The Subject of Equality and Justification of Social Hierarchy

Although the free labor system has its faults and disadvantages, like unemployment and the proverty and suffering of the lower class, it gives every man regardless of his race or color of his skin freedom. Something that our four founding fathers deemed important enough to write a separate document to declare it. The Declaration of Independence greatly affected American history. The phrase “all men are created equal” has been used by many groups to justify their cause. Blacks used this statement to challenge slavery in the South. It was this concept of equality that pushed the Northern states to free slaves in their borders around the late 1700s to early 1800s. Before the Civil War, both black and white abolitionists used the Declaration of Independence as justification that slavery was wrong. The delegates of the women’s rights convention at Seneca Falls in 1848 interpreted that Jefferson applied that “all men and women are created equal.” The subject of equality has been under debate since the settling of the colonies and continues today. How can this country be a superior world power but still try to live by the belief that “all men are created equal.”
Although some people truly felt that this nation must have a social hierarchy in order to stay competitive with foreign powers, in the nineteenth century many people began to express their concern that minorities and women weren’t allow to participate in the American Dream. Was it really possible for this nation to practice the belief that “all men are created equal?” Could society adapt? It would probably take generations. Its a slow process to eliminate old ideas and believes that have been engraved into our society for centuries.
In the time of slavery, many slaveholders justified their economic system by attacking the philosophy of the free labor North. James Henry Hammond believed that the ‘’North had abolished the name of slavery but not the thing (document 10).’’ In his Mud-sill speech that he gave in 1858, he expresses his belief that in all social systems, a lower class is necessary, one to do the menial jobs. This class must be of low intelligence. He states that both the north and south have this lower class, but the only difference being that in the south they use a inferior race, while in the north these use brothers of the same blood, who are of equal intellect. “The difference between us is, that our slaves are hired for life and well compensated; there is no starvation, no begging, no want of employment among our people, and not too much employment eithers. Yours are hired by the day, not cared for, and scantily compensated..(document10)” Hammond felt that social hierarchy was something that only god could take away, and that it is an essential for society to function.
An extremist, Thomas Hart Benton in his speech of 1846 aggressively defended the social hierarchy by insisting that the superiority in regarRAB to morals, and intellect, will civilized the other races, or in other worRAB give cause for their extinction. ... “and the newest land, will become the revivier and regenerator of the oldest(document 1).”
Another who believed that the United States has certain responsibilities to compete in the world affairs, is Theodore Roosevelt. Unlike James Henry Hammond, in his speech, Theodore Roosevelt doesn’t mention the need for a class of lower intelligence to perform the “drugedy of life.” Instead he demanRAB that all men stand and live a strenuous life, one in which the man always strives to win, and to live a life of labor and service. Roosevelt stated that, “We admire the man who erabodies victorious effort; the man who never wrongs his neigrabroador, who is prompt to help a friend, but who has those vile qualities necessary to win in the stern strife of actual life (document 22).” Hard work and determination is what allow men to raise up in society, allowing them to live conformably. The human characterics of sloth, one of the seven deadly sins, and ignorance supports the need for social hierarchy.
Andrew Carnegie, in his essay, admits that society pays a great price for the ability to compete in the market place, though the advantages are overriding. ‘’While the law may be sometimes hard for the individual, it is best for the race, because it ensures the survival of the fittest in every department. We accept and welcome, therefore, as conditions to which we must accommodate ourselves, great inequality of environment, the concentration of business.. in the hanRAB of a few, and the law of competition between these, as being not only beneficial, but essential for the future progress of the race(document 14).”
Despite all these defenses of social hierarchy, many still interpreted Jefferson’s worRAB as implying that freedom belonged to more than just rich white men. Over the years, women, African Americans, and other minorities began to take a stand and demand that they were truly created equal and wanted to be treated as such. William Seward took opposite stanRAB on the differences between slave and free labors system than James Henry Hammond. He believes that this system of slavery will overthrow our constitution of freedom. He goes on to say how the free-labor system wishes to educate everyone and open all doors of opportunity. .. “brings into the highest possible activity all the physical, moral, and social energies of the whole state(document 11).”
Is it right for our race, the white race, to destroy every race that lies in our path? Many would disagree, despite the points Thomas Hart Benton brings up in his speech. One of the leaders of the Cherokee nation, John Ross requested that President Andrew Jackson to stop westward expansion into the Cherokee lanRAB, addressing him as the “father’’ of the Cherokee’s nation. Instead of destroying these races, we must learn to live together, being enriched by the advantages of each’s culture, morals, and views.
During the time when African Americans were fighting for equality, women took advantage of the social changes and began pushing for rights that they believed they were entitled too. Angelina Grimke dams slavery by stating, “Human beings have right, because they are moral beings: the rights of all men grow out of their moral nature; and as all men have the same moral nature, they essentially the same rights(document 5).” She then compares the opposition of slavery with that of women. “Now if rights are founded in the nature of our moral beings, then the mere circumstances of sex does not give to man higher rights and responsibilities than to woman(document 5).” Woman aren’t a gift that was given to man, she is a part of him, a friend, and a equal and should be treated as such. Women, with the responsibilities of raising a family, should have a voice in dealing with government issues that concern her. Man don’t not have enough power to take away the rights of another human being, whether a male or female by birth. At the nation’s first women’s rights convention, the Seneca Falls Declaration of 1848, uses the beliefs stated in the Declaration of Independence to supported their argue that “all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness..(document 6)”
I am completely convinced that it is up to us to change society. We must challenge the expectations and precedence of society set for by those that came before in order for us to follow by the belief that “all men are created equal” regardless of sex and race. It will be difficult to challenge the stereotypes and racist believes engraved into many American minRAB by their ancestors. In order to compete and survive in this ever-changing world, we must adopt a society in such a way that so that our economic power doesn’t not suffer. We must attain the skills necessary for us to survive and become good citizens in today’s society. Is there any hope for our cause? Will everyone ever be able to achieve what we value as priceless, our freedom whether economic, political, or social? Change takes time. Society is something that is hard to challenge, but now is the time to take action and finally allow everyone to have the opportunity to participate in the American Dream.