Morality In The Us Essay, Research Paper

Many things have influenced the United States in its history. Morality, one of these influences, has been both ascertained and ignored in this history. This essay will demo different periods in history when the United States acted in a immoral manner. The United States treated the Nipponese Americans amorally in World War 2 and acted amorally toward Native Americans particularly at Wounded Knee. Another of the immoral Acts of the Apostless that the US has committed was the My Lai Massacre.

In 1940, the United States nose count found that there were 126,947 Nipponese Americans in the United States, 79,595 of which were native born. On December 11, 1941, two yearss after the bombardment of Pearl Harbor, 1370 Nipponese Americans were detained by the FBI for being & # 8220 ; unsafe enemy aliens. & # 8221 ; In 1942, the United States authorities relocated 110,000 Nipponese Americans to internment cantonments. The United States did nil to any other people in the state including the German Americans, the Italian Americans, and the Polish Americans. This may hold been because the Japanese had attacked the United States on its ain district. The Japanese Americans who were relocated lost all their belongings and occupations during the internment.

In December, 1942, 2260 & # 8220 ; unsafe individuals & # 8221 ; of Nipponese lineage were deported from Latin American states by the US authorities in the hopes that they could be used against Japan as sureties. When World War 2 ended, 1400 were non allowed to return to their place states. Over 900 of these people were deported to Japan.

After World War 2 ended, the Nipponese Americans were released from their imprisonment in the internment cantonments. However, it was non until 1948 that the United States authorities passed the Evacuation Claims Act which authorized payment to Nipponese Americans who suffered economic losingss during their internment. However, merely $ .10 were paid for every $ 1.00 lost by the Nipponese Americans.

The mistreatment of Native Americans has been happening since the Europeans first arrived in North America. These early Americans expanded and began taking Native American land. One such instance of this land taking occurred when Nathaniel Bacon picked a battle with the Susquehannock people. He led a rebellion to take the Native Americans & # 8217 ; land and really burned Jamestown when Governor William Berkeley objected. The twelvemonth after Bacon died, the Susquehannock were forced to subscribe a pact which gave off much of their land to white colonists.

After the United States had become its ain crowned head state, it continued to take the American Indians & # 8217 ; land. In New York, the one time mighty Iroquois were limited to reserves near the new towns of Buffalo and Syracuse. The Shawnee, who had led Native American opposition in the Northwest Territory until 1815, were scattered. Several folks in the South were pressured by the United States authorities to sell away their land. Even after the Native Americans had sold much of their land, white colonists continued to merely travel onto land that had non been ceded to them. The federal authorities did non make anything to halt this. James Monroe, who was elected at this clip, said to Congress in his first one-year message that the autochthonal people who were still in the E be removed to new lands. This was in direct misdemeanor of the pacts that the federal authorities had signed that guaranteed the Native Americans what was left of their land. Southern provinces at this clip believed that they had legal power over the Native American lands in their boundary lines and therefore the pacts did non use.

By 1830 the state of affairs had become a crisis. New president Andrew Jackson, a Tennessee plantation proprietor and a celebrated combatant of Native Americans, refused to exert federal legal power over Native American personal businesss, leting southern provinces to happen their ain solutions. The Cherokee took the province of Georgia to tribunal, and in 1832, in the instance of Worcester v. Georgia, John Marshall, main justness of the Supreme Court of the United States, ruled that Georgia & # 8217 ; s extension of its authorization over Cherokee land was unconstitutional. President Jackson merely refused to implement the determination, leting southern provinces to go on to infringe on Native American lands.

In 1830, Congress passed the Native American Removal Act which offered Native Americans land E of the Mississippi River. This land was federal land a

nd therefore the federal authorities could protect them. After this act, Martin Van Buren sent the US Army to evict 20,000 Native Americans from the South and direct them to Oklahoma. The US Army forced the Native Americans to process the whole manner doing 4,000 to decease. This March is now known as the Trail of Tears.

Although many Native Americans were forced out of the West, some remained to contend. In 1849, the Gold Rush caused Whites to once more infringe on Native American district. Although the Native Americans fought the invading colonists, they were defeated and forced onto reserves.

For the following 50 old ages, the contending continued to intensify. In the 1860s and 1870s, Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Sioux. The most good known conflict of these two decennaries was the conflict of Little Big Horn. On June 25, 1876, Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong led the 7th Cavalry Regiment to get the better of against the combined forces of the Sioux and Cheyenne folks. However, after this triumph most of the

Sioux and Cheyenne surrendered. Other Native Americans fought on Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce in the late 1870s, Geronimo and the Apaches every bit tardily as the 1880s. The last military brush between the United States and the Native Americans was the conflict at Wounded Knee.

In 1888, a Native American named Wovoka, began prophesying that an Indian Messiah was coming shortly. A cult grew from his instructions, doing the federal authorities to go alarmed. US functionaries tried to stamp down the new faith, in direct misdemeanor of the First Amendment, and eventually sent in the 7th Cavalry Division. The soldiers killed 146 Sioux work forces, adult females, and kids when the warriors would non give up. This conflict was non truly in fact a conflict, but a slaughter. It was a premier illustration of the mistreatment of Native Americans in US history.

There were many immoral actions taken during the Vietnam War by both the Vietnamese and the United States. One of the most atrocious actions, was the My Lai Massacre. It was here that over 350 unarmed citizens, largely adult females and kids, were killed by American soldiers.

On March 16, 1968, Lieutenant William Calley led a unit of the US ground forces Americal Division into a South Vietnamese crossroads called My Lai. Lieutenant Calley brought the military personnels in thought that the small town was a Vietcong fastness. When they arrived in the small town, Calley and his work forces proceeded to round up and slaying over 350 civilians. This slaughter remained unknown for over a twelvemonth because the officers in charge of the onslaught kept it covered up, turn outing that they knew it was incorrect. Several soldiers and officers were charged with slaying and many other officers were charged with delinquency of responsibility for covering up the incident. Merely five of these work forces were really court-martialed and lone Lieutenant Calley was convicted. However, although Calley was sentenced to life imprisonment for the slaying of over 22 civilians, his sentence was reduced to 10 old ages and so in September of 1974, his strong belief was overturned and he was set free. The United States authorities failed to penalize Lieutenant Calley as he deserved. Calley knew that the slayings were incorrect because he attempted to cover up the incident. Calley was non the merely guilty party, nevertheless. The soldiers with Calley knew it was incorrect excessively, and yet they participated. Three of the soldiers who refused to take part and really salvage Vietnamese lives at My Lai, were given the Soldier & # 8217 ; s Medal in 1998.

My Lai was non an stray event, nevertheless. There were many instances of war offenses committed, particularly during the Vietnam War. Many of these offenses were covered up which is merely every bit immoral as the existent offenses because the people who committed the offenses went unpunished. Vietnam seems to hold had many of these war offenses, but that may be merely because they are the most recent. Whatever the ground, these offenses are immoral and inexcusable.

This essay is non meant to state that the United States is an immoral state. The United States has done some improbably generous things in its clip. However, the United States has done some atrocious things and that is what this essay is seeking to demo. Although there were several immoral things done, the Nipponese burial, the mistreatment of Native Americans, and the My Lai incident have been three of the worst. No state has been wholly moral in its actions, and the United States of America is no exclusion.