The Democratic Principles, Responsibilities Of Citizenship And Citizens Rights

Voting right in America around the early 1800s was a very complex process, because many of the politicians and government leaders had supported slavery, which led to limited voting rights to those who were legally free. Women, however weren’t treated as equals to men, therefore they didn’t get much attention to their voting rights (which at the time there was none). There were two other major factors in voting as well, which were socioeconomics and land owners, making the poor worker class have very little political freedoms as well. Most of the voting privileges went to rich white men.

In the early years of the United States, voting laws were very strict and only a select few people were able to vote. In 1776, only people who owned land were permitted to vote. Most people in this category were white males over the age of 21. This continued for many decades: in 1790 the Naturalization Law passed. It explicitly stated that only “free white” immigrants can become naturalized citizens. This gave only free white people the right to vote- very little progress was being made.

Voting was not always fair, especially for colored people. People who were white could vote without problems. Not only did blacks have rights, but Indians couldn't vote. Soon after almost 100 years Native Americans could finally vote.Today everyone has the right to vote no matter what race they are.

The right to vote for African American became difficult during the time because the northern didn’t want to consider the blacks as equal to the society. As Frederick Douglass, has once stated “Slavery is not abolished until the black man has the ballot.” African American fought their way to gain their right to vote is by coming together, free blacks and emancipated slaves, to create parades, petition drives to demand, and to organize their own “freedom ballots.” As a free African American, they except the same respect as the whites and nothing

“We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish the Constitution for the United States of America.” Without the right that the Constitution brings us, we wouldn’t have rights therefore the United States wouldn’t be a good place to live in. The Constitution brings us the right of freedom of speech (first amendment) , the right to bear arms (second amendment), and the right to protect against unreasonable government actions such as search and seizure of person property (fourth amendment). Being an American citizen means that you have rights that they would like you to fulfil. As an American citizen is it voluntary to vote, but others are required such as obeying the law and paying taxes. The Magna Carta, John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government, and the Petition of Rights explains the rights and the responsibilities of an American citizen.

Up until the year 1870 African Americans could not vote in any election in American. (U.S. Voting Rights). In the past America has been making a lot of changes in our voting system’s equality. In the present, legally African Americans have the same rights as a white man does. In the future the rights will not get any better or worse. Throughout history The African American voting rights have improved to the present day and will stay the same in the near future.

When Congress passed the fifteenth amendment African Americans were given the right to vote, however state legislatures created laws to deter the undesirable vote from African Americans. The country sediment was to not have any undesirable or what they considered non American people voting. That is why when the Civil Rights Act of 1866 passes, it granted citizenship not rights to vote. Children of immigrants were also not considered qualified to vote. This society felt that the only eligible voters should be American men, because they considered themselves as superior and denied immigrants, blacks and women to vote to uphold social hierarchy. Each state varied in voter prerequisites and while there was not a specific guideline, there were restrictions to exclude certain members of

Most of the African Americans and other minorities during this time were Republican, but they weren’t authentically aurally perceived in the elections, and after a voting poll tax was introduced minorities did not genuinely vote during elections. Literacy tests were introduced as well to determine if you were qualified to vote,

When Africans first came here in 1619 and disembarked from a ship in Jamestown, Virginia, they were enslaved which automatically denied them to right to vote. However free black men could vote in some of the original states including North Carolina, all of the New England states (except Connecticut). In New York only blacks who owned $250 worth of land were able to vote, which of course was improbable at this time. Naturally, however, this did not apply to whites. Then came the Reconstruction Act of 1867, which allowed blacks to be elected as delegates. New amendments to the constitution and allowed

A Constitutional Democracy is very important for U.S. citizens. Living in a country that is run by a democracy gives everyone a voice. It allows you to speak out about problems you see in your town, state, or in the nation. It gives everyone the ability to come together as one, and make changes to better suit your lives and the country. E Pluribus Unum (One out of many) is the motto of America. This means even though there are a lot of people in the world, everyone has a voice and your voice can make changes.

In “Race and Beyond: Why Young, Minority, and Low-Income Citizens Don’t Vote,” Sam Fulwood claims, “Regardless of whether a favored candidate won or popular ballot initiative passed, our nation suffered because of the number of people who didn’t vote at all” (par. 2). I agree with Sam Fulwood and I believe it is so unfortunate that Americans don’t use this right. Voting is one of the most valuable possessions that Americans are given and yet they do not use. Many of the countries around the world do not grant voting rights to their citizens. These countries either have a dictatorship or kingdom which prevents citizens from voting. People need to understand the sufferings of those people who struggled for this right. When the United States

Though having the right to vote was park of the constitution negroes were not allowed to vote and even if they were able to vote, there were a lot of steps that came with the right to vote for negroes. In the article “Report of the United States on Commission on Civil Rights 1959. " Denial rights to vote” it states the struggles of receiving a voting card in that if a negro wanted to vote they had to register for a voting card which meant they had to go to the court house find a clerk and prove that they were citizens of the state, be at least 21 years old, if they were lucky they found a clerk on duty. Though they found a clerk on duty most of them were lazy and did not want to help them and always told them to come the following day because they were on lunch or it was almost closing time and they had to leave. If they managed to return to the court house the following day, then they had to take a test which involved them reinterpreting a part of the constitution in their own words this was unfair

Become a citizen of one of the best nations in the world is a privilege that not many people have. I’m talking about the United States of America. If you are an U.S natural born citizen you have rights and responsibilities that protect you based on the Declaration of Independence and the U.S Constitution. People who are in the position to become U.S. citizens gain the same rights, privileges, and responsibilities of citizenship as natural born American with the only restriction that they can’t be eligible for President of the United States.

For several years, politicians and leaders have talked about and debated over immigrants living in the United States without the proper documentation that declare them a citizen of the States. Many of these immigrants have started families and lived in the United States for many years. Some of these immigrants were brought and raised in the United States as babies and have only known this country since a young age. In the dictionary a citizen is, “a native or naturalized person who owes allegiance to a government and is entitled to protection from it” (“Citizen”). An enormous amount of immigrants considers themselves as citizens of the U.S. because they were raised on U.S. soil and not the country they were born from. However, politicians

Such policy is not legitimate. Citizens should be allowed to freely move and migrant. Their natural rights should always surpass citizen responsibility. However, when their natural rights and citizen responsibility do not contradict with each other, citizens should obey their citizen responsibilities. Citizenship means that the citizen of this country has the nationality of this country and has the rights and the obligations in accordance to the constitution and laws of the state. Citizens should have the rights to vote for the candidate in the election and participate in the politics. Citizens are equal under the laws. Citizens should have the freedom for the speech and the religion. Citizens also have the rights to have the basic education, start the business and keep the possession if the possession is achieved by legal process. When citizens go to another country, they are under the protection of their mother country. At the same time, citizens have the duties to respect the constitution and the laws of the state. Citizens also have the duties to protect the public goods and pay taxes. In order to close the gap between the rich and the poor, it is necessary for governments to enforce the hierarchy of tax laws and it is duty for citizens to pay such taxes. However, when the society climbs its ladder to a status that is mostly equal, citizens will have less and less responsibility to countries and the taxation should be reduced dramatically. Instead, citizens will focus