Summary: A People's History Of The United States

The 14th amendment completely rewrites the whole constitution and deems the slaves as full citizens of the United States. This amendment also undoes the ruling of the Dred Scott case which states that no black man has any rights that any white man should recognize. Even with this amendment being passed only two states explicitly allowed black men to vote, Tennessee and Iowa. Eventually because many white men began to find loop holes in letting the black men vote the 15th amendment was passed. The new 15th amendment states a list of reasons that a state cannot allow an individual to vote.

To begin, many people have different opinions on whether slavery was the cause of racism or not. To really know if this is true or not, you have to know whether slavery or racism began first. According to International Socialist Review, it is commonly assumed that racism is as old as human society itself, suggesting that racism is a part of human nature. This is a false statement that many people could disagree with. Within the article, it states, “Historically it is pretty well proven now that the ancient Greeks and Romans knew nothing about race.

Many people always speak of how today’s world is complex and convoluted, as if it was simple before that particular point. To build a future for one self, they must first know the past to progress. Frederick Douglass wrote a short essay on the Color Line, he does not directly state a definition of the color line, but rather explains the current racial affections, with in depth of the two conflicting races. He speaks on how the white philosophers spoke open and confidently about how the Negro was inferior. The Anglo Saxon had always been prejudice against the opposite race, it was their natural supposedly, but this is not based in science.

He tells Blake that mixed blood is not respected by Native Americans. As child he was taken east to Toronto, Philadelphia and New York and finally to England by white people. There he received western education. Nobody is the one who sees in Blake the reincarnation of the English poet and painter William Blake (1757 – 1827, London (Bataille 67)) and also a killer of white men. These are the two forced roles that Bill Blake adapts in the course of the film.

In 1932 we get the bullets and gas of the police, as we did in Washington, and the troops, which Hoover called put against us. Because we were demanding the Bonus so that we and our families could have something to eat, the President of the United States orders the army to gas and bayonet us, to burn our meagre belongings and to drive our wives and children into the dark of the night,” (Veteran’s 3). Even soldiers who had to dissolve the protest were discontent with evacuation of protestors. George S. Patton, a senior Army officer, reflected on the elimination of the Bonus Army, calling it, “a messy affair for everyone,” and, “[a] most distasteful form of service,”

He said that the most eminent Negro scholar in America, Dr. W.E.B. Dubois quoted, “It’s a silly waste of money, time, and temper to try and compel a powerful majority to do what they are determined not to do… It is impossible - impossible for a Negro to receive a proper education at a white college”. Henry Lowe (from Wiley College) responded using logos and ethos. He said that DuBois is the first Negro to receive a Ph.D. from a white college and is a product of an Ivy League school. Then he said, “... DuBois knows all too well the white man’s resistance to change.

With the first wave of Spanish colonization of the New World, many indigenous peoples were killed and their lands were seized and their way of life was destroyed (Tindall 26-27). When the Spanish showed up, they greatly overpowered indigenous peoples. They had iron, seafaring vessels, firearms, explosives, and swords, with indigenous peoples had copper, dugout canoes, arrows, and tomahawks (Tindall 27). This is immoral because the indigenous peoples would have no chance against the Spanish, and killing the indigenous people was senseless since they couldn’t fight back well anyway. When indigenous people were threatened by people in a village Columbus left behind, they attacked, killing ten people, only to lead to a retaliation that decimated their numbers (Tindall 21).

In the novel it states,”I couldn't have felt really and satisfactorily fine and proud and set up over any title except one that should come from the nation itself, the only legitimate source” (Twain 37). Hank holds to a very American way of thinking. He thinks only a democratic vote matters, and that the will of the people is more important than what the people in charge have to say. Chapter 13 reveals a lot of patriotism. It states, “ that all political power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on their authority and instituted for their benefit; and that they have at all times an undeniable and indefeasible right to alter their form of government in such a manner as they may think expedient ” (Twain 61).

“The Declaration of Independence does not forbid us to do our part in the regeneration of the world. . .” (Beveridge 2). Of course what he states finds more justification on imperialism, something Anglo Americans would agree with in relation to the Battle of Little Bighorn, which just reinforces why it is more likely that Beveridge would support the interpretation before the 1950’s. Although the article is referring to imperialism and not westward expansion, it is easy to imply that Beveridge would have been supportive of the interpretation of the Battle of Little Bighorn prior to the 1950’s.

In the Dred Scott Decision of 1857, Chief Justice Taylor declares that black people have not rights and they are just articles of merchandise. Considering this, he is stating America is a white man's country and every other race has no voice in this country. However, even with the ratification of the 13th,14th, and 15th Amendments, discrimination and prejudice still remain strong.

The states represented freedom, and independence, yet there were millions of people being forced into a life of hard labor and no pay, slaves. Frederick Douglass was completely correct with the way he delivered his speech. He began his speech by questioning why he was chosen to give this speech. He mentions that he for one, is of a different color than the ones who were truly celebrating this occasion, “I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary” (Douglass). For him and his people this is not a day of celebration but a day of mourning.

to the...men and women who died by the hundreds of thousands from accident or sickness, where they worked or where they lived--casualties of progress?...If there are necessary sacrifices to be made for human progress, is it not essential to hold to the principle that those to be sacrificed must make the decision themselves?” (17) The “greater good” attitude discounts the pain and suffering caused in the name of advancement. The celebrated explorer and hero Christopher Columbus exemplifies this. Columbus and his men murdered, tortured, and enslaved the entirety of the Arawak people. Because of his great discovery of the Americas and his favor in the Spanish court, this monstrous genocide is brushed off when looking at the “greater good.”. If one were only to consider his important discovery from the “price of progress” attitude, the pain and suffering of the Arawak people would be totally forgotten and overlooked, losing a very real part of history.