Founding Fathers Of America: Establishing A Government That Protects Its People
Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton gathered in the Pennsylvania court house located in Philadelphia. It was in the court house, that they discuss what they were standing for, who they wanted to write it, and who will be a representative and sign it. The document states, “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.”
Continuing off that, within the quote, it states all men are created equal. Thomas Jefferson wrote it, and everyone else agreed. The thing is, many of them still owned slaves and treated them like so. By the time Jefferson was in office, which again was 1801-1809, slave trading was abolished, but slavery didn’t end until 1865. Many people, especially with an African American background, were and still are curious as to why they claimed all men are born with rights and are created equal, but still enslaved countless people. Not only were the African Americans treated poorly, but immigrants in general. The Germans and Irish were both heavily put into enforced labor. The theme of all men being created equal was included due to the British Empire taxing and mistreating the colonies due to them not being a part of the British kingdom. There is an understanding as to how that can be hypocritical. If you look at it from a white man's point of view from that time, he would speak of it as normal and that they were just other workers to him. I’m not trying to go specifically at Mr. Jefferson because he did do beneficial and great things for the nation overall such as the Louisiana Purchase; the purchase was acquiring that land When writing the Declaration, Thomas Jefferson wrote about taking out the slaves. That caused many states, mainly from the South, to back out unless it was removed.
In the end it was removed so that the document would pass, and that shows they didn’t fully support equality for everyone. Jefferson even ended up having many slaves of his own, one of them named Sally was even his mistress after his wife died and he had allegedly six children with this woman. Many people see him as someone who went against their word, as he lied, made profit off his slave who was also his mistress and was okay with it.
Just as important, there are still many debates with how our nation promoted peace when it took place in most wars although claiming they were, “neutral.” When France the Napoleonic war was going on, Jefferson was very busy trying to maintain being neutral, which does follow the preamble statement of encouraging peace. The founding fathers however have had many situations where peace and, “what's right” wasn’t what was being enforced. Like I said earlier, there are many ways to view it, with the U.S being treated wrong and defending themselves, and that they were too extreme and violent for miniscule reason. The Constitution’s preamble is the historic piece that claims they want peace, but it was established in 1787, which is obviously well before Thomas Jefferson’s take over in office. Even shortly after he left, there was the war of1812, that realistically ended in a tie. No side really won and they both suffered due to fatalities.
There was also some court like decisions with Marbury vs. Madison. That event allowed the Supreme Court to invalidate executive acts and declare them unconstitutional. This was a huge part in all of this because there have been many times where the act was unconstitutional. John Adams was the man in charge at the time and although it was after Jefferson he was still a founding father. Washington ended up freeing his slaves as well as rising above the others as a leader. He fought with a hope and lied down everything he had on the line.
In addition, the preamble and Constitution explains why the fathers shifted our government to a Republic. It also claims that it is the governments job to protect the people’s natural born rights. This is what the Judicial branch and all the judges are for. I believe the founding fathers did a good job in establishing a government that protects its people, at least setting it up for the future. They wanted a smaller but more secure and strong government. The separation of powers was introduced so that no branch has too much power, that they all work together to achieve what's constitutional.
Finally, the Indians were mistreated very poorly by the Americans. Within the Declaration of Independence Jefferson writes about the Indians being merciless savages. There have been many complaints about this and how the white men are the ones who first pressed the Indians, took their land, and killed their tribes. The trail of tears is a well-known name. President Jackson had the Indian removal policy and it led to absolutely devasting outcomes. Many fatalities, illnesses, and enslaved Indians. This is seen as one of the most, “disgusting” things the fathers did and viewed as a huge hypocrisy as the Indians were treated like lifeless items. The white men in general had all the power, viewing it from now and that time frame are completely different. The white’s took care of themselves and not at all for anyone else. Even women didn’t get credit or natural born rights to them. They were just born with certain duties and chores to them.
In the world we live in today, I can see how they are following the themes because slavery is abolished, women have rights, and even the president himself can go to jail if he goes against his word and does something illegal. Our supreme court does fight to protect the people’s rights. We are equal from them for the most part (there will always be racist people, not much you can do). Also, we get into battles to protect our nation, not for pointless or unworthy reasons.
Our country has changed a lot and I think it will continue to do so. My hopes are that we can maintain a great nation!
