Declaration of Independence
Our thirteen original colonies felt strongly about the terrible treatment they were given by the British and they chose to separate from them and declare their independence. When they declared their independence they stated that, “all men are created equal” and had “certain unalienable rights that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” They also said that to secure these rights there is a Government run by the men it governs and if the government isn’t taking care of the people they have the right to overthrow it or abolish it as needed. But this statement wasn’t true for everyone back then and it isn’t true now. We have treated the African Americans as less than human. We made them our slaves and many people tried to defend this way of life for many years. This isn’t the way anybody should be treated. From the beginning America has had a distorted view of who all men are. They didn’t include African Americans, or women either for that matter, and they denied them the very rights they said everyone had. Abraham Lincoln and others fought for the equality of African Americans to make America a better place. Fifty years later, Martin Luther King was a civil rights leader who helped people become aware that they had to stand up and demand changes. Also, Malcolm X was a vocal believer in equal rights and said African Americans should fight by any means necessary to achieve equality and the American Dream..
Response by Carlos Rodriguez
Response by Carlos Rodriguez
Lincoln Speech
It is a sad state of affairs when a country that states we all have unalienable rights and then denies them to certain people. According to Abraham Lincoln in his “Speech on Slavery and the American Dream, 1858,” that even a slave kept in ignorance “does constantly know that he is wronged.” He said we should grow happier and wiser altogether, not at the expense of another. He goes on to say that, “Most governments have been based, practically, on the denial of the equal rights of men, as I have, in part, stated them; ours began, by affirming those rights.” What he said was the basis of the American Dream because these rights are the very definition of the dream itself. it has been too long coming for many people and we still need to work for equality for all.
Response by Carlos Rodriguez
Response by Carlos Rodriguez
Obama Speech
Respnse by Carlos Rodriguez
According to President Obama the greatest challenge of our time is the rising economic inequality and the decreasing mobility between socio-economic levels. We have to tackle this problem head on because it threatens the American Dream and is bad for the economy. It causes more recessions and then people have less money to buy things. It also takes away from our social cohesion because we trust each other less and these effects last between generations. The poor feel left out because they know that the rich are able to buy politicians and this hurts our democracy because not everyone has an equal voice. This causes us to be cynical.
According to President Obama the greatest challenge of our time is the rising economic inequality and the decreasing mobility between socio-economic levels. We have to tackle this problem head on because it threatens the American Dream and is bad for the economy. It causes more recessions and then people have less money to buy things. It also takes away from our social cohesion because we trust each other less and these effects last between generations. The poor feel left out because they know that the rich are able to buy politicians and this hurts our democracy because not everyone has an equal voice. This causes us to be cynical.