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History essays about freedom
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The Fight for Liberty A famous writer by the name of William Hazlitt once said this about liberty, "The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the love of ourselves." There have been, and still are, many battles and debates about the whole idea of liberty. Some are all for it and thought that everyone should have this wonderful thing called liberty. However, there are others who thought that having this "wonderful" thing called liberty...isn 't so wonderful at all and others thought that certain types of liberty may be more harmful to the overall society. There were numerous historical figures that argued for and against the idea of liberty itself. Some of these figures include; John Winthrop, Roger Williams, and Anne Hutchinson. The differences between moral liberty and natural liberty were best defined by Winthrop while Hutchinson and Williams worked on presenting multiple challenges toward the accepting views that many held to when it came down to liberty. Liberty can be described as natural and moral. The ideas behind natural liberty were reintroduced by a man named Adam Smith. According to an online article, his idea was this, …show more content…
However, he was not a fan of fully forcing them into it. Winthrop loved the idea of the people obeying the specific religious rules/laws but only of the Puritan faith of course. Winthrop believed that this liberty (moral liberty) is maintained and exercised in a way of subjection to authority; it is of the same kind of liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free (Foner 77). He uses this example to explain the liberty being presented. Christ had to subject to His authority (God) in order to die on the cross and make everyone free from sin (if they chose to be). Winthrop says in the same sense, we must submit to authority so we are being compared to Christ and the governing authorities are
A Puritan lawyer, John Winthrop, immigrated to New England because his views on religion were different from those in England. Even though Puritans are Protestants, Puritans tried to purify the English Church. In 1630 on board of the Arabella on the Atlantic Ocean on way to Massachusetts, he wrote “A Model of Christian Charity” which gave his views on what a society should be. ‘…the condition of mankind, [that] in all times some must be rich, some poor, some high and eminent in power and dignity, other mean and in subjection….[Yet] we must knit together in this work as one man.’ (Doc. A). In this he is saying that men may be different but to make a new world work, they must work together. All through his speech he mentions God. For example, he opens his sermon with ‘God Almighty in his most holy and wise providence…’. This shows that in New England, the people were very religious.
They believed they had the right to worship and govern themselves in whatever manner they pleased. Puritan freedom did not include religious tolerance or individualism. John Winthrop 's speech highlighted the concept of what Puritan freedom was. He believed in a civil society where through God 's path stability would be found. Socially, it can be summarized to two ideas, natural liberty vs. moral liberty. Natural liberty was said to be corrupt because it meant doing what you pleased, whereas moral liberty meant only doing what was right. One actions were reflected based upon their position in society. The higher up one was ranked social the more "moral" their actions were and vice versa for actions defined as
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).
John Winthrop was a wealthy puritan governor and helped found the Massachusetts Bay colony. As an activist for moral liberty he addressed natural liberty very clearly. He made it evident that he is not a fan by stating that natural liberty is lawless and corrupt, and abides only to beasts. Winthrop compares a civil man with a simple man, and says the simple man has no direction or guidance and can do evil as he wishes. Winthrop’s address to moral liberty, or civil liberty is intended to help people live clean free lives and do what is good. State and religious regulations are needed to guide people to do morally right things and steer them away from corruption.
The founder and governor John Winthrop gave the famous sermon of “City on a Hill” and led the persecuted Puritans from England to this land and established the Massachusetts Bay. He hoped to build safe place as a Christina commonwealth as an example to show the world. He was a capable governor and a faithful follower of God. When Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson challenged his authority, they were both banished and went south to establish their own colonies. It might be that his exclusion of people with different believes made him a model of intolerant religious ruler, but at the same time his actions showed another form of democracy. He led the colonists who were Puritans and who shared the same belief of him onto a life of prosper and stability in their land, and he never prevented anyone who disagreed with him from leaving and establishing their ideal place somewhere else. However, living in Massachusetts meant that people should follow the local law. This shows another similarity in the situations today where people in a certain legal area could choose what they want separately from other parts of the country like only four states in te States now legalize marijuana for recreational use. In this way, John Winthrop made a colony bear a democratic spirit as opposed to people yelling for their individual
John Winthrop was a pioneer for religious freedom in America. As one of the early settlers sailing west on the Arbella, he composed a sermon called A Model for Christian Charity. Winthrop’s sermon is the framework for creating the spiritual colony that he envisioned and a way to unite the people coming to a new land. The people traveling west were not from one group but rather came from many groups and backgrounds. Winthrop knew that in order to succeed in the wilderness these individuals would have to give up some of their individuality for the greater good of the colony. Winthrop felt that religion was the ultimate way to accomplish this and that Christ was the perfect model to follow. In one passage he says:
According to John Locke everyone has natural rights. John Locke came up with natural rights, by thinking about what they could be for a long and vigorous time. Locke said that natural rights are “life, health, liberty, and possessions” (9). Life is something that no one can take away from anyone. Locke said, “no ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possession” (9). Life is not an absolute right. An example of this is if there was a train full of ten thousand people about to hit a rock, and you are by the switch that could save the ten thousand people, but if you use the switch you are killing a twelve-year-old girl on the other track. Liberty is doing what ever someone wants to do, and they can’t be punished for
Since the church was a major factor in the Massachusetts colony problems emerged about the colonists’ personal liberties regarding religion. In his speech, Winthrop compared a woman’s loyalty to her husband to the people’s relationship to the church. “The woman’s own choice makes such a man her husband; yet being so chosen, he is her Lord, and she is to be subject to him, yet in a way of liberty, not of bondage…” (p.31 line 30). To paraphrase, Winthrop believes that a man’s religion should be his own choice and not forced unto him by his government as this would lead to their liberties being subject to the government’s will. However, once a man surrenders himself to a certain religion, he is supposed to be a ‘servant’ to the
It gives us rights to be who we want to be or do what we want to do. As much as society gives us liberty, but it doesn’t give us freedom. There’s a difference between freedom and liberty. Freedom is the ability to do whatever pleases the person, for example, when a person wants to go outside and walk in the streets naked but he can’t or even allowed to because he has liberty not freedom. Liberty gives people the right to practice freedom but in limit. So when this person gets arrested for walking outside naked is called liberty, he doesn’t have the right to go outside his house naked. Therefore, you have the ability to do whatever you want inside your own house but not outside. Freedom is you can do whatever you want to yourself but not others. Freedoms end when you interfere someone else’s freedom. For example, you are free to smoke, until you encounter my freedom not to inhale your
Locke and Rousseau present themselves as two very distinct thinkers. They both use similar terms, but conceptualize them differently to fulfill very different purposes. As such, one ought not be surprised that the two theorists do not understand liberty in the same way. Locke discusses liberty on an individual scale, with personal freedom being guaranteed by laws and institutions created in civil society. By comparison, Rousseau’s conception portrays liberty as an affair of the entire political community, and is best captured by the notion of self-rule. The distinctions, but also the similarities between Locke and Rousseau’s conceptions can be clarified by examining the role of liberty in each theorist’s proposed state of nature and civil society, the concepts with which each theorist associates liberty, and the means of ensuring and safeguarding liberty that each theorist devises.
The Importance of Freedom Exposed in Anthem & nbsp; In the novel Anthem, Ayn Rand writes about the future of the dark ages. Anthem takes place in a technologically backwards totalitarian society, where mankind is born in the home of the infants and dies in the home of the useless. Just imagine, being born into a life of slavery, having no freedom, no way of self expression, no ego. The city represents slavery. When in the city, Equality was guilty of many transgressions.
“Natural” liberty, according to Winthrop, makes man more evil. Hutchinson’s and Winthrop’s understanding of religious liberty were different. Hutchinson believed that many early Puritans were not experiencing religious freedom, but were constrained by their belief that salvation is through good works, rather than grace. John Winthrop, however, believed that Hutchinson was wrong. He believed that religious liberty was moral liberty that is based under Christ’s authority. Through the reading of the articles and textbook, I learned that many early Puritans sought for a land where their particular beliefs were dominant; they were not seeking for religious freedom.
The American Ideological Consensus is that “…the American people have shared much of the same ideals, the same basic principles, and the same patterns of belief” (McClenaghan 104). When America filled itself with ideologically homogenous people, their beliefs started to define our nation and became American identities. If asked what they think of America, peoples of other nations would say that the roads are made of glass, opportunity is in the air, and civil rights are plentiful. These accounts maybe accentuated; however, the underlying message is that the American people have more freedoms then the peoples of other nations do. The most widely known American identity is freedom, and even though that American identity has been tried and tested throughout much of its history, it can still be said that America is a land of liberty.
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.
John Stuart Mill defines liberty, as a limitation of power; “By liberty, was meant protection against the tyranny of the political rulers. The rulers were conceived (except in some of the popular governments of Greece) as in a necessarily antagonistic position to the people whom they ruled.” (John Stuart Mill “On Liberty” Pg. 29) This limit on power is what he refers to as civil liberty; the limitation is put into play for the people, Mill acknowled...