The Three Perspective Of American Freedoms : The Definition Of Freedom

Throughout history, Americans have sought to spread the spirit of equality, which is believed to be the realization of true freedom. Before establishing this freedom, every American had only one question stuck in their head: What is freedom? Our country received it in the year of 1776 from the British through a series of difficulties and wars. African Americans defined it as an escape from slavery, while immigrants defined it as their acceptance into a new society. More yet, women of the women’s suffrage defined their freedom as their recognition into society and for their rights to be equal to that of every other man. These different perceptions of cultures/groups in America tied together to form an American view of freedom. Freedom is

Americans have continued to work hard every day to ensure we keep the freedoms we have fought so hard for. Fifteen states from the early America, that’s 56 signatures from many important people during that time, all agreed that we were born with “unalienable rights,” rights that no one could ever take away or deny. “All men are created equal,” they all have the same rights and power any other person has, and that’s because of the Declaration of Independence. Because of the rights the Declaration of Independence has given us, it is by far the most compelling to American citizens today because it continues to ensure that we are granted the rights of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Due to this we also hold the power to abolish any form of government that wishes to remove these rights, for when we know what freedom tastes like we will do anything to ensure we keep that freedom.

Freedom and citizenship are the foundational concepts of politics. However, there are disagreements among political scientists and philosophers as to how they define those concepts. This article attempts to present a short overview of the idea of freedom and citizenship from a modern political perspective. I focus on the way Thomas Jefferson and Hannah Arendt interpret those concepts and how their interpretations converse with one another.

Freedom is defined as the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement. It is the power to determine action without restraint and the exemption from external control, interference, and regulation. Americans, these days, commonly regard their society as the freest and the best in the world. Their understanding of freedom has been shaped and based upon the founding fathers’ belief that all people are equal and that the role of the government is to protect each person’s basic “inalienable” rights. The United States Constitution’s Bill of Rights assures individual rights including freedom of speech, press, and religion. America has changed dramatically from the country our founding fathers discovered. Some could even argue that

American beliefs and opinions give a great understanding of what an American values. The want and need for freedom is described in many different ways based on origin or social beliefs. The main backbone of America today is freedom. Through the building of an American empire everyone can’t come to an understanding of what it is to be equally free. By comparing and contrasting the perspectives of Patrick Henry’s speech to the “Virginia Convention,” to take up arms and fight for our freedom. Frederick Douglass’ “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July,” who feels it’s time to end slavery. It is clear that the struggles of the American story are still prevalent and America has not yet found a way for freedom for all.

     By expounding on our rights as individuals, we have directed the progress of this nation’s growth. Our past was shaped

Preliminary Thesis: I will persuade future American generations that freedom is a privilege. We Americans need to stop taking our freedom for granted because there are people who wished to have the opportunity to be free the way we do.

Our founding fathers imagined a country full of freedom and opportunity. This divine objective, however, did not promise such to everyone. As our government today views the original documents made by our fathers, we come to realize that they did not specify all our questionable rights presently.

Throughout the course of history, Americans have changed the ways in which they derived the powers of the government from the consent of the governed, have changed their understanding of social and political practices concerning “rights”, changed “forms” of government, which have all led to a change in Americans’ “safety and happiness”.

This was the party slogan for the political culture in George Orwell’s novel, 1984; a stark, depressing world where “Big Brother” is watching you at all times. The political culture of the Untied States, thankfully, is a much more democratic and freeing environment. “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness...” is what we live by, not “Freedom is slavery.” The political culture of the United States is made up of two main concepts: liberty and equality. These will be discussed in this paper.

In Eric Foner’s book, The Story of American Freedom, he writes a historical monograph about how liberty came to be. In the book, his argument does not focus on one fixed definition of freedom like others are tempted to do. Unlike others, Foner describes liberty as an ever changing entity; its definition is fluid and does not change in a linear progress. While others portray liberty as a pre-determined concept and gradually getting better, Foner argues the very history of liberty is constantly reshaping the definition of liberty, itself. Essentially, the multiple and conflicting views on liberty has always been a “terrain of conflict” and has changed in time (Foner xv).

Freedom is known as a fundamental pillar of a democratic system of governance and is crucial for maintaining a peaceful society. Freedom holds a different rendition of meaning for each individual, but all versions share the commonality that freedom is when one’s rights are not hindered by an external force. The United States of America has been deemed as a country instilled with freedom, as is known as the most free country in the world. Although this may be the truth of most, it is not the truth for many others, as they have experienced a different history of the United States. There have been hard-fought battles in the name of freedom, and it is still argued today that these battles are still occurring across the nation. Dennis Chavez once

Since the creation of the United States, the meaning of freedom has changed to meet changing attitudes. Throughout our nation’s history, there have been significant periods of racial, economic and civil rights inequalities. There are different meanings for freedoms that have been established throughout the historical period of the United States. During this modern era, the US had certain periods of time that lived up to the ideals of freedom such as the Gilded Age. In opposition, the US has also had periods of time where our ideals of freedom failed to meet the requirements of our nation, a prime example being the late 1940s when the US entered the Cold War and led to the anti-communism period of McCarthyism which ultimately restricted

The power or right to act, speak or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. A word created by man to escape the bonds of tyranny to express the idea of what it means to persist one's own ambitions. Freedom. Freedom is not the absence of confinement but the will to achieve freedom when imprisoned. After carefully concluding the reading done over this semester one is able to clearly understand the confinement these early Americans felt and their decision to achieve a form of freedom. Freedom has always existed but it is the history of this nation that will define what actions freedom takes.

Just as every plants and animal as evolved and changed throughout the course of its existence so has the definition of freedom while its’ meaning has stayed constant. Freedom has a perpetual meaning, however, humans have tried to change the definition based upon moral, ethical, social, and legal ideals that have through history been debated upon and never satisfied all. Freedoms’ perpetual meaning is that everyone, no matter race or gender, has the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. As time progresses and new ideas flourish the definition of freedom either flourishes along with society or takes a drastic spiral downward usually with the opinions of humanity. In this essay we will be