Introduction
Few words in modern history command respect like the words, “the rule of law”. These words are often used to describe modern societies that uphold excellent democracy. But when it comes to traditional America, these are words that leave a very bitter taste in the mouths of many. Ever since its Declaration of Independence, America has always been ruled through the rule of law. In the name of these laws, grave injustices were undertaken, many lives killed and ethnic injustices propagated. Much of the racial conflict that is troubling America today emanated not from the acts of criminals who were hiding from the laws but from powers conferred to segments of the populace by the law itself. Black Americans were tortured and killed without cause in the name of the law, and the Chinese were protracted in the name of the law (Gjerde, 2011). Civilized Indians with organized systems and government were pulled from their homes into barren reserves all in the name of the law. The rule of Law in America was once dictatorship through the law.
The Jim Crow Laws
The emancipation of every slave in the USA was supposed to be great news for every black man who had been held as a slave in the South. During the pendency of the Civil War, grand promises were made to the Southern slaves about freedom, economic enablement, and an inclusive America (Gjerde, 2011). The Civil War was never really won but the Southern States surrendered at terms agreed upon by ethnic whites with no on consulting the blacks who the war was supposed to be about. Among the conditions of the end of slavery was permission to pass a set of state laws known as Jim Crow Laws. Under these laws, the black person in the South was declared as an inferior race and meted with many restrictions . Union Forces, however, remained in the South to protect the freed slaves. With time, the Union Forces left, leaving freed slaves in the arms of their former masters armed with a law that gave them permission to lawfully harm blacks. Every white man became the law to black people, allowed even to kill any black person who broke the Jim Crow Laws. Thousands of black people were lynched under these laws.
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The Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 as Amended by the Curtis Act of 1898
At the advent of European settlement in the USA, it was the land of the Native Indian. As late as after the Civil War, massive Indian civilizations thrived in the USA complete with their systems of governance. These Indians were sitting in prime land and the white population of the USA craved that land. The Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 provided the first ammunition to get Indian lands from them and relegate them to reserves. Under the laws, the Indian communities would be invited to be a part of the great civilization that was the USA. Becoming part of this civilization would, of course, require the Indians to give up their native independence and governance, tribunals, and systems. This would enable them to fall under the US government as US citizens (Gjerde, 2011). The Indians took the bait and began to negotiate with the white community about becoming part of the civilization. As the interaction continued, the Curtis Act of 1898 was passed. This Act gave the American president the right to sell off Indian lands that he considered excess. This resulted in what is now considered as a crime against humanity under modern laws. Indian communities were forcefully moved from prime lands into reservations in unproductive lands. Their former lands were then sold to white settlers. Tens of thousands of Indians perished in this process, and those who survived lost their heritage and lands and were relegated to perpetual poverty in barren and overcrowded reservations.
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
The Chinese Exclusion Act holds a special place in history as the first law to prohibit the immigration of a specific ethnic group (Gjerde, 2011). The gold rush opened up many opportunities in the Western part of the USA. Gold was to be found in large quantities on the surface of the earth, and all that was needed was some people to undertake the hard labor of extracting it. The Chinese were found to be extremely hard working and undemanding and were, therefore, ferried in droves from China to come and extract the gold for its white American owners. The gold began to reduce in the mid-19 th century and the Chinese were considered a burden hence pushed out of the mining areas. They settled in the cities and began to compete with the whites for labor. Only, there was no competition at all as the Chinese could work harder and for very low wages. When the white community began to consider the Chinese as a competition for economic space, they undertook what was akin to closing the Chinese labor tap. A law was passed stopping any Chinese from immigrating to the USA.
Conclusion
Today, the USA has changed and the rule of the law has come to mean a respectable and civilized democratic community. This was, however, not always the case as the above clearly shows. There was a time when voting was only for the white communities allowing them to pass any laws they wanted. This allowance enabled them to pass dictatorial, discriminatory and oppressive laws that sowed seeds of discord in the multiracial US community. The Jim Crow laws against black immigrants, the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 as Amended by the Curtis Act of 1898 against the Native Indians and the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 against the Chinese are among the worst examples of such laws.
Reference
Gjerde, J. (ed) (2011). National citizenship and federal regulation of immigration. In Major Problems in American Immigration History (pp.180 - 193). Belmont: Wadsworth
