The founders of the United States claimed and built on the idea that individuals have certain natural rights— the rights of all people to dignity and worth (Magleby). Dignity is defined as “the state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect” (Dignity). Though we created our nation on respect and dignity, it took us almost one-hundred years to simply say that we are equal, and we are still trying to become equal even to this day. Though we, as a nation, are far from obtaining equality, we have drastically improved from what we considered equal more than two-hundred years ago. Suffrage and citizenship were deemed equal more than one-hundred and forty years ago for men, but it wasn’t even until 1920 that women were given the right to vote as a result of the nineteenth amendment. This was the beginning of equal rights for women. Few women were allowed to work in the labor force, those that did made up a small percentage, less than one-third. During World War II, few women were allowed to fight in the war, so they took the jobs of men while they went off to war. The men left knowing that the jobs they once had, will be there when they return. When the war had finished, a working woman was beginning to become the norm, even after the men came back and reclaimed their jobs. The amount of women who obtained degrees tripled during this time, which led to a rapid growth in female employment. From the end of the war in 1945 to 1999, female employment peaked at 60%, a number no one thought was achievable (Web). We can see that this number is higher than what it was in 2010 at 47% (Women’s). Though women were obtaining the same degrees as men were, they only earned a fraction of the salaries men saw. Women on average, in 1972, were making only 62% of every dollar a man would make. Today women are making, on average, 81% of what men make (Web). Things are not equal yet, but change takes time, and we can see that America is moving in the right direction. One of the largest accomplishments for the United States was the Civil Rights Movement. This turning point not only gave men and women, blacks and whites equal citizenship and voting rights; the first step in creating a more equal and unified nation. One of the leading and most well known historians involved with the Civil Rights Movement is Martin Luther King Jr. King was a Baptist minister and social activist born in the South during the 1930’s. His dream was to achieve equality for African Americans and sought his inspiration from other non-violet activists such as Mahatma Gandhi (Martin). MLK was the perfect example of one of Mahatma Gandhi’s most powerful quotes, “You must be the change you want to see in the world” (Mahatma). Thanks to Rosa Parks and her courageous actions, King was able to gain popularity through the Montgomery Bus Boycott which lasted over a year. “Not one hair of one head of one person should be harmed” was the motto King and others lived by as they founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), a group aimed toward equality through non-violence. This philosophy was put to the test during the Birmingham campaign in 1963, in which boycotts, sit-ins, and marches against segregation took place. Later that year, King and others organized the March on Washington, where some three-hundred-thousand people gathered to promote equality. This act led to the creation of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 which outlawed discrimination on anyone one person based on race, religion, color, sex or ethnicity (Civil). King continued as an activist until his assassination in April of 1968 while he was supporting a worker’s strike. (Martin) King fought for the impossible and was able to show the world that dreams only happen if you make them happen. The “Separate but Equal” doctrine in the United States Constitution began to become an issue with the newly ratified fourteenth amendment
Democracy is a form of government in which all eligible citizens are meant to participate equally either directly (through votes) or indirectly (through elected representatives). So basically in a democracy: -Elections are free and fair. -People have civil rights that vary depending on eligibility. (Civil right are Personal liberties that belong to an individual, owing to his or her status as a citizen or resident of a particular country or community.) -Eligible citizens elect their leaders. (Eligible…
Alex Cruz/101314 Bmcc/Pol Sci 100/Sec 025 First Paper I feel that some of the fundamental principles, ideals, institutions, and cultural traditions underlying the American political system contains a number of core ideals and values. Everyone will not have the same views on the ideals and values but the majority of people subscribe to these Ideals such as liberty, equality, democracy, independence, and even individualism. The American political system has pros and cons to it, such circumstances like Federalism in…
In a democracy the quintessential citizen performs responsibilities and receives rights not offered in other forms of government. Rights given to citizens can be exercised in steps. When participating in a democracy, you have to the right to voice opinions and become a catalyst for any necessary change in the country. Citizenry is in fact the active participation of the people, as citizens, in politics and civic life. The first step to exercising citizenship in a democracy is becoming educated…
Whitman’s “Song to Myself’ embodied the complications of this remarkable American Poet. In this quote, Whitman was discussing the concept of celebrating who he is as a human being, even if it’s flawed, contradictory, or imperfect. He influenced a lot of poets and achieved Peace and Justice to his country just by writing poems. “O Captain! My Captain!” in the memory of Abraham Lincoln is one of the most patriotic poem in American history. The following paragraphs will be about Walt Whitman’s way of changing…
by earlier philosophers such as Locke, Montesquieu, and Rousseau, the document was still revolutionary in many ways. The Declaration of Independence is a revolutionary document because of its ideas about the role of government. It is a uniquely American document that gave us a model for the principles that our government would be built upon for the next 200+ years. The United States of America was the first country to be founded on the 3 principles of self-government, universal equality, and natural…
An examination of the final paper required for Mr. Walsh’s master’s degree from the United States Army War College indicates the senator appropriated at least a quarter of his thesis on American Middle East policy from other authors’ works, with no attribution. Mr. Walsh completed the paper, what the War College calls a “strategy research project,” to earn his degree in 2007, when he was 46. The sources of the material he presents as his own include academic papers, policy journal essays and books…
“Obama this, Obama that.” The president has become the idol for blame to the American citizens. This blame can be seen all over the media, blaming him for the economy crisis, Obama care, and supposedly not passing laws that could better the United States. Now, Obama Care was a law created by the president for affordable health care. It was made to offer more benefit rights to the lower and middle class citizens. The American people have had this thought in their heads throughout his entire presidency…
Evolution What is the political system in America today? Some say that we are a republic, others a Democracy; some say we are socialists flirting with fascism. Are our personal liberties being sacrificed for security, and are these sacrifices worth the loss of freedom? What happens in a society where the people are not the sovereign, can this society flourish in both freedom and wealth? In this paper I want to show the evolution of America’s political system from a Republic into a Democratic Socialist…
Neumeyer A.P. Government 20 January 2015 The Role of “Majority Rules” in American Politics When you think of a democracy, you generally think of a governmental system that has the core principle of “majority rules.” With a true democracy, a country is trying to protect minority’s rights while at the same time allowing the popular majority to rule. The concept of “majority rules” was established to organize the American government and decide public issues without taking away the basic rights and…
electricity or heating. Photovoltaic cells or solar cell are the electric device that covers the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect, which is the creation of voltage or current in a material when exposed to light. In this paper, I’m going to discuss how this product imported from the U.S. will be…