New Birth Of Freedom

In 1940 Ralph Bunche wrote, “Every man in the street, white, black, red or yellow knows that this is the ‘land of the free’…and the ‘the cradle of liberty.” While the Civil war was coming to an end, the nation was forced to have to acknowledge the abolition of slavery and begin to form a definition of the meaning of freedom. President Abraham Lincoln said that the Civil War brought America, “a new birth of freedom.” Freedom is the most fundamental concept to the American individual and country as a whole. The love that Americans have for freedom can be illustrated through statues all the way to the demonstration of the right to vote. The expansions and contractions of freedom in the United States can be seen through passing constitution amendments;

granting civil rights to the citizens and making them feel that this country is a free country.
After the Civil War, the first benchmark to regulate citizenship was the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution that was ratified in 1868. This amendment was provided to help safeguard rights of the newly free African Americans. It says, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” It was an expansion of the rights and freedoms of the African Americans. While the Fourteenth Amendment was a development of freedom, a set of laws known as the Jim Crow laws was a reduction of these freedoms. The Jim Crow laws authorized segregation of public schools, places and transportation along with restaurants, restrooms and fountains for drinking. These laws were local and state laws that required racial segregation in the South part of the United States. Starting in 1890 and lasting until 1965, African Americans had the “separate but equal” status. Along with this, circumstances and situations such as education for African Americans received less funding and was low grade compared to anything provided for the white portion of Americans. In the Northern half of the United States, the segregation was seen through bank lending practices, job discrimination and discriminatory labor union practices. Finally in 1954, the case Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court deemed the segregation of public, state-sponsored schools unconstitutional. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Right Act of 1965 helped finally put an end to the Jim Crow law after many years of fighting.
In the 1920s, Americans were moving into the cities versus living on farms. The society
became more consumption oriented which helped double the nation’s total wealth. Women were
gaining many new freedoms in this time too. The 19th Amendment allowed women the right vote
in 1920. Living in the cities gave women the freedom to be able to occupy jobs that let them
contribute to the growing economy. An icon of the era arose, known as the flapper who had
bobbed hair and wore short skirts or dresses. She would drink, smoke and spoke in a crude
manner compared to how most expected women to speak. Along with these racy new ways these
women were more sexually open than in earlier generations. Many women of this time did not
adopt all or any of these characteristics but some did upgrade their closet.
A woman named Margaret Sanger believed that “in order for women to have a more equal footing in society and to lead healthier lives, they needed to be able to determine when to bear children.” While she thought that there were sometimes reasons to have an abortion, it should be avoided if possible.

Her biggest and most well-known campaign was for the legalization of contraception. Sanger founded the American Birth Control League in 1921 but is now known as Planned Parenthood Federation of America. She is the first to ever open a birth control clinic that was staffed purely by female doctors. She also had a clinic that was located in Harlem that was staffed only by African Americans. Through her actions and many others there was an increased number of birth control devices, for instance the diaphragm. This gave women the freedom to reduce the chance of pregnancy and the choice in having fewer

children.
While there were many freedoms being expanded in the 1920s, there were also some that were being constricted. In 1919, the 18th Amendment was approved, banning the production and distribution of intoxicating liquors. The next year, the Volstead Act closed all bars, saloons and taverns in the United States which just caused liquor trade underground. For many people, drinking a representation of all that was wrong about this time and by abolishing alcohol they would be able to go back to how it was before.
Another instance that expanded freedom was the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

This act created equal employment opportunity. What is an equal employment opportunity? It is when employers cannot discriminate potential employees by their sex, race, religion, and ethnicity. After this act was passed populations from different races or sexes were able to get hired easier than it used to be. In the twenty first century this act got updated to include the movement for same-sex marriages. People are allowed the freedom to marry who they love no matter sexual preference. So employers do not have the right to discriminate based on sexual preference. In 1963, there was an important act that was approved called the Equal Pay Act which proposed that women should get paid the same amount of money as males for the same job performance. In 1991, another employment freedom was expanded by approving the Americans with Disabilities Act which stated people with disabilities cannot be discriminated because of their disability. This act also helped population with disabilities in finding a job. The “Apple Store” in Penn Square has an employee with hearing disability. This employee does not have a problem communicating with customers and selling product. Apple company shows that it does not matter for them if a person has disabilities everyone has an equal employment

opportunity.
In the future there will be more and more constitution amendments which will expand freedom all over the country. The amendments and civil rights acts have had a huge influence on the word “freedom” in the United States. However, the story of the American freedom is forever unfinished. No other place in the world rings the liberty bell louder.