W. E. B. Dubois

W.E.B. Dubois was one of the greaters African American leaders. He emphasised  the idea of civil rights and social equality among all Americans


"he simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and a American, without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of Opportunity closed roughly in his face."

He criticized racism and wanted America to be a better place in which there would not have segregation. Even tough black men is free, it  is still not have the same freedom as a white man does. He advocates the negro to go for its rights and do not subside to the white man.


Without the political  and social equality, he sees no way the black men can achieve some economical success. Segregation , especially in education , is lacking black man to show itself as a better man.
Dubois criticizes other leaders for being in a way too soft and not recognizing the need of civil equality. If there is not equality, all they do is in vain.

Social darwinism- Gilded Age

As is gets closer to end the century, this new emphasis on hands off government becomes a priority in the nation.
People like Willain Grahan Sumner and Andrew Carnegie believed that people were better off alone economically speaking, so they could rise and accumulate wealth.


"if we are free, self governing people, we can blame nobody but ourselves for our misfortunes"

Its an emphasis on laissez fairez like Jefferson had once approved, capitalism  and the protection of property like the framers have once  thought  deriving from Locke. it's a mix of ideas that bound together and leads to so much wealth on the hands of some and so little intervention of the government that at points those wealthiers would have more money than  the government itself. 

Lands were donated  and tax exempted off the riches by the government. Also the complaints about the currency Gold vs Silver, also benefited the rich.

"People should have equal rights,  Because they provide equal chances"  however those chances ought not to guarantee any success to one. It's up to each individual to be wise enough and rise up to its maximum. the equality people ought to have is the one to compete with one another.

However Andre Carnegie had a different approach to all this. He  believed in the "survival of the fittest " but he was also a philanthropic. He thought people should accumulate their wealth if they had the ability to do so, but also help the community in a way or another.

Lincoln

Although not a president yet, Abraham Lincoln was never a pro-slave politic.
" A house divided against itself cannot stand... this government cannot endure permanently, half slave and half free." 
Abrahan Lincoln becomes president in a critical time in which the nation is divided over slave and free states. The Southern States, or the slave states, did  not want the free states to have more power than them. They also didn't want to lose the power over the slaves which they knew eventually would happen if they remained under the United States of America. They tried to secede from the nation and this led to the American civil war.

 "without slavery the rebellion could never have existed; without slavery it could not continue"

Abraham Lincoln decides to give freedom to all slaves in the nation to gain more support and therefore regain control over the southern states. Eventually they would regain the power and have the 13, 14 and 15 amendment passed. They respectively, banned slavery, defined citizenship and gave the right to vote to black men.
Lincoln even tough against slavery he was fine with the idea of "separate but equal". He thought the races to be better off separated and he criticized the amalgamation of the races that slavery had created. If there was no slavery there wouldn't have a mixing of races.

He was definitely a very important character in American history, and the one responsible for ending  slavery, however his views towards social inequality does not satisfy his views over slavery.