Declaration Of Independence DBQ Essay

Many say that the movement failed because of the fear that gender roles and family values would be infringed upon by the passage of this amendment. Other’s felt that there was no need for it due to the recent Supreme Court cases, i.e. Roe v. Wade, which made way for a broadened spectrum of women’s rights. It is on this topic of why exactly the ERA failed that Mary Frances Berry focuses her attention, by examining why the movement failed and how future reformers can learn from the mistakes of the ERA. Berry analyzes the failure of the ERA in both legal and historical terms. She claims that due to the difficulty of amending the Constitution, in order for any amendment to be ratified there needs to be a sweeping consensus and a sense of urgency among Americans that this is an issue

America is the land of the free and home of the brave, but has it always been? If someone were to reference old documents like The Declaration of Independence or even The Constitution they would think so, but American history itself says otherwise. During the mid 1770’s slavery was an almost unquestioned normality and women had no rights, however when The Declaration of Independence was written, the statement, “all men are created equal” appeared while Thomas Jefferson stated the natural rights of every human. This statement is clearly not true in the eyes of the men who wrote and edited this document, hence proving that the statement “all men were created equal” is hypocritical. In accordance to primary sources gained from this period of intolerance and recreations of it, it is clear that not only were the women not treated as equal, but the African men and women treated as property were also stripped of the three main rights and liberties the Declaration argues for.

To what extent did reform movements in the United States from 1825 to 1850 seek to expand democratic ideals? From 1825-1850 America was on the verge to Manifest it’s destiny as a national super power. From the increased industrialization of the north, to the social changes in the south, and to the expansion to the west, America finally took its first steps to become a self-sufficient country. Important events such as The Second Great Awakening and the Transportation Revolution occurred during this time.

At no point in the history of humankind has there been something about which everyone can agree. Everyone has different opinions, and the founding era in America was no exception to this rule. People felt very strongly about their views on things like the separation from England, the amount of power the federal government should have, and the idea of a national bank. One of the first decisions to be made in the struggle for America's independence was whether or not they should seek independence in the first place. Those loyal to England believed that rebelling against England would lead only to "devastation and ruin" (Charles Inglis).

The United states is doing a considerable job of preserving the principles the Declaration of Independance. A few of the principles are being maintained presently, but there are a few that are not being upheld. Such as “All men are created equal”, the first principle of the Declaration of independance. This principle basically indicates that in God’s eyes all people are alike. Yet not everyone has the same opportunities and privileges.

These problems were quickly addressed because the majority of the progressive movement was behind such reforms. This is very similar to the American opinion during the build up to and following the Second World War where public opinion of Fascism had grown to near taboo levels where even mentioning the word caused a major scandal over its context. This parallels with the progressive era with their problems before the movements, the fear of oppression and losing their democracy, their spread of information in the media to expose these problems, a new type of muckraking and warmonger media aimed at Nazism, and their coming together in order to solve their problems, the consolidation of power and popular support to declare war after Pearl Harbor and hearing of the lack of success by the Allies. While both of these periods feature change and a unifying cause that brought the divided nation of America back together, there is only one era when such a large amount of change and reform was enacted, whether it be Trust-Busting, Conservation, or the municipal reforms that took place on the lower levels, the Progressive Era is the only time period to pass so many reforms that it was named after its efforts to change despite hugely important events were happening

At the turn of the 19th century, America would move to develop a more modern system of democratic ideals that include equality, the pursuit of happiness, and diversity using the Constitution as a guide. The Constitution states that America was built to be a land of equal opportunity where people, no matter where they start, can end up in a better place than where they began. America was created and built by immigrants and the Constitution agrees and celebrates this fact. After the War of 1812, America was able to focus more on developing these ideals. Equality was a prime focus for the States after the War of 1812.

In addition, all women were denied the right to vote. “The cult of true womanhood ideology extended middle-class ideals far beyond the middle class and affected marriage, female education, and employment choices, as well as strategies for obtaining women’s rights…”(WOMEN). American women of the late 1800’s struggled with no rights in the government, considered inferior, and married women had no separate identity from her husband. One reason American women were treated poorly is because of their rights in the American government.

Leaders of the American Feminist Movement began to draw parallels between the struggles of women and the plight of slaves, and pressed the boundaries of “acceptable” female behavior. The Seneca Falls Convention was organized to discuss the question of women’s right, and out of the meeting came the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions. This declaration stated that “all men and women are created equal,” and women no less than men are endowed with certain inalienable rights (Doc 6). In demanding the right to vote, they launched a movement for woman suffrage that would survive until the battle was finally won in 1920. Yet, during this time, women who were black faced an even greater struggle.

Women were expected to cook, take care of their children and maintain the household, but not much more. These standards created by societal boundaries caused women to feel insignificant, as if they had no say in anything. Thus, women wanted to be given equal rights that other individuals at the had. Doc A states, “we insist that they have immediate admission to all the rights and privileges which belong to them as citizens of the United States” (Cult of Domesticity, Doc.

America was what it seemed to be :swallowed by the power of the republic” (Document 1). After our nation realized we weren’t getting anywhere with England, delegates decided to sit down and begin to write the Declaration of Independence. During this meeting they decided to subside from the parliament of Great Britain and declare the colonies to be free and independent states. This allowed them to have the power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all things independent states have the right to do (Document 2). Before we declared

Another big reform that took place was Transcendentalism which was mainly about praising the divine equality of each soul. Unlike many other religions that believe in predestination, transcendentalism there is no real division between saved and damned,anyone could have a transcendent experience and could connected to the spiritual world based on their lifestyle. Transcendentalism was a very comforting ideal as a philosophy for a nation like America which believes that all men are created equal and have the same inalienable rights. The transcendentalist movement began to cross paths with the antebellum efforts toward social reform as perceived in that point of view, that if all men and women were spiritually equal from birth as they believed, all men and women must deserve to be treated with social and political equality as well no matter who they

During the periods of 1900 to 1912, the federal government and the Progressive Era reformers were able to bring limited change. This time period was when the U.S. desired to improve life in the industrial age by creating social improvements and political changes through government action. The Progressive Era reformers and the federal government support reforms as to limit the control of voting rights for women, trusts, improve sanitation, and enact child labor laws. Although they both managed to establish a precedent for more active roles in the federal government and managed to improve the quality of life, there were inevitable negative effects that occurred due to the Progressive movement. The efforts had both successes and limitations.

Individuals lay the foundation of America. The Founding Fathers of this unique nation broke their allegiance with Great Britain to create an improved governing body. They desired an individual-centered authority as opposed to Britain’s monarchy, which ruled with tyranny. These Founding Fathers experienced a neglectful democratic monarchy that cared little about the ethical treatment of its people. The domineering actions of Britain challenged these historic individuals to form a new cultural identity.

We all know that women didn 't have as many rights as men, and they still don 't. Women can now do more than they used to, but they still aren 't equal with men. They have had to fight for so many things like the right to vote and to be equal to men. The 19th amendment, the one that gave women the right to vote, brought us a big step closer. The Equal Rights Movement also gave us the chance to have as many rights as men. Women have always stayed home, cleaned the house, and didn 't even get an education.