Voting is a privilege (introduction): Hook: If I were furniture, would I be given the right to vote? The answer is, “no.” A piece of property isn’t given that privilege because it’s not a part of the human race and therefore can't make decisions. Property is bought, sold, used, and discarded. Privilege: It’s a good thing we’re not property, or else we wouldn’t have a voice. Voting is a privilege in a world that isn’t universally setup that way. Some nations do not even allow their people to vote. The US gives its citizens that opportunity. However, it was not always that way. People, such as me, were considered property in the US from 1619 till 1869 - a very long time, so I would argue voting today as an African American is more of a privilege. Transition 1-2: One factor in the past that would have prevented me from using my …show more content…
Most people believe that it was over slavery when in fact it started over state’s rights and taxes. There is documentation that proves this for instance when Abraham said, “I have no purpose, directly, or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists.” He even used African Americans as spies or contrabands - confiscated enemy property to help him in the war. You see, "property" was still attached to them. Eventually, slavery’ became a more central part of the war. That’s when Lincoln passed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1869, but the Confederacy was unaffected, making it more difficult for slaves in the Confederacy to be free. At this point, many history books begin to falter. They forget to mention that the slaves had a prominent role in their freedom, not just by Lincoln. They had to make an extremely complicated decision: to either leave for the Union states, risk getting caught, and severely punished or stay and still be property. Those who chose freedom chose to pass that on to their descendants. They paved the way for people like me to be brought up
The Civil War was when the United States split because of the injustice of slavery. The North insisted to free the slaves, but the South refused (Wulf et al). After four years of fighting, the south surrendered at the Appomattox court house on April 9, 1865. By that time, over 680,000 americans had died. Even though the war was over, there was still tension between the North and the South, and their anger was directed at Abraham Lincoln, which eventually lead to a story that changed the United States forever (O’Reilly and Zimmerman 33-37).
In 1860 Abraham Lincoln was elected as president of the United States of America, the repercussions of which led to civil war. However it was not only Lincoln’s election that led to civil war but also the slavery debate between the northern and southern states and the state of the economy in the United States. Together with the election of Lincoln these caused a split, both politically and ideologically, between the North and South states which manifested into what is now refereed to as the American Civil War.
Throughout American History, people of power have isolated specific racial and gender groups and established policies to limit their right to vote. These politicians, in desperate attempt to elongate their political reign, resort to “anything that is within the rules to gain electoral advantage, including expanding or contracting the rate of political participation.”(Hicks) Originally in the United States, voting was reserved for white, property-owning gentleman
The Civil War took place from 1861-1865. And this war was caused over the dispute of slaves. The U.S was continuing to add states and the south wanted the states to become slave states, but the North wanted the states to be free states. This is when we realized we had many problems with our country and we needed to fix them. And the end of the war came with a great outcome. The ending of this war ended slavery for the whole U.S. Meaning that all African Americans in the U.S. were free. And they no longer had to be under slavery. This war was the one to end the 245 years of slavery we had in the U.S. And that changed our country
Human rights are not a privilege the rights are inherited by all humans’ beings despite nationality, residency, gender, beliefs, religion, language, or any status that may describe you. Everyone is entitled to their rights, rights are all indivisible, independent and interrelated. Thomas Jefferson declaration of independence states that all men are created equal and everyone has certain unalienable rights that no man or government should violate. Including the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Jefferson makes it crystal clear that when a government fails to protect your basic right, it is only right and your duty as a society to overthrow such government. Malcom X creates a similar argument in his speech, The Ballot or the
For generations students have been taught an over-simplified version of the civil war and even now I am just coming to a full understanding of the truth. The civil war was a terrible rift in our nation, fought between the northern states (known as the union) and the southern states (the Confederate States of America). The people’s opinions were so divided over the issues of the civil war that, in some families, brother was pit against brother. Eventually, the south succumbed to the north and surrendered on April 9th, 1865 but not before the war had caused 618,000 deaths, more than any other war in U.S. history.(1) In truth, many believe this horrible war was fought purely over the issue of slavery. Nothing could be further from the truth. I am not denying that slavery was a major cause and issue of the civil war, but social and economic differences as well as states’ rights were just as important issues and I will be discussing all three.
First let’s define what a right is. A right is defined as something to which a person is entitled. Most American rights are determined by our constitution. Next let’s define privilege. A Privilege is a special advantage enjoyed by a particular group. You could say that anyone over the age of 16 has the privilege to drive. So when it comes to voting it has a very gray area as to how we should define whether it is a right allotted by the constitution, or whether it is a privilege given to those who follow the laws of America.
In this amendment it states that “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be
By 1868, when the fourteenth Amendment was enacted, eighteen states had adopted disenfranchisement laws. After the Civil War, felony disenfranchisement laws were used along with poll taxes and literary tests to exclude African Americans from voting. The right to vote is considered to be one of the fundamental rights of citizenship in the United States. This right is more than just the right to mark a piece of paper and drop it in a box, or the right to pull a lever in a voting booth. The right to vote includes the right to have a ballot counted as a legal voting citizen.
In America, political candidates go against one another in a process known as an election in which citizens vote for the next person who "best" fits the position. In addition, there are various amounts of debates on whether a citizen should be compelled to vote. Although some argue if citizens should be required by law to vote, there are exceeding an amount of disadvantages.
The most powerful tool an American citizen have is their power to vote. The ability to vote allows a citizen to be heard and allows them to make a change in the government. By, casting your vote you are electing a person to stand up for you and your values and speak on your behalf. This ability to vote came from the 15th amendment which states “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” The amendment was designed to protect the rights of the newly freed slaves after, the Civil War. Unfortunately, this amendment failed in different ways that lead to the oppression of minorities in America for almost 100
Nevertheless, the idea of the extension of suffrage rights still makes much more sense than the arguments provided by the opponents due to the fact that equality is truly represented by giving the right to vote to the individuals regardless of their economic status. Furthermore, one of the issues that caused the American Revolution was taxation without representation. However, if the United States did not let all white men vote, it would mean that the United States was no better than the British. Even if the election results vote out such individuals as John Quincy Adams, the election is still more beneficial to the society because it represents the sincere and open vote of all able bodied white males.
I brought up the question of whether or not people think that voting should be
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C.A. § 1973 et seq.) prohibits the states and their political subdivisions from imposing voting qualifications or prerequisites to voting, or standards, practices, or procedures that deny or curtail the right of a U.S. citizen to vote because of race, color, or membership in a language minority group.
In 1918 all blacks and women got the right to vote. When Lyndon Johnson signed voting rights act it became that black men over 21 could now vote and women over 31 could also vote if you owned property. Now if you rented property at a certain price you could vote instead of having to own property. If you had rights you should be able to own land and have a job instead of being a slave like the old days. With rights as a citizen you should be able to pursue happiness if want. You should be able to run for federal government.