Tour Guide: To learn more about the “Land of Freedom and Opportunity”, today, we are fortunate to have with us a professor of American history. Let me begin by asking a few questions. What might the historical account, professor, be for the United States and its government?

Professor Greenwood: Ever since the American Revolution, citizens have constantly disagreed about the formation of a monarchy in the United States. After all, they had left Great Britain partly because of the monarchy’s rules. A democracy was established where everyone was given a voice. A Constitution was created, and a set of rules, called the Amendments, was included. These rules, specifically the Bill of Rights, or the first ten amendments, protected the citizens from false accusations. It provided a chance to express oneself freely, giving the people influence over the government. Since then, the intensity of the violence in America gradually ceased until the Civil War. One might say that America’s popularity came from the freedom and opportunities it offered through its democracy and constitution.

Tour Guide:  How successful, in your perspective, was the constitution?

Professor Greenwood:  Actually, even the constitution had its flaws. Though the creation of the Bill of Rights provided peace in the country for a period of time, it also began to create new problems. For example, it still remains a controversy whether freedom of speech and expression should be limited or not. In the name of expressing oneself, some citizens have become extremely vocal and sometimes unreasonably disruptive. Demonstrations promoting, for example, Nazism and white supremacy increased. These assemblies were protected by the first amendment. However, this stirred the anger of many citizens, leading to brutal fights. As supporters of the Ku Klux Klan increased, some who did not support the idea of white supremacy were led to join the group because of the peer pressure. Also, by introducing new ideas freely to young children in schools, their easily convinced minds could be biased. With the future lying in their hands, this is a major concern.

Tour Guide:  The arguments of both sides are equally as valid! Did everyone follow the constitution obediently?

Professor Greenwood:  Absolutely not! The Constitution states that you must treat your fellow citizens equally. However, blacks during the 1900s were discriminated significantly. At that time, a majority of the whites were not able to accept equality between themselves and the blacks. Before the Civil Rights Movement led by Martin Luther King, the United States government did not have a clear definition of peace. After World War II and the Red Scare, the United States was going through economically and politically unstable times. Therefore, their focus was not on international peace, but on controlling their own country. Following the Civil War, the Democratic Party of the southern states promoted discrimination in every aspect of everyday life - schools, transportation, restaurants, and parks. This, along with the Jim Crow Laws, encouraged others for the next seventy-five years to make an effort to separate the races in every possible place. Similar to times of the Red Scare, ‘fanaticism and extremist views overtook existing norms’*. The 15th amendment giving rights to the blacks to vote was completely ignored due to extremist views of society.  

Perhaps a turning point in the United States government’s perspective of discrimination was after the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt as president. With the increase of protest parties and organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Roosevelt appointed a few Supreme Court justices who supported black rights. With this and the immense effort of organizations formed by blacks, the elimination of a major part of unfair discrimination was accomplished. The Civil Rights Movement had challenged the concept of segregation within the country. White views of the world and government changed. Though racial equality has not yet been completely reached, this movement had been a vital step in eliminating a government that protected discriminative society.

Tour Guide:  That’s a lot of interesting information. Thank you, professor, and I hope you learned  more about the shaping of the United States’ definition of peace.

*Quote by eighth grade Social Studies teacher.