Acquiring Personal Freedom Essay

America is the universal symbol of freedom. But is it really free? Does the history of the United States stay true to the ideas of our forefathers? Or has the definition been altered to fit American policies? Has freedom defined America? Or has America defined freedom? I believe America was at first defined by freedom, then after time, America defined freedom, altering the definition to fit the niche it fits in, but still keeping key components so it still seems to be staying true to the ideas of America’s founding fathers.

Throughout history freedom has had many different meanings and definitions; based on race, gender, and ethnicity. According to the dictionary freedom means the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint (“freedom” def. 1). Freedom may seem like something given to everyone however it was something workers had to fight for. Not everyone believed that workers’ rights needed to be changed, which led to a long battle between workers, employers and the government. To the working class people freedom meant making higher wages, having regulated hours, workable conditions and the right to free speech.

The American Civil War claimed the lives of over 700,000 people. The war was fought from 1861-1865. The results of the war were described as; a union victory, abolishment of slavery, territorial integrity preserved and the destruction and dissolution of the Confederate States. The twelve years that followed were called the Reconstruction Era, 1865-1877. The purpose of the Reconstruction Era was to restore National Unity, strengthen the government, and guarantee rights to freed slaves. The reality of reconstruction though was; violence (260,000 dead), newly freed slaves suffered the most, and Lincoln's hopes of trust and rededication to peace were lost when he was assassinated on April 15th, 1865. It is these realities of the Reconstruction Era and beyond that this paper will address and how those realities affected the newly freed slaves. Life in post-bellum America for African - Americans was violent and filled with fear because of white supremacy, lynching, and the brutal mutilations of blacks.

In the 1780s, many people agreed that the Articles of Confederation were not a strong enough plan of government for a newly born nation. Even though The Articles of Confederation won the Revolutionary War, there were many problems with the plan of government. The Articles of Confederation was made to prevent a strong national government and it only gave each state one vote in the Confederation Congress. It could not raise money and it only had one branch, the Legislature. In 1786, delegates from each state went to Philadelphia to draft a new Constitution for the United States.

Advancing freedom worldwide is a long held priority of the United States. As such, America prides itself as a role model to other nations by serving as a symbol of the merits of freedom and equal rights. An example of this came in 1945 after the collapse of the Nazi empire. During this time, the city of Berlin was split into East and West Berlin.

The freedom to make choices is important when we consider the idea of individuality. The freedoms we have make us unique from every other person. We can choose to stand out or coward with fear. Brave New World shows the citizens in the World State to be happy. They are very sexually active, doing drugs, watching movies, and playing games. If someone wants to live that life, as maintained in Huxley’s book, then it is their freedom of choice to do so even if it isn’t the right thing. We need to be able to learn from our bad choices in life. Happiness is a choice and you can surround yourself around positive things in life or choose

NHL free agency begins on July 1, and there are many sought-after free agents testing the waters. Before teams get the go-ahead to make signings official, they've been active with clearing cap space via trades and buyouts. Though the NHL is rarely predictable, some of those trades were downright surprising.

The time period after the American Revolution was a time where the nature of freedom was unclear and how power should be divided in the government was still undecided. Influential characters; such as, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Hancock, and Patrick Henry argued on whether power should be in the states hands or in the hands of the federal government. As they were crafting the Bill of Rights, the nature of freedom was questioned as people began to argue over slavery in relation to the Constitution.

While it can mean different things to different people, the word “freedom” is characterized indisputably by the concept of autonomy. The notion of having agency over your own mind and body is an idea as old as time, and has had wars and revolutions fought in its name. In democratic nations such as the United States, it is widely believed that freedom is an inalienable human right. Whether it is freedom of speech, freedom from slavery, or freedom of religion, the notion of freedom is continuously upheld as a staple of American society. Due to this mindset, the mere prospect of any breach or violation of liberty in the United States seems horrifying and unfathomable. ‘These things happen in other countries, not in America,” many would argue,

Then, as the last girl passed through, everyone went back to their places. I sucked in a rasped breath as I pushed the red, thick steel lunch room doors. With my hair covering the front of my face like a funeral veil, I examined the hard, smooth marble floors as I shuffled through the sea of shoes until I reached the wall. A hush fell over the crowd as the principal came strolling in. He started giving a speech about the school dance this Friday, yet I drowned him out. Today was January twenty-seventh, Stella’s birthday. I could not hold it in anymore as I sank against the wall, silently letting all the sorrow and despair flow out of me. Two pink sneakers came to rest on the glazed marble floors. “Well, do you not want to join us?” questioned a clipped, sickly sweet voice. Willing myself to raise my head, I slowly brought my eyes up. She was wearing a short checkered skirt with a navy blue collared shirt. I met the girl’s eyes. A shocking electric blue. “Well, are you going to answer me or not?” she asked again. “Um...sure…” I replied, mesmerized by the amount of makeup the girl had on. I felt hands on my shoulders as her crew pulled me to my feet. I stared at the floor the whole time until I reached the designated “popular”

Freedom of speech, press, and religion is like a traffic light. The by-laws are always changing and everyone must obey them. What is freedom? Freedom is the act of doing what one pleases without the fear of government intervening or restraining the action. So, if our freedoms are restricted, are we really free? Personally, I do consider the freedoms of the Bill of Rights counts as freedom. It is however, an opinionated topic and just like the by-laws of the amendments, everyone’s backing case will be different. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition

Awakening or to awake means “to wake up; to be or make alert or watchful” (Webster 23). This is what Edna Pontellier experienced in The Awakening.

In the paper, “Human Freedom and the Self” Roderick M. Chisholm offers his theory of human freedom and defends it against a couple objections. One of the objections we will talk about which is the second objection is connected to the concept of immanent causation, where causation is by an agent, he argues how the statement “the prime mover unmoved” (page 391) has been subject to difficulty. Chisholm explains immanent causation as being an agent causing the event A to happen, but although the agent is causing A to happen the agent is not moved by anything. The argument to this objection is that “there must be some event A, which is caused not by any other event but by the agent” (page 391). Well since A was not cause by another event then the agent couldn’t have produced anything either to bring A about, so “what did the agent’s causation consist of” (page 391). Also another point that was made in the objection was the question “what is the difference between A’s just happening and the agents causing A to happen” (page 391). Chisholm responds by saying that there is a difference between man causing A and an event causing A. The two are not the same because transeunt causation is connected to determinism, which makes the train of events, happen and immanent causation as he explains it is when the agent causes the event. He then sums up his answer by saying the reason “lies in the fact that, in the first case but not the second, the event was caused by the man” (pg. 391) He

The constitution of the United States of America gives me the right to freedom because I am a United States citizen. I consider "freedom" to be my right to express myself in any way I choose. Freedom is defined as "having liberty of action or thought, independent". "Self-governed or not controlled by an outside party" is another definition of freedom. Freedom has a different meaning to each individual thus making it hard to find a clear concise definition.

of us fail to cherish and value our granted freedom. Many of us do not