Home Ownership In America

Some wanted to fight to keep the land that their family has lived on forever.

When the colonists began to arrive in America they were surprised to find that the land was already occupied by various Natives. Because the lives of 16th century Natives was very different from what

Slavery and racism was the plague of the United States. It followed on the heals of government policy and trickled down the social ladder for many years. Racial discrimination is still existent today, though people are afraid to talk about it, for fear of admitting ancestral sin and current stereotypes. Ta-Nehisi Coates expresses these ideas in his article “The Case for Reparations”, and focuses on the issue of home ownership in Chicago. The bottom line of his article is that one must not forget and discard of the past, rather they must acknowledge and own what has happened. With Coates focus on American oppression, one doesn’t glean an exceptional take on the United States, from his perspective. He describes the U.S. as too timid to own its mistakes. In the middle of the 20th century, Chicago, discrimination was rampant. Blacks were targeted by “real-estate speculators” when trying to own a house, they were put “on contract.” In response to the issues brought about by the contracts, the Contract Buyers League was founded. This was an attempt to reverse the damage that was being done. Discrimination still occurs today. Racial discrimination has long plagued the U.S., but it is possible to change.

Americans across the United States search for the perfect home, location and square footage of course a great price to pay for their castle. Finding an affordable place to live is ideal, and necessary for survival in this day of age. As the years go by the cost of living increases but Americans do not receive a cost of living raise. The demand for affordable housing is on a all time high, but so is the cost of housing in the metropolitan areas across the United States. America must take care of its citizens and should provide affordable housing programs, to assist Americans to either purchase or rent a home.

In fact, the U.S. civil and property rights have a legal hierarchical organization, where the property rights stay in between the constitutional power and individual civil rights. In the 5th Amendment, the aspect of private property is mentioned as “nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation”(1273). This is the clearest example of private property protection in the United States and its initial value. Besides, the Declaration of Independence relates the property rights to the issues of equality and the

For many years, the idea that ones’ home being the largest investment was said as a complete sentence when in fact, it was only an incomplete sentence. Any duly licensed financial planner would finish that sentence by saying all investments are subject to market conditions, the value that investment could increase or decrease and other similar cautionary statements that their attorneys wrote to protect them. The American public only heard that their home was the largest investment and had never experienced, nor had their parents seen the value of their personal homes drop like they did in the past few years. They had never experienced the financial pain and although only a few years have passed, many have forgotten and are ready to jump right back into homeownership.

root of their problems. As descendants of the Emancipated population in the US, many of the

Too many Americans have fallen victim to the crisis that has become the norm for our citizens these days. Lenders no longer want to work with individuals who have gone through the foreclosure process and for many it is not only their homes they lose. Some have lost their jobs and/or families, others fall into a deep depression and worst of all some have taken their own lives.

Where they are lucky to have the land that they have. Leaving them to keep the

America is seen as the land of opportunity in that there are endless possibilities for an individual. In this land of opportunity, Americans strive to obtain the ideal known as the American dream. The American Dream is seen as the accomplishment of an ambition achieved while challenged by adversity.1 Americans often associate this success with the ownership of a home. The home is not simply a place of basic protection; there is a much deeper connection to the individual. Ownership of a home grants freedom and security that establishes a sense permanency for the individual. In contrast, renting a living space possesses a semblance of instability and dependence.2 The desire to improve ones’ position in life inspires one to

James Madison once said, “The rights of persons, and the rights of property, are the objects, for the protection of which Government was instituted.” In the time of the Founders property was a luxury that not every

Property has always played an important role in the life of an individual, community and country. The practical significance of the property lies in the fact that it enables us at least the necessities and amenities of the routine life if not the means of comfort. The property rights give the successor a way to overcome the sufferings and to fight the battle of their lives.

Immigration to America is often a decision made in order to discover a better life for a family or individual. America’s founding ideals are usually what compel foreigners to move to the US. The stories of America being the “Land of Opportunity” have continued to persuade people to immigrate. Although immigration in the 20th century is much different from recent immigration, the underlying reasons for moving to the US are usually quite similar.

While many people throughout the centuries have been pondering the question, "What does it mean to own something? " There are multiple answers to the simple question. Depending on what historical figure someone is reading after, the answer may be quite simple. If he or she listens to Plato, than owning something has a negative connotation.

For the law to recognise that someone has possession of particular property it is necessary to demonstrate not only de facto possession but also an intention to possess the property – an animus possidendi, that is a manifest intention, not merely to exclude the world at large from interfering with the thing in question, but to do so on one's own account, and in one's own name. (Pollock & Wright, 17)