Essay Sample Theme of Freedom

Essay Sample Theme of Freedom Essay Sample: Theme of Freedom The overriding theme in this essay is liberty. The essay will delve into Native American freedom and rights before and after their colonization by the immigrating hordes of Europeans mainly from great Britain, led by George Washington and Henry Knox. Before addressing the specific topic however the concept of Freedom and Liberty has to be defined. Freedom refers to the capacity for an individual to make independent choices. This does not necessarily mean that these choices will be devoid of external influences, but rather that the decisions are made in full recognition of their meaning. Every human being has a right to freedom, which can refer to physical freedom as well as mental freedom. Physical freedom is whereby the movement of an individual is not restricted, whereas mental freedom is whereby the thoughts of an individual are not restricted. Right to knowledge and education are examples of mental freedom, whereas right to movement and associations are examples of physical freed om. Freedom and Liberty are in some way synonymous, whereby Liberty refers to the collective rights that an individual has whereas freedom refers to the ability of the individual to make decisions independently. This essay will specifically focus on the freedom of an entire group or society of people, the Native American people, whose freedom and liberty had been, curtailed the migrating early settlers who became the American people. The immigrants who majorly came from the British colonies revolted and decided to assimilate the Native Americans to become US citizens. George Washington and Henry Knox thought of this idea, and the idea was to have the Native Americans civilized in order for them to accept the immigrants’ culture and Christianity. Some Native American tribes such as the Choctaw accepted assimilation and were spared any deaths. The same however cannot be said of the other tribes which resisted assimilation. Their attempts at violent confrontation with the immigrants led to genocide on their population.  As the US immigrants (who we shall henceforth refer to as settlers) increased in number they pushed the Native Americans to areas with harsh conditions and infertile lands. As a result of the numerous conflicts between the two cultures increased, the then US leaders, through the congress passed a law called the Indian removal Act. This act authorized the government to relocate the Native Americans from their land of origin to other parts which proved harsh and many of them died. These acts by the US government were further entrenched in law and this saw the continued massacre of the Native Americans, most of whom had already died as a result of the exotic diseases brought by the immigrants. Their dwindling numbers could not stand up to the well-armed and methodical forces of the settlers. Therefore, that the Native Americans were the victims of colonization by the settlers. The Native Americans had a matrilineal system, whereby the entire community owned land, whereas the settlers had a patriarchal system whereby individual ownership of land was paramount. It was therefore hard for the Native Americans to defend their land in the face of new laws and treaties, which were forced upon them by the settlers. The Native Americans continued their resistance against the settlers for several years even after the American Civil war. These wars came to be known as the Indian wars and even though they always resulted in mass Native American casualties they continued to defy the settlers. The dwindling population made it impossible for the Natives to continue resisting and they eventually agreed to be kept in reservation in some states in the West. They were eventually granted citizenship in 1924. The 1960’s also represented a time of minority enlightenment. This means that in spite of the poor standards of education amongst the minority communities, several members had received sufficient education that was enough to form enlightened opinion and shared these opinions with the masses. These individuals mostly consisted of authors and poets. One of these authors was Henry Hampton, who penned the book ‘Voices of Freedom’ in 19911. In it Henry writes on the civil rights movement through its m ost active years, i.e. from the 1950s to the 1980s, He speaks fondly of his participation in the marches that were organized, the most famous of which was the ‘Million man march’ which marked the turning point in Civil rights history. The book has been widely cited as a legitimate source on the civil rights movements and the intrigues that surrounded it. The book details how several disenfranchised minority groups came together during these marches to fight for a common agenda, which was the end of segregation. Though the focus at the time was African American empowerment, several other minority groups felt part of this movement and supported the African American leaders in championing for these rights. Results of colonization Colonization, just like slavery consisted of several cases of human rights violations. The act of colonizing another country itself is an act of aggression against the collective liberty of a community or country. Virtually every country in the world has been colonized. The US was once a British colony, and so were other countries like Canada, Australia, Argentina etc, all of which though sovereign entities at present were mere colonies a few centuries ago. It can therefore be said that colonization is a globally experienced phenomenon. Unlike slavery, colonization may in some instances not involve loss of freedom for the citizens. Some countries have only been theoretically colonized and therefore did not have to suffer the indignity of having a foreign government dictating terms for its citizens and perhaps even occupying its territory. Colonization of the native Americans had several results each depending on geography of the area, the period the settlers moved in and level of resistance. For some Native American tribes colonization led to immediate assimilation into the settler society and they became full American citizens. They were then able to enjoy the benefits enjoyed by all the other US citizens such as modern medicine, improved infrastructure development and better livelihoods for the citizens whereas for others it lead to massive pilferage of its resources and genocide. It can therefore be argued that colonization brought with it mixed fortunes for the tribes being colonized. The only common experienced shared by all tribes that were colonized is the loss of liberty and identity. In nearly all cases of colonization, liberty happened to be the first casualty. This was closely followed by individual freedoms and basic human rights being the last vestige of rights to be taken away. There were uncountable cases of human rights violations all over the world every time a a certain tribe was defeated and colonized. Colonization is basically a superior entity/society invading and taking charge of the affairs of an inferior society. This requires military engagement which in most cases results in bloody wars which would then be followed by loss of freedoms of the colonized state. These murders were clear violations of human rights and liberties of the colonized country. Colonization was also responsible for the theft of a country’s natural resources by the colonizing state for their own benefit. The other negative effect of colonization of the Native Americans was the prevalence of disease. The settlers brought with them foreign diseases which the Native Americans had not yet developed immunity for. These diseases though curable to the settlers proved to be lethal for the Native Americans and vast numbers of them perished. It has in fact been estimated that more than 60% of Native American deaths at the time was a s a result of the exotic diseases brought by the settlers. In conclusion, liberty is a basic human right which is considered inviolable and should be accorded to every individual irrespective of age, race or creed. Slavery and colonization had one thing in common; the loss of personal freedoms and liberty. Freedom is intrinsic to every human being and any attempt at stifling an individual’s freedom will in most cases be met with resistance. This just goes to show that deep within every human being is the need to be independent and free, a fact which no other individual or government can purport to take away.