American Ideals of Freedom and Liberty Essay Example

America has lived up to its own ideals. Despite everything that the government has been put through over the last centuries, they owned up to their own mistakes and were able to realize that America is not perfect, but we can change. Immigration laws, slavery, personal rights are all contributors to this cause. There were other major events as well, such as the Civil war, Spanish-American war, the Gilded age & more. All these events have one thing in common, they formed America to what it is today. America had to claim its own independence from Britain, the government had to work hours on end trying to reach a compromise that only ended in war. Despite this, when the Declaration of Independence was written, it established America. It was the official beginning of American history.

America’s ideals were so important to everybody living in the U.S. It was the ‘blueprint’ of evolution, what changed America for the better. Slavery was quite the issue in the mid 1800s, there was never equality, liberty or even justice for those who were beaten and forced to spend hours in the blazing sun just to later pass out from dehydration. Plantation owners had a blind eye, they didn’t see the issue or importance of African Americans, as the quote says “Now, you d----d b---h, I'll learn you how to disobey my orders!" and after rolling up his sleeves, he commenced to lay on the heavy cowskin, and soon the warm, red blood..” (Narratives of enslaved people) The plantation owner punished a girl for defying orders, beating her until she bled. Since then, there needed to be an end to slavery. Innocent African Americans dying because of how they looked & because they were constantly abused. As a quote in the Constitution states “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” This only furthermore proves that even though America had one of its major turning points, they were able to realize their own mistake and they made sure nothing like this would ever happen again. The government was able to learn from this ‘experience’ and realize that what they were doing was not okay, it needed to come to an end, and that it what led to the abolishment of slavery; known as the 13th amendment. In the end, America’s history in the past will never be justified nor forgotten. The only way to move forward is to stop looking back on the past, but to learn from the experience, so it never happens again; so that others don’t have to endure the pain that African Americans felt.

In 1776, the Declaration of Independence was made to free America from British rule, to have their land back & to expand on new territories. Fighting for our Independence made America realize that they had to use brute force, one has to work hard for the things they want. They established laws that made everybody equal, regardless of race, ethnicity, personal background, etc. As former President Lincoln once said, “..the nation, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people for the people, shall not perish from this earth.” (Lincoln's second Inaugural) During his term, he didn’t want America to separate because of the different core beliefs, (pro-slavery, anti-slavery) but to yet remain whole, to put their differences aside and to not astray from the bigger picture. America was once divided, so they shouldn’t let it happen again. Everybody has different beliefs, but the same rights. Although, speaking as a nation, it shouldn’t change what they think of each other. Another statement that was listed under the Preamble of the Constitution is, “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.” The creation of the Constitution was to form an even more perfect union, as America already reached its goals, there was more they wanted. The people were able to live up to American ideals due to the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence being written. The citizens constantly felt reassured now because they were in a safe environment, protected by their rights and surrounded by others who also had the same morals and agreed with the Constitution. Citizens of America have always helped congress realize what was necessary to help aid the public and what was not, with a democratic government, the people constantly felt reassured and confident that they were protected by the government.

In conclusion, America did live up to their ideals. Despite the past that they had, America sought the only thing possible, to look forward. There were rough patches that America faced, but today, there is equality for everybody, justice for those in need, liberty for all, Independence for the states and most importantly freedom. Freedom was the beginning of change, the first step towards reaching the other key components. It helped African Americans be set free from plantations and slavery, Native Americans were able to celebrate their own culture and have their own land without the government interfering, this is simply all because America took a stand a owned up to it. Knowing this, America still had Britain breathing down their necks, doing anything possible to keep their land. Despite this stress factor, America wanted Independence and didn’t want to be governed by Britain anymore. Even before freedom came into the bigger picture, the one thing that bound America as a Nation was winning the war. That is what started the beginning of America’s Ideals.