Posted: May 13th, 2021

ENDURING VISION FOR AMERICA ESSAY

Prompt:
If the enduring vision of America is embodied in the Declaration of Independence’s statements about equality and universal rights to justice, liberty, and self-fulfillment, how much progress toward those ideals had been made by 1860? Back up your evaluation with as many specific facts as possible about the status of various groups in American society by the outbreak of the Civil War. (Consider the common man, immigrants, Native Americans, women, and blacks)

note:include an introduction and a conclusion. In the introduction, you must state your thesis as well as providing a general overview of the topic you will address. Your conclusion paragraph should provide a summation of your points, as well as a restatement of your thesis as the culmination of your essay

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ENDURING VISION FOR AMERICA

Introduction
Civil rights refer to the rights to equal treatment by the government and recognition of people of various cultural backgrounds as Americans rather than people of a particular origin, race or gender. When America attained independence, there was no total freedom and people did not receive better treatment as citizens of America. This resulted into the efforts by civil rights activists to help Americans get equal treatment from the government as well as fellow Americans. The most affected groups of people were women, immigrants, Native Americans and black Americans . For instance, when independence was achieved in America, there were unequal opportunities for job, education and housing among various groups. This resulted into the need to the need to amend the American perception of the rights of various groups with the focus on equal treatment. Slavery had been a status imposed by the American law contributing to negation of people’s civil liberties . However, efforts were made by abolitionists and women groups with the focus on putting an end to these status distinctions, resulting into a number of oppositions against them in the process. Civil war Amendments (the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments of 1865-70) were made to usher in a new constitutional regime which focused on abolishment of slavery and consider anyone born in the United States as citizens and entitled to treatment as other citizens. However, interpretations were made about this law so that their impacts could be minimized, so that states could make their own interpretations of the law at the end of 19th century.
The main civil liberties that were of great concerns for the Americans in the 19th century were rights that could be exercised in public environment and thus different from private rights. The man civil liberties that were in the Anglo-American tradition include freedom of speech and expression, freedom of assembly and convention of meetings, freedom to form associations with interested parties, freedom of movement from one location to another and freedom to seek justice. These were rights that enabled citizens get freedom from overprotection by the government. On the other hand, civil rights that the Americans sought included more expansive ideas of rights that ensured the aggrieved groups claimed specific rights which they had not been awarded. During the 19th century, a number of people began the fight for their civil rights such as equal access to education, equality in the use of public resources, the rights to take part in voting processes .
There are various traditions that led to formation of civil rights. For instance, it was assumed that governments were social contracts between the people and the leaders, for the purpose of ensuring natural life, property and liberty are protected. Since social contracts were formed so that the rights of the people are protected, the act of ruling despotically by rulers resulted into a loss of its legitimacy. As a result, there were a number of philosophical rebellions about the violation of natural rights. These traditions played a significant role during the acceptance of Declaration for Independence in 1776 and the Bill of rights between 1789 and 1791. The impact of these laws resulted into various forms of civil rights acquisition among different groups such as women, immigrants, blacks and Native Americans. This paper provides a review of the extent to which these groups of people had achieved these rights by 1860.
Thesis Statement
When America attained independence in 1776, the main expectation of the people is that they would get equal treatment by the government in the areas of police protection, justice, and rights to education, freedom of worship, movement and ability to work in any part of the country. Generally, Americans expected to be considered equal by the government irrespective of race or social status. However, this was not the case since the government treated people differently based on race, gender, origin and education among others. This resulted into an interpretation that the government did not honor its pledge of protecting the people who gave it the power to protect them. As a result, a number of civil rights movements emerged. This paper provides a study of the achievements that had been attained by 1860 in the ways in which civil rights of various groups were observed by the government of America.
Homework help – Discussion
There were various areas where progress had been achieved in the effort to ensure civil rights of people were observed. For instance, many states had allowed their citizens to have freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship. Some of the people whose rights were affected by the Amendments include the following:
Rights of Common Man
By 1860, most states had granted their citizens the freedom of expression and freedom of worship. This resulted into a relief to the common man because it enabled common Americans express their opinions about the manner in which the government was ruling. It also gave them the option of having faith of their own choice. The area where common man was suppressed is in the freedom to vote, in some states, this freedom was considered political rather than a civil right. Consequently some states did not allow its citizens to take part in voting exercises. The first state to allow its citizens to take part in voting exercises was Maryland which enacted this law in 1801. As a result of these gains of the poor white freemen, others bore the cost of the freedom. Properties black men enjoyed voting rights in various states but eventually lost these rights over time .
Police was used to define the civil rights of the common man in a manner that showed lack of equal distribution of these rights. For instance, they were considered as officers employed by the government to regulate health, welfare and morals of the citizens of America. This resulted into an impingement of civil rights of the people in various ways. This was observed in the case where blasphemy was criminalized while the freedom of worship was granted. In 1840, states formulated and passed ‘temperance’; a law that banned production, sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages. Generally, police was used to determine the rights enjoyed by an individual and this had an impact on civil liberties.
Civil Rights of Women
Between mid 18th century and 19th century, there were drastic changes in the roles of women in the American society. As a result of industrialization, a number of changes were observed. This is because women could take part in industrial activities such as weaving, and spinning. From the beginning of 19th century, it was observed that women changed the roles they played in tier families and participated in social work. As well as formed associations and movements. The first movement was formed by Emma Willard and other three women with the intention of improving the quality of women’s education to ensure they become good citizens and mothers5. They contributed towards education of women with the acceptance of the notion of the “appropriate sphere of women”. However, they did not take active part in women’s rights but contributed to an important outcome. Between 1830 and 1836 when the Americans were advocating against slave trade, women also formed the Female Anti-Slavery Society with the aim of ensuring women were not sold as slaves. There was strong opposition against abolition and halls where anti slave societies convened meetings were burnt down. An example of an activist who wrote women’s pamphlet is Angelina Grimke who wrote “An Appeal to the Christian women of the Southern states” with the intention of convincing women to work for abolition. This pamphlet was not received positively in the South but it was accepted in the North. They also contributed towards the patriarchal view that women should be under the control of men thus causing disagreements with the clergy. In order to emphasize her stand on this matter, Sarah Grimke wrote a number of other letters drawing parallels between the conditions of women and slaves. According to her, women were not supposed to seek equal rights as men because they are naturally and morally created as women. The abolition movement split into two factions, where one faction constituted a group of people for women’s rights while the other faction opposing it.
During the World Anti-Slavery Convention held in 1840 in London, women delegates present in the meeting were not allowed to have seats thus used the gallery as seats. Two of the women who attended the conference became fiends and formed the first Women’s Rights Convention at Seneca Falls in 1848. In the same year, New York State passed the Married Women’s property Act which ensured women had the rights to own property despite being married. Anesthesia was used during childbirth in spite of restriction by the clergy that it was against the will of God. Another significant force behind the Seneca Falls Convention is Elizabeth Cady Stanton who was displeased by the position in which women were placed in the society. During the convention, she suggested a declaration to be formed after the formation of the Declaration of Independence. She listed a number of ways in which women were discriminated against and her pledge to ensure these forms of discriminations were abolished. For instance, they managed to achieve goal of the rights of women to vote despite being passed by a small majority. However, this success resulted from the contribution of Stanton and Fredrick Douglass. It was the desire of many women to have legal rights but they believed that they were not allowed to vote because they were dependent on their husbands .
At the end of the convention, there was a continuous spread of the movement as was observed by the number of meetings held in various parts of the country in the 1850s. Women in the western territories worked full-time n the farm in a similar manner as men but in the North, they were considered as weak and less intelligent compared with men. However, between 1850s and 1860s, a number of women were admitted to Midwestern Universities. The reason is that there was shortage of male students owing to the involvement of most of them in the Civil war. Another woman who participated in the women’s rights during the 1850s is Susan B. Anthony. Her participation was focused on temperance movement with the idea that women could only have influence in their homes. Her attempt to bring the temperance issue into politics was not successful due to lack of role for women.
In 1852, New York State Women’s Temperance Society was formed by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Amelia Bloomer and Anthony. It was the intention of Stanton to incorporate women’s rights program into the society but it was not easy for women to accept a number of her radical ideas, such as the advocacy of divorce reform. However, the skills obtained from the temperance enabled Anthony to campaign for the women’s rights between 1853 and 1854. She secured a total of 10000 signatures which enabled her petition at the New York Legislature to be passed. During the women’s convention in Albany in 1854, Elizabeth Stanton expressed her idea that the law did not give women equal rights as men. However, in 1860, New York passed a law which gave women a number of rights such as legal status, ability to own property, parental rights and widow rights but no franchise rights.
By 1860, women and poor people in America held lower status under the state laws. For instance, magistrates were allowed to sentence paupers to jail without trial by a jury. Women were adversely affected by the common doctrine of ‘covertures’ which stated that a married woman was under the legal identity of her husband and was not allowed to own property, own a bank account or seek judicial service.
Civil Rights of Immigrants
By 1860, the U.S Supreme Court approved a law that ordered the quarantine of people immigrating from other countries or states and provided states with the power to deny entry to a particular group of people such as paupers. Initially, it was believed that Americans should not allow immigrants into the country. For instance, a law was passed which provided the authorities at the borders to ensure any immigrant who was poor was denied entry into America. It was also believed that immigrants could only come into America to serve as slaves in farms owned by the Americans. They were also not required to own land or property in America.
The Declaration for Independence statement clarified the right to religion but when immigrants arrived into America, they were received with a lot of resistance in the 19th century. The movement against immigrants was supported by white Protestants who were of the opinion that increased immigrant tides in the United States would result into harm to the welfare of Native Americans . It was felt that most of the European immigrants did not have the right level of education and would contribute less towards development in America. According to the activists, Catholics were plotting to turn the country into an area under the control of the pope. One of the most powerful of the groups is the Know Nothings. These groups required the government to deny voting rights to the immigrants as well as prohibition of immigrants and Catholics from holding public offices. Other areas where immigrants were not treated equally as other Americans include access to medical services, the use of land and equal rights to security. This shows that despite the contribution by the declaration of independence statements to unite Americans, it had not contributed towards significantly towards benefits to immigrants.
Rights of Native Americans
The rights of Native Americans were observed in terms of the manner in which interstate slavery was conducted by 1860, the level of access to jobs, education, security and justice by the Native Americans. It also involved the extent to which industrialization had improved to improve general development in America. In the case of creation of jobs, America entered into a period of commercial expansion and it was observed that many industries had emerged as a result of construction of roads and improvement of postal services. There was an also improved communication system and the control of information that was only allowed for the elite had been taken away by the critics of the elites. It was generally agreed that there was the need to have a strong democracy where education and literacy was widespread for both men and women. It was also considered that access to information was important and American citizens were required to read continuously.
Despite the need to ensure the American rights, it was observed that Native Americans sometimes experienced violation of their rights. For instance, by 1860, it was observed that the cost of basic health care had skyrocketed, poor housing was common among most Americans, the homeless people were criminalized and some citizens were incarcerated for profit . Despite the condemnation of slavery in some states, it was observed that most states continued with the activity. It was also observed that equality in education had improved slightly with more minority communities attending higher institutions of learning than in the previous years. There were also an increase in the number of women attending universities but this was possible because most male students had gone to participate in the Civil wars.
It was also observed that the Americans were able to enjoy a number of freedoms such as freedom of expression, freedom of religion and freedom of movement and assembly. However, a declaration had not been made against racial discrimination. This resulted into discrimination against people who were not of white origin such as black Americans and coloreds. Discriminations were also experienced in the areas of job creation and management of offices in government bodies. Another area where great achievements had not been attained as a result of the policy of Declaration of independence is the sexual discrimination. This has been supported by the fact that women were considered to be less unfit to work in major positions such as managerial position. Consequently, these positions were assigned to men.
Rights of Black Americans
On the basis of the rights to vote, some states did not allow black Americans to take part in voting. For instance, in 1810, Maryland prohibited black Americans from voting . In New York, it was required that black Americans should have property of a certain value before they could take part in voting exercise. On the other hand, white Americans were not restricted to have property of any value before they could take part in voting exercise. This resulted into an increase in the number of white voters compared to Black American voters.
Race was still a delimiter in the effort to ensure black Americans were treated equally as other Americans. For instance, a number of northern states passed the ‘Black Laws’ which ensured black Americans were restricted from access to better education and justice in law courts. In the southern states, it was assumed that black people were slaves, thus free blacks were required to carry papers showing their status. The status was precarious and could be subjected to revocation at any time. In 1806, it was declared by George Superior Court that the statement “free negroes, persons of color, and slaves have the freedom to drive” was not beneficial to the constitution. This principle was enacted by Chief Justice Roger Brooke in 1857 when he proposed that people who descended from slaves were not allowed to be citizens of the United States. This shows that despite the attainment of independence by the United States, the Black Americans did not get fair treatments from the authorities such as courts and the police. Thus, to this extent, the statements of Declaration of Independence about equality and fair treatment had not been successful at this stage.
The American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS) was formed to ensure public prejudice was eliminated from the people of color. It advocated to treatment based on their intellectual capacity and moral standards rather than being viewed as slaves. Efforts were made to ensure states stopped interstate slave trade. This was achieved by publishing antislavery pamphlets and distributing them to various states in America. In response to this act, states where slave trade took place passed laws making publication and distribution of antislavery pamphlets sedition. A petition was also made by President Andrew Jackson tasking the Congress to abolish sending antislavery pamphlets through post office to states where slave trade was allowed.
Women also contributed towards civil rights of women by pushing for equal treatment. For instance, Sarah and Angelina Grimke of South Carolina conducted public lectures and also published ‘letters on the equality of the Sexes and the condition of Women’ in a newspaper. This resulted into opposition from the notion that patriarchal society would be upset and there were attempts to ensure women were denied the right to equal treatment as men in the movement. In order to respond to this opposition, a group of women abolitionists led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton held a convention “Declaration of sentiments” a section of Declaration of Independence that declared it evident that “all women and men are created equal”. For instance, the women demanded the right to vote . Despite lack of success in these women’s rights movements in the enactment of suffrage laws, a number of reforms were made to the marriage laws. For instance, a meeting in Seneca Falls, Texas resulted into the passage of the married women’s property act, where women were allowed to own property as well as keep wages. As a result of these legislative attacks on the common –law doctrine, women were able to have a number of rights such as an amendment that resulted into their attainment of freedom of speech.
Conclusion
This paper sows that the current freedoms enjoyed by Americans has undergone a number of stages before it could be achieved. For instance, currently there is freedom of speech and expression for all Americans, there is also freedom of movement into the United States and people are allowed to settle in any part of the country. People are also allowed to have faith of their choice and engage in economic activity of their preference. However, in the 19th century and 18th century, this paper shows that Americans experienced a number of problems in an effort to remain united. For instance, there was interstate slavery which focused on subjecting people of Africa origin to slavery, there was persecution of immigrants and they were not allowed to have equal rights as other Americans. In addition, it is found that Native Americans were allowed access to government services and educational rights based on one’s economic status. There was a general division among states and each state had its own system of governance.
This paper shows that the Declaration of Independence contributed significantly towards equality in America. This is based on the strong foundation it created for formation of groups of movements aimed at liberating America from divisions based on gender, race, educational standards and origin. It also ensured Americans transition towards the current democracy was achieved through the efforts made by former activists of the 19th century. This paper shows that marginalization of women was a great concern in the 19th century. This is because women were considered to be less superior compared to men and did not take active roles in many positions such as leadership positions. However, the contributions of declaration of Independent resulted into allowing women have equal rights as men. this paper shows that in order to bring change in any society, unity of the people is paramount while the rights of residents of a country needs to be inclusive of all residents and not a section of the society.

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