Essay Example for Free: Slavery and Freedom - The American Paradox

AMERICAN FREEDOM AND AMERICAN SLAVERY

Historians like Edmund Morgan are confident in voicing out the possible connection between the American freedom and American slavery.[ Morgan, Edmund S. 1975. American Slavery, American Freedom. New York: Norton.] This link arises in the sense that, the country being a slave-owning- nation, the citizens pushed for more equality and the quest for their freedom in such circumstances. However, there is more to this argument as several events by the American people added grossly these two events through determined historical quests for justice and liberty, looking up to the slavery as the primary motivation. Various historical incidents in the history timeline of America are either motivated or caused by the quest for freedom and liberty from slavery. These events that involve major revolutions, historical rebellions and religious reformations support the idea of the American freedom, further affirming that the two events are interlinked and of the same course as outlined in this paper.

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This Great Awakening in 1730 was a spiritual awakening that covered most parts of the United States, with more emphasis in the region of New England in a quest by certain Christian groups for a modified manner of worship. The dejected believer’s group cited blame on the great complacency in the way of worship that prevailed among the then believers. Instead, the group led by the Wesley brothers and Whitefield adopted a rather more compassionate mannerism in of worship that established great intimacy with God other than the generalized worship that was akin to some spiritual dryness.[ Stanfield, V. L. 1949. "The Contribution of the Great Awakening to Political Liberty". Review & Expositor 46 (3): 330-347. doi:10.1177/003463734904600304.] This event is usually viewed as a preparative method of the Americans for the War of Independence of their country. The revivalism principle obtained from the awakening inculcated boldness and courage into the people to face the upcoming war.

Shays’ Rebellion, 1781 involved the quest of the American people for justice and strived against oppression did involve not only outside forces like the British and religious reformist but also the internal administration and government. In a series of strife aimed at building the state between the 1781 and 1797 rose Shays rebellion by a group of disgruntled farmers.[ Burgan, Michael. 2009. Shays' Rebellion. Minneapolis, Minn.: Compass Point Books.] Following a financial depression in 1784, the state of Massachusetts was critical affected. Notably, not much legislation was done to address this situation leading to hiked taxes, inflation and weak financial downs in the state. Viewing this situation as the suppression by a tyrannical government, a group of farmers led by Daniel Shays led a violently marred anti-legislation process within the state. Sympathizers of the group controlled the state’s legislation and affected some of the grievances raised by Shays’ group. After the rebellion in 1787, an interstate consensus of disgruntled citizens from Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware debilitated against the Article of Confederation that was under much criticism. The amendment of the article of confederation was meant to ease the tension between the citizens and the government.

What is the Aamerican paradox of slavery and freedom

The War of 1812 was spurred by the dissatisfaction of the United States on the economic and trade sanctions put upon it by the French and the British. The war extended from the Napoleonic wars which led to several outrages by the United States. The US sought to retaliate to the British owing on the trade sanctions that had significantly crippled and limited the growth of the American economy.[ Clark, Jennifer. 1994. "The War Of 1812: American Nationalism And Rhetorical Images Of Britain". War & Society 12 (1): 1-26. doi:10.1179/072924794794954297.] The sanctions provoked the hunger of the American citizens to the extent that they supported war barons in the Congress for a retaliatory course. This support bore fruits as during the presidency of Madison the US Congress declared a retaliatory battle against the Britain sanction and the nation as a whole. During the war, the British supply zones around the US like Canada were attacked as they were viewed as pertinent trouble zones for the American stance in the war. Taking advantage of rather inexperienced United States Army troops, the British invaded into the capital of Washington and torched the White House killing General Ross in the process. With the war heading towards a stalemate where neither the British nor the Americans gained or lost, the treaty of Ghent was signed to bring a conclusion of the war. However, later in 1815 Andrew Jackson led the army to defeat the British army, an ordeal that was wildly celebrated by the American citizens despite the existence of a treaty between the two nations. The triumph against the British significantly increased the sense of nationalism in America, with the residents pushing towards a common economic freedom goal.

The involvement of the American in the quest for financial, religious and political freedom can be attributed to the American freedom and American slavery. In the above-outlined events, it is the weariness from an enslaved and dissatisfying position that led to the quest for freedom for the disgruntled groups. Some slavery motivates the pursuit of liberty of any type; financial, political or religious. Similarly, the quest for American’s freedom was driven and perpetuated by the inequality, injustices, and the American slavery. It directly links the two important historical occasions as stipulated by Edmund S. Morgan in American Slavery; American Freedom, racism made the whites considers equality as a core route to liberty.

Bibliography

Morgan, Edmund S. 1975. American Slavery, American Freedom. New York: Norton.

Stanfield, V. L. 1949. "The Contribution of the Great Awakening to Political Liberty". Review & Expositor 46 (3): 330-347. doi:10.1177/003463734904600304.

Burgan, Michael. 2009. Shays' Rebellion. Minneapolis, Minn.: Compass Point Books.

Clark, Jennifer. 1994. "The War of 1812: American Nationalism And Rhetorical Images Of Britain". War & Society 12 (1): 1-26. doi:10.1179/072924794794954297.