Essay.2

Voices of Change Since the origin of society, members have shown their dissatisfaction with the structure of society and the rights allowed to the people. On July 4, 1776, the founding fathers of our country signed the Declaration of Independence, officially renouncing political allegiance to England. In the document, all men are considered to have equal rights and freedoms under the new system of government. Black men, slaves, and women are some of those not considered in the document, which leads to overwhelming political and social unrest for the next 200 years. Their resentment against the injustice and illusion of freedom the Declaration of Independence provided, motivates the forgotten people: black men, slaves, and women, to evoke changes in society in their favor. The voices of people living under injustice can carry the power to change entire structures of a nation. Thomas Jefferson, along with the other writers of the Declaration of Independence, channeled their dissatisfaction with the English government into the power to create their ideal nation. The Declaration of Independence provided only limited equality for all men. Frederick Douglass, an escaped, intellectual, black slave, felt first hand the injustices of the newly created nation. He used his voice and power as an intellectual to fight for the equality of all men, especially black men, irrelevant of skin color. Douglass’s message carried over to the 20th century civil rights movement. Martin Luther King Jr., seen as a face of the black civil rights movement, used his powerful voice to bring into action the equal rights Douglass fought for to people of color in America, a supposedly equal nation based on the Declaration of Independence. The civil rights movement included equality for not just people of color but women. During the 19th century, the battle for women’s rights waged. Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s voice in writing is credited as kick starting the revolution of women’s rights. Stanton, King, Douglass, and Jefferson used their voices to improve the injustices of the state of living since the origin of our nation.

The United States of America was built by a group of powerful men dissatisfied with the country’s treatment by the English government. Thomas Jefferson took the frustrations of the entire nation and summarized their plight into one common document to represent their ideas. Their voices combined as one into the Declaration of Independence carried enough weight and power to evoke the change of an entire system of government. Jefferson, and the founding fathers, created their ideal democracy, giving equal rights and opportunities to all men, “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”. He believed all men had certain rights that could not be taken away by anyone. American’s felt the British government was not allowing the people to exercise those rights. If those rights were restricted, it was the job of the people to rise up and use their voice against the oppressor, “Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government…When a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security” (Jefferson). The use of Jefferson’s voice in renouncing all allegiance to England initiated the Revolutionary War. The war ended in the favor of the new democracy, the United States of America. Men within the country were now given the opportunity to live under the rights given to them at birth, “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” (Jefferson). Although the Declaration of Independence gives equal unalienable rights to all men, when writing the document, Jefferson didn’t take into account the rights of black men and slaves in the United States.

Thomas Jefferson’s belief in equality for all men didn’t apply to the slaves being brought into the country. Jefferson, a powerful voice for righteousness, justice, and God given rights, owned a multitude of slaves. Frederick Douglass was born a slave in the 19th century but died a free man. His testimony of the atrocities slaves were succumbing to daily was a driving force behind his voice. He joined the already evident slave abolitionist movements and used his intellectual voice to speak eloquently about wrongs of slavery. His intelligence didn’t go unnoticed. Douglass was backed by leaders like Abraham Lincoln and became a voice in government fighting slavery.

On July 4th, 1852, 76 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Douglass spoke to an audience of people looking for the same reformation of the country. His speech pointed out the irony of a black man speaking on the 4th of July. He spoke as a representation of the black community in the country, just as Jefferson used his voice to summarize the dissatisfactions of the nation, “ What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to Him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy -- a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages”. The little freedoms given to blacks keep the people contained beneath whites in social hierarchy. Douglass points out that the rights provided for whites in America are not reciprocated for black slaves, “The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not me”. The rights set forth in the Declaration of Independence, felt by Douglass, should apply to all men under God. He sees the country’s path as dark if the current states of oppression towards blacks aren’t changed. Douglass proclaims, “ Whether we turn to the declarations of the past, or to the professions of the present, the conduct of the nation seems equally hideous and revolting. America, is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future”. Frederick Douglass sees the country as having static evolution. Without the progression of thoughts, ideas, and resolution of social issues, the country is seen as doomed to repeat its injustices. Douglass’s voice and message didn’t directly change the oppression of blacks. His voice in combination with others created a snowball effect leading to equal rights.

Douglass’s efforts were still being fought for up into the 20th century by Martin Luther King Jr. During the 1950’s and 60’s, the civil rights movement was at its zenith. Desegregation, voting rights, and all around equality were some of the main topics fought for during this movement. Martin Luther King Jr. used his voice to make the most progress in racial equality since the Declaration of Independence. His peaceful tactics and powerful leadership skills attracted a following of thousands. This momentum led to the passing of the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. These acts made segregation and discrimination illegal in terms of voting, schools, transportation, and hiring, etc.

Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech is his most notable speech during the Civil Rights Movement. King tackles the false rights given to all men in the Declaration of Independence and demands change, “ When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note”. King calls out Jefferson on the false promises given to the people and the evident inequality felt by people of color. Almost 200 years after the birth of the nation, inequality for blacks was enacted in much different ways but no less oppressive and harmful. King’s speech served as a motivation for the movement and government officials to strike fire under the progress of gaining equality, “ One hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition” (King). The efforts for equality Frederick Douglass fought for, King is still fighting for in a modern setting. Douglass’s outlook, “America, is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future”, is supported.

The sheer numbers of those backing King gave his voice enough weight to make the change Douglass was unable to accomplish. King emphasizes the need to act readily to create change, “ Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children. It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment”. King envisions, just as Douglass did, that the country would become a dark place without a positive change in the social structure. Martin Luther King Jr.’s efforts for racial equality moved the country in a direction true to Thomas Jefferson’s words, “all men are created equal”.

The civil rights movement King fought for didn’t pertain to just racial equality, women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton fought for gender equality during the movement. The role of women in history has been to serve and obey men, “He has made her, morally, and irresponsible being. In the covenant of marriage, she is compelled to promise obedience to her husband, he is becoming to all intents and purposes, her mater-the law giving him power to deprive her of her liberty, and to administer chastisement” (Stanton). Women were unable to vote, had no rights to property, and in the case of a divorce, had no rights to the children. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution specifically leave out women. In the social hierarchy, women were on the bottom of the totem pole. Elizabeth Cady Stanton stood up and fought for gender equality. She was a leader and writer for the women’s rights movement. One of her most notable writings for the movement was the //Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions//. This writing took the format of the Declaration of Independence and applied her beliefs in women’s rights, “When a long train of abuses and usurpatations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute depotism, it is their duty to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of the women under this government, and such is now the necessity which constrains them to demand equal station to which they are entitled”(Stanton). Stanton believed, as Douglass and King did, that the rights stated in the Declaration of Independence should be applicable to all, including women. The right to vote was given to black men before women, “He has withheld from her rights which are given to the most ignorant and degraded men-both natives and foreigners” (Stanton). Specifically in the Constitution, rights given to “all persons” were later said to be pertaining to only “male citizens”. With the use of Stanton’s voice in the women’s rights movement, women were given the rights they deserved under the Declaration of Independence. Time is an evident factor in creating change not only for Stanton, but Douglass, King, and Jefferson. The perseverance and determination of her voice brought about the change she fought for.

Thomas Jefferson’s voice in the Declaration of Independence represented the voice of an entire country fighting against injustice. Under this declaration, all men were supposedly given equal rights under God. Black men, slaves, and women fought for the next 200 years to receive the rights not given to them through the interpretation of the Declaration of Independence. Frederick Douglass used his first hand account and intelligence to tell the true travesties of slavery and its need to be abolished. His efforts weren’t in vain. Although racial equality wasn’t felt until around 100 years later, his voice motivated the voice of Martin Luther King Jr. to create the biggest change in equality for all men, irrelevant of color. Elizabeth Cady Stanton joined in the civil rights movement to provide equality for all genders. Her voice, along with the movement, provided the final piece to equality. All peoples: black, white, female, male, etc, now had access the God given rights set forth by our founding fathers because of the undeniable voices of people scorned.