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Constitutional Principles- Individual Rights

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Constitutional Principles- Individual Rights
Throughout United States history, various groups have faced discrimination. The federal and state governments have taken actions that have either protected or limited the rights of these groups in American society. Two examples of groups that faced discrimination are Native American Indians and Japanese Americans. In both cases, theses groups have had their natural rights violated and were forced to move from their homes.
Ever since we settled here on this land, we have pushed aside the Native Americans to make room for expansion. The Native Americans have been forced to deal with this new culture moving in by embracing the heritage, combining the two, or fighting back with violence. In 1830, President Andrew Jackson began his Removal Policy and attempted to force all Native Americans from their homes, to west of the Mississippi River. In an attempt to prevent the state of Georgia from taking their land from them, the Cherokee tribe went to court. In Worcester vs Georgia, the court ruled that the state of Georgia had no authority over the territory but Georgia ignored the ruling. The United States Army rounded up the Cherokee and forced them to march west in a movement called the Trail of Tears. The Trail of Tears is a movement that limited the rights of the Native Americans. The Declaration of Independence clearly states that every man has the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Forcing the entire tribe to relocate to a new land is denying the Native Americans of their rights of all three of these things; therefore limited their rights.
Another group that has faced discrimination were women after the attack Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II. After the attack by Japan, many Americans feared that Japanese Americans, called Nisei, were a threat to national security. Giving into the fear in 1942, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which established military zones for the imprisonment of Japanese Americans. Over 100,000 people of Japanese decent were forced to leave their homes and enter the WRA Camps; military style barracks set up by the Wartime Relocation Authority that was barb-wired and guarded by troops. The decision hit a climax in the Supreme Court case of Korematsu VS United States where the court upheld the evacuation as a reasonable wartime emergency measure. This Supreme Court ruling limited the rights of the Japanese Americans because they took away their freedom to simply live where they want and forced them to live in military-like conditions for an unjust reason. No acts of Japanese-American treason were ever found which proves even further that the government had no good reason to relocate and entire group of people.
As you can see, throughout United States history, many different groups of people have faced discrimination. The federal and state governments have taken actions that have either protected or limited the rights of these groups in American society. Two examples of this are Native Americans and Japanese Americans. In both cases, the group of people were forced to relocate to a different area against their will. The Supreme Court even took cases for the issues and upheld the unconstitutional movement both times. The Native Americans were forced out of their homes and had to march west, while the Japanese Americans had to leave their homes and relocate to a military barrack.

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