Violence in America Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Violence in America - Term Paper Example The aftermath of the ruling saw the United States suffer one of the bloodiest wars in world history – the Civil War. In less than ten years since the ruling was made, Congress together with the Northern states addressed the biases in the ruling. The biases were addressed through the amendment of the constitution and the civil rights statute. Through the 13th Amendment, slavery was abolished in all parts of the United States. The 14th Amendment and the Civil Rights Act of 1866 guaranteed citizenship for all qualified, natural-born, and naturalized Americans, inclusive of former slaves and free blacks. The civil rights statute, in addition, authorized the transfer of cases from state to federal courts in cases where citizens’ rights could not be enforced through state systems of justice. The 14th Amendment also prohibited states from infringing the rights enjoyed by American citizens, as well as, ensuring every citizen had the right to due process and equal protection of the law (Kaczorowski, 1987, p. 45). The Congressional Republicans held the view that the14th Amendment and Civil Rights Act of 1886 provided a good ground for revolutionary change in the constitution of the United States. ... The Fourteenth Amendment and the Civil Rights Statute that conferred citizenship on all Americans, and expanded its federally enforceable guarantees to include civil rights protection was surely a revolutionary twist in American federalism.1 Twain called on American leaders to settle down domestic issues and create a society that others could emulate instead of seizing or otherwise taking on new territories. He was particularly outraged by the occupation and ongoing war against the forces of liberation in the Philippines, reporting from Manila and comparing the nationalist leader Emiliano Aguinaldo to Joan of Arc and George Washington. Twain was also quite vitriolic about missionaries who justified imperialism as an extension of the religious duty. 2 Mark Twain did not subscribe to stereotypical attitude regarding the civil war. In his literature, Twain expresses that, traditionally, the southerners were thought to be very spirited towards fighting the Yankees and enslaving them, whi le the northerners were out to oppress the rebels while granting slaves their freedom. By then, slavery was still regarded as legal, a notion that he strongly opposed.3Following outlawing of slavery by the government, Twain still held the view that racism against the black was still evident in the society. He particularly viewed civil war as evil which ought to be eliminated from the society. 4 The radical change in constitutionalism saw the congressional Republicans developed a legal framework delegating Congress the authority to protect the status and civil rights of American citizens. The Republicans maintained that the national government was sovereign. Thus, the national government would work with state governments in protecting the status and rights of American