Freedom in the United States Before and After the Civil War

Freedom in the US before and after the Civil War
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Freedom in the US before and after the Civil War
The Civil War marked a monumental moment in the history of America bearing the impacts it had on various socio-political and economic trajectories of the nation. Before the Civil War, America was engulfed in slavery that outlined its economic outputs, social structure, and political ideologies. After the Civil War, the country embarked on a slow transformation towards freedom for all the people within the country. In this paper, focus is put on freedom in America with either side of the Civil War marking the scope of the comparisons. The analysis is vital as it explores freedom in America through some of its key elements including the definition of freedom, an understanding of the free people and those who were not free before the Civil War, as well as examining why many white Americans in the Southern States intended to protect slavery.
The Definition of Freedom
The first step in understanding the transition that America underwent before and after the Civil War must stem from an insightful definition of freedom. Freedom is the right or power to think, speak, and act without restraint or hindrance. In a society where an individual lives alongside others, freedom can be viewed as the ability of one to make choices or pursue personal goals without any interference from other people. When assessed from the point of view of the Civil War era, freedom can be defined as the state of being free from oppression, restraint, or coercion. Before the Civil War, slaves were subjected to coercion, oppression, and restraint from their masters, which limited their ability to think, act, or speak without hindrance.
The structure of present-day society means that freedom can accommodate a range of prospects. Primarily, the world is basing