Eric Foner: The Story Of American Freedom

Maya Angelou once said, “ Freedom is never free.” Freedom is meant for everyone, not just certain people; everyone deserves to be free. Patrick Henry’s “ Speech to the Virginia Convention” and John F. Kennedy’s “ Inaugural Address” are both speeches about freedom, equality, and achievement and success. Both were written in different time periods, but they were trying to make the same points. While some differences between Patrick Henry and John F. Kennedy are reasonable, the similarities in their beliefs are significant.

For centuries, millions of people have immigrated to the United States of America. America is a colonized country, therefore, unless one is a Native American, all people in America have had ancestors who have immigrated to America in the past few centuries. Most of these immigrants faced challenges on their road to the better life that they thought America would provide for them. The Germans, Irish, Japanese and the Chinese immigrants have all faced challenges in America. Some questions arose about whether one could keep the culture of their past country and still given American opportunities. In the book, “The Joy Luck Club,” by Amy Tan, Lindo Jong, one of the Chinese mothers who immigrated said that it was impossible to have American

“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” That one sentence changed my life, those thirty one words altered my decisions, the words “liberty” and “justice” shaped my future. To some, freedom, liberty, and independence are benefactions; others view them as excesses. But to me, those words signify duty, honor, and country. Everything granted to us is not free, we have to earn each and every aspect of the objects we have in life. In order for the people of this country to continue to relish the freedom and independence America stands for, one needs to stand out and sacrifice their time and effort to preserve it.

H. L. Mencken wrote “the average man does not want to be free. He simply wants to be safe.” I agree with this quote because of the deeper meaning it has behind it. In today’s society, people do not seem to have ambitions or dreams that they want to pursue. A lot of people settle with a job that pays just enough to make a living or they do not go beyond their limits to get a higher education to be able to make more money. These people are overcome by fear. They are afraid to continue moving forward and taking risks.

Although our freedom is limited, We have the right to many things that other people do not. That is the reason for so many immigrants moving and starting a new life in the US. “It is only when we have plenty to eat—plenty of everything— that we begin to understand what freedom means. To us, freedom is not an intangible thing.” Carlos Bulosan said. This quote explains that living in the US doesn’t necessarily make you feel like you are privileged, but getting money and being able to take care of yourself and your family makes you feel free. This will lead to my next

This essay will include the following questions. How has having freedom taken away changed the way people interact? How has lack of freedom changed the way people make decisions? How has lack of freedom changed the way people think?

In this fragment from The Newsroom, Jeff Daniels and his associates are asked to shed light on why, in their opinions, America is the greatest country. His colleagues state that diversity and opportunity, as well as freedom, are reasons why our country stands out as the best. Jeff Daniels has a different opinion. He thinks that we started out great with our constitution and our declaration of independence. But argues that our country is not so great anymore. He asks his colleague, “with a straight face, you’re going to tell students that America is so star-spangled awesome that we’re the only ones in the world with freedom?” (Daniels 1), and points out that several other countries have just as much freedom

Being born free in America is nothing, but does not sound like the truth. America is known as a symbol of freedom though how much freedom does people really have? People in America need to take serious risks in order to earn their freedom that they want. Though when people try to express their freedom they get locked away by the government. No one ever can be free unless they fight for what they believe in.

Anyone in the world with an occasional source of internet has no choice but to see the seemingly outrageous news stories, posted weekly on events in the US. American’s have made their distrust in the government more than obvious, which in many cases, the government has provoked. The largest debate in the states today is the with the concept of freedom and where the lines are drawn between social security, equality, and one’s rights. Freedom is and always has been heavily emphasized in the development of the 50 states. It’s brought peace and war both figuratively and literally. At a moment when America should be more equal and free than ever, why do so many citizens feel their freedom is being threatened? Freedom of speech is a

One of the most important ideals of living in America is the thought of freedom, but in our current society freedom is very limited. From a line stated in part two of "The American Identity" it reads, "Responsible American parents worry constantly about the exposure of their children to multiple dangers. It is not simply popular culture, with its excessive sex and violence, that bothers parents. It is an anything-goes society, where children have so many more dangerous options at their fingertips than even their Baby Boom parents had. The culture has changed; society has become more affluent." This explains the fact that because of the way society has changed our freedom as

According to Erik Foner, there are different definitions of freedom. Foner argues that freedom means different to different people at different times,

The Giver is like a utopia place, By Lois Lowry. Is it worth trading freedom for happiness, security, and comfort? I don’t think freedom is worth giving up for happiness, security, and comfort, because having freedom might make you happy in some ways, because a lot of people don’t have freedom. But still I wouldn't. And you can’t really have happiness without freedom. Freedom is very important because how won’t you have a perfect world without freedom. The purpose of this essay is to argue whether freedom is worth trading up for happiness, security, and comfort.

The freedoms citizens have in America enable people to strive for greatness. Though the inhabitants may take for granted their freedoms, I know we are truly blessed with these opportunities. Equality is necessary for freedom to exist and

“The secret of happiness is freedom, and the secret of freedom is courage.” In the United States, Americans are blessed to have the right to freedom. Unfortunately, in underdeveloped countries, freedom is limited. For instance, in many Latin American countries, the governmental leader obtains most power. The citizens have no rights to freedom, as they are trapped in a cruel country where innocent people are killed each day. As a matter of fact, civilians fear to speak up, but there are a few courageous citizens who speak up against the government. For example, “The Censors” by Luisa Valenzuela and the historical fictionalized account, “In The Time Of The Butterflies” by Julia Alvarez reveal individual's role in overcoming oppression.