each student’s achievement gain that includes clear goals for the student.

== Section E ==

Explain the proposed process of engaging parents/families and schools/teachers in the development of the Individual Student Learning Plans and the process of providing student progress reports to parents/families and schools (10 points maximum)

== Section F ==

Provide evidence of employment of qualified instructional staff (at a minimum 60 college credits or an associate's degree) and a demonstrated commitment to the provision of ongoing professional development and improvement of services (10 points maximum)

== Section G ==

Provide evidence that the program complies with federal, state, and local health and safety standards and that your agency has a plan to address discipline problems and emergency situations to ensure the safety of students while in the program (20 points maximum)

== Application Format ==

The final application must:
*use single space and twelve-point font.
*In the footer, add the name of the applicant agency/district.
*be printed one-sided, on 8 1/2 x 11 '''three hole punched''' white paper.
*assembled in loose-leaf binders, with each section separated by inserting tabbed dividers with each section clearly identified;
*submitted as an original and two copies
*insert a copy of the Provider Profile in the clear slip sheet of the cover.
*limit necessary attachments to no more than will fit into a 2” binder.
*DO NOT PERMANENTLY BIND THE APPLICATION OR RELEVANT ATTACHMENTS.

Be sure to include:
*Provider Profile (Part I of the Application).
*Provider Program Proposal (Part II of the Application).
*Provider Assurances (Part III of the Application).
*Requested attachments.

== References ==

<references/>
[[Category:Essays]]

Essay:Draft Conservapedia Application to Become SES Provider

2009-02-12T13:25:19Z

Ambers: /* Section C */

This is a working draft of an application by Conservapedia to become an [[SES]] provider.

In New Jersey, there are seven key parts to the application for assessment, in addition to absolute requirements.<ref name="NJ Process">http://www.state.nj.us/education/title1/program/ss/application.pdf</ref> Each section below represents a part of the application:

== Section A ==

Alignment to the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards (CCCS)<ref>www.nj.gov/njded/aps/cccs</ref> and the district's instructional programs (40 points maximum)

The courses provided by Conservapedia include:

*American History
*World History
*American Government
*Writing
*Economics

In addition, courses can be easily developed to address:

*pre-college mathematics
*pre-college science
*reading
*grammar

=== 15 points ===
Describe how the services offered are aligned with language arts literacy, reading, science and mathematics standards as outlined in the NJ CCCS. Cite examples of specific standards and elements of the program.

=== 15 points ===
Demonstrate a clear link between the academic program that a student experiences during the regular school day and the instruction of the SES program provided. Explain how your program complements the district’s prevailing instructional program.

=== 5 points ===
Describe specific methods and strategies for serving eligible students from special populations such as students with learning disabilities, English Language Learners, etc.

=== 5 points ===
Describe the organizational structure of service delivery (location, supervision, staff). In this section, include a typical schedule for SES. The schedule must be included for any program that exceeds three consecutive hours of instruction in one time period. (Do not include “snack time”.)

== Section B ==

Key instructional practices and major program elements must be (1) high quality, (2) based on research (citations required), and (3) specifically designed to increase student academic achievement (10 points maximum)

== Section C ==

Provide a clear, concise narrative including evidence of program effectiveness in improving student's academic achievement (35 points maximum)

'''Examples of Evidence of Effectiveness:''' 

*Student achievement data from valid and reliable performance tests from a state, district, and/or an independent test developer. 

*Student performance data using a measure that is not nation- or statewide, using a measure developed by the SES provider, or using school grades, homework completion, or results from a school/teacher administered subject area test. 

*Letters of reference from previous clients, such as parents or students, offering testimonials on the positive impact of your program. 

*Additional evidence of improved outcomes, such as student attendance, retention/promotion rates,graduation rates, family/parent satisfaction, and/or improved student behavior/discipline, as well as narrative excerpts from students themselves.

== Section D ==

Describe clearly the specific assessment programs and practices used to diagnose a student's needs, prescribe an instructional program to meet that student's needs, and evaluate and monitor that student's progress towards clearly identified goals (15 points maximum)

== Section E ==

Explain the proposed process of engaging parents/families and schools/teachers in the development of the Individual Student Learning Plans and the process of providing student progress reports to parents/families and schools (10 points maximum)

== Section F ==

Provide evidence of employment of qualified instructional staff (at a minimum 60 college credits or an associate's degree) and a demonstrated commitment to the provision of ongoing professional development and improvement of services (10 points maximum)

== Section G ==

Provide evidence that the program complies with federal, state, and local health and safety standards and that your agency has a plan to address discipline problems and emergency situations to ensure the safety of students while in the program (20 points maximum)

== Application Format ==

The final application must:
*use single space and twelve-point font.
*In the footer, add the name of the applicant agency/district.
*be printed one-sided, on 8 1/2 x 11 '''three hole punched''' white paper.
*assembled in loose-leaf binders, with each section separated by inserting tabbed dividers with each section clearly identified;
*submitted as an original and two copies
*insert a copy of the Provider Profile in the clear slip sheet of the cover.
*limit necessary attachments to no more than will fit into a 2” binder.
*DO NOT PERMANENTLY BIND THE APPLICATION OR RELEVANT ATTACHMENTS.

Be sure to include:
*Provider Profile (Part I of the Application).
*Provider Program Proposal (Part II of the Application).
*Provider Assurances (Part III of the Application).
*Requested attachments.

== References ==

<references/>
[[Category:Essays]]

Essay:Draft Conservapedia Application to Become SES Provider

2009-02-12T13:24:36Z

Ambers: /* Section C */

This is a working draft of an application by Conservapedia to become an [[SES]] provider.

In New Jersey, there are seven key parts to the application for assessment, in addition to absolute requirements.<ref name="NJ Process">http://www.state.nj.us/education/title1/program/ss/application.pdf</ref> Each section below represents a part of the application:

== Section A ==

Alignment to the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards (CCCS)<ref>www.nj.gov/njded/aps/cccs</ref> and the district's instructional programs (40 points maximum)

The courses provided by Conservapedia include:

*American History
*World History
*American Government
*Writing
*Economics

In addition, courses can be easily developed to address:

*pre-college mathematics
*pre-college science
*reading
*grammar

=== 15 points ===
Describe how the services offered are aligned with language arts literacy, reading, science and mathematics standards as outlined in the NJ CCCS. Cite examples of specific standards and elements of the program.

=== 15 points ===
Demonstrate a clear link between the academic program that a student experiences during the regular school day and the instruction of the SES program provided. Explain how your program complements the district’s prevailing instructional program.

=== 5 points ===
Describe specific methods and strategies for serving eligible students from special populations such as students with learning disabilities, English Language Learners, etc.

=== 5 points ===
Describe the organizational structure of service delivery (location, supervision, staff). In this section, include a typical schedule for SES. The schedule must be included for any program that exceeds three consecutive hours of instruction in one time period. (Do not include “snack time”.)

== Section B ==

Key instructional practices and major program elements must be (1) high quality, (2) based on research (citations required), and (3) specifically designed to increase student academic achievement (10 points maximum)

== Section C ==

Provide a clear, concise narrative including evidence of program effectiveness in improving student's academic achievement (35 points maximum)

'''Examples of Evidence of Effectiveness:''' 

 *Student achievement data from valid and reliable performance tests from a state, district, and/or an independent test developer.

 *Student performance data using a measure that is not nation- or statewide, using a measure developed by the SES provider, or using school grades, homework completion, or results from a school/teacher administered subject area test.

 *Letters of reference from previous clients, such as parents or students, offering testimonials on the positive impact of your program.

 *Additional evidence of improved outcomes, such as student attendance, retention/promotion rates,graduation rates, family/parent satisfaction, and/or improved student behavior/discipline, as well as narrative excerpts from students themselves.

== Section D ==

Describe clearly the specific assessment programs and practices used to diagnose a student's needs, prescribe an instructional program to meet that student's needs, and evaluate and monitor that student's progress towards clearly identified goals (15 points maximum)

== Section E ==

Explain the proposed process of engaging parents/families and schools/teachers in the development of the Individual Student Learning Plans and the process of providing student progress reports to parents/families and schools (10 points maximum)

== Section F ==

Provide evidence of employment of qualified instructional staff (at a minimum 60 college credits or an associate's degree) and a demonstrated commitment to the provision of ongoing professional development and improvement of services (10 points maximum)

== Section G ==

Provide evidence that the program complies with federal, state, and local health and safety standards and that your agency has a plan to address discipline problems and emergency situations to ensure the safety of students while in the program (20 points maximum)

== Application Format ==

The final application must:
*use single space and twelve-point font.
*In the footer, add the name of the applicant agency/district.
*be printed one-sided, on 8 1/2 x 11 '''three hole punched''' white paper.
*assembled in loose-leaf binders, with each section separated by inserting tabbed dividers with each section clearly identified;
*submitted as an original and two copies
*insert a copy of the Provider Profile in the clear slip sheet of the cover.
*limit necessary attachments to no more than will fit into a 2” binder.
*DO NOT PERMANENTLY BIND THE APPLICATION OR RELEVANT ATTACHMENTS.

Be sure to include:
*Provider Profile (Part I of the Application).
*Provider Program Proposal (Part II of the Application).
*Provider Assurances (Part III of the Application).
*Requested attachments.

== References ==

<references/>
[[Category:Essays]]

Essay:Draft Conservapedia Application to Become SES Provider

2009-02-12T13:24:01Z

Ambers: /* Section C */

This is a working draft of an application by Conservapedia to become an [[SES]] provider.

In New Jersey, there are seven key parts to the application for assessment, in addition to absolute requirements.<ref name="NJ Process">http://www.state.nj.us/education/title1/program/ss/application.pdf</ref> Each section below represents a part of the application:

== Section A ==

Alignment to the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards (CCCS)<ref>www.nj.gov/njded/aps/cccs</ref> and the district's instructional programs (40 points maximum)

The courses provided by Conservapedia include:

*American History
*World History
*American Government
*Writing
*Economics

In addition, courses can be easily developed to address:

*pre-college mathematics
*pre-college science
*reading
*grammar

=== 15 points ===
Describe how the services offered are aligned with language arts literacy, reading, science and mathematics standards as outlined in the NJ CCCS. Cite examples of specific standards and elements of the program.

=== 15 points ===
Demonstrate a clear link between the academic program that a student experiences during the regular school day and the instruction of the SES program provided. Explain how your program complements the district’s prevailing instructional program.

=== 5 points ===
Describe specific methods and strategies for serving eligible students from special populations such as students with learning disabilities, English Language Learners, etc.

=== 5 points ===
Describe the organizational structure of service delivery (location, supervision, staff). In this section, include a typical schedule for SES. The schedule must be included for any program that exceeds three consecutive hours of instruction in one time period. (Do not include “snack time”.)

== Section B ==

Key instructional practices and major program elements must be (1) high quality, (2) based on research (citations required), and (3) specifically designed to increase student academic achievement (10 points maximum)

== Section C ==

Provide a clear, concise narrative including evidence of program effectiveness in improving student's academic achievement (35 points maximum)

'''Examples of Evidence of Effectiveness:''' 

 * Student achievement data from valid and reliable performance tests from a state, district, and/or an independent test developer.

 * Student performance data using a measure that is not nation- or statewide, using a measure developed by the SES provider, or using school grades, homework completion, or results from a school/teacher administered subject area test.

 * Letters of reference from previous clients, such as parents or students, offering testimonials on the positive impact of your program.

 * Additional evidence of improved outcomes, such as student attendance, retention/promotion rates,graduation rates, family/parent satisfaction, and/or improved student behavior/discipline, as well as narrative excerpts from students themselves.

== Section D ==

Describe clearly the specific assessment programs and practices used to diagnose a student's needs, prescribe an instructional program to meet that student's needs, and evaluate and monitor that student's progress towards clearly identified goals (15 points maximum)

== Section E ==

Explain the proposed process of engaging parents/families and schools/teachers in the development of the Individual Student Learning Plans and the process of providing student progress reports to parents/families and schools (10 points maximum)

== Section F ==

Provide evidence of employment of qualified instructional staff (at a minimum 60 college credits or an associate's degree) and a demonstrated commitment to the provision of ongoing professional development and improvement of services (10 points maximum)

== Section G ==

Provide evidence that the program complies with federal, state, and local health and safety standards and that your agency has a plan to address discipline problems and emergency situations to ensure the safety of students while in the program (20 points maximum)

== Application Format ==

The final application must:
*use single space and twelve-point font.
*In the footer, add the name of the applicant agency/district.
*be printed one-sided, on 8 1/2 x 11 '''three hole punched''' white paper.
*assembled in loose-leaf binders, with each section separated by inserting tabbed dividers with each section clearly identified;
*submitted as an original and two copies
*insert a copy of the Provider Profile in the clear slip sheet of the cover.
*limit necessary attachments to no more than will fit into a 2” binder.
*DO NOT PERMANENTLY BIND THE APPLICATION OR RELEVANT ATTACHMENTS.

Be sure to include:
*Provider Profile (Part I of the Application).
*Provider Program Proposal (Part II of the Application).
*Provider Assurances (Part III of the Application).
*Requested attachments.

== References ==

<references/>
[[Category:Essays]]

Essay:Draft Conservapedia Application to Become SES Provider

2009-02-12T13:17:02Z

Ambers: /* Section C */

This is a working draft of an application by Conservapedia to become an [[SES]] provider.

In New Jersey, there are seven key parts to the application for assessment, in addition to absolute requirements.<ref name="NJ Process">http://www.state.nj.us/education/title1/program/ss/application.pdf</ref> Each section below represents a part of the application:

== Section A ==

Alignment to the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards (CCCS)<ref>www.nj.gov/njded/aps/cccs</ref> and the district's instructional programs (40 points maximum)

The courses provided by Conservapedia include:

*American History
*World History
*American Government
*Writing
*Economics

In addition, courses can be easily developed to address:

*pre-college mathematics
*pre-college science
*reading
*grammar

=== 15 points ===
Describe how the services offered are aligned with language arts literacy, reading, science and mathematics standards as outlined in the NJ CCCS. Cite examples of specific standards and elements of the program.

=== 15 points ===
Demonstrate a clear link between the academic program that a student experiences during the regular school day and the instruction of the SES program provided. Explain how your program complements the district’s prevailing instructional program.

=== 5 points ===
Describe specific methods and strategies for serving eligible students from special populations such as students with learning disabilities, English Language Learners, etc.

=== 5 points ===
Describe the organizational structure of service delivery (location, supervision, staff). In this section, include a typical schedule for SES. The schedule must be included for any program that exceeds three consecutive hours of instruction in one time period. (Do not include “snack time”.)

== Section B ==

Key instructional practices and major program elements must be (1) high quality, (2) based on research (citations required), and (3) specifically designed to increase student academic achievement (10 points maximum)

== Section C ==

Provide a clear, concise narrative including evidence of program effectiveness in improving student's academic achievement (35 points maximum)

'''Examples of Evidence of Effectiveness:''' 

 -Student achievement data from valid and reliable performance tests from a state, district, and/or an independent test developer.

 -Student performance data using a measure that is not nation- or statewide, using a measure developed by the SES provider, or using school grades, homework completion, or results from a school/teacher administered subject area test.

 -Letters of reference from previous clients, such as parents or students, offering testimonials on the positive impact of your program.

 -Additional evidence of improved outcomes, such as student attendance, retention/promotion rates,graduation rates, family/parent satisfaction, and/or improved student behavior/discipline, as well as narrative excerpts from students themselves.

== Section D ==

Describe clearly the specific assessment programs and practices used to diagnose a student's needs, prescribe an instructional program to meet that student's needs, and evaluate and monitor that student's progress towards clearly identified goals (15 points maximum)

== Section E ==

Explain the proposed process of engaging parents/families and schools/teachers in the development of the Individual Student Learning Plans and the process of providing student progress reports to parents/families and schools (10 points maximum)

== Section F ==

Provide evidence of employment of qualified instructional staff (at a minimum 60 college credits or an associate's degree) and a demonstrated commitment to the provision of ongoing professional development and improvement of services (10 points maximum)

== Section G ==

Provide evidence that the program complies with federal, state, and local health and safety standards and that your agency has a plan to address discipline problems and emergency situations to ensure the safety of students while in the program (20 points maximum)

== Application Format ==

The final application must:
*use single space and twelve-point font.
*In the footer, add the name of the applicant agency/district.
*be printed one-sided, on 8 1/2 x 11 '''three hole punched''' white paper.
*assembled in loose-leaf binders, with each section separated by inserting tabbed dividers with each section clearly identified;
*submitted as an original and two copies
*insert a copy of the Provider Profile in the clear slip sheet of the cover.
*limit necessary attachments to no more than will fit into a 2” binder.
*DO NOT PERMANENTLY BIND THE APPLICATION OR RELEVANT ATTACHMENTS.

Be sure to include:
*Provider Profile (Part I of the Application).
*Provider Program Proposal (Part II of the Application).
*Provider Assurances (Part III of the Application).
*Requested attachments.

== References ==

<references/>
[[Category:Essays]]

American History Lecture Six

2008-10-13T17:30:29Z

Ambers:

{{HS_American_History}}
[[American History Lecture Six|Lecture]] - [[American_History_Homework_Six|Questions]] - [[American History Homework Six Answers|Student Answers]]

This is a good time to pause and consider if, and which, college board or college credit exam you may want to take at the end of this course, so that you can begin to focus on what the course covers. Smart preparation can improve your score tremendously, and the key is to begin that preparation early. The basic options are the multiple-choice SAT II U.S. History exam (which is quite biased) to show high school achievement, the multiple-choice CLEP exam (which is the least biased) to earn college credit, and the AP exam (which is given only once at year at your local high school, and is the most expensive).

Let me know which, if any, exam you are considering taking so that I can guide your preparation.

The mid-term exam in this course will be entirely multiple-choice, and will cover the beginning through Reconstruction. The distribution of questions will be similar to the distribution on the SAT II exam, so do not spend too much time on an area that will not have many questions.

== Review ==

In the 1850s, the [[Whig Party]] collapsed with the antislavery wing forming the Republican Party in the North, and the wealthy southern Whigs joining the Democratic Party in the South. There have always been geographic strengths and weaknesses in political parties: in areas of the country where one party is strong, the opposing party is weak. Recall that the Federalist Party in 1800 was strong in Massachusetts, while the Democratic-Republican Party was strong in Virginia. Jackson's Democratic Party was strong in the West (Tennessee) and South, while the Whig Part was strong in the northeast.

In the late 1850s, the Republicans were strong in the North, and Democrats were strong in the South (the opposite is true today). But the Republican Party was young and had not fully developed, and there were still many northern Democrats, which gave the Democrats the upper hand in elections in the 1850s. The Democratic Party presidential candidate won both in 1852 (Franklin Pierce) and in 1856 (James Buchanan). Both Pierce and Buchanan were Democrats and pro-slavery.

For the presidential election of 1860, the Republican Party platform supported the Wilmot Proviso and rejected slavery in the territories, and thus rejected Stephen Douglas's approach of "popular sovereignty." However, the Republican Party platform attempted to broaden its appeal by backing state rights, which was also supported by southern states that were predominantly Democratic. Abraham Lincoln, the Republican nominee for president, had switched from the Whig Party to the Republican Party in 1856, and in 1860 campaigned for president by advocating saving the Union (keeping the North and South together in one country).

== Secession ==

The South threatened to secede from (leave) the United States if the Republican Abraham Lincoln were elected president. Lincoln and many of his supporters considered that to be election rhetoric or bluffing by the South to try to influence the election. After all, the South had threatened to secede before (as South Carolina did during the Jackson Administration), and never did actually leave. Lincoln did not expect the South to secede now.

But the Republican Party was antislavery with respect to the western territories and many in the Republican Party also wanted slavery abolished even in existing states (though that was not the official position of the Party). Several southern states, particularly South Carolina, considered that opposition to slavery to be an irreconcilable opposition to South Carolina itself, which depended heavily on slavery. Many in the South felt so strongly about slavery that they wanted to break away if and when a Republican became president. Note that the South had fundamental differences with the North on other issues, also, such as the tariff and the significance of state's rights.

Lincoln was elected in November 1860, but presidents were not inaugurated until four months later, in March of the following year. (That has since been moved to the earlier date of January 20 for inaugurations after a presidential election.) That gave the South a long period to act, before Lincoln could do anything about it.

Southerners were well-informed about the issues of states rights and how their heroes of Thomas Jefferson and John Calhoun had championed the rights of states in the past by nullifying federal law.

Merely four days after the election of the new President Lincoln, on November 10, 1860, the South Carolina legislature called for a convention to consider secession from the United States. South Carolina, the state of John Calhoun (who died in 1850), always had one of the slave populations (by percentage) and for decades had been the leader in calling for secession.

South Carolina moved quickly. The first convention met in Charleston, South Carolina on December 20, and ''unanimously'' passed the first ordinance of secession:

:We, the people of the State of South Carolina in convention assembled, do declare and ordain ... that the Union now subsisting between South Carolina and other States, under the name of 'the United States of America,' is hereby dissolved."

With that, South Carolina declared herself a new and independent country, and her residents celebrated with parties, fireworks, and revelry in the streets.

By the end of January six other southern states imitated South Carolina and declared their independence from the United States, all prior to the inauguration of Lincoln as the new President. They were Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas. A diarist in the South, Mary Boykin Chesnut, summed up the feeling of many southerners: "We are divorced, North and South, because we have hated each other so."<ref>http://civilwar.bluegrass.net/secessioncrisis/601220.html</ref>

But things quieted down as the nation awaited Lincoln's Inaugural Address, which is the speech a president gives to the nation after he is sworn it. Fearful for his own life, Lincoln rode the train from Illinois to D.C. wearing a disguise. In his Inaugural Address, Lincoln tried to preserve the Union by appeasing the southern states: "I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so." Lincoln was not yet a prayerful man (he would soon become one), and his speech contains only a passing reference to God. He concluded by both begging and warning the South: "The Government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall have the most solemn one to 'preserve, protect, and defend it.' I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies."

Lincoln's weak speech persuaded no one. Some of my prior students have suggested that the real problem in 1861 was a lack of leadership just when the nation needed it most. Where was George Washington, or someone like him, at our nation's crucial moment? Instead, Lincoln was at our helm and he used a lawyer-like approach to a problem that cried out for more. He had the respect and confidence of virtually no one in the South.

One month after his inauguration, in April, Lincoln told South Carolina that he needs to re-supply a federal garrison there called Fort Sumter. South Carolina did not trust Lincoln and felt this was a trick to fool and possibly attack it. South Carolina demanded the surrender of federal troops at Fort Sumter. Shots were fired (it's unknown who fired first), and South Carolina quickly captured Fort Sumter on April 12th. Lincoln calls for Union (North) troops on April 15th. Within weeks more states secede, bringing the total to 11 of the states that have seceded: Arkansas, North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee.

There were compromises between the North and South in 1820, 1850 and 1854. One last attempt at compromise occurred in 1861, led by Senator John Crittenden of the border state of Kentucky. Congress passed a constitutional amendment in 1861 to protect slavery in the South, in the hope that would satisfy it. But this amendment was never ratified by the States because war broke out before the States could even consider it. It seems unlikely that the northern states would have agreed anyway.

Meanwhile, Congress passed two "Confiscation Acts" attempting to help the President win the war. The Confiscation Act of 1861 authorized the Union to seize any property, including slaves, which were being used to aid the South in its "insurrection" against the North.<ref>http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=557</ref> Then the Second Confiscation Act was passed in 1862, it took the additional step of ordering freedom for any slaves belonging to engaged in "treason" against the United States:<ref>addref</ref>

:That every person who shall hereafter commit the crime of treason against the United States, and shall be adjudged guilty thereof, shall suffer death, and all his slaves, if any, shall be declared and made free; or, at the discretion of the court, he shall be imprisoned for not less than five years and fined not less than ten thousand dollars, and all his slaves, if any, shall be declared and made free ....

== Civil War - 1861-1862 ==

The view in the North was that the southern states had no right to secede, and thus their declarations of secession were null and void. The South was still part of the United States, and the fighting by the South (as at Fort Sumter) constituted an insurrection or a "civil war."<ref>In ''Texas v. White'', 74 U.S. 700 (1869), the U.S. Supreme Court held by a 5-3 margin that secession was not allowed by the U.S. Constitution, and that the southern ordinances of secession were "absolutely null." This opinion has been criticized, however, because it was written by Chief Justice Salmon Chase, who was a former member of President Lincoln's Cabinet during the Civil War, and hence had already been against secession.</ref> In the South, the view was that Lincoln was the aggressor in trying to fortify a northern position in South Carolina (Fort Sumter), and the resulting conflict was the "War of Northern Aggression" or "War Among the States." For a long time one could tell whether a stranger was from the northern part of the United States, or the southern part, simply by the name the person used for the conflict. In this course, we will use the name "Civil War."

The eleven states that had seceded formed the Confederate States of America, or simply the "Confederacy". It adopted its own constitution,<ref>The Confederate constitution was similar to the U.S. Constitution, but did have one advantage: the Confederate constitution gave its president the power of the "line-item veto," which enabled him to veto specific items of spending in legislation without vetoing the entire bill. The U.S. President does not have this power under the U.S. Constitution.</ref> elected its own president (Jefferson Davis), had its own capitol city (Montgomery, Alabama), and printed its own money. Its new national flag, the "Confederate Flag," remains controversial when used today.

The first major battle of the Civil War was at Bull Run, near Manassas, Virginia, on July 21, 1861. By then Virginia had also chosen to secede and its local hero, General Robert E. Lee, remained loyal to his State. Lincoln offered him command of the Union forces because Lee was the most respected American military commander at the time, but he chose to represent his home state instead.

In this first major battle the emotional South crushed the North, and people fled into nearby D.C. But the South made a mistake of not charging immediately to take D.C., as urged by one of the greatest American (southern) generals, "Stonewall" Jackson (who had been a physics teacher at Virginia Military Institute). Had the South captured D.C. in this first battle, it may have broken the will of the North to continue fighting. But Lee was not as clever and as aggressive as Stonewall Jackson, and the North had a chance to regroup. Chastened by this initial defeat, Lincoln fired his general and replaced him with George McClellan.

McClellan was an important figure throughout the war, and eventually ran against Lincoln for president in 1864 and may have defeated him had the southern states been able to vote. McClellan held a dim view of Lincoln, and frankly thought Lincoln was incompetent. McClellan often ignored Lincoln's calls and urgent requests. For example, early one evening President Lincoln left McClellan an urgent message to respond to him, no matter how late. McClellan, upon receiving the message, simply ignored it and went to sleep. A brilliant student at West Point (second in his class), McClellan was a masterful organizer who was running large railroads just before the Civil War. Upon taking command, McClellan quickly fortified and protected D.C., and built up the Army of the Potomac into powerful force for the North (the Union).

But McClellan himself had a serious character flaw: he did not want to put his army into battle. McClellan was the best general ever at ... retreating. He could and did supervise massive retreats of his army with minimal casualties and loss of equipment.

McClellan did not engage the South in battle in the fall of 1861 and soon 1862 had arrived. Time was on the North's side, as it had over three times the free population and a much more developed manufacturing and transportation system. For the South to win the war, it had to win quickly. But the South simply waited.

McClellan also waited, and waited, and waited. He much preferred defense to offense. He did not like the harm caused by war, including the loss of life. He did not get along with Lincoln and did not think much of him. Finally, Lincoln wrote this famous letter to McClellan:

:My Dear McClellan:

::If you are not using the army, I should like to borrow it for a short while.

:Yours respectfully,

:Abraham Lincoln

Amid the fighting and Union failures in 1862, Lincoln also suffered a personal tragedy. Lincoln lost his beloved young son, William ("Willie"), after a brief illness that was probably caused by contaminated water in D.C. "Lincoln feels his loss very deeply," was understatement of the effect as reported by ''Harper's Weekly'', the prominent national magazine.<ref>http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1862/march/death-lincolns-son-willie.htm</ref> In fact, Mrs. Lincoln mourned for a year and President Lincoln was profoundly shaken by this.<ref>http://www.mrlincolnswhitehouse.org/inside.asp?ID=18&subjectID=2</ref> Though Lincoln had little use for religion in his youth, this tragedy may have put him on a path towards faith. Even General McClellan did his best to console Lincoln about this personal tragedy.

Back to the war: General McClellan's superb defensive skills came in handy when General Lee launched a massive invasion of northern territory (Maryland, which was also sympathetic to the Confederacy). Known as the "Battle of Antietam," this was the single bloodiest day in battle in all of American History. Savage combat for twelve hours resulted in the death, wounding or disappearance of 23,000 soldiers on September 17, 1862. The defense was successful by McClellan, and this led to President Lincoln's issuance of a preliminary version of the Emancipation Proclamation.<ref>http://www.nps.gov/anti/</ref> General McClellan, however, should have pursued the retreating Confederate Army, but he failed to do so.

President Lincoln fired General McClellan in November 1862.

== Trent Affair ==

A fascinating international incident occurred on the Atlantic Ocean that forced Great Britain to address the Civil War. On November 8, 1861, Charles Wilkes, a U.S. Navy Officer (on the side of the North), captured two Confederate envoys aboard the "Trent", which was a British mail ship. Great Britain was angry at the North for violating British neutrality, and an international crisis resulted. The envoys were sent by Confederate President Jefferson Davis to obtain recognition by Britain and France of the independent sovereignty of the Confederacy. Up until this point Great Britain and France had maintained their diplomatic relations with the North (the United States) and viewed the Confederacy as in rebellion, not an independent nation. Davis hoped that early victories by the South against the North (the Union) would cause Britain and France to receive the envoys, and recognize the Confederacy.

But there was a U.S. naval blockade preventing such efforts. The Confederate envoys went from Charleston, South Carolina to Cuba, and then to England on the Trent, in order to sneak through the blockage. But the U.S. Navy intercepted the Trent on Nov. 8, 1861 and the Captain ordered a search of the British ship, despite lacking permission from Washington for such a bold move. The search found the Confederate envoys, and took them prisoner along with their aides, and then released the ship so it could continue on to England.

The British were angry at this invasion of their own sovereignty, and demanded both an apology and a release of the envoys. Britain even ordered troops to Canada (which was still a colony of Britain) and sent additional ships to the Western Atlantic. Britain at this time was still far more powerful than the United States.

But Britain's demands took nearly a month to reach Washington, D.C., due to a malfunction in the transatlantic cable. Ultimately, President Lincoln did authorize an apology, and thereafter both the Union and the Confederacy attempted to persuade Britain to side with it. Instead, Britain continued to remain neutral.<ref>http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/cw/92452.htm</ref>

== Civil War - 1863-1865 ==

On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. This historic document proclaimed all slaves in areas in rebellion to be "forever free."

Lincoln's plan for readmitting southern states was issued in his Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction in 1863: don't prosecute Southerners, help reconstruct the South, and readmit states when 10% of the people take an oath of loyalty to the United States. Lincoln was more generous to the South than many in the North were.

The Union (North) had a lucky break when the Confederacy (South) lost its best general, perhaps the finest ever in American history: "Stonewall" Jackson. A brilliant teacher, General Jackson earned his nickname "Stonewall" in July 1861, when he led the famous "Stonewall Brigade" from the Shenandoah Valley region of Virginia against the Union at the Battle of 1st Manassas. There he and his unit withstood attack after attack by the Union Army, and emerged victorious against all odds. "Look, there stands Jackson like a stone wall" against the assaults, it was said. In May and June of 1862, Jackson led a brilliant military campaign in the Shenandoah Valley, winning at Front Royal, Winchester, Cross Keys and Port Republic. But tragedy struck him at the Battle of Chancellorsville when, at 9pm on May 2, 1863, he was accidentally fired upon by his own soldiers who mistook him for the enemy as nighttime made it difficult to see. Known as "friendly fire," such incidents have caused a loss in life of many figures throughout history. He died soon thereafter, and the Confederacy lost its most brilliant and daring commander.<ref>http://www.vmi.edu/archives.aspx?id=4933</ref>

Meanwhile, the Union Army (the North) had new command after the firing of McClellan in late 1862, and it began winning battles against the Confederacy in 1863. The key turning point occurred around July 4, 1863 in two different locations: Vicksburg, Mississippi (July 4) and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (July 1-3). The losses of the South on those days have been described as "mortal blows." It was Ulysses S. Grant who led the Union to victory at Vicksburg, and geographically that had the huge effect of cutting the South in half.

By November 1863, Lincoln displayed a significant sign that he had found faith lacking in his youth. He rode the train to Gettysburg to deliver what would become the famous Gettysburg Address. Though not in his drafts, Lincoln inserted the phrase “under God” after his reference to “one Nation,” and delivered the speech with "under God" at the battlefield (converted to a cemetery) in commemoration of the fallen there. That address remains the most famous in all of American history, ending with the words “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.”

Lincoln took notice of Grant's success and by spring of May 1864 he elevated Grant to command of the Union forces in Virginia. Grant was no military genius and was only an average student at West Point, although he was a superb horseman. But what made Grant so valuable to Lincoln was that Grant did not mind shedding blood on both sides. Grant used the superior numbers of the Union to begin to win battles against the South, led by General Robert E. Lee, in 1864 in Northern Virginia.

1864 was an election year for the presidency, and McClellan ran against Lincoln. Early in the year it looked like McClellan would win.
"Copperheads" were northern "peace" or pacifist Democrats who opposed Lincoln's war efforts against seceded South, and they supported McClellan.

But the Union Army started to win on the battlefield, and the more it won, the more popular Lincoln became among voters. Union General William Tecumseh Sherman really broke the back of the South's morale and will to fight. General Sherman brutalized Georgia by destroying everything in a 60-mile-wide path from Atlanta to the ocean, known as his "March to the Sea" in late 1864. To this day some Southerners are bitter about his destruction, which Sherman justified a way to crush the opponent and end the way. To the South, General Sherman was as evil as a modern-day terrorist, and the popular movie ''Gone With the Wind'' decries the hardship caused by Sherman and the Union troops.

Lincoln was still worried about possibly losing the presidential election in 1864, and he even replaced his current Vice President with a Democratic southerner, Andrew Johnson, in order to help attract Democratic voters. Lincoln wanted to appease voters who were tired of the war (including the Copperheads), and to try to broaden his support.

To further help Lincoln win reelection, absentee voting was instituted for the first time. This enabled thousands of Union soldiers to vote by mail rather than show up at the polling booths in their home town. Much later absentee voting was then allowed for everyone, so that could vote by mail while away from their voting booth.

Lincoln showed his "moderate" political views by vetoing the Wade-Davis Bill in 1864, which would have imposed a very harsh reconstruction plan on the South demanded by Radical Republicans in the North. That Bill, which never became law, would have established virtually impossible conditions for Confederate states to rejoin the union by requiring a majority in each state to take an oath of loyalty to the United States before it could be admitted. Lincoln, fearful of a backlash by Radical Republicans, used a "pocket veto" to prevent this from becoming law. A "pocket veto" is an unusual procedure allowed under the Constitution whereby legislation is considered vetoed if the President does nothing within ten days and Congress has adjourned; doing nothing is a less controversial way of dealing with a crisis than doing something people do not like.

Lincoln then defeated McClellan in the election of 1864, aided by the exclusion of southern voters from the election (who would have voted against Lincoln). McClellan dropped out of national politics after losing this election,, but much later McClellan became Governor of New Jersey (1878-81).

In March 1865, Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address is the opposite of his First: he now saw the world and the Civil War in moral rather than legal terms. His Second Inaugural Address is filled with religious spiritual, reflecting that at least Lincoln had personally found his way. He is one of the few public officials to increase his faith while wielding earthly power.

== Surrender ==

By fall 1864 the South was running out of resources and spirit. "Southern Disunion" began to occur in September 1864, as characterized by a high desertion rate, riots, food shortages, and even South Carolina ignoring Acts of the Confederation. Fearful of a slave rebellion, the Confederation delayed in arming the slaves.

Congress was preparing for the Union victory. It passed the Freedmen's Bureau in March 1865, which established a government agency to help emancipated blacks get food and medical supplies, and to find jobs.<ref>http://www.history.umd.edu/Freedmen/fbact.htm</ref>

Under General Ulysses S. Grant the Union army was racking up big wins against the Confederate army in Virginia in early 1865. A Union victory was becoming inevitable. To avoid further loss of life, General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House in Virginia on April 9th. The terms of surrender were generous to the South: southern officers were allowed to keep their arms, and soldiers were allowed to keep their horses. Some observers complained that it looked more like Grant was surrendering to Lee rather than Lee surrendering to Grant. Truth be told, Grant did have enormous respect for Lee, as most soldiers on both sides did.

Five days later, on Good Friday, April 14th, Lincoln was attending a theatrical performance (that's an odd way to spend Good Friday, one might observe) and Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, who was himself an actor sympathetic to the South. Some suggest that Lincoln accepted this ending to his life. Booth's crime was part of a conspiracy to assassinate the top persons in government, including Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward. General Ulysses S. Grant was to be with Lincoln at the theater but canceled his attendance. Of all the targets of the conspiracy, only Lincoln died.<ref>http://americanhistory.about.com/od/lincolnsdeath/a/lincolnsdeath.htm</ref> The conspirators were quickly caught and either killed in the chase (Booth) or tried and hung. The expression "your name is mud" comes from the conviction and imprisonment of Dr. Samuel Mudd for treating Booth's broken leg after Booth's crime.

Lincoln remains a controversial historical figure to this day. His original goals were not moral, and he admitted that he was not trying to abolish slavery. He was trying to save the Union. He even agreed to try to preserve slavery as a way of saving the Union. A cynic might point to Lincoln's career as a railroad lawyer as the prime motivation for his obsession with unity. Today Lincoln is idolized in the North, but still disliked by many in the South.

== President Andrew Johnson ==

Vice President Andrew Johnson, who was liked by almost no one, then became President in spring 1865. When Johnson succeeded Lincoln as president, only the third succession of presidential power in our history (the first was Tyler becoming president after Harrison's death, and the second was Millard Fillmore becoming president after Zachary Taylor's death).

Johnson was a Democrat from Tennessee, not a Republican. In fact,the Radical Republicans in Congress loathed and ridiculed him. They spread an unjustified rumor that Johnson was drunk during his inauguration. Johnson was blunt speaking, and that did not help win him any friends either. He went on a nationwide speaking tour called the "Swing Around the Circle," during which he harshly and unsuccessfully criticized his opponents in Congress. Meanwhile, the United States was missing all the southern states of the Confederacy: they did not have any seats in Congress. Simply put, the nation was in disarray.

Congress was then controlled by "Radical Republicans" who wanted to impose harsh conditions on the South both to protect African-Americans and to punish
the South for the War. Congress, led by the Radical Republicans, improperly attempted to control Johnson by passing the Tenure of Office Act in 1867. This required Senate approval for the President to fire his own Cabinet officials, and had the effect of prohibiting Johnson from firing Edward Stanton, the Secretary of War, who was allied with the Radical Republicans in Congress. In 1868, Congress also passed the Command of the Army Act which restricted the President in how he commands the army.

Johnson did not back down. He attempted to fire Stanton, which the Radical Republicans considered to be grounds for impeaching Johnson. Thaddeus Stevens was a representative from Pennsylvania who would talk about the South as "conquered territory," and was a typical Radical Republican. He led the House of Representatives to vote by an astounding margin of 126-47 to impeach Johnson:<ref>http://law.jrank.org/pages/13490/Andrew-Johnson-Trial.html</ref>

:Resolved,

::that Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, be impeached of high crimes and misdemeanors in office.

But impeachment is not removal from office. Rather, it is like filing charges against someone, and it is up to the Senate under the Constitution whether to remove the official from office. That requires a 2/3rds vote of the Senate. After a trial, Johnson survived by only one vote.

== Reconstruction ==

"Reconstruction" is the 12-year period from the end of the Civil War (1865) to 1877. The term describes exactly what happened: the South was "reconstructed" from its shambles. To do this, the North sent troops into the South to control its operations. Procedures were established for admitting the Confederate states back into the Union (actually, they supposedly were never allowed to leave, but they did need to be readmitted back into Congress). Obviously much animosity -- and racism -- remained after the end of the actual fighting. New constitutional amendments were required to make slavery illegal and to protect the rights of African Americans (Amendments 13, 14 and 15).

Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866 to declare the rights of blacks to testify in court, make contracts, and hold property. President Johnson vetoed the bill, but Republicans enjoyed such a large majority in Congress that it then passed over Johnson's veto (with a 2/3rds majority, which is known as "overriding the veto").

The United States divided the South into five military districts by passing the Military Reconstruction Act in 1867. The federal government then sent in federal troops (the army) to govern each military district. This was humiliating to the South. Many northerners (who given the derogatory name "carpetbaggers") moved to the South to form quasi-military governments, often at the expense of southern taxpayers. The term "carpetbaggers" is still used today to describe any politician who moves to a new state to be elected to office (as Hillary Clinton moved to New York to become a U.S. Senator). "Scalawags" were white southerners who worked with the carpetbaggers in the South during Reconstruction.

The 13th Amendment to the Constitution banned slavery, and it was ratified quickly. The 14th Amendment was ratified with more difficulty, and it is a complex Amendment that protects many rights of citizens against interference by any state. It was intended to protect the former slaves and give Congress special powers to protect them further. Congress provided additional protection in the Civil Rights Act of 1875, which prohibited racial discrimination in hotels, theaters, public transit, employment and other public places, and establishes right of former slaves to serve on juries. But later the Supreme Court held the Civil Rights Act to be unconstitutional.

Southern whites interfered with voting (suffrage) by former slaves, and the 15th Amendment was passed to protect that right. Much later, in 1964, the 24th Amendment was passed to ban charging a poll tax to interfere with the right of citizens from voting: "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. ... The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."<ref>U.S. Const., 15th Am.</ref>

So remember these Reconstruction Amendments, all of which were added to the U.S. Constitution in the five years following the Civil War (1865-1870):
*13th Amendments: abolish slavery
*14th Amendment: give all races equal rights
*15th Amendment: give all races the right to vote

Meanwhile the South was passing laws of its own to continue to discriminate against African Americans. Beginning in 1866, the South passed Black Codes or "Jim Crow" laws to subjugate blacks and restrict them in voting and from holding office. In 1868, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was founded in the South. It was a secretive society of white supremacists, who intimidated by burning crosses and killed African-Americans.

Unfortunately, the KKK was not a small group. It was widespread across the South and extending even towards the North, and recruited young people. One Democratic Senator today, Robert Byrd of West Virginia, once belonged to KKK. So did the Democratic Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black.

Congress cracked down on the KKK by passing the Force Act in 1870, which banned any use of force or terror to interfere with someone's voting based on his race. Congress also placed elections in the South under the authority and jurisdiction of the federal officers in order to prevent intimidation of African Americans.

In 1872, Congress passed the Amnesty Act, which pardoned many Rebels from the old Confederacy and allowed them to reenter public life.

Reconstruction was not formally ended until there was a disputed outcome for election of President in 1876. The Compromise of 1877 cut a deal between the North (Republicans) and the South (Democrats) whereby the South consented to Rutherford Hayes as President and the North agreed to withdraw the remaining federal troops still in the South.

== Other Happenings During the Civil War and Reconstruction Periods ==

Not every event between 1861 and 1877 was related to slavery, the Civil War or Reconstruction.

In 1862, Congress passed the Homestead Act, which granted 160 acres to anyone who farmed land for 5 years. This encouraged people to migrate West, and the South opposed this law. Also in 1862, Congress passed the Pacific Railway Act, which established government subsidies and land in order to build a transcontinental railroad to connect the East Coast with the West Coast. This railroad was completed in Utah in 1869 and served to unify the national economy.

There was one more significant piece of legislation enacted in 1862: the Morrill Land Grant Act, which established agricultural colleges by giving each state 30k acres times the state's number of congressman.

How did Congress accomplish so much in 1862? You might recall that the Civil War was mostly a stalemate between the Union and the Confederacy during that period.

Immigration into California from China caused many union laborers to object, because the Chinese would work more industriously and for less pay than union workers. The Burlingame Treaty was signed between the United States and China in 1868, and it permitted unrestricted immigration by Chinese to U.S. It was the Chinese immigrants who finally conquered the treacherous Sierra-Nevada mountain range and built the railroad over it, finally enabling completion of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869 (the final link was in Utah). Afterward, factory owners as far away as Massachusetts would transport immigrants from California in order to break a strike by union workers (in other words, replace the local striking workers with the transported Chinese immigrants).

Conflicts with Indians continued during the Civil War and afterward.
The Sioux Wars lasted from 1864 to 1867 between Indians and the Union Army in Colorado, Montana, and the Dakotas (North and South Dakota). The most famous battle of all, however, occurred a decade later. General George Custer was a highly popular and charismatic cavalry officer who sported long yellow hair and the latest fashions in his clothing. But he also graduated last in his class at West Point, in contrast to many of the Civil War officers who took their coursework more seriously. In 1876, Custer led his men to Little Big Horn (now in Montana) to address some conflicts with Indians. Custer's superiors opposed an immediate attack on the Indians, and told Custer to wait before leading the charge. Overly aggressive and perhaps attempting to become a hero, Custer charged ahead anyway. The Sioux and Cheyenne warriors, led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, then overwhelmed Custer and his men and slaughtered all of them. The warriors scalped all of Custer's men, except Custer himself, whose strange clothing may have misled the warriors into thinking he was an innocent civilian! This massacre at Wounded Knee is popularly known today as "Custer's Last Stand."

Another embarrassing bit of history during this period was corruption in the government of New York City, where "Tammany Hall" of the Democratic Party ruled from 1805 to 1871. It was finally broken up when its leader "Boss Tweed" was imprisoned for taking tens of millions of dollars from the city and his opponents won the election in November 1871. His famous quote when caught stealing was, "What are you going to do about it?"

In the New York City elections of 1868, Tammany Hall worked to steal the outcome by giving this advice:<ref>A. Callow, The Tweed Ring 210 (1966) (quoting M. Werner, Tammany Hall 439 (1928)).</ref>

:"'When you've voted 'em with their whiskers on, you take 'em to a barber and scrape off the chin fringe. Then you vote 'em again with the side lilacs and a mustache. Then to a barber again, off comes the sides and you vote 'em a third time with the mustache. If that ain't enough and the box can stand a few more ballots, clean off the mustache and vote 'em plain face. That makes every one of 'em good for four votes.'"

When Boss Tweed was eventually arrested, [[robber baron]] Jay Gould posted a multi-million dollar bail for him. A decade later, in 1886, Tammany Hall regained power, and ran New York City politics until 1932, when Fiorello La Guardia was elected. La Guardia airport is named after him.

Offsetting all that bad news was some good news from the late 1800s. Baseball developed as a uniquely American sport during the Civil War, as soldiers found a way to pass the time between battles. After the war, informal leagues began to develop. The first professional team was the Cincinnati Red Stockings (now the "Reds"), formed in 1869. Then, the same year as the massacre of Custer's men in Little Big Horn, 1876, the National League was founded. The American League did not arise until 1903.

== Grant Administration ==

Once the war was over, the powerful forces of capitalism brought the United States new prosperity remarkably quickly. Most countries, not benefiting from the free enterprise that exists in the United States, would take 50 to 100 years to recover from such a devastating Civil War. But the United States recovered in less than 10 years. By 1875, the United States had a budget surplus (taking in more money than it spent), and it enjoyed a budget surplus for every year until 1893! In contrast, rarely has there been a budget surplus in the past 30 years.

The first president elected after the Civil War ended was, not surprisingly, the Union General credited with winning it: Ulysses S. Grant. He won the presidency in 1868 (after President Andrew Johnson completed his term) and served two full terms, until 1876. Grant was a Republican who favored the "gold standard" for the economy, which means he preferred "hard money" (gold) over "soft money" (paper that can lose its value due to inflation). Grant, however, was consisted a weak executive for not watching people underneath him in government very well. Specifically, Grant is blamed for having a corrupt Administration, even though he was not corrupt himself.

His presidency was at the beginning of the "Gilded Age," a name given by the writer Mark Twain to describe a period that appeared golden on the surface but was the opposite underneath. This period, and the Grant Administration, is criticized for corrupt business and government dealings. We will discuss the Gilded Age more in the next lecture.

But the American economy prospered enormously during this period, particularly in the 1870s and 1880s. There was almost no government regulation that burdens business today. It was a spectacularly creative and industrious period, with many of the greatest inventions (e.g., light bulb, telephone, motion pictures, and phonograph) developed then.

But historians emphasize business and government scandals that occurred in the absence of modern regulation. In 1869, for example, there was the "Fisk-Gould Scandal," in which financiers ("Wall Street" types) tried to corner (monopolize) the gold market. This caused "Black Friday," with the price of gold first going way up, and then going way down. The Grant Administration broke up the scheme by selling gold reserves.

Next there was government corruption occurred in the Credit Mobilier scandal, which consisted of bribery with a construction company that had been created by the powerful Union Pacific Railroad in the period of 1865-69. This scandal, first uncovered in 1872 by Congress, symbolized the government corruption of the Grant Administration. Specifically, owners of the Union Pacific Railroad formed a new company, the Credit Mobilier of America, in order to award it with profitable contracts to build a railroad out West. Then stock in this construction company was given to influential congressmen, who next approved spending taxpayer money to pay for the railroad construction. The result was huge profits for the owners of the railroad and the congressmen, at the expense of taxpayers. A New York newspaper publicized the scandal just before the 1872 elections, and the Speaker of the House (the Republican James Blaine of Maine) set up congressional hearings to uncover the scandal. The hearings lasted into 1873 and discredited the government.<ref>http://cprr.org/Museum/Credit_Mobilier.html</ref>

Another scandal, the Whiskey Ring, was even worse. It consisted of many government agents in the Grant Administration in a conspiracy or scheme to steal whiskey taxes for themselves. To help pay for the Civil War, federal liquor taxes were increased to very high amounts. But many distillers bribed officials in the Department of the Treasury to reduce the cost of their tax stamps. An investigation resulted in the conviction of more than 100 officials in the Grant Administration, and even Grant's private secretary, Orville Babcock, was accused (but he was never convicted).<ref>http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h234.html</ref> As a result of these scandals, there was growing public pressure to end the "spoils system" first established by President Andrew Jackson.

In 1873, the Republican-controlled Congress doubled the salary of the president to $50,000 a year (a great deal of money in those days), and increased the salary of many other officials in government. The public was outraged, and their outcry caused a partial repeal.

Grant had to deal with a big problem caused by the Civil War: inflation. Wars are expensive. Remember the French and Indian War and how Britain taxed the colonies afterward? Somebody has to pay all the bills from a war, the hospitals, the weapons, the food, the transportation, and the meager wages for soldiers.

The revenue from tariffs was not enough to pay for the Civil War. Lincoln started an income tax for the first time (expired in 1872). He suspended the payment by the government to citizens in gold and silver, to protect its reserves. He taxed manufacturers and the public through sales taxes. But most of all, Lincoln financed the Civil War by issuing "greenbacks", similar to our green dollar bills today. This was a change from monetary practices under Alexander Hamilton, when all currency was backed by gold or silver. Lincoln’s greenbacks were not backed by anything at all. The government simply printed and distributed them.

When the government increases the amount of money out there, it causes inflation. Everyone starts to realize that the money is not worth as much anymore because the government is printing more of it. So inflation increased during the Civil War. What cost $100 when the War started in 1861 cost about $170 after it was over. That’s 70% inflation in just a few years, which is terrible if you have money in the bank. Your savings are then worth only a little more than half what it was before the war. Guess how much that $100 cost in 1861 would be today. (About $2,282!). You can compare inflation between any two years with this website: http://www.westegg.com/inflation/
Now, recall our ongoing struggle between debtors (farmers) and creditors (bankers). Which side likes inflation? (The farmers.) Their income increases because eggs, meat, milk, etc., are all increasing in prices. Meanwhile, the money the farmers owe the bank does not increase; it is still the same loan as when they initially borrowed the money from the bank to set up their farm. So farmers love inflation, and bankers dislike it.

Whether to have more inflation, or less inflation, became the single biggest issue between the Civil War and 1900. This conflict manifested itself in many different ways.

The first issue arose just after the War: what should the government do about all the greenbacks? The farmers loved them, but the bankers did not. The bankers, who were powerful within the Republican Party (and, before that, the Whig Party), demanded that the government stop issuing money unless it is backed by gold. Many people still feel the same way today, but for a different reason: preventing the government from printing more money helps limit government power. The less the government can print and spend, the less power it has.

Then the financial Panic of 1873 hit. Like the Panic of 1837, this financial panic caused many railroads to shut down. Unemployment increased. Just as political party goes in cycles, the economy goes in cycles also. Prosperity alternates with recessions or depressions. Good times alternate with bad times. Republicans blamed the financial panic on too much speculation in railroads, and passed a law limiting the availability of money for everyone, including speculators. Republicans did this by making gold (and not silver) the only monetary standard of United States currency, which opponents called the "Crime of 1873" (a new coinage law that halted the mining of silver and made gold the sole standard for currency). This ended Alexander Hamilton’s policy of “bimetallism”, which set both gold and silver as standards of currency in a 15:1 ratio of silver to gold.

Recall that President Jackson had issued the “Specie Circular” in 1836 in response to inflation and land speculation resultant from the increase in paper money at that time. Jackson’s Specie Circular provided that only gold and silver (and sometimes Virginia land scrip) would be accepted by the government for payment for public lands. After the Panic of 1837, Jackson’s Specie Circular was repealed in 1838.

Money then became scarcer, and inflation ended. Farmers were outraged, calling this the “Crime of 1873”. What cost $100 in 1872 only cost $77.82 by 1880. Deflation is devastating to farmers. Their prices on their goods fall but they still have to pay back their original loan.

So the farmers formed a new political party in creation to the deflation and “Crime of 1873”: the Greenback Party. The so-called “Greenbackers” opposed the gold standard and opposed allowing people to turn in Greenback currency for gold. They were farmers and debtors who wanted inflation, and silver coins to cause inflation. In 1878 and 1880 the Greenback Party won two dozen seats in Congress. But that was not enough, and the government went ahead with redeeming greenbacks in gold. So debtors and farmers turned to a new solution: silver. The Greenback Party peaked in 1878 and disappeared by 1884 as the political issues changed.

== References ==

<references/>

[[Category:American History lectures]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:American History Lecture 06}}

New Jersey Assembly Education Committee

2008-10-04T12:24:26Z

Ambers: New page: The New Jersey Assembly Education Committee is made up of twelve members. '''Chair:''' Joseph Cryan '''Vice Chair:''' Joan M. Voss Patrick J Diegnan Amy H. Handlin Mila M. ...

The New Jersey Assembly Education Committee is made up of twelve members.

'''Chair:'''
Joseph Cryan

'''Vice Chair:'''
Joan M. Voss

Patrick J Diegnan
 Amy H. Handlin
 Mila M. Jasey
 Joseph R. Malone
 Paul D. Moriarty
 Nellie Pou
 Ruben J. Ramos
 Scott T. Rumana
 Joseph Vas
 David W. Wolfe

New Jersey Legislative Procedure

2008-10-04T02:58:48Z

Ambers:

There is an 11-step procedure for legislation to become law in [[New Jersey]].<ref>http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/legislativepub/legprocess.asp</ref>

'''Step One'''
Either a Senator or a General Assembly member must propose a new law. Often the ideas for the laws come from interest groups, members of the community, or even the governor.

'''Step Two'''
With the help of the Office of Legislative Services, and at the legislator's direction, the bill is written.

'''Step Three'''
During session, the bill is given to the Senate Secretary or Assembly Clerk to read the title aloud. This is called the first reading. After this the bill is introduced to the public.

'''Step Four'''
Often the bill will then be sent to a committee for review and revisions. Occasionally the bill will go directly to its second reading to speed the process up.

'''Step Five'''
The committee will review the bill in a meeting that is open to the public. The bill may be reported to the House with either, no changes, amendments or as a substitute bill. The bill may remain in the committee if it hasn't been considered or reported.

'''Step Six'''
During the second reading, the bill is re-read on the floor. At this time the bill is open for amendments. The bill is given a third reading and then the House must vote to either return the bill for a second reading or add any more amendments.

'''Step Seven'''
The President or Speaker schedules the third reading on the floor. The second and third reading cannot be done on the same day except by an emergency vote of 3/4 of the members [30 votes from the Senate, 60 from the Assembly].

'''Step Eight'''
The bill is passed when the majority of authorized members approves it (21 votes in the Senate, 41 in the Assembly) and it is sent to the other house. IF the final vote is not taken the bill can be either considered later on, or returned to the committee.

'''Step Nine'''
The bill goes through the same process when it is given to the second House. If any amendments are given to the bill, it has to be returned to the first House to review the changes. The bill receives final legislative approval when both Houses approve it.

'''Step Ten'''
The bill is then sent off to the governor for final approval. If any changes are made the governor has conditionally vetoed it. He may also veto single line items of appropriation bills. If the bill is passed in the last 10 days of a 2-year session may be "pocket vetoed."

'''Step Eleven'''
After either 45 days, or with the governors signature the bill becomes law. If the governor vetoed the bill, the legislature may override the veto by a 2/3 vote (27 in the Senate, 54 in the Assembly). A law goes into effect on the day specified in the text, or if it is unspecified it goes into effect on July 4th following its passage.

To pass, 21 votes are required in the New Jersey Senate, and 41 are needed in the New Jersey Assembly.

Every two years the House begins a new legislative session. The House normally meets on Mondays and Thursdays during the year. Both Houses often take a recess during July and August.

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
* [http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/Default.asp Official Site of the New Jersey Legislature]

[[Category:New Jersey]]

New Jersey General Assembly

2008-10-04T01:00:43Z

Ambers:

The '''New Jersey General Assembly''' consists of 80 men and women who are at least 21 years old and have lived in the state for at least two years. In order to run they must live in their legislative districts for one year before the election. There are forty different legislative districts.

'''District One'''
 Assemblyman NELSON T. ALBANO - Democrat
 Assemblyman MATTHEW W. MILAM - Democrat

'''District Two'''
 Assemblyman JOHN F. AMODEO - Republican
 Assemblyman VINCENT J. POLISTINA - Republican

'''District Three'''
 Assemblyman JOHN J. BURZICHELLI - Democrat
 Assemblyman DOUGLAS H. FISHER - Democrat

'''District Four'''
 Assemblywoman SANDRA LOVE - Democrat
 Assemblyman PAUL D. MORIARTY - Democrat

'''District Five'''
 Assemblywoman NILSA CRUZ-PEREZ - Democrat
 Assemblyman JOSEPH J. ROBERTS, JR. - Democrat

'''District Six'''
 Assemblyman LOUIS D. GREENWALD - Democrat
 Assemblywoman PAMELA R. LAMPITT - Democrat

'''District Seven'''
 Assemblyman HERB CONAWAY, JR. - Democrat
 Assemblyman JACK CONNERS - Democrat

'''District Eight'''
 Assemblywoman DAWN MARIE ADDIEGO - Republican
 Assemblyman SCOTT RUDDER - Republican

'''District Nine'''
 Assemblyman BRIAN E. RUMPF - Republican
 Assemblyman DANIEL M. VAN PELT - Republican

'''District Ten'''
 Assemblyman JAMES W. HOLZAPFEL - Republican
 Assemblyman DAVID W. WOLFE - Republican

'''District Eleven'''
 Assemblywoman MARY PAT ANGELINI - Republican
 Assemblyman DAVID P. RIBLE - Republican

'''District Twelve'''
 Assemblywoman CAROLINE CASAGRANDE - Republican
 Assemblyman DECLAN J. O'SCANLON, JR. - Republican

'''District Thirteen'''
 Assemblywoman AMY H. HANDLIN - Republican
 Assemblyman SAMUEL D. THOMPSON - Republican

'''District Fourteen'''
 Assemblyman WAYNE P. DEANGELO - Democrat
 Assemblywoman LINDA R. GREENSTEIN - Democrat

'''District Fifteen'''
 Assemblyman REED GUSCIORA - Democrat
 Assemblywoman BONNIE WATSON COLEMAN - Democrat

'''District Sixteen'''
 Assemblyman PETER J. BIONDI - Republican
 Assemblywoman DENISE M. COYLE - Republican

'''District Seventeen'''
 Assemblyman UPENDRA J. CHIVUKULA - Democrat
 Assemblyman JOSEPH V. EGAN - Democrat

'''District Eighteen'''
 Assemblyman PETER J. BARNES, III - Democrat
 Assemblyman PATRICK J. DIEGNAN, JR. - Democrat

'''District Nineteen'''
 Assemblyman JOSEPH VAS - Democrat
 Assemblyman JOHN S. WISNIEWSKI - Democrat

'''District Twenty'''
 Assemblyman JOSEPH CRYAN - Democrat
 Assemblywoman ANNETTE QUIJANO - Democrat

'''District Twenty-one'''
 Assemblyman JON M. BRAMNICK - Republican
 Assemblyman ERIC MUNOZ - Republican

'''District Twenty-two'''
 Assemblyman JERRY GREEN - Democrat
 Assemblywoman LINDA STENDER - Democrat

'''District Twenty-three'''
 Assemblyman MICHAEL J. DOHERTY - Republican
 Assemblywoman MARCIA A. KARROW - Republican

'''District Twenty-four'''
 Assemblyman GARY R. CHIUSANO - Republican
 Assemblywoman ALISON LITTELL MCHOSE - Republican

'''District Twenty-five'''
 Assemblyman MICHAEL PATRICK CARROLL - Republican
 Assemblyman RICHARD A. MERKT - Republican

'''District Twenty-six'''
 Assemblyman ALEX DECROCE - Republican
 Assemblyman JAY WEBBER - Republican

'''District Twenty-seven'''
 Assemblywoman MILA M. JASEY - Democrat
 Assemblyman JOHN F. MCKEON - Democrat

'''District Twenty-eight'''
 Assemblyman RALPH R. CAPUTO - Democrat
 Assemblywoman CLEOPATRA G. TUCKER - Democrat

'''District Twenty-nine'''
 Assemblyman ALBERT COUTINHO - Democrat
 Assemblywoman L. GRACE SPENCER - Democrat

'''District Thirty'''
 Assemblyman RONALD S. DANCER - Republican
 Assemblyman JOSEPH R. MALONE, III - Republican

'''District Thirty-one'''
 Assemblyman ANTHONY CHIAPPONE - Democrat
 Assemblyman L. HARVEY SMITH - Democrat

'''District Thirty-two'''
 Assemblyman VINCENT PRIETO - Democrat
 Assemblywoman JOAN M. QUIGLEY - Democrat

'''District Thirty-three'''
 Assemblyman RUBEN J. RAMOS, JR. - Democrat
 Assemblywoman CARIDAD RODRIGUEZ - Democrat

'''District Thirty-four'''
 Assemblyman THOMAS P. GIBLIN - Democrat
 Assemblywoman SHEILA Y. OLIVER - Democrat

'''District Thirty-five'''
 Assemblywoman ELEASE EVANS - Democrat
 Assemblywoman NELLIE POU - Democrat

'''District Thirty-six'''
 Assemblyman FREDERICK SCALERA - Democrat
 Assemblyman GARY S. SCHAER - Democrat

'''District Thirty-seven'''
 Assemblyman GORDON M. JOHNSON - Democrat
 Assemblywoman VALERIE VAINIERI HUTTLE - Democrat

'''District Thirty-eight'''
 Assemblywoman JOAN M. VOSS - Democrat
 Assemblywoman CONNIE WAGNER - Democrat

'''District Thirty-nine'''
 Assemblyman JOHN E. ROONEY - Republican
 Assemblywoman CHARLOTTE VANDERVALK - Republican

'''District Forty'''
 Assemblyman SCOTT T. RUMANA - Republican
 Assemblyman DAVID C. RUSSO - Republican

New Jersey General Assembly

2008-10-04T00:53:32Z

Ambers:

The '''New Jersey General Assembly''' consists of 80 men and women who are at least 21 years old and have lived in the state for at least two years. In order to run they must live in their legislative districts for one year before the election. There are forty different legislative districts.

'''District One'''
Assemblyman NELSON T. ALBANO - Democrat
 Assemblyman MATTHEW W. MILAM - Democrat

'''District Two'''
Assemblyman JOHN F. AMODEO - Republican
 Assemblyman VINCENT J. POLISTINA - Republican

'''District Three'''
Assemblyman JOHN J. BURZICHELLI - Democrat
 Assemblyman DOUGLAS H. FISHER - Democrat

'''District Four'''
Assemblywoman SANDRA LOVE - Democrat
 Assemblyman PAUL D. MORIARTY - Democrat

'''District Five'''
Assemblywoman NILSA CRUZ-PEREZ - Democrat
 Assemblyman JOSEPH J. ROBERTS, JR. - Democrat

'''District Six'''
Assemblyman LOUIS D. GREENWALD - Democrat
 Assemblywoman PAMELA R. LAMPITT - Democrat

'''District Seven'''
Assemblyman HERB CONAWAY, JR. - Democrat
 Assemblyman JACK CONNERS - Democrat

'''District Eight'''
Assemblywoman DAWN MARIE ADDIEGO - Republican
 Assemblyman SCOTT RUDDER - Republican

'''District Nine'''
Assemblyman BRIAN E. RUMPF - Republican
 Assemblyman DANIEL M. VAN PELT - Republican

'''District Ten'''
Assemblyman JAMES W. HOLZAPFEL - Republican
 Assemblyman DAVID W. WOLFE - Republican

'''District Eleven'''
Assemblywoman MARY PAT ANGELINI - Republican
 Assemblyman DAVID P. RIBLE - Republican

'''District Twelve'''
Assemblywoman CAROLINE CASAGRANDE - Republican
 Assemblyman DECLAN J. O'SCANLON, JR. - Republican

'''District Thirteen'''
Assemblywoman AMY H. HANDLIN - Republican
 Assemblyman SAMUEL D. THOMPSON - Republican

'''District Fourteen'''
Assemblyman WAYNE P. DEANGELO - Democrat
 Assemblywoman LINDA R. GREENSTEIN - Democrat

'''District Fifteen'''
Assemblyman REED GUSCIORA - Democrat
 Assemblywoman BONNIE WATSON COLEMAN - Democrat

'''District Sixteen'''
Assemblyman PETER J. BIONDI - Republican
 Assemblywoman DENISE M. COYLE - Republican

'''District Seventeen'''
Assemblyman UPENDRA J. CHIVUKULA - Democrat
 Assemblyman JOSEPH V. EGAN - Democrat

'''District Eighteen'''
Assemblyman PETER J. BARNES, III - Democrat
 Assemblyman PATRICK J. DIEGNAN, JR. - Democrat

'''District Nineteen'''
Assemblyman JOSEPH VAS - Democrat
 Assemblyman JOHN S. WISNIEWSKI - Democrat

'''District Twenty'''
Assemblyman JOSEPH CRYAN - Democrat
 Assemblywoman ANNETTE QUIJANO - Democrat

'''District Twenty-one'''
Assemblyman JON M. BRAMNICK - Republican
 Assemblyman ERIC MUNOZ - Republican

'''District Twenty-two'''
Assemblyman JERRY GREEN - Democrat
 Assemblywoman LINDA STENDER - Democrat

'''District Twenty-three'''
Assemblyman MICHAEL J. DOHERTY - Republican
 Assemblywoman MARCIA A. KARROW - Republican

'''District Twenty-four'''
Assemblyman GARY R. CHIUSANO - Republican
 Assemblywoman ALISON LITTELL MCHOSE - Republican

'''District Twenty-five'''
Assemblyman MICHAEL PATRICK CARROLL - Republican
 Assemblyman RICHARD A. MERKT - Republican

'''District Twenty-six'''
Assemblyman ALEX DECROCE - Republican
 Assemblyman JAY WEBBER - Republican

'''District Twenty-seven'''
Assemblywoman MILA M. JASEY - Democrat
 Assemblyman JOHN F. MCKEON - Democrat

'''District Twenty-eight'''
Assemblyman RALPH R. CAPUTO - Democrat
 Assemblywoman CLEOPATRA G. TUCKER - Democrat

'''District Twenty-nine'''
Assemblyman ALBERT COUTINHO - Democrat
 Assemblywoman L. GRACE SPENCER - Democrat

'''District Thirty'''
Assemblyman RONALD S. DANCER - Republican
 Assemblyman JOSEPH R. MALONE, III - Republican

'''District Thirty-one'''
Assemblyman ANTHONY CHIAPPONE - Democrat
 Assemblyman L. HARVEY SMITH - Democrat

'''District Thirty-two'''
Assemblyman VINCENT PRIETO - Democrat
 Assemblywoman JOAN M. QUIGLEY - Democrat

'''District Thirty-three'''
Assemblyman RUBEN J. RAMOS, JR. - Democrat
 Assemblywoman CARIDAD RODRIGUEZ - Democrat

'''District Thirty-four'''
Assemblyman THOMAS P. GIBLIN - Democrat
 Assemblywoman SHEILA Y. OLIVER - Democrat

'''District Thirty-five'''
Assemblywoman ELEASE EVANS - Democrat
 Assemblywoman NELLIE POU - Democrat

'''District Thirty-six'''
Assemblyman FREDERICK SCALERA - Democrat
 Assemblyman GARY S. SCHAER - Democrat

'''District Thirty-seven'''
Assemblyman GORDON M. JOHNSON - Democrat
 Assemblywoman VALERIE VAINIERI HUTTLE - Democrat

'''District Thirty-eight'''
Assemblywoman JOAN M. VOSS - Democrat
 Assemblywoman CONNIE WAGNER - Democrat

'''District Thirty-nine'''
Assemblyman JOHN E. ROONEY - Republican
 Assemblywoman CHARLOTTE VANDERVALK - Republican

'''District Forty'''
Assemblyman SCOTT T. RUMANA - Republican
 Assemblyman DAVID C. RUSSO - Republican

New Jersey General Assembly

2008-10-04T00:50:34Z

Ambers:

The '''New Jersey General Assembly''' consists of 80 men and women who are at least 21 years old and have lived in the state for at least two years. In order to run they must live in their legislative districts for one year before the election. There are forty different legislative districts.

'''District One'''
Assemblyman NELSON T. ALBANO - Democrat
Assemblyman MATTHEW W. MILAM - Democrat

'''District Two'''
Assemblyman JOHN F. AMODEO - Republican
Assemblyman VINCENT J. POLISTINA - Republican

'''District Three'''
Assemblyman JOHN J. BURZICHELLI - Democrat
Assemblyman DOUGLAS H. FISHER - Democrat

'''District Four'''
Assemblywoman SANDRA LOVE - Democrat
Assemblyman PAUL D. MORIARTY - Democrat

'''District Five'''
Assemblywoman NILSA CRUZ-PEREZ - Democrat
Assemblyman JOSEPH J. ROBERTS, JR. - Democrat

'''District Six'''
Assemblyman LOUIS D. GREENWALD - Democrat
Assemblywoman PAMELA R. LAMPITT - Democrat

'''District Seven'''
Assemblyman HERB CONAWAY, JR. - Democrat
Assemblyman JACK CONNERS - Democrat

'''District Eight'''
Assemblywoman DAWN MARIE ADDIEGO - Republican
Assemblyman SCOTT RUDDER - Republican

'''District Nine'''
Assemblyman BRIAN E. RUMPF - Republican
Assemblyman DANIEL M. VAN PELT - Republican

'''District Ten'''
Assemblyman JAMES W. HOLZAPFEL - Republican
Assemblyman DAVID W. WOLFE - Republican

'''District Eleven'''
Assemblywoman MARY PAT ANGELINI - Republican
Assemblyman DAVID P. RIBLE - Republican

'''District Twelve'''
Assemblywoman CAROLINE CASAGRANDE - Republican
Assemblyman DECLAN J. O'SCANLON, JR. - Republican

'''District Thirteen'''
Assemblywoman AMY H. HANDLIN - Republican
Assemblyman SAMUEL D. THOMPSON - Republican

'''District Fourteen'''
Assemblyman WAYNE P. DEANGELO - Democrat
Assemblywoman LINDA R. GREENSTEIN - Democrat

'''District Fifteen'''
Assemblyman REED GUSCIORA - Democrat
Assemblywoman BONNIE WATSON COLEMAN - Democrat

'''District Sixteen'''
Assemblyman PETER J. BIONDI - Republican
Assemblywoman DENISE M. COYLE - Republican

'''District Seventeen'''
Assemblyman UPENDRA J. CHIVUKULA - Democrat
Assemblyman JOSEPH V. EGAN - Democrat

'''District Eighteen'''
Assemblyman PETER J. BARNES, III - Democrat
Assemblyman PATRICK J. DIEGNAN, JR. - Democrat

'''District Nineteen'''
Assemblyman JOSEPH VAS - Democrat
Assemblyman JOHN S. WISNIEWSKI - Democrat

'''District Twenty'''
Assemblyman JOSEPH CRYAN - Democrat
Assemblywoman ANNETTE QUIJANO - Democrat

'''District Twenty-one'''
Assemblyman JON M. BRAMNICK - Republican
Assemblyman ERIC MUNOZ - Republican

'''District Twenty-two'''
Assemblyman JERRY GREEN - Democrat
Assemblywoman LINDA STENDER - Democrat

'''District Twenty-three'''
Assemblyman MICHAEL J. DOHERTY - Republican
Assemblywoman MARCIA A. KARROW - Republican

'''District Twenty-four'''
Assemblyman GARY R. CHIUSANO - Republican
Assemblywoman ALISON LITTELL MCHOSE - Republican

'''District Twenty-five'''
Assemblyman MICHAEL PATRICK CARROLL - Republican
Assemblyman RICHARD A. MERKT - Republican

'''District Twenty-six'''
Assemblyman ALEX DECROCE - Republican
Assemblyman JAY WEBBER - Republican

'''District Twenty-seven'''
Assemblywoman MILA M. JASEY - Democrat
Assemblyman JOHN F. MCKEON - Democrat

'''District Twenty-eight'''
Assemblyman RALPH R. CAPUTO - Democrat
Assemblywoman CLEOPATRA G. TUCKER - Democrat

'''District Twenty-nine'''
Assemblyman ALBERT COUTINHO - Democrat
Assemblywoman L. GRACE SPENCER - Democrat

'''District Thirty'''
Assemblyman RONALD S. DANCER - Republican
Assemblyman JOSEPH R. MALONE, III - Republican

'''District Thirty-one'''
Assemblyman ANTHONY CHIAPPONE - Democrat
Assemblyman L. HARVEY SMITH - Democrat

'''District Thirty-two'''
Assemblyman VINCENT PRIETO - Democrat
Assemblywoman JOAN M. QUIGLEY - Democrat

'''District Thirty-three'''
Assemblyman RUBEN J. RAMOS, JR. - Democrat
Assemblywoman CARIDAD RODRIGUEZ - Democrat

'''District Thirty-four'''
Assemblyman THOMAS P. GIBLIN - Democrat
Assemblywoman SHEILA Y. OLIVER - Democrat

'''District Thirty-five'''
Assemblywoman ELEASE EVANS - Democrat
Assemblywoman NELLIE POU - Democrat

'''District Thirty-six'''
Assemblyman FREDERICK SCALERA - Democrat
Assemblyman GARY S. SCHAER - Democrat

'''District Thirty-seven'''
Assemblyman GORDON M. JOHNSON - Democrat
Assemblywoman VALERIE VAINIERI HUTTLE - Democrat

'''District Thirty-eight'''
Assemblywoman JOAN M. VOSS - Democrat
Assemblywoman CONNIE WAGNER - Democrat

'''District Thirty-nine'''
Assemblyman JOHN E. ROONEY - Republican
Assemblywoman CHARLOTTE VANDERVALK - Republican

'''District Forty'''
Assemblyman SCOTT T. RUMANA - Republican
Assemblyman DAVID C. RUSSO - Republican

2008-06-11T01:49:44Z

Ambers:

2007-10-05T15:55:00Z

Ambers: New page: Dance is a form of movement, motions, and steps.

Dance is a form of movement, motions, and steps.