Oppressed groups in american history?
2) The experience of oppressed groups is an important and at times overlooked aspect of early American history. How did women, native Americans, and slaves navigate this era of American history? What were their experiences like? How did these groups band together to better their position in society? How did they create their own cultures, respectively? Explain, in detail
2) The experience of oppressed groups is an important and at times overlooked aspect of early American history. How did women, native Americans, and slaves navigate this era of American history? What were their experiences like? How did these groups band together to better their position in society? How did they create their own cultures, respectively? Explain, in detail
1 Answer
See below
Explanation:
Thse groups were excluded from the principles of freedom defended by the Constitution. Women had rights depending on the state they lived in, and could not vote until 1920(except in western territories , Wyoming implemented women suffrage in 1869 for instance). Women's conditions depended on whom they were married to. Native Americans were regarded as foreign nations in the Constitution. Slaves could be freed but could not vote(except in some New England states) and could not bear arms.
Activism to improve the lot of these groups started very early. People opposed the Removal Policy of Andrew Jackson and the Cherokees even resorted to appealing to the Supreme Court which ruled in their favor but the decision had no repercussion. Women started to organize very early, very often in organization close to abolitionists.
The 1848 Seneca Falls Convention is a good example and Stanton was one of the main early American feminist figure. Abolitionists created many organizations mostly in the North of the USA. In 1831 a newspaper called " The Liberator" was founded by William Lloyd Garrison and stood for immediate abolition.
Culture was also a crucial means of political activism, indeed slave narratives for instance were used by abolitionists, Frederick Douglass is probably the best example. "Uncle Tom's Cabin" by Harriet Beecher Stowe is another good example though it was written by a white lady. It was one of the greatest commercial success of the 19th century and not only in the USA.
For exhaustive details: read " A People's History of the United States" by Howard Zinn.
