U.S. History – Blue Cereal Education

Federalist #78 and the Importance of Judicial Precedent

Blue Cereal — Fri, 22 Jul 2022 12:31:48 +0000

We might debate whether or not Hamilton was correct to consider the judicial branch the “weakest” of the three, but the more important point here is that lifetime appointments of justices was intended to provide consistency in the nation’s highest court. Notice also his assumption that one of the primary purposes of the Court is to protect the “general liberty of the people” and act as the “citadel of the public justice and the public security.” While Hamilton was speaking primarily of national government (it would almost a century before constitutional protections were automatically assumed to apply at the state and local level as well via the Fourteenth Amendment), this understanding of the judicial branch is antithetical to the idea that defending the Constitution requires stripping away established protections in order to better facilitate state-level abuse of personal liberties.

The 1950s (Part Two)

Blue Cereal — Sat, 09 Oct 2021 15:02:51 +0000

Many questions about the 1960s are actually rooted in the 1950s, so keep that in mind when asked about racial tensions, shifting political dynamics, Cold War anxieties, or anything related to rebellion against cultural norms or “their parents’ generation.” Avoid oversimplifying the 1950s as the sum of its clichés while recognizing that the perception of homogeneity was enough to generate both the pressure to conform and the desire to rebel – sometimes within the same subgroups.

The 1950s (Part One)

Blue Cereal — Wed, 06 Oct 2021 23:59:12 +0000

In reality, the 1950s weren’t quite as universally unified or prosperous as they appeared. Still, it was close enough to give the 1960s something to challenge – a lifestyle and presumed set of values for the youth of the era to reject. (It’s difficult to rebel against the mainstream if there’s no mainstream.) If nothing else, the 1950s made the 1960s possible. The decade became the “ordinary world” for a whole new hero’s journey.