You are on page 1of 4

Norris 1

Chelsea Norris
Dr. Sterling
INRW 0302-201
25 June 2015
America: Our Past, Present and Future.
America the land of the free and the home of the brave according to Francis Scott Key,
been around nearly over 239 years and doesnt plan on leaving anytime soon. The New World
was a dream come true envisioned by people who were on a search for a new beginning that
believed man could achieve anything with the power of God. Creating the New World people
from all over were coming to start a new life and this exposed others to different cultures and
racial ethnicities from around the world. With different cultures all in one place aroused
problems which are things America faces today. Three of the few things that are current issues
that happened in America then thats happening now are; Gender Roles, African American
Brutality and the short supply of clean water. Gender Roles have been around since the 1700s
with a religious group called the New England Puritans, whose religious beliefs was based on
Catholic principles. One important rule in a Puritan household was the father was the boss, he
was supposed to provide for his family and make sure they behave correctly (Longman, 122).
The mindset that men were superior was actually preached in sermons that husbands are the
head, the superior, the reverend and they should be obeyed as such. Women were looked as the
weaker vessel in the mind and her husband shouldnt expect much from her. The job for a
Woman were farm hands, caring wives for their husbands and producing children to create the

Norris 2

new puritan generation. Since most women were born peasants getting and education wasnt a
priority because they were supposed to work their whole life in hopes of a man offering her
family a dowry so she can be married away. Female-Shaping was used in this time period as way
to teach women to stay in their place and not challenge a man. Some women did not like the idea
of being considered as the weaker sex and often rebelled against their husbands; the worst thing
woman could do was have sexual relations with another man. This was a sign of humiliation and
men were often questioned about his kids to make sure that they belonged to them; if by the
chance the woman was caught both can be brought to court and if founded guilty she could be
sentenced to death (Garret, Bruno). Today society gender roles are major problem for women all
over the world weather its in the home or in the work place. Women are often discriminated in
the world just because they are woman and often not treated as an equal man. In addition to the
gender roles, African American Brutality plays a major part in a problem America faces today. In
1730 slaves were in full affect every ten people of the South, Pennsylvania were black. Whites
were outnumbered in the South, it was even said that It looked more like Negro country than a
place settled by white people (Longman, 119). The Negro Act of 1740 denied all freedom of
movement, assembly, to earn money and prohibited to learn English; for blacks learning English
was sign of power and if taught how to speak the language they would soon be able to read it.
Knowledge was power and with power the slaves could have easily rebelled against their slave
owners. African Americans were considered as powerful beast that were out of control and
should be kept tamed at all times, whites felt that punishment was important to make sure they
were obedient. Whipping was a common form of discipline for minor offenses but for major
crimes being burned alive or being lynched in front of a crowd was considered okay.
Unfortunately African American brutality is on the rise today and the rights for people of color

Norris 3

are still not being served justice. Even though African Americans have unalienable rights and are
free to be treated just like any other normal human. Unfortunately, its still people in the world
who live in the past as whites being superior race. From Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Mike
Brown and the most recent shooting in Charleston. Almost 300 years later African Americans are
still fighting for equal rights and it will be a long treacherous road ahead. The final thing that
America is still facing today is the shortage of clean water. In the late 1700s early eighteenth
century there was major crisis called the Bloody Flux. People were dying from unsanitary
water because of all the salt and waste that polluted the water it made water scarce for the people
who were living in the area. Many did not survive the Bloody Flux but, if lucky enough they
usually died within the next couple of months from malaria or typhoid fever (Longman, 112).
70% of the world is made up of water and only 2.5% is actually fresh, clean water today is very
scarce there are at least 1 billion people living without clean water. People who do drink the
water thats available to them eventually die because of all the diseases living in the water.
However, there have been many people trying to help the problem by creating water sheds to
preserve water and making generous donations to help the problem of water shortage. Overall,
the problem of gender roles, African American brutality and water shortage are problems that
have been here over 200 of years ago and still exist in the world today. However, the problems
that happened then are worse then what they are now as a country there is still a lot more work to
be done.

Norris 4

Work Cited
American Nation: A History of the United States</i>. 13th ed. Vol. 13. N.p.: Pearson
Longman., n.d. Print.
Bruno, Garret.The Puritans." (Intro). N.p., n.d. Web. 23 June 2015.
Carwright, Matt. "Water Shortages Are Coming: its Time for Us to Act." N.p., 12 Mar.
2015. Web.
Shepherd, Ronald. "The Historic Role of Police Brutality in the Black Community and
African American Oppression." Roland Shepard Daily News. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 June
2015.

You might also like