...when they were brought here against their will (Wouldn't they want us to send them back?) ...yet people want to send back today's illegal immigrants (but they are here precisely because they want to)! Where's the logic in that?
2006-09-09 08:56:20 · 12 answers · asked by Brand X 6 in Politics & Government ➔ Immigration
Once slaves were free they had the OPTION to either become citizens, as per the law, or return home.
Illegal aliens are criminals and as per the law the punishment for being here illegally is deportation.
The law if very logical, it is only your questions that are illogical.
2006-09-09 09:07:34 · answer #1 · answered by remmo16 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Europeans came to North America just like the slave came to North America, the only difference was that one group came voluntarily while the other came by force or coarsion. We did not have to "give the slaves citizenship", they were citizens by default.
The Europeans became citizen not by some special confirmation, but simply because they were here...now, I am talking about those who came and drove the Indian aside; I do not mean those who came afterward. The slaves were among the earliest settlers (some were here by early or late 1600); even before the founding of the nation we now know as U.S of A.
I can see why someone will be upset by the question, but if you are really asking because you did not know, it is understandable. Illegal immigrants came when there has already been an established rule/law and were thus breaking the law...they were not forced over here and are not held in servitude. It is a bad comparism. The bottomline however is that the "slaves" were here from the start of it all and were citizens by defaults. If we look at the question from another perspective, we could say that the label slave should not be used because the act of slavery itself was illegal and inhumane and as such a crime against humanity.
Let me say that those who may argue that it was legal at the time should understand that rulers who commit atrocities (see Iraq and Saddam Hussein) do so under the law which they have defined or created but after that law has been examined by the world, they are often found wanting in their actions and are decleared to have committed crimes against humanity.
The slave holders actually fall under this category and were criminals who should have been punished accordingly. However such is life; slavery had been going on for a long time before it came to North America and as such it would be hard to punish everyone.
2006-09-09 16:20:31 · answer #2 · answered by Soft Rock 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yawn! Listen, giving citizenship to the freed slaves was the right thing to do. The slaves were not illegal immigrants. Today's illegal immigrants are entering the United States of America with the spineless blessing of weak politicians and with open-armed expectations by the hispanic (et al) population in this country with an undeserved sense of entitlement. There is a huge difference between freed slaves and illegal immigrants.
However, it is the constitutional amendment giving freed slaves and offspring birthright citizenship that has screwed up our born in the USA policy. The illegal immigrants have taken wild advantage of a loophole never intended to give their offspring birthright citizenship.
2006-09-09 16:06:09 · answer #3 · answered by OU812 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Illegal immigrants "broke into" our country.
Slaves were brought here against their will. However, after living here for generations, they would have had no way to survive back in Africa without knowing the languages and customs of the areas where their families were originally from. Giving them citizenship was the least we could do.
2006-09-09 16:06:41 · answer #4 · answered by Eric H 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
While I was a little annoyed by your question at first, it actually made me think...What a great point. Probably because it would have cost too much federal money to send them back and the government could profit more by letting them stay.
Also, most freed slaves didn't know they were free for some time, so if they sent them back, they would have had to let them know they were free a lot sooner.
2006-09-09 16:03:48 · answer #5 · answered by eyellnevrtell 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Slavery in the US went on for three hundred years before it occurred to anyone that it was wrong. Now ask yourself, if your ancestors had been in this country for that long, where is your homeland ? Better yet, ask any black American you know if they could survive in "their homeland".
2006-09-09 16:05:32 · answer #6 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is no logic. It's all about arousing the human emotions of the public.
2006-09-09 16:02:47 · answer #7 · answered by YahooAnswers 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Read the history of reconstruction.
2006-09-09 15:59:29 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I agree, we should have sent them back too.
2006-09-09 16:04:42 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Um, 'illegal aliens OUT'.
2006-09-09 15:58:59 · answer #10 · answered by gokart121 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋