The Declaration of Independence states "that all Men are created equal." What didthe Founders mean by “all Men”? How have Constitutional amendments, federal lawsand the courts expanded or contracted Americans’ civil rights over time? Provideexamples to back up what you say. Discuss one controversy during the past ten yearsover civil rights, presenting both sides of the argument.American’s civil rights is defined as the equality of all men regardless of their demographic, gender, sexuality, and economic status under the law. However when the Declaration of Independence was constructed, “All men” generally meant white, free, literate, and over 21 adults. Basically the founders of the declaration of independence would have identified themselves as “all Men”. Also the men includes those who owned property. Because of these characteristics these men were deserving of equality in thecountry. However, the definition became broader as decades went by the The Dred Scott vs. Sanford case was the premise of the contraction of civil rights. The Supreme Court ruled that since Dred Scott was an African-American, he could not rule against the court. Basically even ifhe was free in another state, he was a slave and thus a non-citizen. This controversy led to the civil war and resulted in the ratification of the 13th amendment, abolishing slavery. The 13th amendment expanded civil rights because it gave African-Americans much freedom and made them less inferior to their white counterparts. The 14th amendment continued on with the constitutional phrase “that all Menare created equal”. Now based on this amendment the “all men” means all people who were born in the country. It basically states that the state cannot deprive you from your rights regardless of who you are. The 15th amendment gave more rights to people of color but only males were allowed to vote. Equality was not reached yet. Even when the constitution now allows African American men to vote, some federal laws contracted such equality. For example the grandfather clause only allowed people with no only white ancestry to vote. Some African-Americans had to pay to vote; many of them could not afford the poll tax. Additionally made of them were not educated so literacy tests were a good way to prevent them from voting. The Civil rights Acts of 1865 tried to expand equality by enforcing that states did not avoid these amendments. However the Supreme Court overturned some of the acts. One main example was the Plessy vs. Feurgson case. The case ruled that separate but equal was constitutional. The court stated thatsegregation alone did not violate the constitution and thus was acceptable. This led an increase discrimination. However 60 years later, the court overturned that case, stating that separate is inherentlyunequal and illegal. The case was replaced with the “Brown vs. Board of Education”. The civil rights acts of 1964 were federal laws that prohibited segregation from all states. This further expanded the importance of civil rights.Civil rights of the United States does not only pertain to African Americans. Women and other minorities including homosexuals are frequently discriminated in society. Some of them are not treated equally to the white men under the constitutional law. Before the 19th amendment, women were discriminated under law by not obtaining the right to vote. More people had the right to vote in the 23th amendment because the district of Columbus could vote in the presidential elections. After many years, poll tax was finally outlawed in the 24th amendment. Equality in the amendments was contracted in the 26th amendment when only people over the age of 18 are given the right to vote.Georgia’s constitution had anti-sodomy, stating that homosexuality should not be allowed in the state. However, that state discrimination was unconstitutional in the case Lawrence vs. Texas. The courts said that part of the due process of the 14th amendment stated protection of the legal rights of a person. Thishad a huge impact in the LGBT (lesbians, gay, bi-sexual, transgender) community. However, another federal law pertaining to the LGBT community contracted their rights. The defense of marriage act (DOMA) states that states did not have to recognize same-sex marriage, thus didn’t have to be legal.The controversy over same-sex marriage had been a huge civil rights issue in the past decade. As of August 2013, there are now 13 states how allow gay marriage and there might be more on the way. United States vs. Windsor provided the LGBT a chance to be lawfully married in selective states. The decision of the Supreme Court was a close- 4 to 5. The main argument says that DOMA restricted the rights of equality and liberty in some Americans. It prevented same-sex couples to obtain government health care benefits and other special protections. This was not equality for all men. Also the act violated the equal protection clause of the 14 the amendment. However, these decisions were against only Section 3 of the DOMA. States did not have to allow same-sex marriages in their constitution. The court declared that same-sex marriages in legal states must receive federal benefits like any other peoplein that state. If a same-sex couple moves to a state that doesn’t allow the marriages, like Georgia, then they would not be given any federal benefits. However the decision was is not clear or persistent when itcame to states benefits. Some people opposed the decision based on their cultural, family, morals, and other factors. They believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman, thus any other combination should not be allowed. “That all men are created equal” is the main phrase in the Declaration of Independence that pertains to civil rights. The past 200 years have been full of expanding the rights given to all people including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. These rights are natural and should not be deprived from any individual in the United States of America. In this generation, “all Men” can be defined as all individuals living in this country. Everyone deserves to be treated equally by the government and other individuals. It is the core of society and the premise of the