Liberty In The First American Society

When the Britain passed the Royal Proclamation the colonists did not follow the law and still settled in the west. They pushed Cherokees out, paying no mind to the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, and kept moving west, which helped establish American nationalism. In the First Continental Congress, none of the colonies were talking about independence yet because all they wanted to do was resolve the issues. They began to take the idea of self-rule and participatory democracy into rule. The colonies began to think their rights were being taken away from them by Britain when Parliament and the King rejected their petition. They began to think ideas of freedom when British troops were being sent to the colonies to establish authorization by Parliament and the King. They didn’t think they could stand up to Britain because they were more powerful and the colonists didn’t have the proper kind of training or weapons. The thoughts of freedom became more real, after the Boston Massacre and after Lexington and Concord. When the colonists finally realized the British would use force to keep them in line and to keep control over them.

The Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson, was an important document that helped the colonists while their rights weren’t being respected by the government or the King. He continued by saying they didn’t take necessary laws into consideration or they abolished the laws they desperately needed. Jefferson argues that everyone should be treated equally and have the same rights, these were known as unalienable rights. In the letter, Jefferson uses logos, pathos, and ethos to further explain himself and convince the colonists to join him in declaring their independence. Jefferson begins by stating, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

For many immigrants who emigrated from Europe, the New World was an opportunity to escape the oppressive reign of monarchs and the papacy for a better life, and a way to experience what they believed to be true freedom. Although, not everyone expressed, or experience freedom in the same way.

In the late eighteenth century, North American British Colonies worked to free themselves and create their own governing body. Some ideas stated by revolutionaries helped to unite the colonies in a single governing body and revolt against the existing government. The primary driving forces of the revolutionaries included the belief that humans had the right to freedom and to govern themselves, and that they had certain natural rights that the ruling government of Britain was not allowing them, as well as a general hatred for the ruling power of the European monarchy. These ideas that were so prevalent in the colonies were stated by many different revolutionaries, but many of them held the same idea, freedom was a right that was shared by all

They wanted freedom of religion. They didn't want a monarchy. They wanted a different system of government that did not involve a king and queen structure. By drafting their own laws they would be able to select delegates for each state, to establish power to conduct foreign affairs, to declare war if necessary, to maintain an Army and a Navy and to coin money. A strong central government is what they wanted to have so that Great Britain couldn’t infiltrate. Establishing their own government would also get rid of the Stamp Act, one of the many acts that required them to pay taxes forced on them by the British to help them with their indebtness. If there were a serious crime committed in the colonies; the person being prosecuted would have to be shipped off to England for trial. This was not fair in the colonists’ eyes because they felt as though there would not be a fair trial because of the lack of their own peers in the jury. Since the British didn’t want to give them a voice, parting ways seems like the best

Liberty is in inalienable right of each and every person, and is the pre-political concept that gives us intrinsic worth.

“Among the natural rights of the colonists are these: First a right to life, secondly to liberty, and thirdly to property; together with the right to defend them in the best manner they can” is a quote by Samuel Adams. This means that all people should have the same rights. All men are created equal. The king of England let the Colonists live in the new world but Colonists believe that the king did not have authority to rule them anymore. Examples include “No taxation without representation.” Also, another example can be that the British passed unfair taxes and acts. Others may argue that the king had a right to do so, but there are more and better reasons as to why the colonists should’ve had liberty. “Give me liberty or give me death” was what the colonists said.

The U.S Constitution has evolved over time from what the original writers wanted. Most importantly, these changes are positive because equality is what the United States is all about. These changes pertain to the amendments regarding right to bare arms, slavery, and the right for all male citizens to vote.

In the declaration of independence it says“...that they endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The colonists wanted the right to be able to be free from King George lll and the laws and taxes that he put on them. In document B, Andrew Sullivan said “ I believe in life. I believe in treasuring it as a mystery… that should never be destroyed…” The colonies didn’t want to be held back from discovering new things that the world had to offer but were being concealed with rules that King George lll had.

In the early 1700’s, tension began to grow between Great Britain and the Colonies from America to become an independent country. In order to declare their own right, they proclaimed independence from Great Britain. The driving force behind the revolutionaries was, (most importantly) ‘battle cry for liberty, the unity of the colonies, the men and women who encouraged the colonies to fight for their independence. Some of these people include, Thomas Paine, the author of “Common Sense” that greatly influenced the revolution, Thomas Jefferson, one of the founding leaders of the United States and John Adams who was the second president of the United States and helped with the declaration of independence. Each of these people played a vital role in giving America independence.

The authors felt that the colonies were obligated to become free and independent from the tyrannical King George III because of the many atrocities that were being committed by his government at the time. Jefferson et al believed that the British government had fallen away from their ideal of what a just government should be like. The authors believed that there were certain rights that could never be taken away and that everyone has “the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” According to Jefferson et al, whenever a government fails to uphold those rights, the people should replace it with a new one. The Founders felt that the thirteen colonies were not only obligated to break away from the tyranny of British rule, but also

“ All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”(Using APA, 1776, paragraph two., The Declaration of Independence) The document goes on to say “ That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its power in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.”(Using APA, 1776, paragraph two., The Declaration of Independence) The document is referring to Great Britain becoming destructive to the certain unalienable rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Colonists have the right to try an alter the government or abolish it altogether. “ But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their security.”(Using APA, 1776, paragraph two., The Declaration of Independence) Great Britain had abused their power and made the colonists suffer for quite a long time. Finally the colonists could no longer put up with the pointless abuse, and so

During the late 1700’s the American colonists waged a war for independance on the British arguing their fundamental liberties had been deprived. As the founding fathers declared themselves independent from Great Britain, and built their new nation, they quickly addressed their ambitions in the Constitution. However as the former colonists built their new nation, they decided their revolution ambitions needed pragmatic alterations. These objectives that the former colonists addressed in the Declaration of Independence were in one way or another modified, expanded upon, or subverted. The dispute of civil rights for the Colonists was expanded upon and subverted, in order to appeal to white property owning males. Furthermore the former Colonists wanted to create a form government in which the citizens had the power, this intention was expanded upon

As it is pointed out by the well-known quote, “no taxation without representation.” Nearly the entire country desired freedom from the grips of Great Britain. The colonies did have a respect for Great Britain since it was their mother country, but they saw the injustice being done and wanted the same freedom they had before Great Britain tried to reclaim control over the colonies. The colonists were furious and wanted to keep their new freedom they had acquired, so they made a formal declaration of independence from Great Britain. Many colonists were ready and willing to fight in a war against the world’s greatest military superpower to preserve these new freedoms they had acquired. This shows that many people during this time were firm supporters of these freedoms. Like the famous quote, “give me liberty, or give me death,” this shows the attitude of many of the colonists and what they wanted. They either wanted their freedoms or their life was not worth living. This shows that John Peter Zenger’s idea of desiring freedom was very much a part of the times (Brody

America is commonly called the “Land of the Free”, but the abundance of liberties, and liberties for all, has not always been the case. The Puritans were some of the first to settle in the New World, but they were self-interested and did not come with the purpose of creating a free state for all. As time progressed, so did their believes, and by the time Tocqueville arrived from France, liberty was an important aspect of American life. So important that people would fight and die for it. Tocqueville, while impressed at the amount liberty and freedoms that citizens had, believed that America had a long way to go before it could call itself a truly free country. Fast forward over a hundred years later, and John Rawls lived in a time were the