The History of Freedom in America essays

The History of Freedom in America essays Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine and J. Hector St. de Crevecoeur each offer a unique perspective about certain truths concerning American rights and responsibilities. Each author offers a promise of what America could and should be. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Elizabeth Cady Stanton are two prominent figures from America's recent past that also spoke out in regards to American's rights and responsibilities with the awe-inspiring "I have a Dream" speech and the "Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions". The Declaration of Independence is probably the most important document in American history. The Declaration revealed all the monstrous things that the king of England had done to the colonists and all the reasons why the United States had to become its own entity and become free from British rule. Great Britain had been violating the rights of the colonists by imposing taxes, not allowing them to represent themselves in parliament, not allowing them to pass laws and a great many more terrible offenses. All the colonists wanted to do was to live peacefully and prosperously and to be able to govern themselves, but the British king would not allow this to happen. The Declaration of Independence summed up all of these actions to show the king and the government why it was necessary for the colonists to separate from England. The Declaration was also used as a propaganda tool for the American's to state their reasons for rebellion and try to get other colonists to join them in their fight for freedom. Jefferson declares, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." (Jefferson, Paragraph 2) Jefferson's emphasis on the fact that the Declaration represents the will of the people to take actions immediately against the k...