American Liberty: From Past to Present

freedom is a purpose that is comm nevertheless used by the average the Statesn in his daily affairs. A lexical definition of self-reliance states that it refers to the freedom to intrust or act without the restriction of an unnecessary force. As far as the psyche is concerned, self-reliance is the aptitude of a person to act according to his will. solely do we really fuck the accounting of Americas emancipation? Do we really actualize the historical rasets that capture shaped the intimacy that we know of and enjoy in these contemporaneous ages?In this paper, I will be examining the roots of Ameri advise indecorum from the base era to the modern debates contact the concept of casualness. I will also be looking into the prop onenessnts of liberty and those who do sh atomic number 18d a world-shattering role in defining and upholding liberty as we know it today. The design Era Hundreds of historic period in the lead today, America was an entirely different place . readable before the creation of the piece, different European countries have already established their suffer settlements across America. The Spaniards and the cut were among the beforehand(predicate) colonizers until the quantify of the British.During the rule of the British conglomerate, atrocious shortage in human labor resulted to captivity and obligate servitude of the natives. In the geezerhood that deciphered, conflicts broke-out between the autochthonous Ameri rouses and the side of meat settlers. It should be noted, however, that Virginia already had black indentured servants in 1619 subsequently being settlight-emitting diode by Englishmen in 1607 (Virginia Records Timeline 1553-1743, http//memory. loc. gov/ammem/collections/jefferson_papers/mtjvatm3. html), thereby suggesting that the attainment of genuine liberty from the colonizers is that to be realized.It is perhaps during the time when the English pilgrims came to Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620 an d established their colonies that the concept of liberty came about, not the least in the context of the pre- musical composition invoice of America. As Mark Sargent writes in his article The standpat(prenominal) plight The Rise of the Mayflower Compact in American Myth, some of the passengers in the Mayflower place who were not travelling to the saucy World for spectral reasons would insist upon complete freedom when they stepped ashore since the New World is already outside the territory c over in their patent from the British cr give birth (Sargent, p.236). After the septette Years War between the British forces and the confederation of French and American Indian forces in 1763, the British Empire enforced a series of taxes on the Americans so as to cover a voice of the cost for defending the colony. Since the Americans considered themselves as subjects of the King, they understood that they had the analogous secures to that of the Kings subjects alimentation in stri king Britain.However, the Sugar Act, Currency Actboth passed in 1764the Stamp Act of 1765, the Townshend Act of 1767, to name a few, compelled the Americans to take drastic measures to send the message to the British Empire that they were being treated as though they were less than the Kings subjects in outstanding Britain (Jensen, p. 186). Moreover, the taxes were enforced despite the lack of representation of the American colonists in the Westminster Parliament.One of the famous protests taken by the Americans is the capital of Massachusetts Tea Party in 1773 where numerous crates containing teatime that belonged to the British East India Comp any(prenominal) were destroyed aboard ships in Boston Harbor. As a result, the British political science passed a series of acts popularly cognise as the Intolerable Acts in 1774, further fanning the festering oppression felt by the American colonists. Eventually, the American rotary motion ensued come outning in as early as 1775 when British forces confiscated arms and arrested r developmentaries in Concord, thereby sparking the first hostilities after the Intolerable Acts were passed (Jensen, p.434). From 1775 to 1783, the colonies that formed their own independent states fought as one as the bakers dozen Colonies of noth America. Lasting for roughly eight years, the American renewalary War ended in the confirmation of the Treaty of Paris which formally recognized the license of America from the British Empire. Between these years, the colonies underwent several changes which cook fargonwell of the developments toward the framing of the validation (Bobrick, p. 88).One of these changes is the shift towards the word sense of notable res publicaan ideals, such as liberty and nontransferable rights as core values, among several members of the colonies. Moreover, the republican ideals of the time saw corruption as the sterling(prenominal) of all threats to liberty. In essence, the concept of liberty duri ng the fundament era revolves around the liberation of the American colonies from the British Empire and the growing oppression it gave to the colonists finished tax burdens and a series of repressive acts.For the American colonists, liberty meant the severing of its ties from the British governance activity and the creation of its own independent nation recognized by an early(a)(prenominal)(a) countries. The pen and check of the brass On the quartern of July in 1776, the second Continental Congress write and officially select the United States Declaration of liberty which established the separation of the thirteen American coloniesthe colonies which were at war with Great Britain from 1775from the British Empire.Although other(a)s say that the founding moment of America is not on July 4 only twain eld earlier (Groom, http//independent. co. uk/arts-entertainment/books/ go over/the-fourth-of-july-and-the-founding-of-america-by-peter-de-bolla-455878. html), it anticip ates a fact that there came a point in time when America make uptually decl atomic number 18d its liberty. The evolution of American organizational possibilityespecially that which is concerned with libertycan be unwrap understood during the confrontation over the writing and the ratification of the Constitution.In fact, the Declaration asserts that pot have inalienable rights which include life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The Articles of alignment served as the constitution which governed the thirteen states as ploughshare of its fusion called the United States of America. After being sign in 1781, the United States of America was brought as a political union under a henchman political sympathies in fix up to defend better the liberties of the people and of each state. Meaning, each state contain its independence and independentty despite being politically held together as part of the union.However, the Articles were not without competition and criticism s from several notable political turn overers of the time. For example, pack capital of Wisconsin saw several main flaws in the Articles of Confederation that were alarming, or threatened the very existence and habit of the Articles first and foremost. For one, capital of Wisconsin was concerned about the dangers present by the divided republics or factions accustomed that their post may stand in conflict to the interests of others. Madison argues in The Federalist, specifically in Federalist no.10, that in parliamentary procedure to shelter the citizens from the dangers posed by these psyches who have contradicting interests, a large republic should be created, a republic that will safeguard the citizens from the practicable harms brought by other states. It is likewise grave to note that the union is not a homogenous group of citizens with the same political inclinations. Madison also argues that for the giving medication to become potent it needs to be a hybrid of a national and a national constitution.The governing body should be balanced in the sense that it should be federal in some aspects and republican in others sort of of giving more weight to each recount state over the larger republic. In his Federalist No. 39, Madison proposes and describes a republic government manoeuvre by three fundamental principles the derivation of the governments legitimate power through the harmonize of the people, representatives elected as administrators in the government, and a confinement on the length of the terms of service rendered by the representatives (Kobylka and Carter, p.191). Madison also pointed out in Federalist No. 51 that there should be checks and balances in the government, specifically among the judicial, legislative and the executive branches. The judiciary, therefore, is at par with the other twain inasmuch as each of the other two are at par with one another. enceinte one of the three more powers disables the other two to check if that branch is still functioning in spite of appearance its perimeters.As a result, the more powerful branch becomes a partisan branch which consequently creates dangers to the liberties of the people. Another important part of the evolution of American political opening is the contention raised by Patrick total heat. In a letter sent to Robert Pleasants in January 18, 1773, Patrick Henry sees the family between the youthful government and the institution of slaveholding as a contradiction precisely because speckle the new government is said to be founded on liberty, there the evil that is thraldom persisted under the new government.During those times, thralldom was not yet abolished and that the new government was unable to meet the challenge of living up to its roles and foundations by failing to address the institution of thraldom and demolishing it altogether. Moreover, Henry understood the efforts of secession from the custody of England were a press of freedom or slavery, which can also be looked upon as a drumhead of either a freedom from or a continuation of tax slavery from the British.While Madison was part of the Federalists who were supporting the ratification of the Constitution, the Anti-Federalists apparently argued against its ratification. It was Patrick Henry who led the group in criticizing the contents of the proposed Constitution. For instance, Henry argued that the articulate We the People in the Preamble of the Constitution was misleading primarily because it was not necessarily the people who hold and created the proposed Constitution but the representatives of each participating state.Thus, Henry argues that the Preamble should instead read as We the States which in turn delegated power to the union. Another argument of the Anti-Federalists is the acquire that the central government and, therefore, the central power aptitude result to a revival of the monarchic geek of rule reminiscent of the British Empire which the Patriots fought. The revere is that, by delegating a considerable kernel of power to the central government, the liberties of the individual states and the people are weakened as a result.Nevertheless, the Constitution was adopted on September 17, 1787 and later ratified in each of the state conventions held. The anti-federalists share a significant role in strengthening some of the points of the Constitution through the bring home the bacon amendments. The first ten amendments to the Constitution are popularly known as the aviator of Rights it is largely influenced by the arguments of the anti-federalists. For the most part, the superlative of Rights aimed to batten down that Congress shall not create laws which stand against the rights and liberties of the citizens of the nation.In effect, the Bill of Rights limits the power of the federal government in order to secure the liberties of the people in the United States. In Federalist No. 84, Alexander Hamilton argues agai nst the Bill of Rights for the reason that the American citizens will not have to necessarily declension their rights as a result of the ratification of the Constitution and, thus, the defendion of the rights through the Bill is unnecessary. Moreover, Hamilton also argues that creating a Bill of Rights would effectively limit the rights of the people since those that are not listed in the Bill will not be considered as rights.In response to the argument, the Ninth Amendment to the Constitution was introduced and ratified later on. The amendment specifically states that the rights of the people are not to be limited to those which are listed in the Constitution. As it can be observed, the time before and during the ratification of the Constitution and the succeeding amendments make fall how the people at the time sought to protect the liberties that they have realized and gained after the American Revolution and the defeat of the British Empire.Moreover, the debates at that time turn around the issue of what to do with the liberties gained and how to secure them for the attack generations. One sidethe Anti-Federalistsargues that the central government weakens the independence and sovereignty of the states as well as the rights and liberties of the people. The other sidethe Federalistsargues that the Constitution will help husband and strengthen the Union. Modern debates In the years that followed, debates over the interpretation of the Constitution, the role of the government and the place of the individual in American society have escalated.In his testify resistance to Civil Government (popularly known as Civil noncompliance) first published in 1849, Henry David Thoreau asserts that the people should not simply abide passive and allow the government to be an federal agent of injustice. Much of Thoreaus political beliefs eventually follow that same philosophy. In his work Walden published in 1854, Thoreau attempts to live a life of loneliness in a c abin, away from the reaches of the society. In one of his days in Walden, Thoreau was arrested for the charge of not paying his taxes. His falsifying was that he refuses to pay federal taxes to a government that tolerates slavery.In essence, the fact that Thoreau decided to stay in solitude for approximately two years (although the contents of Walden was made to appear as though all the events happened within just a year) signifies his decision not to accommodate to the dictates of the society. On the contrary, Thoreau lived a life of liberty, free to do anything that he chooses without the institutions of society restraining him. The same sentimentnon-conformity or disobedience to the dictates of the society, especially the governmentechoes through in Thoreaus other work, which is Civil Disobedience.Thoreau asserts that the only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think is right (Thoreau, http//sniggle. net/experiment/index. php? entry=rtcgp04). That passage, along with the rest of Civil Disobedience and its theme in general, implies that people have an inseparable liberty, which is the liberty to do any time what they think is right. Taken altogether in the context of the concept of liberty, Thoreau seems to suggest that people ought to disobey a government that oppresses other people since each individual has inalienable rights that nobody can take away, not even the government.In the face of oppression such as slavery (which was still very much a part of America within twenty years after the ratification of the original Constitution since the issue of slavery was a very delicate and agonistical matter during the Philadelphia Convention), Thoreau even suggested that Abolitionists should not only confine themselves with the clean musical theme of abolishing slavery but resisting the instructions of the government such as paying taxes.Thus, as a reading of Thoreaus works would suggest, to have liberty is to act upon cr ucial issues instead of passively allowing contentious actions of the government to thrive and continue. I cannot help but think that Thoreaus concept of liberty is something that is absolute, which I also take to mean as captive only within ones temperament instead of being limited by the government. Moreover, since Thoreau suggests that liberty is doing any time what one thinks is right an individual should first know if what he or she thinks is therefore right instead of being wrong.Charles Madison notes that Thoreau was severely concerned with the ever pressing problem of how one might earn a living and remain free (Madison, p. 110). I cannot help but begin to think that Thoreau attempts at embodying and enacting his individualistic beliefs. As Leigh Kathryn Jenco argues, The speculation and practice of democracy fundamentally conflict with Thoreaus conviction in moral autonomy and scrupulous action (Jenco, p.355) democracy is essentially the rule of the majority which con sequently ignores the decisions of the minority. However, I think that much of Thoreaus thoughts were heavily influenced by the circumstances during his time. His aversion towards the oblige taxation policy of the government stems from the fact that the government at that time still tolerates slavery which is without delay against an individuals liberty.Thoreaus insight on the perceived conflict between the liberties being upheld by the Constitution and the actual state of the government during his time points us to the ideal that the people are sovereign because the people is the ultimate source of power of the government. If it is thence the case that the Constitution upholds the rights of individuals including the right to liberty, it seems appropriate to consider as well why slavery at that time was not immediately abolished entirely especially at the time when the Constitution was ratified.In fact, it was only in 1865 under the Thirteenth Amendmentabout 80 years after the or iginal Constitution was adoptedwhen slavery was legally abolished and when Congress was given the power to ultimately enforce abolition. During the time when slavery was not yet abolished and immediately after the original Constitution was ratified, it can be said that not all citizens living in America were given full liberties. several(prenominal) people were still laboring as slaves to their American masters.That is perhaps an often neglected piece of history that undermines the spirit of creating a Constitution and a government that will uphold the rights of the people. The pre-American Revolutionary war, the founding era, the ratification of the original Constitution, the creation of the Bill of Rights and the other succeeding amendments to the Constitutionall these stand as testimonies to the evolution of American political thought. The concept of liberty has vie an important role in the development of the federal government and the Constitution.Although the history of Ameri can political thought might reveal that the attainment of liberty through the years has never been a smooth journey, contemporary America has reaped a large amount of benefits from the sacrifices and ideas of the Founding Fathers and all the people who lived and died during those times. Some might even argue that liberty is yet to be in truth achieve in todays American society. But if liberty is yet to be attained in practice, how is it possible that people are given the right to air their grievances before the government?How is it possible that people have the liberty to do as they please so long as what they do does not conflict with what is legal? In any case, the present American Constitution guarantees the liberty of the people and that there are institutions which seek to promote and guard that important right. Had it been the case that the early Americans swallowed everything that the British Empire throw in their way and that the Founding Fathers creaky the creation and am endment of the Constitution, the United States of America would not have been the land of the free and the home of the brave.Works Cited Bobrick, Benson. Fight for freedom The American Revolutionary War. 1st ed. New York, NY Atheneum, 2004. Groom, Nick. The fourth part of July and the Founding of America, by Peter De Bolla. 2007. Independent. Co. Uk. October 16 2008. . Hamilton, Alexander, James Madison, and John Jay. The Federalist, on the New Constitution. 1787. October 18, 2008 . Jenco, Leigh Kathryn. Thoreaus reassessment of Democracy. The Review of Politics 65. 3 (2003) 355-81. Jensen, Merrill. The Founding of a Nation A History of the American Revolution 1763-1776. Indianapolis, IN Hackett Publishing Company, 2004. Kobylka, Joseph F. , and Bradley Kent Carter. Madison, The Federalist, & the Constitutional Order piece Nature & Institutional Structure. Polity 20.2 (1987) 190-208. Madison, Charles. Henry David Thoreau incomprehensible Individualist. Ethics 54. 2 (1944) 11 0-23. Sargent, Mark L. The Conservative Covenant The Rise of the Mayflower Compact in American Myth. The New England Quarterly 61. 2 (1988) 233-51. Thoreau, Henry David. Resistance to Civil Government. 1849. October 18 2008. . Virginia Records Timeline 1553-1743. The Library of Congress. October 17 2008. .