Unit 1 Project: US History Blog #1

1.      “All men are created equal with certain unalienable rights.”

2.      Support Side:

This picture is an example that supports how America has fulfilled Jefferson’s statement.  I took this picture because it represents religion and the first amendment.  In America, every citizen is given the freedom of religion from the Bill of Rights.  This picture fulfills the statement from the Declaration of Independence because Americans have the equal opportunity to choice of religion.  We can also change the religion we would like to follow, or not follow any religion at all.  I strongly believe in everyone’s right to adopt different religions because there are a large variety of religions that are practiced and it is imperative that everybody also has the pursuit of happiness to decide what they want to do.  Christianity is not considered the official religion of the United States because it is forbidden by the Constitution to designate an official church.  This picture displays a fundamental human right that supports the fact that all men are created equally.

3.      Reject Side:

This is a picture I took off a show I was watching, called The Secret Life of the American Teenager, where a pimp brought his prostitutes into a college athletic dorm.  The girl has to make a certain amount of money each night for her pimp or she will suffer.  She is fifteen years old and she was taken from her family, then turned into a prostitute and property of the pimp.  I took this picture because it demonstrates the crime of trafficking people and how the victims are treated unequally.  For example, they are forced to do abominable things, like selling their bodies for money, or doing anything they can to get the money for the man who controls them.  Most importantly, those who are trafficked do not receive the first amendment.  This includes the rights to  freedom of speech, press, religion, and petition.  The picture showcases the failure that America has yet to fulfill Jefferson's statement.

4.     Important Question:

Looking at America today, I believe we are closer to living Jefferson’s statement.  However, our country always has room to improve.  For example, women are continuing to be treated differently than men in certain circumstances.  They are still considered inferior to men in some case, but over the years women have made an increasing amount of progress in the workforce.  In most businesses men and women receive equal opportunities, but on average men earn more than women in several of those jobs.  The treatment of each gender is not completely equal because males still control the workplace.