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Fighting for Rights After the Revolutionary War

 

            In the late 1700's, change was happening rapidly in the United States. A new constitution had recently been ratified, and a large area of concern was the rights it would grant to different groups. Of these groups, the people that fought hardest for rights were women, Native Americans, and African Americans, though women received a few basic rights, Native Americans were driven off of their land, and most African Americans were still abused as slaves. It would be many years before these groups truly received all the rights and freedoms they deserved. Women saw the beginning of their journey to equality at the turn of the Revolutionary War. Many women fought in the war (though they also had to disguise themselves), but their legal status was still not equal to white men. They could not purchase property in most states, and the laws that protected them from abuse were very lackadaisical. They were not allowed to go to college, and lived lives of hard work at home. Still, some states did start to let women own property, get bank loans, and become business owners. These rights were astronomical in the quest for equality for women, but they were obviously not completely satisfied. .
             Another group greatly affected by the culture of the 1700's was the Native Americans. White men still dominated the United States, and they often ruled with an iron fist. Unlike women, Native Americans only lost rights and freedoms. They were forced out of their land where they hunted and farmed, and they did not understand the concept of "owning property". To them, all land was for everyone to use. This clashed with the culture of white America, where land was as valuable as the money used to purchase it. In 1806, there was a very violent confrontation, causing more and more Native Americans to be moved to unfitting areas of the United States. .
             The last group greatly affected by a culture of white, male power was African Americans.


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