The distribution of power, including economic and political types, has been quite uneven in the foundational years of America’s democratic development. Due to the persistence of prejudices that encompassed the entire spectrum of biases, ranging from the race- to gender-associated false assumptions, a very slim category of American citizens could fully enjoy the entire extent of American liberty. Specifically, the problem of discrimination of people of color, particularly African American citizens by European Americans, was in complete discord with the notion of democracy as it is perceived nowadays.
Similarly, gender inequality was evident in American society at the crossroads of the 19th and 20th centuries. While the suffragist movement began at the time, heralding the emergence of the women’s era, the conditions in which women had to live were quite drastic, with very few rights being offered to them. While most of the participants of the movement were “concentrated in traditional jobs such as domestic service and the garment industry,” the dynamics of gender relationships were rapidly changing in the United States. Therefore, while the gender issue remained a problem, it was acknowledged as a social concern, and the feminist movement was finally born.
The class issues were also a tangible concern in American society on the specified time slot. As stressed above, the lack of equality in the U.S. economy affected the workplace hierarchy and how employees could use their freedoms. Specifically, Foner states that “Many industrial workers labored sixty-hour weeks with no pensions.” Moreover, the author claims that people were forced to operate in conditions that jeopardized their safety. The dynamics of the relationships within the power structure of American society also implied the unequal distribution of wealth. Therefore, although the foundational postulates of democracy were laid with the Supreme Court’s decisions at the time, the vast majority of American citizens found themselves in rather unfavorable circumstances.