Life Liberty And The Pursuit Of Freedom Essay

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Many people might say that freedom is defined by these famous words of the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The United States of America was founded on these principles; however, freedom is not something people get to enjoy all over the world. Ironically and rather absurdly, many Americans don’t even get to experience proper freedom. Whether it is discrimination against certain ethnicities or an entire gender, it is a fact that freedom is not always simply given without a fight. History has proven time and time again that freedom will not be given unless it is demanded. Martin Luther King Jr. realized during his lifetime that his country, America, was not the land of the free. Dr. King knew that “colored” people, specifically black people, were not treated the same as white people. He understood that change needed to happen, and that he needed to take part in demanding that that change …show more content…

Rightfully so, the Declaration of Independence does say all men are entitled to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” However, people who make this argument are wrong in saying that there is no need for fight for people to gain their freedom. The Declaration of Independence as well as the Constitution agree that all men are created equally, and yet for nearly a century slavery was completely legal in America, and it took an entire war just for slavery to be abolished. And still nearly another century passed before the Civil Rights Act was passed, outlawing segregation. To this day, discrimination still exists in America, in the form of police brutality, for example. These are just some of many examples of how freedom will not be given unless it is

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