Human Rights as a Global Issue Essay Example

📌Category: Human rights, Social Issues
📌Words: 737
📌Pages: 3
📌Published: 12 June 2021

An enduring issue is defined as a challenge or a problem that has been debated or discussed over time. Enduring issues can vary between subjects such as environmental issues, power, etc. Therefore, the enduring issue in American History is human rights. 

The enduring issue of human rights is addressed during the Middle Passage and the slave trade. During the time of the Middle Passage and the slave trade, slaves were put in very un-humane conditions. They were chained up in uncomfortable gear which prevented them from being able to lie on their sides. They were only allowed to stay in one small spot the entire boat trip. People ate, slept, urinated, defecated, died, and even gave birth in that same spot. “They were packed into small places where there was barely enough room to lie on one’s side” (Doc 1). The La Amistad ship and its court case are some of the best examples of slavery in U.S history. When a Portuguese slave ship arrived in Africa to capture slaves and bring them to America, the slaves were brutally taken away from their homeland and forcefully taken to Cuba, then to America. They sailed all the way to Cuba, then were shipped to America to be sold as property. While on the ship, the slaves took control of the ship and killed the cook and the captain of the ship. When the slaves issued a court case for their freedom, they were denied their freedom because they were not Americans. After a long argument with the American federal government and the abolitionist movement, the 35 slaves that were still alive returned back to their homeland in Africa. This one incident was one of the many injustices that were brought upon colored people. 

The Constitution and the Declaration of Independence also address the enduring issue of human rights. In the Constitution, the American government claimed that all people were equal and should be treated as equals. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal” (Doc 2). While they also had high-end government officials who represented America, own slaves of their own. That also brings up the question of if what the government wrote in these documents is true. The Declaration of Independence reestablishes the basic human rights that every single person has. Yet, people still violated these rights and treated colored people as objects instead of human beings. This document also says that Britain violated the American people’s rights when they were under the control of the British government. During the Enlightenment era, many enlightenment thinkers said that every man had their own free will. Take for example John Locke, who wrote in his “Two Treatises of Government” that “Since every man is equal and since most men do not concern themselves with equity and justice, the enjoyment of rights in the state of nature is unsafe and insecure. Hence each man joins in society with others to preserve his life, liberty, and property”. The Declaration of Independence is basically lying to the American people, saying that all men are created equal when all men were obviously not created equally. Evidence of slavery and discrimination in American History shows us that the Declaration of Independence lied to us about what is written down in it.

Another topic that is controversial in American history is Thomas Jefferson when it comes to slavery. Thomas Jefferson blames King George for the existence of slavery and also blames him for owning his own slaves. In the deleted passage of the Declaration of Independence, he says, “He has a cruel war against human nature itself, violating rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him---” (Doc 3). These claims are what describes what he did to slaves as well. He managed to own a slave mother and have six children with her. He violates the enduring issue of human rights because owned a human being, and pretended as if it was ok for him to do so. He violated human rights because he fathered six children of the woman he owned. All of this ties into the Dred Scott case because he tried to sue his master’s wife for his freedom. His human rights were violated because he was claimed to not be a citizen of the United States, and was denied his freedom. The Supreme Court denied his request and told him that he did not deserve his freedom in the U.S.

Human Rights have been violated throughout American history. From Native Americans to Irish discrimination, from Hispanics to African American discrimination, there has been an enormous amount. It is important that we as a country work together as a united front. After all, our country’s name is the United States of America.

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