American promise

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American Promise
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The American Promise
A promise may be an assurance of the occurrence of one thing or another or that a person will do something. However, from this context, the American Promise is not a mere pledge of something happening. Instead, it states that all men are created equal, and their creator endowed them with specific inalienable rights. The American promise elaborates the state of mind of the Americans at large. Since the Creator provides the Promise is a mere guarantor cannot deprive a citizen of it, neither can they give it to any citizen since it does not originate from them.
In the United States, a legislative branch must validate agreements given by the government to effect an amendment to the constitution. Ratification is the validation process. In 21st June 1788 Ratification of the American Constitution took place. In the United States Constitution, the thirteenth through fifteenth amendments are the Reconstruction Amendments (Zinn, 74). These changes followed the American civil war. From ratification through the reconstruction amendments, the American constitution stated some promises through the Bill of Rights. According to Eric Foner, an American History writer, the acceptance of the law was an evident failure of the fulfillment of the American Promise. The ratification of the constitution was democratic. However, it neglected the rights of minorities like women, Indians, African Americans, and unpropertied whites.

These minorities had full representation, but the constitution did not sufficiently protect them. Besides, after the ratification of the law, wealthy merchants and landowners ruled most states ad they imposed heavy taxes on the commoners. For instance, in Massachusetts, the heavily taxed farmers, rose against the Boston elites which resulted in high tension in the state government.
Articles of Confederation was another source of trouble in the years after the ratification of the constitution. Farmers and working class were not satisfied with the provisions of the Articles of Confederation. According to merchants and landowners, interstate commerce was a source of conflicts which resulted in the loss of profits. Articles of Confederation was a failure of the fulfillment of the American promise. However, in 1786, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton among other Confederation’ s leaders met to amend the Article of Confederation to favor commerce. Although, the convention was significantly unsuccessful due to low turnout. Another evident occurrence of the failure of the fulfillment of the American promise dates back to the Fugitive Slave Clause (FSC). Article four, section two and Clause three of the FSC legalized slavery. Also, the tenth amendment leaves commercial, legal, slavery among other issues to the states. Lastly, Clay’s Compromise of 1850 freed California thus ending the slave market in DC (Zinn 196). However, it intensified the opposition of Wilmot Proviso that made slave trade thrive in newly acquired territories.
The American Promise states that all men are created equal, and their creator endowed them with specific inalienable rights. However, John Brown, a radical abolitionist was brutal against the pro-slavery. In Kansas pro-slavery and anti-slavery advocates were conflicting (Zinn 193). Violence was the order of the day such that newspapers dubbed it “Bleeding Kansas.” The horror in Kansas may have been the beginning of civil war, which started five years later. Most abolitionists began to seek violent means in the pursuit of a free society (Zinn 194). In 1857, the slavery situation in America was unclear such that Taney Supreme Court could not tell a clear distinction between a free state from a slave state. Protection of private property was America’s priority in the form of slave trade. During this time fulfillment of the American promise had failed until the Kansas- Nebraska Act awakened the attention of Abraham Lincoln, who surprisingly would be the Republican presidential nominee. Lincoln challenged Stephen Douglas in several debates over slave trade after the Dred Scott decision. The debars also took place during the Bleeding Kansas violence. Challenging the incumbent Douglas shifted national attention to Abraham Lincoln. Although the American Promise had failed during this period, the election of Abraham Lincoln in the November 1860 elections created an iconic advocate for the American Promise. Even when people doubted the abilities of Abraham Lincoln, he prevailed to the pinnacle of politics in American in the hostile period.
Contrary to his pursuit of the fulfillment of the American Promise, Abraham Lincoln failed to observe the promise at some point. After the civil war, Lincoln offered land to southern whites but in return asked for their oath of loyalty. However, Abraham Lincoln did not give the same offer to the blacks. Also, Lincoln failed to propose any black role after the war. Therefore, the president was unable to observe equality among all American citizens. It is not until the 14th amendment did all former slaves become American citizens. Later during reconstruction, former slaves were privileged to receive fair treatment with the whites. In a nutshell, it is evident that the American Promise that advocates for equality of all people as commanded by the Creator failed during the period of ratification of the constitution through reconstruction (Zinn 184).
In my context, I chose to use Howard Zinn’s pieces of works, “A people’s history of the United States,” “Howard Zinn on Democratic Education,” and the renowned “The historic unfulfilled promise.” Zinn is an impeccable historian, and his works are informative. Also, Zinn has some first-hand experiences with the history he has written. For instance, he has written about Vietnamese war. Zinn was in Vietnam and initiated the release of some American hostages (Zinn 76). Besides, he had encountered Buddhism and observed it ruled when he campaigned against mass killings. Therefore, Zinn’s documents are informative and base their arguments on some experiences of the author.

Works Cited
Foner, Eric. Reconstruction. New York, Harpercollins Publishers, pp 73-78.
Zinn, Howard. A People’s History Of The United States. New York, Harper [An Imprint Of Harpercollinspublishers], 2017, pp.193-233.
Zinn, Howard. The Historic Unfullfilled Promise. San Francisco, CA, City Lights Books, 2012, pp.170-184.