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.

Civil Disobedience

Thoreau was never an advocate of the American government. Its action towards the people and laws applied, Thoreau could never believe them to be just enough. His essay Civil disobedience (1948), written after his arrest after refusing to pay taxes to the government, had a big impact in the American abolitionist movement.

" That government is best which governs least"
" I ask for , not at once government, but at once a better government."

He touches the fact the government is not acting morally right, neither using its conscience. He calls the government inconsistent, valuing those who works least and not recognizing those hard working.
He wants people to see how distasteful has the american government been so far and not to subject to it, because this can make it harder to get any change. People don't need to obey a law just because the majority think its far. the minority shall have the ability to get together and disobeys this laws until they can persuade and convince the majority to change the law.

Plessy v. Ferguson

            African Americans were always seen as inferior. Constitution in a way denied government officials from hurting them, unless they could come up with laws. After civil war a bunch of laws were passed, especially in the South to deny the Negro form integrating with the white.

 So, the Louisiana state passed an act called Separate Car Act, declaring that railroads companies must provide separate sections on trains for white and blacks. The law also mentioned the section were ought to be of "equal quality" and money spent. However, we all know from history that money spent on minority is always less than on the majority. The southern states, as Louisiana were not willing to spend money on the black people. The point of this Supreme Court case is the court ruling segregation a legal thing as long as African Americans had access to train sections or accommodations equal to those of whites. The court decision opened up the door of segregation even more, with this separate but equal idea. It would be later overturned by the Brown vs. Board Education, but the black community had to suffer for over 50 years with this separate but equal thing on their life.

The anti federalist

It is very important to address the success of the Constitution with the then work by the Anti-Federalist to have  a Bill of rights. Nobody could ever realize how important the bill of rights is without looking at the supreme court cases today. The bill of rights protects the citizens in so many ways, as well as protect the states from an arbitrary government. where did tis come from?

Pieces like The dissent of the pensylvania Minority (1787) text, describes all the propositions those against the Constitution made. By just scanning my eyes on it i can see where amendments I,II,IV and VIII came from.this piece also criticize the amendment process, and the ratification process which doesn't require all states consent to sign,  and the  reduced time to examine the constitution.

There were opposition from those who owned property, those who benefit from imports, and the most important to preserve individual liberties they had just regained from the British government. Samuel Adams  believed the government would turn in a aristocracy. There was a excessive  pressure on ratifying the constitution, that some anti federalist were dragged there almost by force.

another point the representatives elected to analyze and adopt the consitutuion didnt have the conssent of all the nation, barely one tenth gave approval for them to be there.

Richard henry lee claimed about religion freedom in one of his letter, he also claimed for protection of unreasonable searches, about a state not having the ability to charge o citizen of another state,freedom of press, and he also points out the no time for examination the Constitution before signing it.

its important to understand where the bill of rights came from and to also thanks this guys for the hard work they had to put up on 10 amendments, just 10 amendments that today are just so important so significant to this nation. there is no doubt that this government wouldn't be the same without the bill of rights

How to adopt The Constitution?

The way Alexander Hamilton and the federalist found to easily ratify the Constitution was to point out the weakness of the  government under the Articles of Confederation and the importance of a energetic and strong central government.

The states were more likely independents states than a nation itself. They had a lack of working together, did not protect people's right, did not have a strong central government to preserve the peace ( Shay's rebellion example)., did not bear army, nor navy, just a state militia as a defense system, did not have a currency system, nor a  effective way to raise money( taxes), not trading with foreign nations, not penalties for disobedience or breaking the law. Hamilton thought the solution for all the problems as the creation of a strong central government to somehow preserve the union(nation) " form a more perfect union like the preamble says, the lack of togetherness was very dangerous and in hard times would worsened things up.


The authorities(government) essential to the common defense are these: to raise armies; to build and equip fleets; to prescribe rules for the government of both; to direct their operations; to provide for their support. These powers ought to exist without limitation, because it is impossible to foresee or define the extent and variety of national exigencies, or the correspondent extent and variety of the means to which may be necessary to satisfy them” [Hamilton’s italics].