Opression of the Constitution essays

Opression of the Constitution essays In the 1800s slavery was the most treacherous degrading and spiteful act ever forced on any human being in the United States. Stripping an individual of equality, education, and freedom because of their skin color is something that America was accustomed to during this time. The idea of educating the slaves was simply un heard of. The everlasting effects of slavery would be embed on blacks, spiritually, psychologically, and politically, but were not taken into consideration. It was not only black slaves brought over from Africa and stripped of their African identity, but also Native Americans, and the women of the very white men that took liberty and justice from blacks and Native Americans. These three different groups of people all shared a part in the oppression of the Constitution, that was supposed to set everyone free. Slaves were not thought of as human beings, but merely animals that perform a task of working hard, and had no feelings what so ever. President Thomas Jefferson wrote a speech addressed to the Administration of Justice called Notes on Virginia. In this speech Jefferson thought that blacks by nature were inferior to whites. He states: They have less hair on the face and body. The secrete less by the kidneys, and more by the glands of the skin which gives them a very strong and disagreeable odor. This greater degree of transpiration, renders them more tolerant of heat, and less so of cold than the whites.(181) This synopsis allows Jefferson to justify the fact that African Americans were to be completely submissive to whites and ultimately become slaves because their bodies were built for slave labor. He also compares slaves to animals when he states, their diversions, and unemployed labor [like]...an animal whose body is at rest, and who does not reflect must be disposed to sleep of course... the circumstance of superior beauty, is thought worthy attention in the preparation o...