USA: INDEPENDENCE BUT FOR WHOM?
4th July, 1776, with the declaration of independence ended the struggle for liberty, equality, self-government, and democracy in America. But, did independence bring freedom to everyone living in America? The independence brought little to zero change in the lives of enslaved Africans, Indigenous Americans, women and many poor people, in some cases made their situation even worse.
Independence Did Not End Slavery:
The Declaration of Independence proclaimed “all men are created equal.” Yet, nearly 500,000 people remained in the chain of Slavery.
On one hand, White Americans celebrated liberty, Black Americans, on the other hand, continued to live under slavery. They could still be bought and sold, forced to work without wages, separated from their families and denied basic human rights. They could not vote, own property, receive education freely, choose where to live, or protect their families from being sold.
By 1860, almost four million people were enslaved, an eightfold increase from the time of independence.
Contradiction of Founding Fathers:
Several leaders of the Revolution who demanded freedom from Britain also owned enslaved people. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Patrick Henry and many other founding leaders were slaveholders.
George Washington, the first President of the USA, also owned enslaved people throughout his life. Thomas Jefferson authored the Declaration of Independence while owning hundreds of enslaved people at his plantation in Monticello.
They fought against what they considered British oppression but continued a system that denied freedom to millions of people living in America.
The Constitution Protected Slavery
USA adopted Constitution in 1787 and established a strong federal government but it included several provisions that protected slavery.
The Three-Fifths Compromise: The Three-Fifths Compromise counted enslaved people as three-fifths of a person to determine representation in the House of Representatives, ironically they had no voting rights.
The Fugitive Slave Clause: The Constitution also required that people who escaped slavery and fled to another state could be returned to the owners. Instead of weakening slavery, the new constitution allowed it to continue and expand.
The Constitution prohibited the Congress from banning international slave trade till 1808, allowing the trade to continue legally for another twenty years.
Expansion of Slavery
Rather than declining, slavery expanded dramatically, as new states such as Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana were opened for settlement, millions of acres of land were cultivated using enslaved labours.
The invention of the cotton gin in 1793 transformed American agriculture. British textile mills depended heavily on American cotton, while plantations relied on enslaved labour to produce it. The US economy was heavily dependent, directly or indirectly, on slavery and the institutions created huge profit through slavery.
Dispossession of Indigenous Peoples:
After independence, American expansion accelerated westward where indigenous peoples lost millions of acres of land through wars, forced treaties, and government policies. The promise of freedom did not extend to Native Americans.
Trail of Tears is one of the darkest chapter of American history, during which thousands of Native Americans died while being forcibly removed from their homes.
Democracy Was Limited:
United States described itself as a democracy, but political rights were far from universal. Women had no political rights. Many poor white men initially faced voting restrictions based on property ownership. Black Americans faced severe discrimination and exclusion from political life.
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