A Struggle for American Freedom: The US Constitution - Research Paper

Introduction

The American freedom that most of the citizens enjoy was born in struggle. Primarily, during the struggle for the independence of the nation, several inherited ideas were mainly transformed and also new ones emerged (Young, 2018). Importantly, the definition for the individuals who were entitled to enjoy the constitution was referred to as the blessings of the liberty that was extended and challenged.

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The United States Constitution is primarily the supreme law in the country. Originally the constitution comprised of seven articles. The constitution defines how people behave and how the government and other authorities treat their citizens. This is important as it gives the citizen their rights, liberties, and freedoms (Tooker, 2017). These are well defined in the constitution, and they are crucial in protecting the citizens from any mistreatment from the authorities or fellow citizens. There have been notable cases that have resulted in what is today being referred to as the rights, freedom, and liberty (Harris, 2017). Most of these case date back to even as early as during the colonial times. Moreover, the fight for slavery has been crucial in shaping the way the united states framed its constitutions. Furthermore, the civil war was another defining moment in the United States as the fight between the Northern States and the Southern States defined the way forward for the nation and also in dictating the constitution in the abolishment of slavery.

Slavery was at a center-stage between politics and economics since colonialism until the civil war era in the United States of America. The war against slavery had been significant in the development of United States history due to the need for freedom from slavery. The war against slavery was made in peaceful as well as violent ways (Beckert, 2017). Peaceful resolutions were mainly in areas where there were fewer slaves, especially in the north while slaves adopted violent means from the south who believed in liberation as their only route to freedom. Therefore, these slaves both white and blacks become allied and started resistance movements against their masters. Moreover, the antislavery movement was one of the factors that led to political developments which stimulated the need to uphold people's rights and freedoms in the United States (Hertzke et al., 2018). Some of the slaves even flew from their masters home which signified the beginning of the antislavery wars in the United States.

The war against slavery first started with a wave of emancipation where both religious and non-religious movements started preaching against slavery. Most of these people began to argue that slavery was against the fundamental rights and freedoms of an individual. A slave had no liberty rather than remaining loyal to his or her master. The wave was against these and aimed at restoring the freedoms and privileges of the slaves. Religious leaders like Quaker John Woolman was convinced that holding slaves was a sin and this led to other Quakers believing so and this followed soot among other denominations like the Presbyterian and many more. Therefore, most religious leaders started to condemn slavery as they viewed it as a denial of liberty to a person which meant that the way against slavery had started. Consequently, this led to the religious genesis for the fight of people's rights, freedoms, and liberties across the United States and other parts of the world.

The American Revolution was regarded as a war against enslavement and mainly aimed at fighting slavery and increasing slavery emancipation (Eltis, 2017). The revolution sparked several resistance against the British colonizers who were primarily engaged in slavery. War against slavery escalated as several states, especially in the north, started to abolish slavery. Leaders like Lord Dunmore and General Henry Clinton began to promise freedom for several slaves in Virginia and those who fought for the British respectively. Due to this most slaves were enlighten and some them fled from their masters' premises for example slaves who belonged to George Washington and Thomas Jefferson (Sinha, 2016). Several states established constitutions which outlawed and were against slaveholding. In 1780, countries such as Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania were among the first states to prohibit slavery, especially in Pennsylvania which was the first state to free slaves in 1780. Although individual states in the north continued to allow slavery, the antislavery war had begun and was spreading fast.

The Northwest Ordinance was established in 1787 which aimed at enlarging the free territories in North America (Young, 2019). Therefore, this led to the freedom of several slaves in North American. However, although slave emancipation was on the rise, individual states considered slavery was a significant economic boost to the economy for example in the tobacco and rice firms. Consequently, this did not bar the fight against slavery as blacks and whites became united to end slavery. The whites in Maryland and Georgia started to consider blacks and themselves as equals. In the south, slavery was persistent due to the presence of many blacks who slaves for white masters. Despite this, slave rebellion was witnessed in several parts in the south. The war against slavery was sectional as in the north people were heavily against the vice while in the south slavery was still happening.

Emancipation of slaves was the first wave against slavery in the United States. The second wave began in the 1820s and was referred to as the great awakening which aims at antislavery reforms (Mauk & Oakland, 2017). The movement was led by evangelical denomination who claimed ending slavery was a way of preparing the way for the coming of Christ. During this wave, slavery was not the only problem, but racial discrimination was also a significant setback. The movement was led by abolitionists who attempts to fight slavery were mainly retarded by other leaders who disrupted their meetings and even burnt meeting halls. Abolitionists were activists who formed societies and held meetings to boost the war against antislavery. They were mainly composed of rebellious black leaders and spearheaded their campaigns both in the south as well as the northern parts of the United States. Some leaders' opposed the abolitionists, and one of the abolitionist leaders was killed Elijah Lovejoy, which led to the movement turning violent.

The abolitionist led the southern resistance and war against slavery was all over the country. Even though most of the whites opposed these advances by the abolitionists such that they petitioned to stop anti-slavery movement the war continued. Most slaves were fleeing from their masters to become free. Due to this, several political debates were sparred within and outside the country. Leaders were concerned if slavery should be allowed or not in the country. There was secession as several people did not like the prolonged slavery in the country.

Moreover, another issue brought about by the anti-slavery war was Missouri comprise in 1819 where the country was divided between into free and slaves areas (Rayman, 2018). Therefore, slavery was an issue of significant concern in the country. Both political leaders as well other leaders were concerned leading to several debates on whether to abolish slavery or not. Even though anti-slavery petitions and the abolitionists were banned, anti-slavery wars did not end as the abolitionists continued to fight slavery in the country.

Election of Abraham Lincoln played a significant role in ending slavery as he declared emancipation and freedom from slavery (Ali, 2015). Eventually, this led to freeing up of slaves in the north and southern parts of America (Foner, 2018). Therefore, this felt like a victory for those who were enslaved in the United States, but some of them were still held under unionism. The passage of the Fifth Amendment is what brought about the end of slavery. Slavery was a major problem in the country, and mostly the black people were at compromise as a result. Slavery did not respect human rights, freedoms, and liberties. The waves to stop slavery was an avenue to the development of human rights and freedoms in the country. Consequently, anti-slavery led to the genesis of championing for people's rights and freedoms.

Rights, freedoms, and liberties were also violated by another ill in the country referred to as a race. There was rampant racial discrimination in the country in the form of color and origin. The whites marred racial abuses towards the African Americans and other communities such as the Asians. The blacks and Asians were not regarded as equals to the white due to their skin color even though some of them had been born in the country. In most cases, blacks were the main subjects of race discrimination and harassment. Race-based discrimination is an example of the delimitations of human rights as people have to be regarded as equal despite race, color or origin but this was not the case here in the ancient united states as people were racially abused.

Racial discrimination meant that the black people were not granted equal opportunities as the whites. All aspects including employment and provision of services the whites were favored at the expense of the blacks. In employment, the blacks were accorded poor wages and poor jobs even though they had the qualifications for those opportunities (King, 2015). Racial discrimination in employment brought about a lot of oppression and most of the families were affected. It was difficult to attain the standards of living due to poor pay and unhealthy working conditions. In most areas, racial discrimination employment meant that people are to be denied jobs for which they are fit and qualified. Racial discrimination in employment persisted for a long time even until in the 1960s and 1970s where most leaders started to fight discrimination in employment.

Moreover, laws and institutions were established to fight against employment discrimination, for example, the Equal Employment Opportunities Act 1972 which abolished any form of employment discrimination. The laws were to be implemented by the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) which was established in 1968 to enforce the equal opportunity employment laws. Prior to this legislation, there was an Equal Pay Act which was established to harmonize equal pay for all employees. Those who were racial discriminated always received low payment. Therefore this shows that racial discrimination was and continues to be a significant problem in the country, and in addressing rights, freedoms, and liberties of the people, this is one of the significant factors to be considered. Through some of these institutions Americans have been granted the right to work and coexist freely in the country. The country has several institutions which have been integral in upholding the constitution, for example, the Department of Justice and law enforcement agencies which are vigilant against any crimes or violations of human rights laws on American soil.

Religion has also played a significant role in ensuring rights freedom and liberty in the United States. As described earlier in the anti-slavery movement's religious leaders and more so the church was involved in the fight for freedom and democracy (Du Bois, 2017). Due to this reason, religious tolerance was one of the significant issues in the country and religion is always subject to debate in the United States. Most of the Puritans when they came to the United States were seeking freedom but never knew about religious tolerance in the country. However, this was not a signific...