Although the foundation of America is based on liberty and freedom, not all of its citizens exercised that privilege. Americas Constitution ensures equal basic rights for all of its citizens. However, at the time the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were written, up until the 1960s, during the Civil Rights Movement, the whole population of America did not endure such benefits. Even up to this day, some forms of informal racism exist. The Founding Fathers longed for equality and although it seemed normal at the time, historians that study this time period find it ironic that most of these philosophers and liberators owned hundreds of slaves, and did not necessarily treat everyone equal. .
When settlers first arrived to present day America, they brought indentured servants to work with them for a number of years in exchange for a ticket to New England. When overtime, more and more of these indentured servants became free and could not afford any land. These men envied those who they served that were prospering and successful. They gathered together to rebel against these wealthy landowners. This rebellion became known as Bacons Rebellion. This rebellion is significant because it made the white settlers realize that they needed to replace their freed servants with slaves. This started the slave trade, and eventually, over a hundred years, much of the population was made up of slaves. .
When our Founding Fathers were drafting the constitution, they had a utopia in mind where every citizen had the right to have all that the constitution had to offer; freedom to vote, freedom to own land, freedom to a fair and speedy trial, freedom to bear arms, freedom to express free speech, and other rights the constitution secures. Most of the men who had signed their names under the Declaration of Independence which explain that America seceded from Britain because the government had not given them enough rights, signed the Declaration of Independence to promise that they will uphold the rights and promises that the new and free country of America.
