The history of the United States is complicated, with many long fights for freedom that
shaped the founding beliefs of this country. Thomas Jefferson, one of the founding fathers, wrote
some of these core beliefs in the Declaration of Independence, while others can be found in the
“Pledge of Allegiance”, which children learn to this day. The United States always had this idea
of democracy and equality which it tried to live up to, and from some people’s perspective it did,
however there are many people how had a different perspective. For the many people in minority
groups, these promises that are supposed to be for everyone, seemed more like false hope. The
United States has fallen short of the ideals laid out in the Declaration of Independence and the
“Pledge of Allegiance” that promise the right to life, liberty, happiness and justice for all.
Throughout history, many communities have faced discrimination and were forced to fight for
these ideals as demonstrated by the segregation of African Americans, the Women’s suffrage
movement, and the Japanese internment.
African American have experienced a long history of discrimination in the United States.
Some of the most well know examples of slavery and segregation with the Jim Crow Laws have
demonstrated the American ideals of liberty, happiness, and justice were not fulfilled in this case.
From the founding of the country through the end of the Civil War in 1865, slavery was common
in many parts of the country, especially the south. Slaves had no rights and were owned by
whomever bought them. They were treated as property that could be bought or sold at any time,
so many families were broken apart when either children or parents were sold. While some
slaves could be given privileges, these were not guaranteed. In many examples of working on
plantations in the south, they were treated very poorly, since slave “Owners could also beat, rape,
torture, and even kill their slaves with complete impunity.” Slaves were not given many of the
universal rights laid out in the constitution because they were not free and thus lacked liberty and
they had no way to escape it without risking their life and thus they could not pursue happiness.1
All African Americans, free and enslaved were unable to have justice since they could not pursue
legal action according to the 1857 Dred Scott v. Stanford case. In this case, the Supreme Court
ruled that African Americans were not citizen of the Unites States and thus could not sue. 2 These
unfulfilled universal rights continued after the end of the civil war and the 15th amendment,
becoming the inspiration for the civil rights movement. Although the African Americans were
free and they could vote, there was no justice in not allowing them to become equal. Segregation
kept schools, restaurants, transportation, and more separate, and although these separate facilities
were claimed to be separate but equal, they were far from equal. The reduced quality of the
facilities African American’s had access and the rampant racism bared them from being able to
pursue anything they wanted in life, and thus did not allow them to pursue happiness. African
Americans unequal treatment was unjust, and they continually fought to change that. Women
were monumental in the fight for equality, especially since they faced inequality themselves.
Women are 50% of society and are monumental in many parts of history, yet they faced
many difficulties when trying to assert their universal rights and were unjustly marginalized.
Through out history, men were viewed as superior over women and were considered the head of
the household. Men oversaw property and voting on the behalf of women. Unmarried or
widowed women could own property, however, as soon as they were married, their right to
property was revoked.3 While this was unjust and needed to be changed, a more pressing issue
for women was their inability to vote. Women had no voice in politics, despite many being
interested, such as Abigail Adams. Abigail followed the politics as the country grew, but never
1
https://imsa.instructure.com/courses/2080/assignments/51683?module_item_id=139180
2
https://imsa.instructure.com/courses/2080/assignments/51695?module_item_id=139185
3
https://imsa.instructure.com/courses/2080/assignments/51683?module_item_id=139180
had a saw in it more than reminding her husband to “Remember the Ladies” when it comes to
their voice in the society of which they live. While women did not get the right to vote until the
passing of the 19th amendment in 1920, Abigails statement that women “are determined to
foment a Rebelion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice,
or Representation” did come true.4 Women fought for their right to have an equal voice in society
it took much to long for this injustice to be corrected.
During World War II there was speculation about the loyalty of the Japanese that lived in
America after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. This speculation of their loyalty was unnecessary
since it they were estimated to be “90 to 98 percent loyal to the Unites States” for second
generation immigrants.5 Regardless, the US forced them to leave their lives, homes, and
businesses, to move into quickly built concentration camps in the middle of the country. The
government’s paranoia resulted in the loss of the universal rights that were laid out in the
founding documents. The Japanese were unjustly incarcerated in poorly built internment camps,
losing their freedom for around three years. The only way for those put into these concentration
camps was to join the military. Evan after the war ended and people were released from the
concentration camps or solders returned from war, the Japanese were heavily discriminated
against. Richard Naito joined the 442nd Infantry to escape the reservation he had been moved to.
After retuning from war injured by a nazi machine gun in Pisa he wrote that “Today on American
soil, thousands of miles from Pisa, I have been wounded again by another weapon”. This other
weapon was the discrimination of the Veterans of Foreign Wars who refused to let him join
4
https://www.dhr.history.vt.edu/modules/us/mod03_rev/evidence_detail_08.html
5
https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/active_learning/explorations/japanese_internment/
munson_report.cfm
because he was Japanese.6 The discrimination and unlawful imprisonment of the Japanese during
the Japanese Internment once again revoked the universal rights the United States was built on.
The United States government tries to form its history around their founding ideals of the
right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and justice, when its history is littered with many
examples of how people in the Unites States lost their freedom and treated unjustly. The
Revolutionary War may have fought for these ideals, but it only applied to certain groups in
history.
6
https://napost.com/2020/quiet-warriors-richard-naito/
