De Facto Disenfranchisement - American Civil Liberties Union: Fill & Download for Free

TL;DR It works when a majority of the people believe the government represents their interests, or can be made to do so through fair and inclusive elections. The constitution is a means to an end.You might look to the history of the United Kingdom, which evolved from an absolute monarchy under the Tudor and Stuart dynasties into a parliamentary democracy with a royal figurehead whose role is mostly ceremonial. The British Common Law, IIRC, developed over centuries from court decisions in criminal and civil cases. Parliament gradually attained control over taxes and finances, with the House of Commons becoming stronger and the House of Lords declining in power. Although it took a civil war (and execution of a king) and a peaceful overthrow of that king’s grandson, the head of the ruling party in the Commons became, at first, de facto head of the government and later became head of the government by law. But Great Britain doesn’t have a constitution; what it has is centuries of gradual development of more democratic institutions.Parallel to this gradual development was the slow expansion of the franchise to include more and more of the population. If a democracy can only survive by the consent of the governed, it’s crucial that large portions of the population not be disenfranchised. At first, elections in the UK were limited to adult males with property who declared their acceptance of the Church of England; Catholics, Jews, and other religious minorities—as well as ALL women, no matter their religion—were excluded from voting and from many key professions (military officers, doctors, lawyers, university professors and students, etc.) This rendered the governments unpopular, as they were blatantly in the service of the upper class, the landed gentry, and wealthy merchants. (One need look no further than the US today to see the effects of a sense, in a democracy, that the government does not represent the interests of its people.) Through much political struggle, the property barriers, the religious barriers, the ethnic barriers to voting were removed and all adult citizens were enfranchised. All without any declaration that “all men are created equal,” as we had in the US.It has proven helpful in the US and other countries to have a constitution as a sort of “mission statement” establishing what the government is for; the Preamble to the US Constitution is perhaps the most famous example:We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.The example of the UK shows that a democracy can be effective without one, although that “perfect Union” may be harder to achieve (and showing signs of strain these days) without a constitution. But it can be done.As an American answering this off the top of my head, I invite correction and commentary from anyone more intimately knowledgeable on the subject, but I think my answer is close to correct.

We all know that Slavery is terrible - an abomination. To stop this practice and outlaw it, over 1.6 million people fought and 300,000 lost their lives (Union numbers). The people of the US were giving political pressure to the southern states to outlaw slavery - that’s why the civil war started. Abraham Lincoln was a Republican (The abolitionist party), and when he was elected president, that was the powder keg that set it off. (and don’t give me the “states rights” reason - we all know that the right the south was fighting to keep was the right to own slaves - it’s codified in the confederate constitution: No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law denying or impairing the right of property in negro slaves shall be passed.).So we have the biggest war the US ever fought, in which many hundreds of thousands gave their lives to stop slavery. As well, The US Government passed an official apology in the House of Representatives. The House are the representatives of the People of the United States (the Senate are the representatives for the States). So the People of the United States, as a whole, did apologize for slavery, and for the evil “Jim Crow” laws.H.Res. 194 (110th): Apologizing for the enslavement and racial segregation of African-Americans.“Whereas millions of Africans and their descendants were enslaved in the United States and the 13 American colonies from 1619 through 1865;Whereas slavery in America resembled no other form of involuntary servitude known in history, as Africans were captured and sold at auction like inanimate objects or animals;Whereas Africans forced into slavery were brutalized, humiliated, dehumanized, and subjected to the indignity of being stripped of their names and heritage;Whereas enslaved families were torn apart after having been sold separately from one another;Whereas the system of slavery and the visceral racism against persons of African descent upon which it depended became entrenched in the Nation’s social fabric;Whereas slavery was not officially abolished until the passage of the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1865 after the end of the Civil War;Whereas after emancipation from 246 years of slavery, African-Americans soon saw the fleeting political, social, and economic gains they made during Reconstruction eviscerated by virulent racism, lynchings, disenfranchisement, Black Codes, and racial segregation laws that imposed a rigid system of officially sanctioned racial segregation in virtually all areas of life;Whereas the system of de jure racial segregation known asJim Crow,which arose in certain parts of the Nation following the Civil War to create separate and unequal societies for whites and African-Americans, was a direct result of the racism against persons of African descent engendered by slavery;Whereas a century after the official end of slavery in America, Federal action was required during the 1960s to eliminate the dejure and defacto system of Jim Crow throughout parts of the Nation, though its vestiges still linger to this day;Whereas African-Americans continue to suffer from the complex interplay between slavery and Jim Crow—long after both systems were formally abolished—through enormous damage and loss, both tangible and intangible, including the loss of human dignity, the frustration of careers and professional lives, and the long-term loss of income and opportunity;Whereas the story of the enslavement and de jure segregation of African-Americans and the dehumanizing atrocities committed against them should not be purged from or minimized in the telling of American history;Whereas on July 8, 2003, during a trip to Goree Island, Senegal, a former slave port, President George W. Bush acknowledged slavery’s continuing legacy in American life and the need to confront that legacy when he stated that slaverywas . . . one of the greatest crimes of history . . . The racial bigotry fed by slavery did not end with slavery or with segregation. And many of the issues that still trouble America have roots in the bitter experience of other times. But however long the journey, our destiny is set: liberty and justice for all.;Whereas President Bill Clinton also acknowledged the deep-seated problems caused by the continuing legacy of racism against African-Americans that began with slavery when he initiated a national dialogue about race;Whereas a genuine apology is an important and necessary first step in the process of racial reconciliation;Whereas an apology for centuries of brutal dehumanization and injustices cannot erase the past, but confession of the wrongs committed can speed racial healing and reconciliation and help Americans confront the ghosts of their past;Whereas the legislature of the Commonwealth of Virginia has recently taken the lead in adopting a resolution officially expressing appropriate remorse for slavery and other State legislatures have adopted or are considering similar resolutions; andWhereas it is important for this country, which legally recognized slavery through its Constitution and its laws, to make a formal apology for slavery and for its successor, Jim Crow, so that it can move forward and seek reconciliation, justice, and harmony for all of its citizens: Now, therefore, be itThat the House of Representatives—(1)acknowledges that slavery is incompatible with the basic founding principles recognized in the Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal;(2)acknowledges the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow;(3)apologizes to African Americans on behalf of the people of the United States, for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors who suffered under slavery and Jim Crow; and(4)expresses its commitment to rectify the lingering consequences of the misdeeds committed against African Americans under slavery and Jim Crow and to stop the occurrence of human rights violations in the future.”As for Native Americans, the apology is here:https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-111hr3326enr/pdf/BILLS-111hr3326enr.pdfAPOLOGY TO NATIVE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED STATES SEC. 8113. (a) ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND APOLOGY.—The United States, acting through Congress— (1) recognizes the special legal and political relationship Indian tribes have with the United States and the solemn covenant with the land we share; (2) commends and honors Native Peoples for the thousands of years that they have stewarded and protected this land; (3) recognizes that there have been years of official depredations, ill-conceived policies, and the breaking of covenants by the Federal Government regarding Indian tribes; (4) apologizes on behalf of the people of the United States to all Native Peoples for the many instances of violence, maltreatment, and neglect inflicted on Native Peoples by citizens of the United States; (5) expresses its regret for the ramifications of former wrongs and its commitment to build on the positive relationships of the past and present to move toward a brighter future where all the people of this land live reconciled as brothers and sisters, and harmoniously steward and protect this land together; (6) urges the President to acknowledge the wrongs of the United States against Indian tribes in the history of the United States in order to bring healing to this land; and (7) commends the State governments that have begun reconciliation efforts with recognized Indian tribes located in their boundaries and encourages all State governments similarly to work toward reconciling relationships with Indian tribes within their boundaries.