As shown by Documents C and G, Jackson overstepped his Constitutional bounds in each of situation, that of the closure of the Second Bank of America, and that of the Indian Removal. If, as in Documents A and F, a particular section of society needs to fight against the majority, the Constitution, which is designed to provide for public happiness, is being somewhat ignored or misused. Another idea we’ll consider is that they were champions of political democracy. This is a two-sided issue. As compared to their predecessors and contemporaries, they were most certainly the more democratic party.
Many of these facilities were, education, healthcare, transport, cinemas, restaurants and churches and even housing and estates were segregated. This shows the extent white went to separate them from the ‘inferior’ race. Jim Crow laws limited black Americans from having a better way of life as they were made poorer, didn’t have the opportunity to managerial roles as they were only allowed the low paying jobs and weren’t equal to white people increasing poor conditions, also, led to unequal or no voting rights in coloured communities. Under the Fifteenth Amendment black people had legal rights to vote across America. However, many southern states found ways around the laws to disenfranchise the black populations.
Abraham Lincoln, in his Gettysburg address, wrote “government of the people, by the people and for the people.” Lincoln suggests that these freedoms in the constitution are for all people not a limited few (Basler, n.pag). Even though there are many people who reinterpret the rights and laws laid out on the Constitution, all people should have the right to vote. Groups such as democratic followers state that people don’t care anymore, therefore, maybe only those who pay attention should have this right. If this happens will disorder follow? Where will it end?
There are modern day tactics, such as the requirement of a valid I.D. (which can be considered as a variation of the poll tax), redrawn voting district lines in favor of certain races and or political parties, and spontaneously changed poll dates that make it difficult to vote. There are also significant factors that indicate that the Fifteenth Amendment, in conjunction with the Twenty Fourth amendment, failed to truly eliminate all possible legal loop holes that would allow for the continuation of ethnological discrimination. The attitude of white supremacists towards the Blacks preceding the Fifteenth Amendment was hostile at best. Though the 14th amendment granted them U.S. citizenship and the right to vote, attempts to do so were met with verbal slander, loss of employment, and in some cases physical animosity.
The removal of Native American tribes from their homelands was another undemocratic trend that was a large party of the 'Jacksonian Democracy' era. Despite some politicians' promises otherwise, the removal of Native Americans ended up becoming a brutal reality. The journey of these Indians was very dangerous and many died along the way. These people, even the most assimilated Cherokee tribe, were moved from their land without a say in the matter. It would be hard to think of a situation more undemocratic than that of the Native Americans in the 1800s.
Although the end of the American civil war marked the end of slavery for African Americans, it did not mark their acceptance and equality with white people. Many southern states resented losing their slaves and were determined to keep African Americans as second class citizens. In 1950 segregation was in full force, meaning African Americans had separate churches, public transport, theatres, schools, hotels, swimming pools and many other facilities to white people. Segregation also applied to where people lived, so African Americans could only live in certain areas separate from white people, with these areas being much worse than the white suburbs, despite the separate but equal principle. Even when this was challenged in the Plessy vs Ferguson Supreme Court case the separate but equal principle was found to be constitutional.
These laws denied black Americans the equal rights of white citizens which re-imposed white supremacy and meant they remained as second-class citizens. It wasn’t only the Jim Crow laws but under the Fifteenth Amendment, black people had the legal right to vote throughout America. Nonetheless, the southern states found devious ways to disenfranchise the local black population. For example, some states introduced a grandfather clause, which meant that people could only vote if their grandfathers had been able to vote. Other states introduced literacy tests as criteria for voting.
After the civil rights era’s and all of the bills and supreme court rulings like the transportation equality act, prohibited discrimination In public accommodations, educations and employment, Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and the American Indian Movement just to name a few. These acts were implemented to remove oppression but actually today in 2014 Oppression is still happening especially on blacks and Hispanics. The oppression happens as a bi product from white privilege. People are oppressed because African Americans and Hispanics cannot do certain things that white Americans can do. This can be linked to negative stereotypes about these races.
A lot of the states’ laws had to be overcome in order for the act to become effective such as Jim Crow laws. These laws made African Americans feel as though they were relegated to the status of second class citizens. Jim Crow laws prevents blacks from voting due to illiteracy, social class, and/or poverty. It did take some muscle from the federal government, the attorney general’s office and executive orders from the president to make sure civil right laws were enacted. But it was all worth it.
Though the fifteenth amendment gave black males the right to vote a poll tax was introduced to eliminate the black vote. It was effective because the large majority of blacks were poor and needed the money for priorities other than voting. Policies like these drove blacks deeper into poverty and only made the color line more definite. Racism also played a large role in immigration. Immigrants from all over the world were flooding the shores of the U.S. looking for the promise of the American Dream.