In the early part of the twenty-first century, public opinion polls showed that a majority of americans believed it should be illegal to burn the american flag. as a result, many members of congress introduced amendments to make it illegal to burn or desecrate the american flag. however, these efforts have been unsuccessful. which of the following statements best explains why these efforts have been unsuccessful?

a. congress and the states have agreed to add this amendment; however, recent presidents have refused to sign it.

b. the framers made the amendment process difficult in order to protect individual rights.

c. the supreme court has stated such an amendment is unconstitutional, thus blocking its ratification.

d. the framers specifically wrote the amendment process to prevent using it to limit freedom of expression.

a direct vote in which an entire electorate is invited to vote on a particular proposal. this may result in the adoption of a new law.  

1. the townshend acts of 1767 “threaten the country with poverty and ruin.”

at a town meeting held at faneuil hall in boston on october 28, 1767, boston freeholders and residents discussed the implications of the brutal townshend acts levied against the colonists. the townshend acts were a set of four acts passed by the british parliament in the summer of 1767 in order to generate revenue for the crown (through duties on goods such as lead, glass, paper, and tea) as well as exert british control over the increasingly rebellious colonists.

during the oct. 28 meeting, the bostonians found:

the excessive use of foreign superfluities is the chief cause of the present distressed state of this town, as it is thereby drained of its money: which misfortune is likely to be increased by means of the late additional burthens and impositions on the trade of the province, which threaten the country with poverty and ruin.

as a result, the citizens unanimously voted to boycott all british-made goods.