The Irony Of America 's Liberty

In current day America, citizens either take their freedom lightly or believe they have no freedom at all. However, our ancestors thought differently in the past. The English colonist came to the New World for a number of reasons. Many came to the New World to escape bad marriages, jail terms, but many historian believe that many came to either get out of poverty or the fear of them falling into poverty. According to Brands, “Religion was a big reason for the English to come across the Atlantic”. The first colony was Jamestown, Virginia in 1607, which was not successful. After the first colony was established many more were established like New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and etc..

    A main idea in the first chapter is about the history of slavery and freedom in the U.S. Firstly slavery had existed during the American Revolution. Despite the fact that the founding fathers wanted freedom as a right to all men, then African Americans should also rightfully be allowed freedom. Foner quotes Lemuel Haynes, “ If liberty were truly ‘an innate principle” for all mankind’ Haynes wrote, ‘ even an African [had] as equally good a right to his liberty in common with Englishmen.’(Foner 9). Slavery was a problem in the United States history from the beginning.

Foner, E. (2014). "What is freedom?": Reconstruction. In Give me liberty!: An American history (Seagull 4th ed., Vol. 2). New York: W. W. Norton &.

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 value to have the right of equality and liberty, unfortunately not everyone is providential or important enough in society to exceed those values. The struggle for the right of freedom has always been a part of American history and still continues into the 21st century. The country as a whole has struggled to come to an agreement as to who is worthy of equality and freedom. Throughout America, the tension of slavery and women's equality has risen until the people finally realized their worth and that they are not any less of a person because of their gender or race. American history has affected life as we know today and shows the dedication to making America the true land of the free. By comparing and contrasting the perspectives

For men, and those who were not indentured servants, were provided more opportunities in the European colonies than they did at home, for the colonists, freedom meant owning land. Some people such as, Johannes Hänner, didn’t even require land to feel free in the New World, it was simply a matter of being able to live comfortably with family and friends. However, this positive outlook was not widely shared among all colonists, in Virginia for example, while

Americans have many ideas of freedom, which often were conflicting. The roots of these conflicting ideas were often based on race and stunted our growth as a country. Although much of the focus in U.S history has been placed the conflicting ideas of White American freedom and African-American freedom, another main conflict was between Whites and Native Americans. White Americans believed that freedom was the right to own property, economic autonomy, and the right to participate in democratic elections. The White Americans also believed that these freedoms were guaranteed only to natural-born, White Americans. The Native Americans had a much different view of freedom, which included the choice to remain nomadic, self-governance, and the

true liberty and equality, the millions of women. Blacks, Native Americans, immigrants, and other minorities in America continued to languish in a society that ignored their rights. during the Age of Jackson, enslavement of Blacks, the ultimate form of inequality, was at a new high in

In Hope of Liberty embodies a very thorough and complex narrative of Northern free blacks. James Oliver Horton and Lois E. Horton deliver to readers a detailed synthesis of several decades of information that pertains to early American history. The text ventures through social, political, and cultural movements that were occurring before the Civil War era. The Hortons not only demonstrate the importance of black’s presence throughout the text but some of the contribution and the roles that led to such a vibrant culture in America. It 's through the analysis of these wonderful sources and experience of free black Northerners, that reader and historians can have a better interpretation and revision of the building of this early nation.

The United States is known as the land of the free,but has it always been like this?Was slavery erased from history? All The Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4th 1776 and the colonies gained independence, many people settled in the 13 colonies to start a new life and own land, yet others were forced to settle in the America’s,not everyone has always been treated equally in the the land of the “free”. America has had pros and cons throughout its history and has risen o become one of the most successful nations in the world with its form of government,but Americans haven't always lived up to the Declaration of Independence, the United States gives opportunities to students who can't afford an education and anyone above the age 18 is allowed to vote, yet it hasn't always been like this,Americans haven't always live up to Declaration of Independence and even now this is put in doubt with the current events.

Frederick Douglass once said, “No man can be truly free whose liberty is dependent upon the thought, feeling and action of others, and who has himself no means in his own hands for guarding, protecting, defending and maintaining that liberty.” Throughout the history of America his words have proven true seeing that those of African descent have been faced with a tremendous amount of prejudice. Whether that be in terms of the basic rights vital to African americans, or the freedom of expression that should be allotted to every human being. They were subjected to endless economic and social prejudice. While at the same time being refused the decencies all American citizen deserved. But most importantly, African Americans were denied the right to decide how their country was controlled and in turn their “liberty”. These atrocities prove that the reform introduced during the Reconstruction era did little to resolve the problems plaguing African Americans or improve their quality of life.

We gained our independence from Great Britain on July 4, 1776. Since then we have solely on how we are going to remain a free country. After, we gained our independence we stopped viewing freedom as a privilege. We began to believe that freedom is a right we should be given if we live in America. Yet, we were still using slaves for many years after we gained our independence. If we would have put into consideration what the slaves felt about us (white 's) getting freedom, and blacks not getting the same freedoms, I feel like we would have changed our minds about how we treat them. Freedom, or maybe liberty, is considered an unalienable right, which means it is god given right. Freedom has shaped our country into what it is today. We have the freedoms to do what we want, when we want, how we want, etc., is what makes America different from many other countries. Patrick Henry says, "Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course other may take, but as for me, give it liberty, or give me death!" Patrick Henry was an orator during the 18th century that strongly supported the independence movement. Liberty is a major aspect of our country, clearly.

In the United States of America after the Revolutionary War, freedom was a very relative term. According to the constitution all men were created equal and therefore all men are free. However, in this time prior to the American Civil War this was not the case. There existed, what would eventually be called an immoral evil by some abolitionists in, slavery. Slaves were African-Americans brought to the United States, specifically the South, and treated and sold at auction as if they were property not human beings. This would lead to a great many conflicts both physically and verbally as time progressed, eventually sparking a Civil War. The focus of this paper is on the

America from the colonial days to the Civil War era was not the land of the free. Many groups in America were not treated equal to their peers. African Americans were the prime example of unequal treatment. African Americans were almost always treated as less than any American citizen, whether they lived in the North or the South. Women were also treated almost exactly the same as slaves. They did all the housework and barely had any rights at all. America, at that time, was clearly anything other than the land of the free.

The colonies of British North America were a very unequal place in which different classes and races were treated very differently. Despite this, ideas of freedom still developed because the colonists believed that they were being treated unfairly by the British parliament. Two documents that convey that these ideas of freedom were able to develop in a place where the citizens were not treated equally are the “Virginia Slave Code of 1705” and “The Declaration of Independence”.