FREE ESSAY ON EQUAL HUMAN RIGHTS

EQUAL HUMAN RIGHTS

Lauren Moore History 8* 3/6/99 Equal Human Rights In 1863, Abraham Lincoln was faced with
a major dilemma dealing with an upcoming election. Arguments and fights were breaking out
among the people of Northern and Southern States. Lincoln knew something had to be done
to show his view points about on slavery and the reconstruction of the Union. Lincoln
believed that slavery should not be interfered with by the government. However, he also
knew that only four states of the Union were slave-holding states, Kentucky, Missouri,
Maryland, and Delaware. Lincoln thought these states were an important part of remaining
the Union. Lincoln knew that he could not legally abolish slavery, and the power to
terminate slavery would have to be done with the Constitution. On January 1, 1863,
Lincoln finally signed the Emancipation Proclamation. At this moment Lincoln revealed to
the states that slavery would not last much longer. Since masters were unlikely to tell
their slaves of Lincoln's act, and word of mouth was unreliable, miniature copies of the
Proclamation were handed out by soldiers(www.thelincolnmuseum.com). The Proclamation was
only a written authorization, and had to be enforced by the army, especially Sherman's
army. General Sherman and his army soon began, thousands of slaves followed in their
wake...and were never under the legal authority of their former masters. So the argument
that the Emancipation 'freed no slaves' is a specious one(www.w3f.com). The Thirteenth
Amendment was known as the continuation and enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation.
However, before the second writing of the Thirteenth Amendment there was a missing
Thirteenth Amendment which was part of the Constitution before the publishing of the
current Thirteenth Amendment. This first writing of the Thirteenth Amendment has now has
now been completely deleted and in some cases never heard of. It was a section of the
constitution in 1789 as the amendment called titles of nobility's. The Amendment was
taken out of the Constitution and later forgotten in 1819. The amendment just basically
said, take no bribes from foreign powers or that person or persons will be prohibited
from citizenship and incapable of holding an office. After the Proclamation, the newest
record of Thirteenth Amendment was signed onto the Constitution to abolish slavery in all
states, and allowed only congress to apply slavery or any appropriate punishments
according to the new Thirteenth Amendment. The Fourteenth Amendment has become a part of
our Constitution despite the counting of votes for rejected states and the dishonesty put
into voting for it. The Fourteenth Amendment is a mistaken belief, of the Constitution
and the United States people. This Amendment was made to protect the Freeman's Bureau and
African-Americans. Does this Amendment really exist? During 1867 until 1868 there were
only 37 states in the Union, so ratification by at least 28 states was necessary to make
the Amendment an integral part of the Constitution. Actually only 21 States legally
ratified it(U.S. New and World Report). Southern states also disagreed with the
Amendment, but were urged to pass the Amendment, which it did in 1868. This Amendment was
very important after the Civil War because the South States had to approve of the
Amendment before they were allowed back into the union. The Amendment was not only
important to African-Americans in the 1860's and 1870's but it also became very useful
during the Civil rights Movement of the 1960's. However, ignoring the conflicts over this
Amendment I believe it serves a just points in allowing equal rights and protection to
all people who lived in the United States, but slavery kept individuals from agreeing
with equals rights. Women were also now included in the picture of Civil Rights, wanted
and would fight for the same rights as men because the Fifteenth Amendment allowed all
citizens to vote, except the Amendment did not clearly state that an individual could
vote despite their gender, it do not say women could vote it only specifically referred
to, race, color, and servitude. in some states women's right to vote was still withheld.
The Fifteenth Amendment created a battle of the sexes, because the males refuse to
address women's rights. Yet strong women did exist, such as Susan B. Anthony and
Elizabeth Cady. Even African-American males were willing to support the women's Suffrage;
Frederick Douglas supported the women. The Nineteenth Amendment was then created and
added onto the Constitution which finally gave women the right to vote. This was not
enough, what about the need for protection and equal women's rights? This continued to be
an issue and under certain circumstances women's right are a problem. Abraham Lincoln was
one of the most powerful beginners for equal human rights as we should see. The freeing
of slaves until the Women's Suffrage has all seemed influenced by the works of Abraham
Lincoln. Now let us hope that people will continue to follow in his footsteps.