Essay Sample on A History of Rights in the US: African-Americans and Women

Introduction

One of the most important lessons I have learned in the study of the history of the United States is that the nation has cultivated the rights that citizens now enjoy for a long time. Unlike the expectations that all citizens of the United States were at liberty when the country gained independence, I have also learned that it was not the case. The evolution of rights was best witnessed in their delivery to the people of African-American descent and women (Corbett et al., 2016). The two groups appear to have been oppressed for quite long, even after the nation acquired independence. However, through long-lived fights for their rights and using different advocacy mechanisms, women and African-Americans enjoy peace, tranquility, and the rights enshrined to every citizen of the United States.

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The next group of students that will learn this course should approach it with openness. Different people have different perceptions of what their forefathers contributed to the history of the United States, and thus they may be biased. Openness would, however, give them the chance to learn more about which they do not know. They will accept that there was an abuse of human rights to the minorities in the past while still, they will appreciate that these rights are granted and enshrined in the constitution. Lack of openness would make some students disinterested in the course, and they could probably fail.

Besides, learning about how rights have changed over the years gave me the perspective of working hard to achieve everything I desire even if it takes time. I also learned to respect everyone since I understand that everyone has their rights and needs to be recognized as a human. By understanding how everyone fought for their rights, including the minorities, I can relate with them without discriminating against them. The course has made me realize that everyone longs to feel that their dignity is respected. For instance, I learned that in the past, women were not even allowed to own property. It must have been humiliating for them as it made them only look as if they were people when hooked to their husbands. This view makes me realize that everyone, regardless of their gender and race, deserves to be issued with their rights and privileges. I, therefore, strive to ensure that everyone feels comfortable around me as I am conscious of their need to feel respected.

Incoming students should be aware that this class will change most of their perspectives regarding the history of the United States. They may realize that they have only been learning a biased history of the United States, and it is time for them to learn how rights have changed over the years. They will appreciate that the open democracy that the United States is today was not created in a day. Thus, they may end up supporting revolutionists who are pushing for more rights in the present-day United States.

Conclusion

The strategy that helped me most in this course is the self-questioning strategy. It involves a lot of contemplation on a subject, scrutiny, and self-examination. Besides, it helped me to evaluate the benefits I had learned from the course and revise on the aspects I had not fully grasped. Incoming students may find this strategy useful as it helps them to concentrate on what they have learned as opposed to what they think they know. The students may also use some other strategies such as brainstorming, which many of my classmates used to grasp the content of the course. To score an A, I would urge them to take every aspect of the course with seriousness. The course is wide, and almost everything taught can be tested. Specializing in a single or a few elements of the course alone would render the students failing. Therefore, by reading widely and revising every one of the items taught, the students can easily score an A.

References

Corbett, P. S., Janseen, V., Lund, J., Pfannestiel, T., Vickery, P., & Waskiewicz, S. (2016). US History OpenStax. Retrieved February 28, 2020, from http://cool4ed.calstate.edu/handle/10211.3/180967