Assignment # 12 Due 12-17-13

"It is now our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began. For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers, and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts. Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law -- for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well."

President Obama, 2013 Inauguration Speech

In this passage President Obama is challenging the words of the Declaration of Independence that states, “All men are created equal.” What draws many individuals to the United States is the notion that as individuals we were all created equal and have individual freedom. However, as our history and present today has shown, that is not the case. “Our gay brothers and sisters,” as Obama stated are not considered equal to heterosexuals under the law. This does not make sense if we are all suppose to be created equal. In certain industries, women who are just as qualified and educated as men make less money because of their gender. This also does not make sense if we are all supposed to be created equal. In order for us to truly stand and live by the notion that “All men are created equal,” under the law we must treat everyone the same despite their sexual identification and/or gender. For, as President Obama so eloquently put it “If we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well."

Assignment # 11 Due 12-10-13

“We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. Necessitous men are not free men. People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.”

Franklin D. Roosevelt

“The Economic Bill of Rights”

Message to the Congress of the United States on the State of the Union

In this passage Franklin D Roosevelt is discussing what true individual freedom really means. In order to truly be individual freely one must have some form of “economic security and independence.” Economic security is some time of financial income such as job. Men that are not economically secure are not free for as Franklin stated, “Necessitous men are not free men.”  Individuals that are impoverished, which can be defined by their unemployment status and need for food is the basis for what a society ran by a dictatorship is comprised of.

I chose this passage because the very basis of American civil liberty is individual freedom. As Franklin stated, individual freedom is marked by economic and financial security. In our society so many people are economically and financially unstable making it contradicting for one to say or believe that Americans have complete and total individual freedom.

   

Unemployment

“By 1933 millions of Americans were out of work. Bread lines were a common sight in most cities. Hundreds of thousands roamed the country in search of food, work and shelter. "Brother, can you spare a dime?" went the refrain of a popular song.”

Excerpt from the link The Great Depression

The Great Depression, which began in the United States in 1933, marked a time of immense economic despair for Americans. Millions of Americans were unemployed resulting in severe levels of poverty. Many people had no food, a job, or a place to live. Many were in search of those things. Many went unfed and were out of work for a long period of time.

I chose this passage because although the United States in not currently in a state of depression, many Americans are unemployed, homeless, and hungry. The number of homeless people living in New York City alone is astounding. The fact that so many years later many Americans are still facing the problems that Americans decades ago faced is astounding. 

The picture above is of people that were living in poverty during the Great Depression. As I stated before, due to unemployment many people were forced to live in poverty with no food or shelter. This picture relates to the class as it depicts The Great Depression, a time of harsh economic despair for millions of Americans. 

Lincoln (Part 2)

Assignment # 10 Due 12 - 3- 13

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."

Abraham Lincoln

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

November 19, 1863

In this passage, Abraham Lincoln attempts to redefine the Declaration of Independence as noted in our lecture. In the Dred Scott case it was determined that African Americans were not entitled to the rights under the Declaration of Independence. Therefore the proposition that “all men are created equal” was not born in to our country. Liberty (freedom) was born in to our country. However, that freedom does not extend to everyone in our country for all men were not created equal. In Lincoln’s words we are “dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal” meaning that in future we hope to achieve this goal. We hope that equality comes to pass in our country. At the time America had not yet granted equality to all of its citizens and that is something that the country needed to work towards. 

            I chose this passage because it is very significant in understanding the Declaration of Independence and our country. When reading the clause that states “all men are created equal” it brings in to question how African Americans could be slaves if all men were supposedly created equal. Lincoln offers an important explanation to this. It is not that in our country all men are actually created equal. We as a country are working towards that equality for the future. I believe in this present day we are still working towards the equality of all man. I believe that we will always work towards it. Our country has grown and continuously diversified over the years with its many cultures, languages, religions, etc. As a country we must continue to work and strive for the rights of all citizens of American despite their ethnic, religious, or social background so that we can reach a point of equality for all mankind. 

Lincoln (Part 1)

Assignment # 9 Due 11-26-13

“The Constitution was ordained and established by the people of the United States, through the action, in each State, of those persons who were qualified by its laws to act thereon in behalf of themselves and all other citizens of the State. In some of the States, as we have seen, colored persons were among those qualified by law to act on the subject. These colored persons were not only included in the body of `the people of the United States,- by whom the Constitution was ordained and established; but in at least five of the States they had the power to act, and, doubtless, did act, by their suffrages, upon the question of its adoption.”

Abraham Lincoln

Speech at Springfield, Illinois

June 26, 1857

In this passage Abraham Lincoln is discussing the United States Constitution and the lack of rights and freedom that African Americans had. As Lincoln stated the constitution was designed and created by the people of the United States. Included in those “people” were African Americans. African Americans participated in the establishment of the United States constitution. In five states that granted them the right to vote, they voted for the adoption of the Constitution therefore, they should be included in the “people” when one refers to the Constitution and its laws.

I chose this passage because it does not make any sense that individuals did not consider African Americans citizens of the United State even though they voted in five of the states for the adoption of the United States Constitution and they lived in the United States when the Constitution was established. Lincoln made a solid and valid point when he discussed how African Americans were qualified by law to vote on the adoption of the Constitution, therefore making them citizens of the United States with rights and freedoms.

From the African-American Odyssey website, from the Civil War section, choose two parts, and summarize and explain them. If they include pictures, copy and paste the photo or image in your paper

 29th Regiment from Connecticut

African American volunteers were in readiness to serve in the Civil War when the Union called them. President Lincoln and Union leaders vacillated greatly on the question of the abolition of slavery and the employment of black troops. The Emancipation Proclamation put an end to these questions. Effective January 1, 1863, the Proclamation emancipated Confederate slaves and authorized the use of black soldiers by Union troops. By the end of the war about 186,000 African American men had enlisted.

Freedom's Eve--Watch Night Meeting

On New Year's Eve many African American churches hold prayer and worship services from the late evening until midnight when they welcome the new year with praise, thanksgiving, prayer, and confession. These services are called watch night meetings. December 31, 1862, was a very special evening for the African American community, because it was the night before the Emancipation Proclamation took effect, freeing all the slaves in the Confederate states.