...Amanda Fuller Instructor Lori Mick Society and the Individual 11 September 2015 Freedom On July 4th, 1776 the Declaration of Independence, one of America’s most historical documents, was signed in Philadelphia. Doug Hoey states “It marked the birth of this nation which, under God, was destined to become the symbol of freedom and world leadership” (91) in his article Freedom is Not Free, and It Must Be Preserved. Each year on July 4th, Americans celebrate Independence Day, with fireworks, family gatherings, and bar-b-que, but the people of this country should also take time to reflect and remember the importance of why this is such an important holiday. Millions of young men and women lost their lives on a foreign battle field, fighting for this country, so that the people of the U.S. could enjoy the freedom and rights that they have today. Do they really understand how this country began and how their freedom was obtained? Do they truly appreciate freedom? The citizens of this country need to remember and honor these fallen heroes not just on Independence Day, but every day. “It is important that we recall and return to the faith of our forefathers. In our prosperity and our present position of world leadership, America today is forgetting the God who gave this nation its birth and its present greatness” states REV. Doug Hoey. (91) In the year 1492, the year that Columbus reached the present day Caribbean islands, Native American Indians made up the population of what...
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...Freedom is the thing that describes America. It's what we fight for, it's what we strived for, and what some of us die for. Freedom separates us from each other, or combines us together. After all if we didn't have it, we would be in no position to fight. It's just how we strive! But sometimes we have to think, “if I do this, what would be the reaction”, the thing is, we don't know, until we try. We Americans DO try, and that's what makes us, our nation unique! We can't predict the future, and that's why we have Freedom! Its there to make people happier, bolder, stronger, more independent people. When you think of America, do you think of a forced religion? Of course not, and that's just one of many differences in this beautiful nation! After...
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...What do I see in America? From broadcasts to the latest news shown on media, there is always good and bad. Either way, I think that America can always change for the better. I believe that we all can receive equality, that we all can have our freedom, and that we all can protest against the unnecessary violence that still takes place in America. We can, if we're all in it. Everyone should be treated equally. Regardless of their race or gender, no one is equalled more just because they appear as a female or male, or they come from a different culture. It's what's in them that counts, not stereotyping from what they seem to be. Don't claim the value or worth of a person just by what you see from their appearance.You never know, one of them could...
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...Religious Freedom in America The United States of America, though founded upon Christianity, boasts liberal religious freedom, a distinct separation of church and state. This creates a disparity between the religiously affluent and the proclaimed atheist, the Muslim and the Christian, the Buddhist and the Scientologist. One of the most highly debated issues upon freedom of religion includes the removal of the words “Under God” from the pledge of allegiance in public schools. Christians insinuate a loss of our foundation and morals to their children, while atheists, Muslims, and other religious sectors are entitled to equality. This may stem from a mix of power and value differences. While I do agree that The United States does stem from Christianity, I feel that religious freedom is specifically outlined in the constitution by our founding fathers. There is a value that Christians hold within the Bible and their beliefs, in which they feel the liberal government is taking away. They feel the loss of foundation that our country was based upon. They feel powerless. The forfeiture of “Under God” within public schools is clearly in line with our rights. However, because the United States is based upon Christianity as a whole, I do believe that public education should branch to provide an education in which Christians can send their children to a school that is able to maintain Christian beliefs and continue worship God as they know Him within a religious sector. This would provide...
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...There’s nothing like living in the United States, where diversity grows from coast to coast and the freedom of speech is instilled in all American citizens. America’s inception created the need for people to be safe and secure while pursuing the right to speak out against its government and instill change. The thousands of immigrants who poured into the U.S. left homelands full of tyrants and voiceless societies. Many historical events in America’s history would have never happened without free speech. The voices of many were often quieted and banned from returning because speaking against your government was seen as disgraceful. How can this be possible? The look to America, as it provides freedom and free speech for all. Free speech has been...
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...Since 1863, Americans have defined freedom as a war that needed to be fought to preserve the American ideal and moral justice. Three texts cover the extensive topic of American freedom: Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody, Letter from Birmingham Jail written by Martin Luther King Junior, The Bush Doctrine by President George W. Bush, and finally The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln. America has been fighting this overreaching war for centuries and will continue to fight this battle. Each one of these works clearly spells out the injustice done to the American people. More importantly, these works show that from 1863, America has been at war with itself and with others on the extensive issue of freedom. First, in the novel Coming of Age in Mississippi, Anne Moody discusses her life as an impoverished African American. She grew up with one pair of shoes until she wore them out and having beans for dinner night after night while constantly moving with her family because of the different jobs her mother had so she could provide what little they had. The final words of the novel, “I WONDER. I really WONDER” are the best examples of the war on freedom in the novel because they sum up what Anne Moody was doing as an activist during the civil rights movement. She realized that freedom was under attack just like Abraham Lincoln in the “Gettysburg Address” when he said, “It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought...
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...Name Instructor Course Date of submission Let America Be America Again By Langston Hughes Theme: Freedom In his poem, let America be America again, Hughes focuses on American freedom and equality. His concern was on the socio-economic division in the American society. Relating the American declaration at independence, Hughes observes that the road to achievement of equality and freedom lost. The country has become corrupt and its leaders and businessmen are greedy. The grabbed land and gold making them wealthier during the common American citizen; the Negros, red Indians, the poor whites and immigrants lavish in poverty (Schmidt, and Lynne, 776). They have not achieved the American promise of freedom. Hughes wrote the poem with the poor and the American dream in mind. He relates the national stratification based on class division to see the possibility of realizing the American dream. According to him, America has turned into a country of the mighty crushing the weak (line 24) and the economic powerhouses accumulate more wealth while the poor lavish in more poverty. Capitalism has embraced the American philosophy and, therefore, it hinders the achievement of the long waited and dreamt for dream; a dream of equality, freedom and wellbeing. Greedy businessmen have altered the American dream. They have substituted equality and brotherhood with capitalism. Their actions have created a society that holds the slogan, ‘everybody for himself but God for us all.’ Nobody cares about...
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...America as a World Leader Name Institution America as a World Leader Before the Truman Doctrine, the Cold War was rapidly accelerating (Voices of Freedom, n.d.). Additionally, the United States started wars against communism during the confrontations of the Soviet Union and the United States over the Berlin and the Southern and the Eastern Europe, the inauguration of the communist government in China, and the development of an atomic bomb by the Soviet Union (Voices of Freedom, n.d.). As a result, the National Security Council approved America’s global call to bring communism to an end. In 1950, the council approved what was to be called NSC 68 which contained details of what was dubbed as “the free society” (Voices of Freedom, n.d.). The manifesto sought to tell the world that the Soviet Union was pursuing global domination as well as the elimination freedom in the world. NSC 68, albeit it was never made public was to be a struggle between “the idea of freedom” and that of slavery under Kremlin (Voices of Freedom, n.d.). On the other hand, America was also pursuing “the idea of freedom” when it intervened in World War II. This essay aims to show that even though America saw the increase in military spending, its involvement in World War II and Cold War was good in the sense that America became a world leader that pursues global freedom and peace. At the outset, while America was pursuing the idea of freedom as well that of slavery, the wars that it participated in led...
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...Freedom, to many people does not necessarily mean they are free. There are many degrees and definitions of freedom throughout the history of America many different races, genders, and ethnicities experienced. The varieties of freedom come from multiple groups of people such as slaves, indentured servants, Native Americans, property owners, and Puritans. All of these groups had their own definition of freedom they experienced, ranging from little to no freedom, freedom from the land they possessed, and the freedom to worship any God they so choose. However, some of these freedoms conflicted with the freedoms of others. First and foremost, there were many groups of people who had little to no freedom in seventeenth – century North America. Among these people, there were the slaves who were forced upon their will to come over to America from Africa and work for the masters who claimed them. Slaves by far had the least amount of freedom given to them when they came to America. In slave work on the plantations is described in the words of Eric Foner as “far more demanding than in the household slavery common to in Africa, and death rate among slaves much higher” (p. 98). This shows how slaves had little to no freedom to choose how much or how long they wanted to work and the lifestyle the slaves lived was dictated by their masters. Another group of settlers that came to America to try and start a new life for were the indentured servants. These indentured servants, being about...
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...represent the essence of America. American is mostly known as to be a beacon of freedom and liberty. The Statue of Liberty portray the freedom in America, the friendship America have with other nations, and the opportunity America give to immigrant who came to American during the 1800s to earn a better life. To begin with, the Statue of Liberty was designed and made by a French sculptor with the intent it would be a gift to commemorate America 100th anniversary of independence. He wanted to honor...
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...Sansone 1 English 101 5 September 2014 Freedom: The Power of Choice Freedom is the power to make decisions based on your own life and given the unalienable rights to do so. Every man born in America is endowed with certain rights and justices that consider them free. They are all born with the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. To be free does not mean a person can do whatever they please; there are laws that must be followed for everyone to be treated equal. As soon as someone’s freedom starts to interfere with another person’s that is when it becomes injustice and there may be legal actions taken against the rights of the wrong doer. A Supreme Court Representative in 1902, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., made the statement, “The right to swing my fist ends where the other man’s nose begins.” America is supposedly the country for freedom and equality because in other countries the people are not given nearly the same amount of rights. America is also the only country that allows immigrants to migrate to our country and allow them to become a legal citizen. Freedom is allowing any human being the same rights as another no matter the difference in race, gender, ethnicity, religion, or whatever it may be. Many men and women fought hard throughout their whole lives to ensure that people of a different race would be given the same freedom as a white man. Martin Luther King Jr. in the most well known advocate for freedom between races and made a huge impact in the ...
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...better place. Additionally, America is becoming better than before. Dissent plays an important role in shaping the American history is because it made people believe that there is hope. The dissenters back in the days would give up the world to just fight for their children and relatives freedom. For example, women back in the era did not have the rights to vote nor have freedom, they were unrecognized. Susan B. Anthony was one of an astonishing dissenter who fought for women’s rights and suffrage movement. Her goal is to lead women into the right...
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...American Freedom History Student Name Tutor Date Since the year 1863, Americans have for a long time defined freedom as a battle that was required to be fought in order for the American ideal and moral justice to be preserved. The struggle for freedom in America was enriched with events that are essential for the shaping of the history of America. On the issue of the struggle for freedom, America has been at war with itself as well as with others. Martin Luther King Junior wrote “letter from Birmingham Jail” at a time he was fighting the battle on freedom in 1963. He wrote this letter as a response to some of his critics. He also noticed that there were injustices in America against the population composed of African Americans (Foner, 2005) Anne Moody reveals how impoverished her life was as an African American due to injustices brought about due to lack of freedom. She would take beans for dinner and survived on only one shoe. All of this was due to the fact that her mother never had a decent job. Her last words in her context of coming to age, “I wonder. I really wonder” clearly portray the war on freedom she was going through. America faced a lot of problems during period such as, voting rights, political participation, freedom of expression, and inflation of goods. Many of these problems resulted in rioting and also boycotting of goods. Freedom of political participation was hindered, in that, one had to qualify in terms of property to be declared legible to vote...
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...ENC-1101-05C Composition 1 09/01/2014 Land of the Free As kids born in America, we have use the saying, “It’s a free country” to explain why we do a certain thing or act a certain way. As we grow up we learn and recite the Star Spangled Banner where it repeats the land of the free and the home of the brave. As children, we were painted a picture from the adults that America is a place where people can come and share the freedom. But as we grow into adults the pretty picture starts to fade and turn into a reality of how our country is not as perfect as the song pertains. We come to a realization that the freedom we thought we had was just a cover up to the laws and regulations that country. Freedom in our country wasn’t what we thought it would be as we grew up. Many realize that America is not the best country in the world, but it is equal to the other countries and the amount of freedom they give to Americans. United States of America is a country that foreigners come to when they want a better life for themselves and family. Many foreigners from other countries have high expectations of the United States and they put us on a high pedestal. Many believe if they come to America, they’ll get more freedom than they had in their country. Many think that America is the freest country, but their assumptions are wrong. A person’s independence is an essential American benefit, but foreigners may find themselves affected by the legal and administrative limitation on their activities...
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...Freedom What does it mean to be an American? Everyone's opinion is different when it comes to the definition of an American, because no one has the exact same life. In my opinion being an American it means being free. Would America be America without freedom? Being American means having freedom because America was established on freedom and the basic rights of freedom. In the article “American Identity: Ideas, Not Ethnicity”, by Michael Jay Friedman, he says, “It also has a strong cncompasses a strong civic commitment to individual freedom and to a representative government of limited and clearly defined powers that respect freedom”. When Friedman talks about powers respecting freedom he is saying that freedom is important to the government,...
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