Freedom

The Meaning of Freedom

Freedom is the ability to do what they want, when they want, wherever they want. But for others they have a deeper meaning of freedom. The meaning of freedom for slaves was more than being able to do whatever they wanted; it was the ability to have a family, own land, vote, getting married, or even civil and political rights. When President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation it helped black people focus on the possibilities of freedom.

Discussion

Being able to spend time with your family meant a lot to the blacks. But having a family and being able to take care of your family were two different things that blacks without their freedom could not do. John Q. A. Dennis he describes that because he was a slave and did not have freedom he was unable to do anything for his children. He took was taken away and sold to another slaveholder some 40 miles away from his kids. He was worried for his kids but could do nothing while their slaveholder half feed and clothe them and in his words “beat them like dogs”. Once he was freed he wrote a letter to ask the Secretary of War to help him reunite his family and to release his kids from slavery. Freedom to Dennis was the ability to protect his family because as a slave protecting your family was something that they could unfortunately not accomplish. He felt it was his responsibility as a father to do whatever it took to reunite his family. It is easily seen what the meaning of freedom meant to this man.

In another situation, a Reverend who was he white chaplain of a black regiment in the civil war talks about the importance of marriage to freed slaves. In his report to ...