With Liberty and Justice for All

What is freedom? Freedom can be seen differently depending who is asked. An eight-year-old may say that freedom is being able to stay up late on a school night. A sixteen-year-old might consider freedom as the moment they earned their driver's license. An African American might say that freedom was achieved by Rosa Parks the moment she said no to the white man who requested her seat on the bus. There are many definitions for freedom, but one that can be agreed on is simply the state of being free.

Freedom is a much desired ideal. The founders of the United States went to war, only to be able to achieve something that our country now takes for granted. Although freedom seems like a right, it is still a privilege to many people around the world. We have had to earn it. Our ancestors fought in the American Revolutionary War against the British in order to achieve the right to worship when they wanted to, what they wanted to, and how they wanted to; otherwise known as freedom of religion. The United States Declaration of Independence declares that "all men are created equal ...with certain unalienable rights, and among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." And, yet, our country was divided years after the Declaration of Independence was written in the U.S. Civil War in order to free the slaves. So, what is freedom? What is liberty? What is justice?

Liberty and justice are words much like freedom in the fact that everyone who is asked will most likely have a different viewpoint of the definition. For me, when I think of liberty and justice, I think of human rights, individualism, and the right to make one's own decisions. So although these words were written, African Americans and women still had to fight for many years to earn their right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Freedom is a word with many different perceptions, and although it seems that it should be a right, it is still seen as a privilege that a person has to work hard to earn. My hope is that one day, freedom will be a right, and that everyone will be lucky enough to take that right for granted.