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In 1776, the Declaration of Independence set forth principles to lead a new type of country. America, as it was called, was created to be a sanctuary for those who were oppressed in some way. One of these principles was that all men are created equal; no man is better than the next. Every person is guaranteed the unalienable rights of Life, Liberty, and Happiness while on American soil. These rights led to the Bill of Rights, the first amendment of our Constitution, and influenced much of the rest of the Constitution as well.
Many European immigrants flocked to America to take advantage of these wonderful rights. Irish people, who were persecuted by their country because of unpopular religious beliefs, escaped to America because of its freedom of religion policy.
The unique democracy form of government, in which the citizens had a first-hand role in deciding on certain laws and impactful decisions involving the country, attracted people from other countries and walks of life.
Most of the immigration around this period was from western and northwestern Europe. However, many African Americans were being brought over to America and sold as slaves to the settlers and Americans during this period as well. This fact didn't become important for awhile, because white people didn't view blacks as equals to them. They viewed the blacks as property to sell, buy, and utilize. They had already gone against the passionate principles that the nation was founded on.
This did become increasingly noticed as unjust by a portion of America. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln finally did something about this injustice. He wrote and distributed the "Emancipation Proclamation." This document allowed slaves and minorities to have the same rights as Englo-Americans. They deserve life and liberty, but weren't receiving it. The majority of the northern states embraced and enforced this document. The southern states detested it and ultimately, this led to the Civil War between the two halves of the country.
For the most part, the northern states won the war, allowing the slaves' rights to be upheld. However, this is a movement that takes time and is still evolving today. So many African Americans today are met with opposition, well over a century after they were given complete equal rights with everyone else. The Ku Klux Klan of today is one group who carries on the senseless persecution of African Americans. They believe that African Americans will mix with the superior-in-their-eyes white Americans. This will lead to a loss of superiority of race.
Another group who made a large exodus to the United States were the people of Eastern Europe, including Jews, Greeks, Polish, and Lithuanians. Around the time they came over, World War One was beginning to come about. America provided a safe-haven from the hardships that began to plague some of their respective homelands. However, life wasn't all that easy in America either. Because of their lack of money, these people were forced to fight for low-paying jobs, such as factory work, food production, and other physical hard-labor jobs.
The big groups that have been migrating here in the last 20 to 30 years are people of Arabia, India, and Mexico. Their fates, thus far, have been consistent with the rest of the past minority groups that have come here. They have faced racial discrimination and rejection of their native culture, as shown in Richard Rodriguez' book "Hunger of Memory." In this book, he discusses how difficult it was to integrate him into the American culture. He had to learn the English language fluently, live along the American social guidelines, and practice his cultural traditions less. One can only imagine the mixed emotions and ambivalence Rodriguez must have felt with doing those things.
In fact, a person can only imagine the hardships all of these new immigrants have felt coming here. We promised life, liberty, and happiness in the aforementioned Declaration of Independence. However, do we still extend this to other immigrants? Or is this just a brick in the building of our increasingly exclusive, close-minded nation's past?
One person who strongly believed that these principles needed to be reintegrated into society was former president Franklin D. Roosevelt. On January 6th, 1941, Roosevelt gave a speech to the country to emphasize four freedoms our country offers, according to his interpretation of the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights. These freedoms are freedom of religion, speech and expression, freedom from fear, and freedom from economic want and greed. However, these wise words only were effective for a short amount of time.
With increased racial hardships on minorities, especially African Americans, it became clear that our country was continuing to grow in its racial tendencies. Not a moment too soon did a soon-to-be-legendary civil rights leader come about by the name of Martin Luther King Jr. On August 28th, 1963, King developed his historical "I Have A Dream" speech. King preached for human rights and justice for all Americans and humans in this speech, not just people of his African American heritage. He cited the Declaration of Independence and the American dream from the nations beginnings in his claims and pleas for equality among all American citizens.
Even after such powerful speeches, like King's, most long-time Americans haven't understood the thoughts of equality among all races. Racism exists in so many facets of current-day society. Hate groups like Neo-Nazism and the Ku Klux Klan still prevail in secret. Gang warfare between Indian-Americans, Arab-Americans, and African Americans is common daily in some cities. With this negativity, one has to wonder whether the principles of life, liberty, and justice really were feasible or if they're simply elements of an unreachable utopia.
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