As long as humanity has been thriving on the earth, inequalities have separated men. From the "haves" and "have nots" of the hunter and gatherer societies, to the Caste System of India, to the American Democracy. Is this fundamental inequality natural, or is it a problem that man should set out to remedy? Would society actually be able to exist with no inequality? These are the types of questions that were taken into consideration when perhaps the most anti-democrat bill ever to be entertained by the American Congress cam up for debate; enter Affirmative Action.The roots for Affirmative Action stem all the way back into the era before the Civil War. With slavery an option as cheap labor, many people bought into the idea of it, both those in the North (mainly factories) and those in the South (mainly plantations). But there was one ripple in this ideal, those words in the Declaration of Independence "..That all men are created equal.." With these simple words, the changing of a nation was to follow. In 1857 a key event in the history of Affirmative Action took place, the Dred Scott decision. In this decision the Supreme Court ruled that slaves were "subordinate and inferior being," this is where the initial differences began. After this decision, Abraham Lincoln pushes for reconciliation with the Emancipation Proclamations, which on January 1, 1863, freed the slaves living in the South. After this monuments step, Congress pushed forward with the Thirteenth Amendment. Ratified on December 6, 1865, this permanently abolished slavery, but this did not end the dispute. The South rebuttled with the passage of the Black Codes and the Slave Codes. Regardless, the Congress pressed on with new legislation, namely the Fourteenth amendment. This legislation pushed for equal rights and protection under the law for slaves, under the Bill of Rights; it too passed in Congress and was ratified on July 9, 1868. Finally, this rush of ...
