Argumentative essay: America was founded on oppression not freedom
Argumentative essay: America was founded on oppression not freedom – The essay is arguing for America was founded on oppression not freedom. It’s based of the 1619 project and whether it’s ok to do the things…
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Argumentative essay: America was founded on oppression not freedom
Paper details
The essay is arguing for America was founded on oppression not freedom. It’s based of the 1619 project and whether it’s ok to do the things the people(s) involved in that project did. The essay should include details and examples from the 1619 project.
Solution
America’s foundation is anchored on oppression
America’s foundation was anchored on oppression and not freedom as it largely proposed. Often, America has been described as a nation that was founded on the basic principles of democracy. The nation’s founding fathers are illustrated as having dreamt of a nation where the citizens lived a free life without any obstacles by the government. The desire to have the citizens lead a free life would then spearhead the formulation of several liberty clauses that entitled citizens to various rights.
It is the strong liberty foundation that is highlighted as having made America the nation it is today. A nation is known for its democratic space and adherence to various laws meant to protect human rights. However, that is not true. The above narrative has been used for centuries to mislead Americans and the rest of the world from questioning the actual reasons that shaped the nation’s foundation. Oppression is depicted as the actual factor steered America’s foundation, as explained by the 1619 project.
The high cases of wealth disparity in America were influenced by the capitalist nature of the country during its foundation. America’s wealth disparity gap is highlighted as growing. Growth in wealth disparity means that the gap between the few rich individuals and wealthy people continue to broaden. Unfortunately, only a handful of people realize extensive growth in wealth compared to the majority who find the cost of living challenges. According to (Desmond, 1), the richest 1% of Americas own 40% of the nation’s wealth.
Desmond also points out that America’s working-class receive the lowest wages when compared to those of other nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (O.E.C.D.). Desmond attributes the challenges to the capitalist foundation that influenced the nation’s founding. Capitalism refers to a social and economic policy that allows privatization of companies. A key feature of capitalism is that it focuses more on wealth generation and accumulation by the organization owners and give little concerns on the social welfare of the staff and the communities involved.
Capitalism in historical America is seen areas such as Alabama and Georgia relied on cheap labor to run their plantations. Farming outputs such as cotton generated a lot of revenue for the American economy at the time. Despite the value of farming to the nation, only the landowners benefited. As the white landowners earned millions, the poor were still facing economic challenges due to the low wages or free labor they were subjected to in the plantations. The ever-rising wealth inequality rate, therefore, serves as a reflection of how capitalism America by subjecting many people to low wages and free labor.
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Likewise, social oppression through slavery is responsible for shaping America’s greatness as a nation. As pointed, the nation’s agricultural sector made significant contributions to its revenue generations. A majority of historians tend to ignore the input of blacks in defining how success in the plantations made America stronger. Often, it is the free nature of the country to allow its citizens own land and engage in economic activities that had great values for the nation.
However, blacks input into the nation’s economic growth from agriculture was not considered. Oppression made blacks play a large role in growing America’s agricultural sector. Oppression is seen in the thousands of black slaves being forced to work in the plantations without pay. As of 1931, America was considered to be producing about half of the world’s cotton supply. The quantity thus portrays the blacks’ effort to ensure that cotton production increased.
The plantation settings were considered difficult for blacks who were whipped at times as a measure of encouraging them to continuously work hard. Similar events were witnessed in other crop plantations such as sugar. The events prove that America’s foundation cannot be claimed as having been steered by the quest for freedom. The fact that particular people were forced to work without any payment does not paint the image of freedom. On the contrary, it reveals the existence of oppressive regimes that exploited the vulnerable members of the society to generate economic revenue for the nation.
The argument against America’s foundation is anchored on freedom, but oppression is also depicted by the historical nature of discriminative laws. The American justice system has always been depicted to be discriminative. Stevenson (3) illustrates that America leads in terms of the number of incarcerated people. About 22% of the American population is in prison. A majority of the people in prison have been found guilty of petty crimes. Stevenson argues that the root of the detrimental justice system currently seen lies in the nation’s history of discriminatory laws.
The discriminatory nature of the laws was seen in them targeting blacks. For instance, Maryland held a general assembly in 1664 and passed a law that subjected African Americans to serve life sentences of hard labor. The same state would continue to enact laws that allowed African Americans to be executed by cutting their bodies into smaller parts and hanged for people to see in 1729.
Maryland’s laws were a perfect reflection of the laws of the black code existed in most parts of the country. The purpose of the laws was to restrict blacks from enjoying certain privileges (Nikole and Mhute, 3). Realization of the existence of discriminative nature, therefore sends a communication that freedom guided America’s founding. The idea of freedom would have been true if all citizens were treated right by the law. On the contrary, the founding laws were meant to oppress people of color, such as African Americans.
Lastly, America’s oppressive regimes of the past offer a perfect illustration that the nation was meant to be a democracy. Even though the words of America’s founding fathers illustrated the nation was to be a democracy, little was seen in their actions. For instance, despite the call for equality, blacks were still barred from engaging in certain activities that were formed part of their rights. Democracy dictates that every citizen shall be given the right to elect his or her leader. However, African Americans were still being denied the opportunity to elect their representatives.
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Similarly, despite the assurance of freedom of movement, racial segregation still existed. The occurrence of the detrimental events meant that America was not yet a democracy. It would take the intervention of African Americans to rally for equality for America to fully become democratic. The civil movements of the mid-20th century resulted in the formulation of many human rights policies that has allowed America to enjoy the democracy currently witnessed. The civil movement events illustrate the fight against oppressive practices that had been anchored on the nation’s foundation.
In conclusion, it has been illustrated that America’s current state, a nation was influenced by acts of oppression and not freedom as it has often been saying. The arguments have been supported by the 1619 projects that seek to redefine the role of blacks in influencing America’s success. Capitalism has been depicted as having resulted in oppression against the poor as few individuals became rich. The thriving American agricultural sector was also supported by free black labor.
Similarly, the discriminative nature of American laws subjected blacks to diverse forms of oppression. Moreover, oppression has been depicted by failures of early American governments to implement equality policies until the rise of the mid-20th century civil movements. America can, therefore, not be highlighted as a nation that was founded on freedom as there are several proves of historical oppressions.
Works Cited
- Matthew Desmond. 2019. The New York Times. American Capitalism Is Brutal. You Can Trace That to the Plantation. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/slavery-capitalism.html Accessed 29th October 2020
- Nikole Hannah-Jones and Wadzanai Mhute. 2019. The New York Times. Their Ancestors Were Enslaved by Law. Now They’re Lawyers”,
- Stevenson Bryan.2019. The New York Times. Why American Prisons Owe Their Cruelty to Slavery. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/prison-industrial-complex-slavery-racism.html Accessed 29th October 2020
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