The Legacy Of America During The 1780 S - 1747 Words

In the 1780’s when America was approaching on a new era, Hector St. John de Crevecoeur and Benjamin Franklin believed that America had become the freest and most prosperous nation in the world. They went so far as to say that America had become a country unlike any other. A country that was free from things such as poverty, inequality, and all other forms of oppression, things that European nations lacked. Over the next century (1800-1900) what we saw in America was not symbols of freedom and equality for all, but instead for a select few. Instead we saw great inequality and a lack of freedom in many groups such as African Americans or slaves, women, as well as Mexicans and Native Americans. The members of these groups were met with†¦show more content†¦They were essentially property, something to be used for labor, or traded, or exploited, but most definitely not a human being. Another difference in American slavery that was different from across the globe was that it was heavily tied to race. Frederik Douglas explains that as slaves, â€Å"We were all ranked together at the valuation. Men and women, old and young, married and single, were ranked with horses, sheep, and swine. There were horses and men, cattle and women, pigs and children, all holding the same rank in the scale of being, and were all subjected to the same narrow examination. Silvery-headed age and sprightly youth, maids and matrons, had to undergo the same indelicate inspection. â€Å"(pg.265). Here is can be seen that these people were not free nor were they being treated equal with the rest of society. Douglas illustrates how slaveholders truly saw them, as a grouping of property, not as people. Although in America there was a newfound emphasis on liberty, equality, and individual rights thanks to the Enlightenment, this wasn’t enough for everyone. Even though many people in the United States were beginning to question the morality of slavery, there was just as many people defending it. In a desperate attempt to salvage the system people began using things such as religious, â€Å"scientific,† and economic justifications to back