When a society has witnessed a horrible happening, the society will grasp at any strand of happiness or hope it can. These strands of hope can be a concept of happiness or a chance to immigrate to a foreign country because of the ideals on which the nation was founded. In 1776, the Founding Fathers gathered to discuss the tyranny the colonies had undergone during their imprisonment by the British government. They developed an improbable idea that turned into a reality. In “A Quilt of a Country” by Anna Quindlen, the author successfully argues that America is an improbable concept by showing contradictions in the American Declaration of Independence as seen in the education program, the blends of cultures, and applications of …show more content…
The Declaration of Independence says that all men are created equal. In response to this statement, Quindlen writes, “It is held together by a notion, the notion that all men are created equal, though everyone knows that most men consider themselves better than someone.” This statement displays and supports the idea that America is an improbable concept based on the fact that America is founded on the ideal of all men being created equal. This equality was not extended to women, slaves, and those who did not own land. Therefore, the notion that all men are created equal contradicts itself because it leaves out many of the demographics of which the United States consists. Additionally, the United States has abolished slavery; however, when the Declaration of Independence was originally written stating that all men are created equal, slavery had not been abolished in the United States. The abuse of African-Americans and other people during this era was an atrocity that …show more content…
Inside the United States, there are Israelites and Jews who are living in the same communities as Muslims and Anti-Semites. Quindlen writes, “What is the point of a nation in which Arab cabbies chauffeur Jewish passengers through the streets of New York—and in which Jewish cabbies chauffeur Arab passengers, too, and yet speak in theory of hatred, one for the other? … Other countries with such divisions have in fact divided into new nations with new names, but not this one, impossibly interwoven even in its hostilities.” Another example Quindlen uses to represent the social divides is of the treatment of the Irish in New England during the generation of her parents’ youth. In the time of the Irish potato famine, to be Irish was to be an outsider and to marry one was to murder one’s social life. Quindlen, who came from a mixed family with an Italian mother and an Irish father, says, “The New York of my children is no more Balkanized, probably less so than the Philadelphia of my father, in which Jewish boys would walk several blocks out of their way to avoid the Irish divide of Chester Avenue … Do the Cambodians and the Mexicans in California coexist less easily today than did the Irish and Italians of
Dubbed as “The Greatest Country in the World” by god knows who, America is not as awesome and free as some may see. In doing a close reading of Heather Christle’s “Five Poems for America”, we can see how the author uses metaphors to portray a flawed American, specifically within its political system, religion, obsession with technology and basic human rights. Americans have been living with the oppression of these everyday issues, completely oblivious thus creating the America we infamously know today.
In the poem, “The century Quilt”, the poet MArilyn Nelson Waniek uses literary devices such as flashbacks, hyperboles and imagery to help the reader comprehend the signifigance of the Centrury Quilt.
America celebrates their independence on July 4th of every year, the declaration of independence states that “all men are created equal”. This document was signed in 1776 and meanwhile there were plenty of men and women still in shackles under their will. So, tell me how “all men are created equal” if it wasn’t until almost 90 years later when the rest of these men were set “free”. This document is fascinating because of the
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” These were the mighty words that Thomas Jefferson wrote down he developed his portion of the Declaration of Independence. Some people do not recognize Thomas Jefferson as one of the founding fathers, with other names like Ben Franklin and John Hancock being thrown around the room, but yet we should see him as the most important one. Thomas Jefferson was assigned to make a draft for the document. He chose to talk about how all men are equal and everybody deserves life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The declaration of independence is one of the most important documents in history and made all men equal, meaning one race is not superior to another. This influenced the public by making the black race have hope because now, they could see that one day they would be just as equal as...
It is no secret that America is a country that was built on racist ideas and practices, but it is denied as if it were. When the white men signed the Declaration of Independence stating that “All men are created equal”, the majority of those men went back to their homes where they were slave owners. As the Constitution was signed, even some of those men still owned slaves. So how could all men be equal under the law, if the men who created the laws didn’t practice it?
It should be noted that the Declaration of Independence made it clear that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Although this progressive view was shared by many of the members of the Constitutional Convention, it is clear that the original text of the American Constitution is rather pro-slavery and up to a certain point protects the slave-owners. It is of utmost importance to note that the words slavery/slave are not used in the text of the Constitution.
The Declaration of Independence (1776) was written to proclaim the colonists’ independence from Great Britain and announce the rights of its citizens and the role of government, among other declarations. The most famous phrase “…all men are created equal”, authored by Thomas Jefferson, was a statement affirming that tyranny under the rule of King George III and the English Parliament would be met with opposition by the colonists who would protect their liberties in the new republic.
Anna Quindlen focuses on how different our nation is. She talks about how big issues the United States used to face such as when the Irish and Italians of Boston feuded years ago. She also writes about current issues and groups that still don’t get along with each other, such as the “Cambodians and the Mexicans in California.”(Quilt pg.4) Anna Quindlen also focused on our Country’s diversity, and argues that our diversity is what
“All men are born free and with equal rights, and must always remain free and have equal rights,” (Thomas Jefferson) This is the famous statement made by Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence. He is being extremely hypocritical here considering he himself owned a near two hundred slaves. The slaves are still owned and treated as ‘property’. Thomas Jefferson did not have care for the slaves. The equalities discussed in the Declaration were not aimed to all men, they were aimed at specific white men. Frederick Douglass a former slave excellently asks in reaction to Jefferson; “Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us?” What he means by “Us” is African American, it could also mean slave considering he was one. It is just so perfectly put because it is obvious the beliefs of Jefferson were not extended to African American’s or slaves. He continues on rather sarcastically “confess the benefits”, this is important because there was very little benefits. (Frederick Douglass, 1852,
Thomas Jefferson believed that all men were created equal, as he stated in his authorship of the Declaration of Independence. However, he justified slavery by questioning whether or not blacks were complete men. Jefferson’s reason for developing his suspicions of black racial inferiority likely stemmed from the need of labor in the newly formed
In The Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson asserted that “all men are created equal […] with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and pursuit of Happiness.” that became underlying principles of our modern society (80). However, one may argue that The Declaration of Independence neither promoted equality nor justice among humankind, because both before and after the American Revolution slaves and women did not have the same rights as men. Nevertheless, Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence might have influenced Douglass’s quest for justice in terms of commitment to human rights and equality.
“We hold these truths to be self evident; that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” If the confusion has not yet set in, then give it a moment. This nation, the United States of America, prides itself on being far superior to all other nations because here in America we are free men. We set ourselves on a pedestal above Great Britain because the Declaration of Independence clearly states that everyone inside the parameters of our country will be treated as equal as the same individuals neighbor. Yet for nearly three centuries, our nation was full of individuals, including our forefathers, who “owned” people that were regarded as less than themselves simply due to the fact that the pigments in their skin did not allow them to fall within the Caucasian race. The very legal document that had the word “Independence” written within it’s name and blatantly stated that it is obvious that no human is greater than any other because we were all made by the same god for the same reason, is the foundation of a nation that used innocent lives as fuel for slavery. It wasn’t until some educated individuals finally stood up and realized how incredibly wrong these two concepts are when put together. It is said that when the former slave Frederick Douglass
The Declaration of Independence describes that “all men are created equal regardless of race,” and thus abolishing slavery. As for the involvement of the Constitution, the concept of race is nowhere to be found in the document. The slave term is not in the Constitution and it was portrayed as a state of shame that men could be described as property. Rather than using the term slaves, “other persons” was used as a delicacy for their group.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” (Jefferson). Thomas Jefferson, a white, Christian, political southern slave owner, wrote these words in 1776, a period in United States history when slavery thrived. The writer of the Declaration of Independence contradicts himself when he states that all men are created equal, when in actuality, his slaves were denied all that humans were meant to cherish.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…” (Declaration of Independence,1776)