What it Means to be an American
Ever since the advent of European immigrants in the American continent, the question of what it means to be an American still lingers in the minds of many people. Nonetheless, the modern-day American would term it as the protection by law, having inalienable rights and freedoms. However, this aspect has taken a gradual process, from the establishment of government by the settlers, legislation of laws and policies. The year 1776 marks the declaration of self-rule with the proclamation that all people are equal, which would loosely translate that every person in the country had rights.
However, the country was a frothing pot of nationalities which included the Europeans and whites, native Indians, Chinese and black slaves. The Naturalization Act of 1790 granted American citizenship to white men immigrants who were free (Olzark & Shanahan, 2003). It discriminated against most women, slaves, indentured servants and the native Indians. This led to white settlers claiming land and resources of the other inhabitants especially the native Indians and the Spanish speaking people. Therefore, in this period, being an American did not mean being born in what is now the United States, but rather a naturalized white man who had stayed in the country two years before the ratification of the 1790 Act.
The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) was drafted to end the American Mexicans, thereby extending American citizenship to Spanish speaking people of inhabitants of annexed regions from the war. However, to the Texans, American citizens could only be white asserting that only white people had legal and economic rights (Boyer, Clark, Halttunen, Kett, & Salisbury 2010). The Thirteen Amendment of 1865 abolished slave trade but did not grant citizenship to the former slaves. In an attempt to protect the rights of the freed black slaves, the Fourteenth Amendment 1868 was passed to guarantee African former slaves citizenship rights (Keltner, 2014). In 1870, the naturalization Act excluded the Chinese immigrants while granting citizenship to African Americans not born in the country (Boyer, Clark, Halttunen, Kett, & Salisbury 2010). At this juncture, being an American meant being Anglo, assimilated Spanish speakers, and African American. However, this did not translate inequitable rights in terms of political and economic processes. The fundamental aspect of the first 100 years of American history of citizenship was that it was granted, and being American was decided based on Anglo-origins of the person.
The period from 1865 to 1877 marks the Reconstruction Era, where the federal government attempted to promote American citizenship to different races of people through legislation and enactments. However, bearing American citizenship in this era did not mean a person not of white descent could enjoy their rights. Despite the passing of the Fifteenth Amendment which allowed universal suffrage, women and African Americans were enfranchised from taking part in political process due to other codes such as Jim Crow laws. Native Indians were pushed into reserves because they interfered by the white land encroachment, mining and infrastructural setups in the country (Boyer, Clark, Halttunen, Kett, & Salisbury 2010). Therefore, the 100 years from 1776 to 1877, saw the transformation of united states with white citizens having unlimited rights, African Americans being citizens with limited rights and native Indians being outlaws in their native land after being pushed into reserves without birthright citizenship.
The end of the reconstruction period of 1877 marked a new chapter in American History, and this can be understood from the perspective of “democracy in America” Alexis de Tocqueville which explores the development of the country from political, economic and religious character. De Tocqueville (1835) asserts that societies formed in the country were instrumental in the development of democracy. In this case, every American regardless of class came to reason together and aired their views or discontentment regarding community development. This is a period which was very prominent in American history where African American expressed displeasure on the Jim crow laws, the Chinese community on exclusion, women agitating for universal suffrage and native Indians fighting to reclaim their land or be set free from the reservations. These groups were not formed because the United States had initiated them, but rather the necessity of their predicaments made them create them.
The vibrancy of American society makes De Tocqueville (1835) argue that the governed provided checks and balances to the government. From 1776, through the reconstruction era and after, the United States continuously enacted policies and laws which granted rights to the people. This made the Americans who were citizens or not recognized, to canvass for protection of their freedoms and rights which they felt were inalienable to them. For example, the African American continuously protested discrimination through the Jim Crow laws or the total abolition of slavery which is part of what he terms as functioning democracy. He notes that the American community accepts the rights given to them and follows up to ensure they are practiced as granted. Therefore, contrary to before 1877 being an American meant knowing your rights, having the liberty to question and canvass policies, and demand equality in governance.
The American society in a period after reconstruction in the United States was not developed through white monopoly of the government, as it was before the reconstruction era. People were not just granted rights, but they demanded them, Americans of all ethnicity chose their representation through voting, and every American citizen agitated to voice a concern in the improvement of lives. De Tocqueville (1835) asserts that these freedoms of speech, individualism, and agitation for universal egalitarianism does not provide the best of democracies but does wonders by fostering proper public administration.
In conclusion, there is a significant contrast on what it meant being an American in the first 100 years of united states history compared to the period after the reconstruction era. Citizenship rights in the first 100 years were constricted for non-Anglo people in the country. Economic rights, liberty of self -expression, and political choices were not realized until after the reconstruction era, 1877 onwards, when Americans agitated to the federal government to have their rights respected. What it meant being an American changed gradually, through canvassing, campaigns, legislations and enactiments.
References
Boyer, P. S., Clark, C. E., Halttunen, K., Kett, J. F., & Salisbury, N. (2010). “The Transformation of the Trans-Mississippi West, 1860-1900” In the Enduring Vision: A History of the American People, Volume II: Since 1865. Cengage Learning.
De Tocqueville, A. (1835). “Democracy in America”
Keltner, J. H. (2014). The development of American citizenship, 1608-1870. UNC Press Books.
Olczak, S., & Shanahan, S. (2003). Racial policy and racial conflict in the urban United States, 1869–1924. Social Forces, 82(2), 481-517.
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