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Rich White Men In American Society

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The elite white men of the newly freed American society, unlike the poor white men, had plenty of time on their hands to contemplate the future of America. Wealth provided these white men time to educate themselves, whereas poor white men must spend this same time laboring to earn money. Elite men imagined of the future that they wanted versus the future that the majority wanted – the future that they believed could be successful versus the future that they believed was doomed to fail. These men used their monetarily-granted free time to develop a greater academically-based understanding of what brought the colonies to their current state. They studied about the ancient republics, analyzed their own previous mother empire, and read the …show more content…

These types of men claimed to benefit the society most in these positions of power because, due to their wealth, policies did not affect them personally – they were so rich that essentially nothing could threaten them. This, the rich men claimed, gave them an unbiased perspective on what was best for the whole of the country. “The people” have always been an ever-changing group, as Hamilton noted at the Constitutional Convention, giving their desires a more temporary focus – not the long-term stability desired by the elite for this new republican society. Furthermore, the vulnerability of those who were not rich concerned the elites because, “…they will sell [their vote] to the rich,” taking away the purity in the freedom of choice that was so important to the formation of this country to begin with. (Young …show more content…

These ideologies and desire for resistance through any means possible were the basic characterizations of “Whig theory.” For the Whigs, the common good was what they were fighting for, too. However, their understanding of what this meant was different than Federalists’ views. As Nobles portrayed, rural members of society were not very trusting of urban/upper class members of society because they viewed the upper class “political indifference” and desire to outdo others in their displays of wealth as the cause of bigger political issues. Having just personally experienced and witnessed the system of government in Britain fail them, descending into a tyrannical government, “the many” were not so easily willing to trust the upper class white men. Even in their daily experiences of the time, these ordinary men were often getting prosecuted, judged, and ignored by these same rich white men on issues surrounding the Stay and Tender Laws that took away their competency and, ultimately, their freedoms. Rich white men wanted to manage power within the government for themselves since they “knew” what was best for the stabilization the country and, therefore, by extension, what was best for people. The majority of people in American society, however, wanted as little government as possible that and what

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The Federalist did not believe ordinary men could be trusted to elect men of character: Cosmopolitan men. The process intended, was with fewer men to be elected the people would vote for the most prominent man, most often of aristocratic birth; however, the distinction of a Cosmopolitan man was becoming more blurred as the social lines were less defined after the Revolution. The decision to take power from the local government and give it to the more liberal central government started with the Federalist movement and has been evoked throughout American’s

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Federalists were supporters of a strong central government that included certain measures to limit the power of the masses, such as the electoral college. Since their ideas so harshly contrasted with those expressed in the Articles of Confederation, they decided to draft an entirely new Constitution that would satisfy their ideas and goals for government. However, even though they wanted to limit the extent to which the government was truly democratic, they still needed the support of

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More specifically, he argues that the common goals freed slaves faced between 1830 and 1860—racial animus and Southern planters’ resistance— resurfaced again in the early 1900s. The planter class used their financial and political wherewithal to subjugate black laborers in a state of perpetual servitude—ex. sharecropping. “Keep the Negroes in the South and make them satisfied with their lot.” In response, the Negro Rural School Fund employed industrial supervisors to teach black educators. James Anderson also recounts the urbanization of the South and its impact upon the public education landscape. He sheds light upon the absence of black high schools in rural areas in the years following Reconstruction.

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The ideals of an elite class that could restrict their character role in the government to strengthen their control after the rebellion. Yet, the Nervous attitude of these federalist were that a lack of regard for this government could spread throughout the society altering and bringing disregard to most of the colonies. The control of this elite class of sedulous found it unpredictable to contain this culture yet they also didn't trust the Republicans to be aware of the social order that was being presented in America at this time in history. This unevenness in the American colonies brought a bias of support to Honorable behaviors against what the Republicans were looking to

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The reading that caught my eye was “Who Rules America? The Corporate Community and the Upper Class” by G. William Domhoff. Domhoff wanted to argue that the upper class was not just one intertwining unit, but that the upper class also contains power by controlling economic and political decisions regarding our country. To gain better insight on his argument, Domhoff collected various types of data from reliable people on how the upper class go about their lives, and how their lives can directly and indirectly affect America. Domhoff started by talking about social class in general in America.

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Wood makes it very clear that the Founding Fathers were not born into wealth. Most of these men are born in the middle or low class, do not have much money, and many of them are of the first to go to college in their families. The Founders are not handed their roles on a plate, they have to do all of the work themselves. These men are very ambitious, and try to serve the nation for the greater good, rather than self-interests. This is not as common with the people in government of today’s

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Federalists were property owners, creditors, and merchants. They believed that elites were the most fit to govern. They feared "excessive democracy" because they thought uneducated people would get into office. Federalists favored a strong national government and they believed in "filtration," which was when only elites could obtain governmental power. The leaders of the Federalist party were Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and George Washington.

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As a part of the anti federalist group I would like to inform you that we have decided to address the concerns about “the powers of government” by proving to the common people that the aristocrats also known as “federalists” only care about themselves and do not plan on helping the nation 's people together. When

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They also attempted to shape thinking, to make acceptable difference in income that would otherwise be odious”(395). In economic and political fields, people who are in charge take advantage of the authority, in other words, the dominance to consolidate and bolster their superiority. They influence (or manipulate, to some extent) the public’s thoughts and convey the idea that the difference in income is reasonable and justifiable to the public. Both Ho and Stiglitz mention people’s desire to maintain and strengthen the status.

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One important component in which the upper class rule America is the electoral process. Loose campaign finance regulation, including controversial Supreme Court decisions such as Citizens United v. US and Buckley v. Valeo is a primary cause of the wealthy ruling politics. These two decisions asserted that corporations are not limited in their spending on political candidates. Essentially, the US Supreme Court enabled corporate leaders to buy influence - SuperPAC heads and wealthy businessmen were welcomed to join forces and pour as much money as possible into candidates’ campaigns. The net effect: America’s wealthiest individuals could exert an unmatchable influence on candidates and the electorate while pressing an agenda favoring the upper class.

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However, these people did not know how to control their power and wealth. It was evident that throughout the story, prosperity controlled people into becoming demanding and cruel, lazy and feeble, or involved in illegal and immoral activities. The negative effects of becoming wealthy can make some people become cold-blooded and demanding. Tom Buchanan

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The Civil War not only abolished slavery, but also threw the significant challenge of rebuilding a war-torn nation. Although initiated with the best hopes and intentions, the ‘Reconstruction’ of the USA had collapsed miserably for it had failed to establish a nation with equal rights for all. As a consequence, class discrimination and racial injustice had engulfed the American society. Besides having similarities and differences, the struggles for racial justice in the late 19th century and the struggles for economic justice in the Gilded Age are not only reminders of the failed ideology of the reconstruction, but are also evidence which shows us that the upper class of the society in that era were reluctant about the upward mobility of the poor.

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Each expansion of the suffrage in the United States has met some extent of resistance from those who have a hold on power. The reason as to why they resist the expansion of suffrage is because their scope of power would be reduced with this expansion. The traditional elites who are in power avoid the scrutiny of their actions by the public, treating the other elite members preferentially for instance, by ensuring them immunity from the law or awarding them lucrative contracts, and using those who are not entitled to

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After the War of 1812 the American people were able to bounce back into the global sense of sovereignty after the showed how powerful their younger country was. They now could look inward and not worry that much about an attack or another war. Gordon Wood writes about his is his final chapter of his book Empire of Liberty, “American society, or at least the Northern part of American society, was coming more and more resemble what Franklin and Crevecoeur had imagined in the 1780’s, a society that seemed to lack both an aristocracy and lower class.” (Pg 711) This quote echoes sentiments of the 19th century within the 21st century which is something that one should do in order to see that we are not that different as a country then we were at that time.

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The isolation of the wealthy in a socioeconomic hierarchy prioritizes their economic self interests, thus exacerbating the equitable expression of self interests integral to a strong economic system. That is, Adam Smith wrote that society could leave the coordination of labor to the self interests of “private economic actors”. In turn, an “invisible hand” would allow for a sustainable economic model in which individual efforts frequently benefitted society. However, the current system is overwhelmingly hinged not on a majority of these so-called actors, but rather on isolated, wealthy individuals. For example, let us consider the case of the Koch Brothers.

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