American Ideal

The 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America freed the slaves in America. The 14th Amendment gave the slave citizenship. Yet even with these assurances all did not work out, as it should have. Segregation was the social structure that took the place of slavery throughout America, contrary

Women did not have many rights in the 19th century. They could not vote, serve on juries, if married could not keep wages or own property, and women could not get a good education. At a convention when two women tried to join a meeting they could not have a role in the proceeding. Later she made a convention that over 300 men and women showed up to. Then Stanton wrote the Declaration of Sediments that showed the rights they wanted.

The 13th amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for a crime. The amendment provided certainty for the legal status of former slaves and overthrew the three-fifth clause, a constitutional enshrinement of slavery. Soon after the 13th amendment many southern states passed the Black Codes, restricting African Americans’ freedom, and forced them to work in a labor economy based on low wages or debt. The Black Codes spurred northern outrage and helped to undermine support for Andrew Jackson’s policies on reconstruction, giving the power of reconstruction to the radical republicans in congress. By 1868 the 14th amendment was ratified, granting citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States,” which included former slaves.

Three constitutional amendments altered the nature of African American rights, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude.., shall exist in the United States…”(Section 1 Document D). “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subjected to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens,”(Section 2 Document D). “The right of citizens of the United states to vote shall not be denied,”(Section 3 Document D). Slavery was abolished, they were becoming citizens, and gained the rights to vote. Although these amendments seem great, the whites still found a way to torment free slaves.

Stanton’s “Declaration of Sentiments” was the first convention for women rights. Its purpose was to address the status of American women. Stanton felt that women were feeling they were getting shorted and disrespected of their rights. It was a list of resolutions to the problems dealing with their rights. She also included needs for women’s right to education, property, and vote.

The freedom in the new society led to more improvements and beliefs on how to make the changed society better. During the period of Reconstruction, three new amendments passed that had to do with the freedom and rights of freed African Americans. The 13th Amendment, passed in 1865, abolished slavery once and for all. Passed in 1866, the 14th Amendment gave everyone who was born in America full citizenship. Lastly, the 15th Amendment said that no citizen can be denied the right to vote because of your race, the color of your skin, or of previous conditions of enslavement.

Freedom has been the center of American ideals since the United States gained independence from Great Britain. To protect these ideals, the Founding Fathers created the Bill of Rights; which contains the first ten amendments to the Constitution. The document grants American citizens their basic rights and freedoms. The First Amendment guarantees the freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, freedom of the press and the right to petition the government without retribution. It directly states: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the

Traditionally, in the early American and European societies women and men were placed in two different spheres (Brinkley, 329). Men, typically, brought in the income doing hard work while the women stayed home to produce and take care of children, these spheres also meant that women weren’t allowed to vote and usually got no education. Rising feminism lead to the Seneca Falls Convention, where Elizabeth Cady Stanton, in the Seneca Falls Declaration wrote that they “declare our right to be free as man is free, to be represented in the government, in which we are taxed to support.” (Doc. I). While, the Declaration of Independence does say that “all men were created equal” the principle of equality stands.

The thirteenth amendment stated that all former slaves were granted freedom. The reconstruction period, “did create the essential constitutional foundation for further advances in the quest for equality”. It laid the building blocks for the future building for civil rights not just for blacks but women and other minorities. Former slaves, “ found comfort in their family and in the churches they established”. Blacks took community in each other and bonded over the mutual idea of freedom .

The most notable being the addition of three Amendments, the 13th, the 14th, and the 15th. These Amendments outlawed slavery, granted citizenship to all former slaves

Women’s Suffrage Reaction Paper The declaration of independence states that all men and women are created equal. This document, along with the constitution, is what the administration of the United States was founded on. The men who created these documents were citizens striving for equal rights and representation in government. Ironically, these rights the founding fathers worked so hard to create for themselves were not granted to women in their newly established nation.

Thousands of women have screamed at the top of their lungs, clawed at the patriarchy, and tirelessly fought for their rights as citizens of the United States of America. From the beginning of mankind, women have been labeled as inferior to men not only physically, but mentally and intellectually as well. Only in 1920 did women gain the right to voice their opinions in government elections while wealthy white men received the expected right since the creation of the United States. A pioneer in women’s suffrage, Susan B. Anthony publicly spoke out against this hypocrisy in a time when women were only seen as child bearers and household keepers. Using the United State’s very own Constitution and Declaration as ammunition, Anthony wrote countless

Before, during, and long after the Civil War blacks were discriminated against in almost every form of life. They had to fight and be patient to be accepted as equals among their white counterparts; this process took form over a long period of time, and after many failures, blacks were truly equal in the eyes of the government. The thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments which were passed in the late 1860’s were supposed to bring political, social, and economic equality for the blacks; however, this was not the case, while in some facets of life blacks obtained more freedoms they had to wait many years after these amendments were passed to be fully equal to whites. The thirteenth amendment abolished slavery in the United States.

In today’s world, it seems to be that women have the same rights as men, but it wasn't always this way. The speech “Women’s Rights to Suffrage” by Susan B Anthony is the most compelling of all. Susan B Anthony persuades the audience that all women should have the same rights as men. It’s shown through the speech that the federal constitution says “we the people”, the government has no right to take away rights from just one gender, and that women are considered people as well. The fact that the constitution says “we the people” is a primary point in this speech.

The famous Emancipation Proclamation said by Lincoln outlawed slavery in the Confederacy and started the path for the complete outlawing of the institution with the 13th amendment. Next would be the 14th amendment which provided citizenship for African Americans, now part of the nation with its regulations and laws. Lastly would be the 15th amendment which gave former slaves/ African Americans the right to vote in elections, in accordance though this decision would create tensions leading into the 1900’s