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Running Head: SOCIAL RIGHTS IN THE 19TH CENTURY 0

Expansion of Social Rights

Expansion of Social Rights for White Men during the Nineteenth Century

Social rights expansion for white men gained popularity following the Jacksonian democracy which was a historical period in time that saw high dominance of the Andrew Jackson presidency and was highly controversial. Jacksonian democracy was a political movement that put great importance on democracy for the common man. Although contrary to its popularity, it faced opposition by the Jeffersonian democracy which was in favor of educated men although, it did not support the idea of men with inherited fortunes.

The Jacksonian democracy had a strong foundation based on five main principles which were; expanded suffrage, patronage, strict constructionism, manifest destiny, and laissez-faire economics. According to this democracy, it was a widespread belief that voting rights should be given to all white men, and by the mid-19th century, universal white male suffrage was a standard issue as stated by (Spring, 2016). It also followed the dropping of all the requirements needed for land ownership as well as payment of taxes.

Briefly looking at the five principles that were somehow the main reason for the social right expansion in the 19th century, gives information on the believes of equal voting rights to all white men by the Jacksonians that is on the basis on the principle of expanded suffrage. And this led to a massive widespread of viewpoints and state laws shifting that was in favor of the universal white man suffrage.

There was a widespread belief around this period in time that Americans were destined to create settlements around the American West, as well as expanding control around the two oceans surrounding the continent, especially the yeoman farmers. It was dealt a massive blow as a faction of the Jacksonians presented arguments that proposed limitations on these settled areas so that the white man of the lower class can also prosper. It was the principle that was in reference as the manifest dynasty.

As stated by (Sinha, 2017), patronage was a policy that mainly focused on the placement of political advocates into appointed offices. The majority hold the view that the rotation of political nominees was the duty and right of political contestants who have won. Theoretically, patronage proves to be just that since it put encouragement in political participation by the ordinary man and also because it would increase accountability among politicians. Strict constructionism involved favoring of a federal government which had limited powers. Finally, the raises-fair which complemented a precise construction of the constitution offered tremendous contributions in which the Jacksonians were in favor of a keep off approach to the economy.

Voting in most states was in restriction to a few individuals in the society which included white male landowners who later expanded to the inclusion of those individuals who did not own a piece of land. In rural areas, social rights such as voting were a big deal it involved a break from the hard farm work that was a must daily. The arguments that were included as well as the campaigning were a big thrill that was in company with the masculine practices that were in association with voting in the 1800s.

The decrease in Social Rights for Women and Non-Blacks

Throughout the 19th century, women have been in a fight to obtain equal rights to men as seen under the law and the most crucial social power which was to vote. “During the 1800s in America as well as Europe, both women and men were required to fill separate elements in the society” (Abramovitz, 2017, p. 288). The life of men was supposed to be public, whether working or socializing in public places, women, on the other hand, were supposed to live their lives revolving around the homestead. It mainly involved handling home duties such as cooking, doing the cleaning and raising of the children.

According to (Abramovitz, 2017), women were not meant or allowed to socialize during their free time; instead, they were to engage in things that were related to the upbringing and maintenance of the family. Due to these traditional beliefs facing women in this era, few women had the chance to get quality education equal to those men were acquiring at the time. Women having education was in view as being insurgent and a disorder in the community social order and when it came to political activities women were completely shut out, voting was not allowed and in some adverse cases such as in Great Britain, the bound that exists between women and their husband was so firm which made them not recognized as people at all.

Although there was evidence of the existence of monarchs that were ruled by women in proceeding centuries, they were merely coincidental due to various factors which included the death of male heirs and accidental births. Exceptions to the rule were in existence. Still women were shut out of the public eye during the periods of the 19th-century society with the exception being made for those women who were in the company of their husbands or their fathers (Rogers, 2017).

These led to a massive decrease in social rights for women during this period in time. Although, they were efforts by some few exceptional women who began a campaign that was slowly dissipating the traditional roles meant for them. Women, therefore, started to take severe roles in the scraping off movements that were otherwise stating otherwise in a male-dominated field. The primary drive came from the middle and lower classes of women who were increasingly becoming frustrated with the inappropriate social activities of the men.

A woman’s gender and status in marital affairs were the significant determinants of her legal position in most states in North America, and when it came to customary and law, women did not have full enjoyment of the rights of a citizen. It is also safe to say that in the legal docket, women were considered submissive, unequal and decidedly dependent. To further add insult, all the rights that the women had access to were stripped away the moment she would get married, and this became a cause for concern because law practiced in America was of the based on the common law of the English.

Throughout the 1800s, a different standard was in existence in regards to freedom with varying levels for each group. Equality began to decrease over time and was in turn being in replacement with a polarized class system. It can be put to observation by the removal of the Indian Americans who were in consideration natives of the land, also the black oppression socially. Even though the Native Americans shared the same rights and freedoms as the whites, it was reduced significantly during the mid-19th century considering the Indian Removal Act as well as the amount of sovereignty and independence.

According to a majority of Americans around this time, freedom extension to Indians was nearly impossible for them due to what was put to consideration natural habits and discussions went on as to whether they can even be regarded as citizens of the United States, although the Native Americans did consider themselves a different nation.

Addressing the issue of blacks, they somehow enjoyed a sizeable increase in freedom during the final days of the civil war according to (Busey and Walker, 2017). The passage of different amendments saw the end of slavery and prohibitions were in place to persons who would violate their rights as citizens. However in some states primarily in the south looked for any reason to offer limitations to the freedom and equality of blacks with the most notable example being the principle of sharecropping which entailed that whites will be entitled to a great deal of land and black workers will work on the farm for a small share of the crops. This, therefore, meant that white farmers had the power to dictate working conditions to the black workers. “There were efforts to redo all the achievements of the reconstruction by possibly reducing the power of the blacks politically” (Busey and Walker, 2017, p. 462). And this was achieved by blocking out black politicians which led to whites walking all over blacks by passing laws that were severely detrimental to them.

Ultimately, coming to the end of the 19th century, granted rights which the blacks enjoyed were greatly diminished and had no effected change for the coming few years until the Civil Rights Movement that took place in the 1960s.

References

Abramovitz., 2017. Regulating the Lives of Women: Social Welfare Policy from Colonial Times to the Present. Routledge.

Busey CL., Walker I, 2017. A Dream and a Bus: Black Critical Patriotism in Elementary Social Studies Standards. Theory and Research in Social Education 45(4), 456-488

Rogers H., 2017. Women and the People’s Authority, Authorship and the Radical Tradition in Nineteenth-Century England. Routledge.

Sinha M., 2017. Colonial Masculinity: The Manly Englishman and the Effeminate Bengali in the Late Nineteenth Century. Manchester University Press.

Spring J., 2016. Deculturization and the Struggle for Equality: Brief History of the Education of Dominated Cultures in the United States. Routledge