So I hope you can realize that when the framers of the Constitution prohibited bills of attainder, and prohibited the enactment of the ex post facto laws, they were doing something for the people of this country. They had the rights of the people in mind—the rights of the humble and perhaps unknown, as well as the rights of those in high places. I do not expect you to study the details of these provisions of the Constitution relating to bills of attainder and ex post facto laws. You will probably never have to enforce these rights which are given to you under the Constitution. I hope you will not; but the important thing which I always want you to bear in mind is, that these guaranties of the Constitution are in existence and that they confer upon you certain powers which may be asserted to protect your liberty if occasion should ever arise. I am sure you realize that at the beginning of the life of the American Nation, extreme care was exercised by those who framed the Constitution, to guard the people at every point against injustice and wrong, whether exercised by private individuals or by public officials. Understanding these things—feeling these things, will give you a new sense of power, of pride, and of duty, as citizens of this great Nation. ELEMENTARY QUESTIONS 1. What does attainder mean? 2. What was the effect of a bill of attainder on the family of a man who was convicted? 3. Why does the abolition of attainder show the charity of the founders of the Constitution? 4. What is an ex post facto law? 5. How would this kind of a law be unjust? 6. How could a strong, powerful, and dishonest man work injustice by means of such a law? ADVANCED QUESTIONS A. Show how attainder worked in England in the early days. B. What were the abuses found under such a law? C. Show how its abolition made for democracy. D. Show how the abolition of ex post facto laws made for democracy. E. Write a paper on the following: The Injustice of Attainder The Injustice of an Ex Post Facto Law XXI. TITLES, GIFTS, TREASON Prohibition Of Titles And Foreign Gifts—Treason, Its Trial And Punishment America is a democracy. It was the plan from the beginning that it always should be a democracy. The human race had suffered much from royalty, from kings and emperors, and queens and princes. Human nature is weak. We are all more or less attracted by people with titles. Story books which we read in childhood exalt the “lords” and “ladies” and “princes”, and I regret to say that the history of lords and ladies and princes does not always justify the pictures which our story books would paint for us. The men who framed the Constitution had just finished a life and death struggle with royalty—a struggle between the people and a king, and the people had won. They were determined that the blighting influence of royal power should never again find a place on American soil. Therefore they put into the Constitution: