Rich Baldwin Bloomington High School

It never fails. Every fall, as I plunge into the basic principles of American democracy with my history and government classes, I eventually come to the Declaration of Independence, and its difficult phrases, "All men are created equal, " and "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Inevitably, the questions are asked. "How could Thomas Jefferson have written on liberty, when he himself owned slaves?" "Did 'All men' include women?" And finally, "What exactly did Jefferson mean by 'liberty' and 'the pursuit of happiness'?" It is this confusion; over the ever-changing definition of American democracy, which Eric Foner argues in The Story of American Freedom, exists throughout our history. By taking a thematic approach, the evolution of the meaning of freedom in American history, Foner provides a simple focus to a complex realization. The term freedom was defined much differently back when our founding fathers created this nation. It has been molded by numerous events in American history, and continues to change as we, the American people, continue to develop politically, economically, and socially. Foner explains this evolution in two ways by chronicling the role of freedom, and by explaining the contradictory, sometimes hypocritical understanding of freedom that Americans have held at various points in our nation's history.

During the War of Independence, we fought for the freedom to govern ourselves. During the Civil War, the south fought for the freedom of state's rights. During World War II, we fought to ensure the Four Freedoms to all democratic nations of the world. In the 1960s, women and minorities fought for the right to exercise the freedoms they had been given by constitution generations before. As Foner points out, the concept of freedom has always been in the forefront of American history, and has expanded in meaning greatly since the original guarantee of liberty by the Declaration in 1776. What was once the privilege of landowning elite, has now been expanded, by the 15th, 19th and 26th amendments, as well as a broader interpretation of the Bill of Rights, to nearly ever American.

Yet Foner also points out this conflict. A factory owner's freedom to earn maximum profit directly impacts his employee's freedom to earn a maximum salary. During the early years of the industrial revolution, this even affected the employee's quality of life, again, one of the basic guarantees of the Declaration. Americans take for granted the definition of freedom that we follow today, and assume that it has also been this way. By doing so, they ignore the evolution of the concept. Foner's text provides a reminder of this by pointing out several instances where definitions of the term have contradicted. Americans rallied behind a call for freedom during the revolution, only to keep even its basic principles from slaves. We promoted our economic freedom in the years following World War II, only to systematically keep it from African Americans in southern states and the inner cities of the north. At times, Foner's argument presents America as being very hypocritical. In order to truly appreciate the value of freedom, this evolution must be understood.

As a history teacher, I value Foner's work. Teaching history becomes much easier when taking a thematic approach. In The Story of American Freedom, Foner provides an explanation of freedom that spans the spectrum of American history, and creates a singular focus that classroom teachers could continually return to as they cover the chronology of the traditional history course.

Return to Reactions to Assigned Readings index