Everything comes at a cost. Yet, some things are worth the price; things for which “We the People’ undeniably must fight. It is the duty of all American citizens to mend this government and fight against all that “We” find to be intolerable. However, how do “We the People” decide which part of a corrupt government requires fighting? Conceivably, the people must first fix what is by far the most broken. Thus, one must examine the three branches of the American government: the legislative branch, the executive branch, and the judicial branch. Each branch serves a purpose- to create laws, to execute them, and to interpret them. Creation and execution are undeniably difficult tasks, yet far more elementary than the task of interpretation. One in…show more content… During the early 1930’s in Maycomb, Alabama, a white woman accused a black man of raping her. Mayella Ewell, the supposed victim, was apart of a lower class family who struggled financially. It is eventually revealed that Mayella was not in fact raped, but that her father discovered her kissing Tom Robinson and she found it easier to accuse him of rape than to admit she was coming onto him. Despite this, Tom is found guilty for the crime and goes to Enfield Prison, where he is soon shot seventeen times in the back and killed for attempting to escape his confinements. Harper Lee explains the predisposition within the jury by stating, “Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men's hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed.” (Lee 241). Mayella was a white woman in southern town, accusing a man whom society already considered dangerous, a liar, manipulative, and savage, all because of his skin color. Thus, perhaps if people had not already been biased towards African Americans, Mayella might not have not felt the need to accuse Tom of rape, which would have resulted in him possibly not having to be on trial and ultimately…show more content… Different historical and literary examples can indisputably prove this claim. The first of these examples exists as the Dred Scott verdict, in which an illogical and clearly prejudiced interpretation of the United States Constitution was made. Moreover, an additional historical example of injustice within America’s government was the lack of laws forbidding marital abuse against women as well as their astounding lack of justice the judicial system should have granted them. Both of these exemplifications clearly demonstrate the historical oppression that occurred within the government and more specifically the courtroom. Finally, Tom Robinson, a character in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, was cheated by the government via his lack of an unbiased jury of his peers. All three of these examples, being both historical and fictional, prove America’s inability to grant justice to those who deserve it most. Such is why “We the People” must fight; the oppression of those who some consider to be inferior as well as the endless hatred towards people of other races and genders must end. Neither America nor a single person living in it has even one valid excuse or reason as to victimize any person simply due to an attribute that has nothing to do with their level of
