American History

The nineteenth century in America marked an era on the policing of race and racial boundaries. This involved giving of legal definition to the borders of belonging, an event that brought about the racial priviledging and the racial excursion operation in the American law and racial inequality. Slavery was a touch stone measure of the freedom and denied the right of self ownership and personhood. This led to a strong anti slavery campaign and apparently, some of the slaves were able to acquire property.

The main theme of my essay is that the United States constitution was formed to establish the whites general welfare and more so frustrate any other party related to the colored population in the creation of boundaries. The colony had united its conflicting interests and diverse sentiments through the use of compromises and concession to attain its common goal for the safety and welfare against the enemies.

Unfortunately, the same very protection of the citizens right, in a way turned into a red hot sword to the gender differences of the same country. There was the limitation of legal rights and a parallel legal working status between the working class white men and other racial group and women.

But the constitution is meant for the equal representation, whereby the citizens have the right to understanding each and every section, article and a clause in it. Without this consideration the adopters of the same constitution uncertainly never raised a voice against it immediately.

The northern white women worked hard to achieve racial and gender equality, but their efforts and connections turned problematic. This was after the civil war during the reconstruction that determined a lot on the status of the working people and the labor movements.

The ownership of property and the property rights law on property control was greatly determined by the race and citizenship. Some policy makers were against the legalizing of slavery due to its foul and monstrous character.  But some denied it saying what the concessions and the compromises were known when the compact was framed and adopted relating to the prosecution of the foreign slave trade for twenty years to the allowance of the slave representation in the Congress, to the hunting of fugitives slaves, and to the suppression of the domestic insurrections for the special benefit of the slave states. (Garrison W. The United States Constitution p303).

The recapture of slaves law was passed immediately after the adoption of the constitution. This led to the elimination of the words slaves and slavery in the constitution to avoid the protection of the slave system whereas those that were used were used very intelligently. Really if slave trade was a humane task, do you think there was the need to use was there the need to use equivocal and collusive phraseology Was it not a means to cover up the misfits and help meet the disagreeable necessity The law denounced the white men as the self owning individuals not even the women unless through marriage and the covertures law.  The husbands were presumed as the providers by law and had the rights to their wives, labor and persons. Women were excluded from certain professions like law and medicine and they were maintained as white mens domain.

The laws on racial boundaries on land ownership were even tightened in the North and West at the end of the nineteenth century. African Americans were bared from settling in the South under strict regulations. The miscegenation laws, the covenant laws and the alien land laws had a very great impact on this.
The north was fighting for the anti slavery laws that would have lead to the abolition of slavery in the south. But there was fear of the civil war. This is cheerfully granted but are these Anti Slavery interpreters ready for a civil war, as the inevitable result of their construction of the constitution (Garrison W. The United States Constitutionp306). What case have they to believe that a civil would not occur immediately shaking the union to its foundation.

This led to the formation of the Anti Slavery Movement to fight for the accomplishment of the rights.  This to date conveys the present difference in the state of the North and the South. The movement objective was to fight the ages of oppression and ill hearted selfishness against the colored race. In the name of respecting the forefathers and their ways some would argue the enslavement of the colored race as a begotten right. Not considering that the generation change and development as the projection to future of the country. But many were also against this.

And the Methodist, Baptist and Presbyterian churches stood firm behind the movement terming it as against the laws of God as well as the laws of man. In1780 the denomination said The conference acknowledged that slavery is contrary to the laws of God, man and nature, and hurtful to society- contrary to the dictates of conscience, and true religion, and doing to others that we would not they should do unto us. (Douglas F.Anti slavery Movement p11).

A revolution emanates from the rule of majority. The intense and expeditious campaign by he Anti slavery movement sects which consisted of four divisions, i.e. The Garrisons, the Anti Garrisons, The Free Soil Party and the Liberal Party,  led to the acceptance of the Fugitive Slave Bill that made a positive change on the anti slavery movement.

The society was faulty and the writer says Its chief energies are expended in confirming the opinion that the United States constitution is, and was, intended to be a slave-holding instrument- thus piling up, between the slave and his freedom, the huge work of the abolition of the government, as an indispensable condition to emancipation. (Douglas F.Anti slavery Movement p33). This wonderful amendment denounced the degraded colored race and imposed some rights though not fully but worth a start.

The Mississippi Act of law represented the amendment for the freed men. In this act, it consisted of many sections of rights for the group that included the freed men free Negroes and mullattoes. Among the acts involved acquired judicial rights and state equality and the right to the ownership of land and property in some of the states. Though, they had no power to lease or rent the property unless in the incorporated authorities. There was the right to inter marry but not with the whites, using the same rules as the white men. This was in the fear that they might use the land to benefit the non citizens. This was the fight to retain the country resources. Its the difference between perceived freedom and denounced freedom where ones efforts are turned disability. They were allowed to take part in lawful employment with the documentation with the county authority. This would in turn take their responsibility to obey the labor laws and liability to face court case in case of failure since their tenure of employment was secured.

There were also the act to regulate the relation between the master and apprentice as related to the freed man. This involved the reporting of any freed person to the counties and protection of the minors by the master. The master had the right to recapture any of the minors who leave the employment and take him to a court of law and he never had the right to transact the masters property.  Concurrently, as he works he had the right to get a child. These were major steps to attaining equal rights with the whites but the economical differences were the inclusive slavery.

The constitution amendment was progressive and the colored race turned to be assets in the economy engine. Each and every citizen was to participate in the growth of the country and having realized this, the vagrants laws of the states were also amended where all vagrants were to be charged and imprisoned. The freed men were also to take part in the paying of the taxes and live a responsible live under employment. All the cases involving justices of the peace in the counties were being handled by the mayors and they had the power to try all the vagrants and to take them to a court of law.

All the businesses that were against the morals were also deemed as vagrants by this law. The freed men were deemed with the full responsibilities of the white men including caring for their families. Any person feeling himself or herself aggrieved by judgment of any justice of the peace, mayor, or alderman in cases arising under this act, may within five days appeal to the next term of the county court of the proper county, upon giving bond and security in a sum not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than one hundred and fifty dollars, conditioned to appear and prosecute said appeal, and abide by the judgment of the county court and said appeal shall be tried de novo in the county court, and the decision of the said court shall be final. (Black codes of Mississippi 6).

This gave each and everybody an equal chance to defend his rights.

The United States mining laws consisted of local states laws. The California state and other states then composed of the many counties that were governed at the county offices by a team of elected members. The miners in this state had a working constitution that governed the different counties and their life in the mining industry.

All then miners actively participated in the decision making of the counties through the direct election of their representatives to the county. The miners used to hold a meeting and choose leaders that would then set up specific county laws. Among these included, any citizen of the country had the chance to become a member of mining under the laws and also consisted of rules and regulations of taking a claim on the ground for all the mining counties. It also consisted of laws relating to water. They also contained rules on the relation between the miners. No representation by another party once each person is absent. Pertaining sickness it was dictatorship whereby incase on was sick this would have resulted to his absentees and there was no one who had the right to represent him. Quartz miners of the Sacramento County also had the same rules as the New York miners. Each U.S citizen was entitled to one claim of the quartz. In Sierra County the holders of the claims were American citizen and those who possessed the mining tax permits. This was a greater advantage for the foreigners. The hard working discoverers were entitled to a bonus claim in many of the counties.

In conclusion, these results of legal and extra legal violence that were evident in the century were essential in enforcing the borders of belonging. In the south in particular, the safe guarding of the white mens claims of the property and the nation space as a whole was through the use of violence. This was all the fight for the colored race where the whites short-changed their efforts to disabilities.