Fight for Your Rights.

Essay by lawnboy0Junior High, 7th gradeA, June 2003

download word file, 3 pages 4.0

Fight for Your Rights

Through the years, many different groups of Americans have been treated unfairly. They have been denied equal rights and opportunities. Some of these groups were Women, Blacks, immigrants, mentally ill patients, Native Americans, and colonists. It was a while before these groups spoke out for what was right. These groups were not given equal rights but the spoke out for what they believed.

Some groups who were denied their rights were immigrants, Native Americans, Women, and colonists. When immigrants first came to America they were not welcome. Americans disliked the immigrants. Over 1.5 million Irish immigrants came over because of the Potato Famine. They looked for work but only found signs on shop windows and doors that read "HELP WANTED: NO IRISH NEED APPLY!" A group of Americans called Nativists wanted to keep only native-borns in America. They also wanted to pass laws limiting immigration the also wanted to keep immigrants from voting.

The thought that immigrants were stealing their property and jobs. Native Americans were bring forced off of their land because Americans were pushing farther and father west. Congress passed the Indian Removal Act. This caused the government to make treaties that required Native Americans to give up their land and move to what is now Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska (Indian Territory). Women were the last group of Americans to receive the right to vote. Men did not see women as equals and they did not treat women as equals. White men let black former slaves vote before white women. Women found this to be unconstitutional and very unfair. Colonists were denied their rights because they were unfairly taxed by Britain. The British needed money to pay their expenses, so they decided to tax their colonies. They taxed them on tea, sugar, legal documents,