Slavery And Inequality

Howard Zinn’s, A People’s History of the United States, discusses the upbringing of the United States, particularly in the terms of slavery and inequalities among races; he tells the story of the country and the problems that accompanied it. Within the book, it is shown that there are inequalities between economic class, race, and gender, each expressing superiorities and inferiorities. These disparities contribute to the idea that the Declaration of Independence should have clarified “all men are created equal,” in the fact that it meant wealthy, white men.
One specificity of “all men are created equal” is being rich, which should have been clarified because being wealthy was viewed superior to being poor. The wealth of the rich was used …show more content…
This is a result of the rich being able to “avoid the [military] draft by paying for substitutes; the poor had to serve” (Zinn 75). The differences of wealth between the rich and poor demonstrates inequality by the rich being able to escape the war draft, and the poor being unable to do so. The rich were superior enough to avoid risking their lives when fighting for independence. Therefore, if “all men were created equal,” then the poor would have been able to find a way to avoid the draft, or the rich not being to do so. In addition, the rich were also able to use their wealth to purchase property, which leads to another difference between the rich and the poor. The ability to own property and being qualified to participate in the local government also supports that there were inequalities between economic classes. Furthermore, “the …show more content…
The notion that “all men are created equal” ignores women, due to them having little political power and being inferior in relation to men. Women were ignored in society; they did not have any civic duties or political powers, like men did. Men did not take women into consideration because“…they were politically invisible. Though practical needs gave women a certain authority in the home, on the farm, or in occupations like midwifery, they were simply overlooked in any consideration of political rights, any notions of civic equality” (73). The ignorance of women in society validates the superiority the men had. Male superiority enabled men to acquire political powers and participate in town meetings, while women stayed at their homes. The statement “all men are created equal” solely ignores the roles of women and expresses the inequalities of gender. An additional way that women were substandard to men was their lack of rights, which also contributes to their absence of political power. Howard Zinn quotes Sojourner Truth when he discusses how women participated in a reformation movement dominated by men. Sojourner Truth explains, “… [women] have all been thrown down so low that nobody thought we’d ever get up again… we’ll have our rights” (185). Men compiled the majority of the people that had rights, and women did not have the same opportunities as men. At the time of reformation, women were still not equal to men, due