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Zik Schriever
Kelley/Whipple
American Studies
9/21/2013
Marginalization in the American Colonies
Ever since America became aware that it had the potential to be one of the most powerful
country in the world people began to wonder what makes a person qualify as an American.
Throughout history there have been many groups of people that have been swept up as
Americans, some of these people may not have wanted to originally become Americans but
eventually just accepted that it was happening, for example the Native Americans and the Slaves.
The Slaves were probably the best example of people who did not want to become American
originally, ripped from their homes and then treated as objects. Slaves lived here with the people
that wanted to treat them horribly and lived through the same troubles that the white Americans
and most likely had a harder time with the same things.
The Declaration of Independence, the document that America was founded upon, was
written to include that all men were created equal, ironically was written by slave owning white
males. While this was supposed to secure the freedoms of all people it was greatly ignored by the
law makers and general population. In 1784 almost a decade after the Declaration of
Independence had been signed the number of slaves had reached 700,000. Even after the bill of
rights promised rights for all people living in the U.S. the slaves and even the free Blacks in
America still did not have the same rights. It wasnt until the Act of March 2, 1807 that any strict
regulations were placed of the slave trade industry, this being that any ships under 40 tins in
coast wide trade were prohibited.(Slave Ship Manifests) The slaves didnt even begin to have any basic
form of freedom until the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation; even still the former
slaves were pushed to the side and treated as sub-human. After finally becoming citizens of the

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United States they were still discriminated against and divided from the white population. After
many people started to go against the law and regulations that were set in place for anyone who
wasnt white they began the first part of the Civil Rights movement.
It wasnt until the Civil Rights movement that the definition of American was changed to
include non-white groups. During this time the treatment of blacks in America was falling
greatly, from police dogs being unleashed on crowds of protestors to being spit on for just
attending school at a Whites Only School. It wasnt until African Americans started defying
their place that they had been forced into by the white majority the whole movement would have
not taken place and the process of everyone in America becoming equal would have taken
significantly longer or perhaps not happened at all. Events like the Milwaukee Riots really
grabbed the attention of the people and local Government, so much so that the mayor proclaimed
a new curfew that shut the city down for nine days. This all started because a minor fracas that
occurred at the Scene, a local nightclub.(Riots) This turned into a huge ordeal that ended in over
300 arrests and thousands of dollars in damage. This was a large turning point for marginalized
groups all over America because it showed there is a way to get to the media and politicians but
it would require lots of work and dedication from all sides of people. With the movement in full
swing it was the beginning of the African Americans changing the definition of what is an
American themselves, but without the help of the government and just the people them selves
doing the work.
If not for the African Americans showing that they were indeed an important force in
society and showing that they could make change happen we would have never arrived at the
point we are at now with having an African American President or anyone that is not a white

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land owing male in any government position. After living through a past of neglect and
discrimination African Americans deserve to be in the definition of American.

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Works Cited
"Slave Ship Manifests filed at New Orleans, 1807-1860." National Archives and Records
Administration. National Archives, n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2013.
<www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/slave-ship-manifests.html>.
"THE RIOTS OF 1967 IN MILWAUKEE." Madonna University. University of Wisconsin
Milwaukee, 29 Mar. 2001. Web. 25 Sept. 2013. <ww2.madonna.edu/NEH/12/riots.htm>.

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