History: Freedom Essay Examples

Freedom is one aspect which has been interpreted differently by different groups. There are aspects such as freedom of the press, freedoms of speech, freedom from discrimination, amongst other forms of freedom which are employed by different societies. However, in the traditional American society, freedom was taken to mean the absence of slavery. The free people at the time were those who were not bound to be servants to anyone. It was also taken to denote the absence of discrimination where some people were seen as superior to the others.
This can be well illustrated in the struggle between the Northerners and the Southerners. The north was strictly a non-slavery region whereas the states in the south advocated for slavery. As such, the planters in the south did not have a problem with taking other people as their property to work for them in their farms. However, the north was not the same. The African Americans, who were mainly the subjects of slavery, sought to liberate themselves. They understood that they had to be like those from the north; free of any form of coercion or misuse by anyone. They sought to have their free will and the right to won their own property. They sought to be seen as equal American citizens rather than servants for the whites.
This definition of freedom can be seen from the various attempts and crusades that were carried out by the African Americans. The acts and campaigns of people such as Lincoln-Douglas, John Brown and other African Americans sought to indicate that they knew what freedom was; being free from any discrimination or exploitation. It is with this understanding that the Emancipation Proclamation was received with such enthusiasm.
There were quiet a number of challenges that the African Americans had to face in their bid to earn freedom. First of all, it has to be noted that they did not have any form of representation in the government. As such, the laws were made by the whites who had no interest or understanding of the plight of the African Americans. Due to this factor, they had to use resistance and other forms of acts which were seen as brutal or resistance by the whites. Therefore, their bid to earn their freedom was met with such cruel and harsh force that delayed the achievement of their goal for long.
The agreements being made at the time were also not in favor of the slaves. It has to be noted that the North and the South made these agreements in order to create peace amongst themselves; not considering the slaves. This is the reason as to why latitudinal line across Louisiana did not serve any good for the Africans. Rather, it marked the bridge between freedom and slavery. They struggled to cross it on many attempts but many failed.
Lastly, it has to be noted that American was quiet racially stratified at the time. As such, their needs were not much of a consideration for the whites. Therefore, as they struggled to raise their concerns, the whites were busy seeking to create peace amongst themselves. The African Americans became subjects to the agreements of the whites. Even the whites who supported the abolitionist movement at the beginning tended to relent along the way as the interest of the white superseded those of the blacks. Given such technicalities, it was quiet hard for the African Americans to attain their freedom. It only came through the bleeding Kansas where the whites finally realized that they had to take the African American’s needs more seriously. The freedom did not come at a cheap cost.