History of the United States

Essay Instructions:

Answer the following question in a 900-1000 word essay. I will not penalize you if you go over a few words to make up for the citations, but I will deduct points if you exceed the word count substantially. The paper must be uploaded to D2L via the "Assignments" tab and the appropriate folder by Sunday, June 16 at 11:59pm. At the top of the first page, please include your name and the word count (you do not need a cover page or a works cited page). Citing your evidence is very important! Cite your evidence in parentheses, after a quote or paraphrase, by listing the text and page number (Voices of Freedom, 144). ONLY use the assigned books for the course in composing your answer, and ONLY use readings through Week 5. TOPIC In the Preface to Give Me Liberty!, Foner, Duval, and McGirr remarked that "the history of the United States is, in part, a story of debates, disagreements, and struggles over freedom" (xXv). For this paper, please respond to the following question and sub-question: How and in what ways were the liberties and freedoms of individuals encouraged and discouraged from the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries? What were the implications for individuals of competing conceptions of political, legal, religious, racial, and sexual freedoms? You may focus on one category across time or analyze more than one. As you consider different ways to respond to this prompt, Foner, Duval, and McGirr's three dimensions of freedom may help you think through your approach: the meanings of freedom, the social conditions that make freedom possible, and the boundaries of freedom that determine who is entitled to enjoy freedom and who is not (GML! xxv). Excellent essays will treat evidence from multiple centuries and make use of several documents from Voices of Freedom. You should use at least four relevant primary sources to earn high marks. Remember that in Voices of Freedom, the editors provide a short summary of each source. Quoting that summary does not count as using a primary source. It is imperative that you extract appropriate quotes to illustrate your points and to provide yourself something to analyze. Do not just let quotes stand isolated without any explanation or analysis. The best way to integrate quotes is to make a statement, use a short quote to illustrate that statement, then explain in your own words how that quote demonstrates the overarching point you are making. Try to limit the number and length of quotes to give yourself the most amount of space to analyze. Book is Voices of freedom sixth edition, Vol 1 and Give me Liberty, 7th edition.

Essay Sample Content Preview:

History of the United States Student Name Professor’s Name Course Code Institution Date Past helps us to visualize where we have come from and where we are headed. America's history helps us understand the present discussion and struggle for freedom and liberty. One can trace the struggle for justice in American history from the sixteenth century to the eighteenth century when people's liberty and freedom were championed, though there were some barriers and contradictions to it. Liberty and freedom were defined by elements like legal and politics, faith or religion, race, sex, or gender. The idea of freedom had a meaning within the society and thus greatly influenced who could be considered free and who could not be. Primary sources like "Give Me Liberty!" and "Voices of Freedom" provide ideas on various aspects that defined the contours of this intricate freedom theme in those centuries. Drawing on these sources, the essay analyzes how freedom in the Americas from the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries was marked by a constant tension between the ideals of individual liberties and the reality of systemic oppression, resulting in a complex landscape where various forms of freedom were selectively granted or denied based on factors such as race, gender, and social status. Political and Legal Freedoms The political and legal freedoms championed during the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries laid the foundations for the eventual establishment of a democratic republic; however, their application was often limited and selective. The Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776) proclaimed that "all men are by nature equally free and independent" (Foner et al., 2023, p. 212); however, this principle was undermined by the existence of slavery and the disenfranchisement of women and Native Americans. The Declaration of Independence (1776) echoed similar sentiments, asserting the "unalienable rights" of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" (Foner et al., 2022, p. 14). However, as Abigail Adams pointed out in her letter to John Adams, the principles of equality and representation were not extended to women, who were "deprived of everything" (VIRGINIA INQUIRY COLLABORATIVE and C3 TEACHERS 20th Century Social Change Movements Did the 20th Century Social Change Movements Create Enduring Change? Supporting Questions, n.d.). Religious Freedom The need for religious freedom was the main motive behind the colonization of North America; however, the extent of this freedom varied widely among the colonies. The Puritan settlements of New England init...

Updated on September 10, 2024

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