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The Greatest Danger Of American Freedom

Decent Essays

“The greatest danger to American freedom is a government that ignores the Constitution.” – Thomas Jefferson. Since the first contact with the Europeans, native peoples in the U.S have been battling with powerful government bodies and have repeatedly lost. Looking back to even before the founding of the Union, native populations have went to war against the progressive, overpowering and belittling nature of the government and have walked away with disease, famine and useless treaties. It is these bitter roots that have affected the native nations in the U.S even today. Battle scars of decades past can still be seen on reservations throughout the United States. This isn’t a game of finders keepers, there needs to be a fair way to allocate …show more content…

Once people are informed, they can decide to make a change. By exposing the treaty breaches, and understanding how things should be handled, only then can we start to reverse and redact the wrongdoings done by the U.S government. Additionally, supporters like myself of the native nations agree that these treaty breaches are a direct violation of the 1st amendment. The 1st amendment reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” (2). By neglecting to follow treaties set up to protect Indian land, culture and well- being, the U.S Government is in direct violation of the very systems they fought to create. Yes, separating ourselves from the tyrant of Great Britain is fine and all, but it means nothing if we act the same way as our former crown and oppress and annihilate our native populations.
We all know that as U.S citizens, we must abide and follow the laws written in the Constitution. That being said, when the treaties in the mid 1800’s were written and passed, they allowed certain unalienable rights to federally recognized indigenous nations. These federally recognized tribes were placed on reservations and were allowed to have a separate law system than the state they reside in. However, these nations must still

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