American Freedom

Though America has been called "the land of the free" since its creation, many people believe that we are still not truly free. In the novel The Things They Carried, one could argue that the soldiers were not free because they were forced into fighting a war, even if they did not agree with it. O'Brien is very much against the war, but he either has to fight in the war, or escape to Canada and never come back to the united states. Another instance of America not being truly free is when the people of the country are not treated equally because they are thought to be less important because of a physical difference (i.e. gender, race, etc). We see examples of this in both Huckleberry Finn, and The Declaration of Sentiments. Though America was established on the Declaration of Independence, stating that all "men" are created equal, it fails to establish equality for minorities and women, a concept which is mocked by the Declaration of Sentiments. "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal" (Stanton). Because these groups were not equal, not everyone was able to choose their leaders, own property, or receive an education, making them not free. These two examples show that even though when it was established, it was one of the freest nations in the world, we have come a long way since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and we are still becoming more free every day.