The People’s Club
The U.S. Constitution, that has been in operation since 1789, was created to establish America’s government and fundamental laws to guarantee basic rights to its citizens. The term “people’s club” refers to the “people” that is stated in the preamble of the Constitution as well as many other clauses. The document opens with stating, “We the People of the United States…” which describes the people who has the right to possess liberty, however it was not specified who the “people” exactly were. One would probably assume that any person living within the borders of the United States would be included, however that was not the case. Only about ⅓ of the population of America at this time were considered to be the “people.”
The American Constitution mentions 3 groups of people that live within the nation’s border, which include the Indians, who were not part of the American politic, slaves, who were referred as “other persons”, and the “people.” Only those that fell under the category of the “people” had the right to freedom. The question of who exactly made up the “people” of the United States was asked numerous times and was overlooked by courts for over 200 years, however, the Supreme Court had explained its definition twice since then. In 1990, the Court stated that the “people” were either referred to as those who were part of a national community or ones that had substantial connections to the U.S. Although many say that being part of the people’s club is not linked to citizenship, it pretty much broke down to that as we have seen that only citizens were actually protected by the rights in the Constitution and Bill of Rights. During this time, primarily only white males were considered to be citizens meaning that they were the ones primarily discussed when “we the people” is being stated. Overall, minority groups such as women, slaves, Indians, and non-whites were not necessarily protected under the rights that were mentioned and were not considered to be a part of the people’s club during this time.
Women in the 1800’s were not typically seen to have a place in politics. The term “he” was used many times in the Constitution when referring to officeholders, which showed the common perception that the world of politics was only for men. In the late 1790’s, discussion about women’s rights were brought up when Mary Wollstonecraft published her pamphlet titled, “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.” In this, she argued that women should have the right of humanity and that it should not only be granted to men. In this time period, the role of the woman was to stay home take care of the children; women were essentially their husband’s property. Wollstonecraft also argued that women should have representation in the government. In efforts to become more involved in government, women all over America partook in political discussions, read newspapers, and listened to orientations even though women outside of New Jersey could vote. The inferiority of women to men continued on for many years despite all the efforts to promote equality. Women were simply just as qualified to become a part of the people’s club.
Slaves made up a big part of the population of the United States, however they were not included in the people’s club as well. They were not granted the rights to freedom and humanity, unlike the wealthy white men of this time. The distinction of color had primarily become the basis of who was granted acceptance to the people’s club. Although the Constitution does not mention slavery at all, it did not allow Congress to get rid of the importation of slaves from other countries for twenty years. It also implemented the three-fifths clause, which allowed slaves to have slight representation in government. This compromise allowed three-fifths of the slave population to be counted for voting for officials. All clauses in the Constitution that related to slavery were all compromises between critics and defenders, however it resulted to slavery becoming more prevalent in America than ever. Slaves were treated very poorly, they were mostly referred to as property over actual people for a very long time. The Constitution essentially did not allow the U.S. government to change slavery in any of the states. Many of the slavery clauses of the Constitution continued to give power to wealthy whites, such as only counting a small portion of slaves votes rather than having full representation. Overall, slaves were mistreated and extremely under represented in this time of history.
People from other countries were not granted the rights promised in the Constitution as well. In 1798, the Alien Sedition Acts were put into play. This law eventually limited the rights and freedom of speech of immigrants even more. These sets of laws made it more and more difficult for people to obtain citizenship to the United States each year. In 1790, the wait for citizenship was only 2 years, however years after, the wait continued to increase. In 1795, it was 5 years and by 1798 the wait rose up to 14 years. Many were not even able to wait the full 14 years due to either dying from illness or other preventions from the government. All aliens were required to register with the federal government and in times of foreign policy issues, the government had the right to put all aliens in jail. This was a very difficult time to be living in the United States if you were an immigrant. Immigrants did not get the rights they deserved for living within the United States.
When the Civil war ended, African American soldiers took action to put an end to slavery in the United States and to gain access to the people’s club. The feminist/women’s rights movement also became more prevalent in efforts to gain the right to life, liberty, and property. As residents of the United States, they should be granted equal opportunities and freedom as those who originally possessed it. Eventually, the fourteenth amendment did grant immigrants, whether born in the U.S. or not, equal rights. And because of the People’s Club, congress revised the law of naturalization allowing even African American descents to be eligible for citizenship.