According the Oxford Dictionaries, the term freedom is defined as “The power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint”. This definition states that it is our right to have freedom. Over the years, the United States has had many different definitions as for what it means to be free and the word “freedom” itself. If one were to go back earlier in time, they would see that it wasn’t always our right to have “freedom”. By looking at race, social movements, and the economy, we can see that the definition of freedom has changes over time. This is important because without the ever changing notions of freedom, Americans would still have one thought or one definition of “freedom” throughout history, which would …show more content…
The expectation of citizens would have to begin with Women’s Suffrage in the 1920s. It first began in the late 1800s when women were challenging male power structures by seeking the right to vote. A group formed in 1890 and they were called the National American Women Suffrage Association. Women like Ida B. Wells, Susan B. Anthony and Lucy Stone, paved the way for the right for women to vote by fighting for what they believed in. The women won partially due to the fact that they were allowed to vote in some states and only on certain issues, like school issues and tax and bond issues. It wasn’t until around 30 years later in 1920, when women were finally allowed the right to vote by the Nineteenth …show more content…
The Civil Rights took place in the 1960s as mentioned before, and had key player like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom X. Martin Luther King Jr, promoted the Civil Rights campaign without any violence and made many speeches like his famous “I have a Dream” speech that was said in Washington, DC. But following his assassination, a new leader came to the surface and led the “Black Power” movement in 1966, names Stokely Carmichael. “Black Power” promoted Black Nationalism, self-determination, and greater militancy as a means of self-defence. He stated how the black community needed to stand up and take over, with any means necessary. Another movement was also occurring during this time and that was the Women’s Rights movement. This was a battle for women liberation. The women of this time created the organization known as NOW, the National Organization for Women, which lobbied for equal opportunity, filed lawsuits against gender discrimination, and mobilized public opinion against sexism. The important court case for the Women’s Rights movement would have to be the Roe v. Wade case in 1973. This case, in a Supreme Court ruling, stated that privacy rights protected a women’s decision to end a pregnancy. Though this decision caused many riots and controversy for the conservative side of America, it now allowed
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 something that every American should be willing to do anything in order to maintain. We may have weapons of mass destruction, but when it comes to living in a peaceful, American lifestyle, our freedom is our greatest weapon.
America, a country based on the freedom to openly display the many beliefs of its citizens, has began to face opposition from the citizens which the country fights every day trying to protect. Against all odds, worshipers are still free to worship and spread the knowledge of one's religion. American freedoms according to the Constitution of Independence are a countries natural God given rights. Regardless of nationality, everyone is entitled to the liberties and freedoms America allows. Thousands of soldiers are willing to sacrifice their lives in order to keep these freedoms alive. Standing with one's hat off and right hand over one's heart is the way that American citizens respects these soldiers and their families. Although denying these expectations are completely legal, many people do not believe it is acceptable. In fact, living in a free country everyone is expected to uphold these ideological views. The American flag is a very personified object to the American population. While the flag is only material it holds the idea of the American dream. Highly regarded celebrities are now openly refusing to conform to these expectations due to how a certain race is being treated. No matter how many people
The United States rests upon a foundation of freedom, where its citizens can enjoy many civil liberties as the result of decades of colonial struggles. However, African Americans did not achieve freedom concurrently with whites, revealing a contradiction within the “nation of liberty”. It has been stated that "For whites, freedom, no matter how defined, was a given, a birthright to be defended. For African Americans, it was an open-ended process, a transformation of every aspect of their lives and of the society and culture that had sustained slavery in the first place." African Americans gained freedom through the changing economic nature of slavery and historical events like the Haitian Revolution policies, whereas whites received freedom
Freedom has been discussed and debated for a while now and yet no one can completely agree that it exists. Since the Civil, War America has been conditioned to be divided politically. The conflict over the meaning of freedom continues to exist from the civil war, throughout the sixties and in the present. The Civil War was fought over the question of what freedom means in America. The issue was in the open for all to see: slavery. Human slavery was the shameless face of the idea of freedom. The cultural war in the sixties was once more about the question of what freedom is and what it means to Americans. No slaves. Instead, in the sixties and seventies four main issues dominated the struggle for racial equality: opposition to discriminatory immigration controls; the fight against racist attacks; the struggle for equality in the workplace; and, most explosively, the issue of police brutality. For more than two centuries, Americans demanded successive expansions of freedom; progressive freedom. Americans wanted freedom that grants expansions of voting rights, civil rights, education, public health, scientific knowledge and protections from fear.
The notion of freedom can mean different things to different people, it all depends on the level of freedom you have over your own life. It could be freedom of speech, religious freedom, freedom of the press or even freedom of economy. However you see it they all seem to describe a sense of personal freedom, which no doubt everybody wants, but only some seem to have. No other democratic society in the world allows personal freedoms to the degree of the United States of America. They have been able to establish a set of legal rules that systematically protects all forms of freedom. Freedom remains the lone basis for American society as we know it. Without freedom the great nation of America would have never been created. Just as how the United States is seen by the American population to symbolise freedom and independence, it also stands to mean the same thing to many other countries around the world. Having your own freedom and the ability to exercise your rights in your own country, is something that is synonymous with the Unites States.
The idea of freedom, that America, founded its principles on, has not always successfully held up. Undoubtedly when our country first started, we had the idea in mind, that our constitution would protect the needs of its people, even as those needs alter; therefore it’s wording needed to be, ductile and interpretive. In recent years, this plasticity has become functional and fair, yet in the past, politicians used it to give and revoke, power, to and from people. Prior to the civil war, though it helped spark many of the social/civil revolution we know today, liberty and freedom were a luxury enjoyed by a few people. Woman, non-whites, and low-income people had their liberties denied, questioned or altogether abolished. However these same groups
Most people would agree that having freedom includes the right of liberty, which is having the right to act according to your own will, as long as it doesn’t interrupt someone else’s liberty. You can see this right exhibited on the Declaration of Independence. “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.” Thomas Jefferson, the author of this quote, and the other founding fathers really wanted to emphasize the idea of liberty and freedom. So much that they dedicated a portion of the Declaration of the Independence talking about American liberty and freedom. When America was being founded, we were lucky to have people who believed in liberty, equality, and justice for all. They believed in it so much that they worked for it, and gave hope to minority groups who had previously felt constant pessimism. These people stood against the normative as they fought against tyranny when no one else would. They gave hope to those who needed
In the political vocabulary, freedom is the central term in which it's mostly used interchangeably- then and now, but is deeply imbedded into our history as Americans in everyday life and in history. Freedom in our country is invoked to support wars: the Revolution was fought to bring about freedom by fighting oppression from the king, and the Civil War was founght to bring a new birth of freedom. Our history supports and contradicts the term freedom. It supports freedom by the formation of the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, our democracy, and manifest destiny. But our history also contradicts freedom by the happenings of slavery, and the fact that the term freedom was limited to race, gender, and social status. So was our history
Freedom is having the right to own, act, think, and speak without any restrictions from the outside. Ever since the New World was discovered, people have been fighting for their independence till this day. People of other colors and race have been forced to do labor without their consent. Today, those same people have been blamed or accused of crimes that were not committed by them despite of being free. Freedom has different meanings and those meanings change overtime; however sometimes the significance of freedom does not change.
From the Age of Exploration to the Revolutionary period, many factors shaped the connotation of the word liberty. Liberty is defined as, “the quality or state of being free” (Merriam-Webster). This means religious freedoms, political freedoms, social freedoms, and many freedoms we may not think of on a daily basis. Throughout history, the word liberty has developed into a word with a positive connotation as well as a word used to describe the freedom we have today. The idea of liberty developed because of, religious persecutions, restrictions, and maltreatment during the fifteenth century through the seventeenth century.
Freedom is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. In America there is numerous of choices that someone may make on a daily basis. If someone were allowed to make their own choices and were being told what to do; then they would not be free. When someone is allowed to speak when they want to, and say what they want; such as their opinion or view of something. Being allowed to have a right to speak is one of the most important characteristics of being an American. Thinking and stating your opinion in any predicament it a strong part in being a citizen because people in the United States are known for being able to think in their own ways. Freedom can stretch too many things such as being able to do as they please, they are not forced into doing anything that someone may want. The citizens of the United States are not made to do anything that one may not want to do; like
We have a lot of freedom and rights in America that sometimes take for granted. I think that these are just a few of the important rights that we have in America. Freedom of speech, free education, and freedom of religion are three of the greatest things that Americans have and could sometimes take for granted if we are not careful.
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.
Freedom is often spoken of in what can be referred to as a loose sense of the word. One country has more freedom than another; a twenty-one year old has more freedom than a fifteen year old. What exactly does this word mean? For different people it may mean different things, but there has to be an equilibrium that can be reached in order to determine the meaning of freedom itself. In one form, freedom can mean that a person has "exemption from an obligation."* If only the root (free) is looked at, it can be interpreted that one is "not under the control or power of another."*
“Freedom.” It is a word with many different connotations, but symbolizes one central idea: Liberty. Freedom has always been deeply embedded in the history of our nation. Throughout time, many Americans have fought for freedom. From the Pilgrims, who set sail from England to the shores of Cape Cod to escape religious persecution, to the Founding Fathers of America who fought for freedom from England’s oppression, our fellow Americans have always fought for what they believed in. They gained certain freedoms that they thought would not only be important to them, but to future generations. However, it is evident that society today does not value those same freedoms.