The Founding Fathers, in their conception of a more perfect union, drafted ideas that communicated the oppression they felt as slaves of Mother England. Ironically, nowhere in any of their documents did they address the issue of racial slavery. The Declaration of Independence from England was adopted as the country's'
most fundamental constitutional document. It was the definitive statement for the American policy of government, of the necessary conditions for the exercise of political power, and of the sovereignty of the people who establish the government. John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress and slave trader, described it as "the Ground & Foundation of a future government." James Madison, Father of the
Constitution and slave owner called it "the fundamental Act of Union of these States." "All men are created equal," and endowed by the Creator with the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." They either meant that all men were created equal, that every man was entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, or they did not mean it at all.
U.S. circuit judges Robert Katzmann, Damon Keith, ...
English: Representative John A. Bingham of Ohio, p...
The Court that decided PlessyThe Constitution has survived two World Wars, a Civil War, and even slavery. This piece of paper was written to limit government in our lives and proclaim our rights as individuals. Through the course of time, Amendments have been added to aid in current events that were not foreseen when the Constitution was originally written. Sixteen presidents after the Constitution were written, slavery was abolished and the Thirteenth Amendment was passed. Three years later came the Equal Protection clause in the Fourteenth Amendment and two years after that; the Supreme Court addressed voting rights in the Fifteenth Amendment.
Although the Amendment suggests that all men and women are created equal, the fact is that the citizens of the United States are constantly...