In “A Letter to My Nephew,” James Baldwin reflected on the rhetoric of American freedom versus the reality of segregation. Upon reading this piece I gained a curiosity towards the combined efforts to try and make America a nation where there is “liberty and justice for all.” Since the policies and ideals of the U.S. have changed over the course of its existence, I decided to investigate how freedom has evolved for Americans, and through my research it became evident that freedom is dependant upon the amount of social and political uncertainty and instability, and takes on different meanings …show more content…
Yet, none of these aspects prevented the American Revolution. The English crown subjected their colonists to several acts (e.g: the Stamp Act.) without taking their opinions into consideration. Since many of the colonists considered themselves English, and had grown accustomed to participating in politics, the laws passed in England appeared to “deny” them their voice, causing instability, which ultimately led to the American Revolutionary War. The Revolution cemented the identity of a righteous nation that succeeded in fending of the English, the world’s leading military power (a feat that would’ve been considerably more difficult, and perhaps impossible, without French …show more content…
This increased social awareness can be attributed partially to the rise of television ownership within the United States during this time. The medium of television allowed Americans from across the nation to see, as well as hear, the cruelty that peaceful civil rights protestors faced from locals and law-enforcers in the South when they acted against segregation policies; these broadcasted experiences led many Americans to question the legitimacy of the segregation system. This reduced faith in segregation eventually resulted in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed discrimination on grounds of race and sex in public establishments. As impressive as the ratification of this Act was, however, it wasn’t until several years later that it was fairly integrated within Southern society, and many years more until it was taken for