Tuesday, November 17, 2009

life during the civil war

Life at this point was very difficult for everyone in America. In my opinion slaves were the ones who suffered the most. African Americans at the time had no power in any way unless they lived in the Northern part of America. Even then the court believed that being in free territory did not make a slave free. Dred scott had to find out this the hard way. His owner took him from the slave state of Missouri to free territory in Illinois and Wisconsin and back to Missouri. He went to the Supreme Court in hopes of receiving his freedom. According to them though Scott lacked any legal standing to sue in federal court because he was not, and could never be, a citizen. For the slaves in the South, life was all about hard work and no pay. Brave individuals like Harriet Tubman also known as “Moses” helped slaves escape on the Underground Railroads. But again although they escaped the South, they never always received freedom.

Women from very early in time have fought to not just be known to know how to clean and provide for their family. They want to show the world that sex doesn’t matter when it comes to contributing in ways to help America when needed. A great example of women contributing, is when Sarah Morris Mifflin spined her own thread instead of using the British. This took place in 1770 in the protest against the British. Although women did all these great things that in the long run ended up helping America, they still didn’t have the same equality as men. This didn’t stop them from fighting though. Through the year’s wonderful independent and in some cases even groups of women kept on fighting. In 1972-1982 the Equal Rights Amendment tried to be passed in hopes of finally women having the same social and economic rights as men. Although the law was not passed women kept fighting. In 2001 60 women served in the House and 13 served in the senate. This proves that women have a big impact in America and are not just good for providing for families.