In 1864, while speaking to a group of citizens in Baltimore, Abraham Lincoln said the following:
"The world has never had a good definition of the word liberty, and the American people, just now, are much in want of one. We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing."
In saying this, do you think President Lincoln really believes that his dream for a unified and truly free nation will ever be accomplished? What are your thoughts?
62 comments:
I don’t think there is such thing as true freedom. You can feel free, but there is always a law or rule that is binding you from true freedom. Yes, you can do whatever you want, but there are consequences. If you kill someone (it is possible to do) you will go to jail and feel the guilt from killing. I think Lincoln spoke very realistically. Each person has a different idea, or vision, of freedom. A southern farmer will see liberty as keeping their slaves (which were their “property”) and no one to tell them not to do so, while the north said that liberty was for everything should be free, but not given the same rights. The north, as Lincoln once said, were “hypocrites”. There was no good and bad side of this war. Just one side was worse than the other. Even though not all southerners were bad and supporters of slavery. Most slave owners were harsh towards their slaves (the ones who thought of slaves as animals who needed to be “broken in” and “taught” that whites were better than blacks) some even beat their slaves. I don’t think that a truly free nation can be made but a unified nation is a different thing. We are pretty united. If you think about it we speak of other states usually fondly (unless of course it comes to sport team arguments…). But then again there are our differences. We place some states into stereotypical ways. Texas, hot dry cowboys, ranches. California: surfers, famous people, rich. Alaska: cold, icy, tundra. Even within states, like Connecticut, there are towns that have stereotypes. Greenwich is rich, that’s just one of them. It would be very difficult to achieve total freedom, if even possible. Freedom is to do what you want, whenever you want, but also part of freedom is suffering or enjoying the outcome of the decisions you made from gaining the freedom. More freedom equals more responsibility.
I believe your never truly free because theres always a law saying it ilegal or banded. People from all around the world come to America for a better life, thinking they will be free, but is any one really free? I think there will never be a free nation that there will aways be someone ruling you saying that you can't do something or if you do there will be a consequence for your action. some people believe they are free, because being free to them is being able to do what ever they want. but with doing what every you want there only so much you can do without getting into trouble. i think President Lincoln probably didn't believe, there would ever be true free nation because, if so there would be caos.
I think that President Lincoln does not believe that his dream for a unified and truly free nation will ever be accomplished, but I think that he believed that an extent of his dream will be accomplished. It think that he believed that the United States was going to be a "free nation" in the sense that no human owned another human under the term of property and master. I don't think that "true freedom" exists, I think that everyone is free in the way that they can do whatever they want, but with the knowledge that there will be consequences for certain actions. You CAN kidnap someone but there WILL be consequences such as jail. I think that President Lincoln knew that there isn't such thing as "true freedom" but I think that he hoped that our country could be the closest thing to it.
I think Lincoln does believe that America can become a truly free nation but, some citizens might not agree if there free. Some could describe freedom as there feeling free or being free. I think Lincoln was trying to say that it is hard to make a whole country feel as if they are free because some citizen might not think that they are. Also, some may not really agree with laws and that could make them think that the country is not allowing them to be free.
So in conclusion, what some would call free others could call enslavement so everyone had a different term for freedom. Everyone in present day is allowed freedom but with limitations. Some have different limitations than others so there a many different views on freedom. Freedom is a topic that comes from what you believe if you believe owning someone is alright then you'll think that the one you own is free.
There will never trully be freedum in the world. yes america is the land of the free but there are laws and if you cant do what ever ou want without concquence than you arent reallly free.
i think this comment made by president Lincoln was made to make other people think there would be freedom. if he thinks there will at that time, i dont know, but i dont think that was the point of what he said. he was trying to get the hopes up off al the people that believed that there would ever be a unified america.
I think that Lincoln did not believe that there would ever be a unified and truly free nation because he had said that even the world had not a good definition of the word liberty. I think that Lincoln most likely thought that he could get to something very close and in my opinion I think he would be right to think that. This is because with how far the U.S. has gone, I think that we should be considered very close to a unified and truly free nation. Yes I suppose you are not free to do anything you want in this country but you are free to do what you want as long as its not inter fearing with a law (religion, etc).
I believe that liberty and freedom are two words with very loose and uncertain definitions. The idea of freedom and liberty are great, but the fact is that it is nearly impossible to achieve. You may think that america is the definition of liberty and freedom, and to a certain extent it is, we are not under dictator ship, and we have freedom of speech, but we are not 100% free. We cannot steal or kill (not that we should, but that would be free), in the end its all about opinion, can I do this? Is it acceptable to do this? Is this freedom? I believe that, unfortunately, Lincolns dream will not be a reality, as much as I wish it would be. Opinion will always be the overpowering factor.
I think that it is almost impossible to have a unified and truly free nation. There is always laws that you should follow. If you don't follow them, you get punished. I don't think we should be truly free because we would be living in a very dangerous environment. If everyone were perfect little angles, then this would be very easy to accomplish, but you have to think of the reality, no is a perfect little angle.
I do not believe that his dream of being a unified and totally free nation will ever come true, but he has faith that the nation can improve and come close to that. Nobody is ever truly free because of laws that are made to restrict or prohibit us from doing sertain things. I think that Lincoln realized that these laws and boundaries are needed to keep us safe. Imagine a world without laws where killing and stealing was legal. It would be dangerous so i think that Lincoln believes that his dream may not be achievable but to some extent, it will happen over time.
I believe that Lincoln did not think that his dream will be accomplished as a whole, but I believe that he knew a portion would be. There would be liberty with the people, not owning each other. But a truely FREE nation??? I don't think so. Sure, people are able to do whatever, but they know that there might be consequences. There is an upside and a downside to each thing somebody does, and that I know is accomplished everyday.
I don't think that there is actually such thing as a "free nation" because, we are free citizens, but there are still laws we have to follow. But even though, there are laws doesn't mean everybody follows them.
Even though their are several laws to keep us safe, like no murdering or speeding,you can choose your actions. You can choose to break the law. However, their is not freedom to do whatever you want without consequences. I believe you are never truly free because if you do something bad you have to unwillingly go to jail or court etc. However, I think that it is not unfair because it was your choice to commit that crime and you should have to face the consequences.
In my opinion, I believe he believes that if everyone tries we can win the war. I think he believes that because he said "We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing" Which I think that means is that some people will fight there hardest to win his war and some people wont do anything they simply don't care.
I think that President Lincoln, even when he hoped for one, never thought there would be a perfectly unified and free nation. He knew it was possible to get close, but people would always have different, even opposite views, when it comes to the word "liberty" or the word "freedom". Some may think it means keeping slaves and not having abolitionists telling them to stop, or it may be freeing slaves and then exerting a lot of prejudice to them. Some may also think you have to obey laws when you are free, but some might think that you can do whatever you want, whenever you want. There are also always consequences for doing some things (that some people feel should be there and others feel they shouldn't). To a few this is part of freedom, but to the others, who think this shouldn't happen, feel consequences shouldn't go with freedom.
I think that he believed in liberty but his idea was much different from other peoples. He thoughts of liberty as in a free nation were people were treated equally but not much more.
I m not sure there is total liberty because there always consequences and things that stop you. I do believe that you can be totally free in some ways but it always depends on how you define those words.
I do not believe that there is true freedom. There are times where you feel free, however, there are always certain boundaries or limits that refrain you from true freedom. There is no reason for you not to do whatever you want, but for every choice or decision you make, there are consequences. For example, if you committed a murder, you would automatically be sentenced to jail and feel guilty for the rest of your life. Every person has a different perspective on liberty. The South feels that liberty is showing slaves that they are nothing more than animals. However, the North feels that liberty is freedom for all races and that equality should have no boundaries. I personally believe that Lincoln's dream for a unified and truly free nation can be accomplished. Lincoln strives for diversity, and i feel that he can get this message all across America.
There is defiantly such thing as true freedom; the right to do whatever you want. Of course, along with anything you want comes consequences. You are free to jump off a building and try to fly, but that doesn't mean that person won't face the consequence of a broken leg, or even a lost life. In addition, you are also free to kill a person. Although that can result in a consequence of a life in prison. With these examples, true freedom is defiantly real, although consequences will play a part in the end.
In my opinion, I believe that there is no such thing as true freedom. For example, parent and kids are never going to have the same right. Also things just don't go the way people want them to sometimes. There are many laws that restrict people from going places and doing things.
I don't think that their is true freedom. You can feel free or believe you are free but there will always be rules and limits that cannot be broken. If their were no such thing as rules and limits the whole world would be chaos. Lincoln wants both sides to be happy and he doesn't want the South to leave the union. Whatever he tries and does to make both sides happy there will be some arguing and fighting.
I think he doesn't believe that his dream for a unified and truly free nation. He really wants the country to be that way, but many people will still not be free. There was a lot of prejudice and racism to African American. They white people will never treat them truly free. If everyone actually is truly free, then people can do whatever they want. Bad thing will happen with a truly free nation, people need restriction.
I don't think that Lincoln's vision of liberty will ever be achieved because no one has the same definition of liberty. I believe that similar visions may be achieved because freedom is freedom no matter how you see it as a person. Also, true freedom is never achieved because something always stop you like when you want to go out on friday but, your parents say no. So, basically you never have true freedom.
I believe that he believes that the war will be the only thing to unify truly freedom. America is the land of the free but their are still laws that you can not brake so some people may think that your not free.
i do not believe that Lincoln's dream of becoming a unified nation would come true. I say this because no one in this country is really free because rules keep them from doing curtain things. As a result i do not believe in true freedom because what ever action you make will come with consequences possibly.
I dont think that Lincoln's dream of becoming a free nation will ever be true because if there was actually a free nation things would get really out of hand. Things like people killing each other, lots of theft and robbery, and lots of riots. this is why i think that lincoln's dream will never be completely true.
I think that his dream will never become a reality because people will never be free of scrutiny or people mocking them
What President Lincoln was describing was the meanings and uses of the word in the past and current times, however, he believed in his dreams for a unified nation in the future because it is the actions in the present that changes the habits of the past, into the ways of the future. Though true freedom can never be achieved, he was trying his hardest to give freedom to those who had never really experienced it. There are always mixed views and opinions as to what we are free to do, but if everyone was free to do as they please, then havoc would be wreak society, and in chaos, no one is free. The limitations to our freedom are simply to keep morality into play, as opposed to reverting into savages (no offense, Andrew). So in my opinion, Lincoln was trying to create/give not freedom, but the next best thing: rights.
What President Lincoln was describing was the meanings and uses of the word in the past and current times, however, he believed in his dreams for a unified nation in the future because it is the actions in the present that changes the habits of the past, into the ways of the future. Though true freedom can never be achieved, he was trying his hardest to give freedom to those who had never really experienced it. There are always mixed views and opinions as to what we are free to do, but if everyone was free to do as they please, then havoc would be wreak society, and in chaos, no one is free. The limitations to our freedom are simply to keep morality into play, as opposed to reverting into savages (no offense, Andrew). So in my opinion, Lincoln was trying to create/give not freedom, but the next best thing: rights.
I dont think that there will ever be true freedom in the world that we live in. Even though America is the land of the free, the laws that are made do not make us free. I am very happy we abolished slavery, for most African Americas, however I dont think every one is free.
i think that his dream of a unified country will not come true because no matter any way you put it there will always be one group above another. with that being said social divide is slowly but surely getting closer and closer.
I think lincoln believes that America can become free, but most people do not agree with him. There are many reasons for this but the most key one is because of the south and the way the treat african americans. Many people might think they are not free when the law actually says they are.
I do not think that Lincoln spoke realistically. I think you can never be completely free because you will never be free of stereotypes and discrimination. With all of this do not think Lincoln spoke realistically.
I don't think that Lincoln truly believes his dreams for a unified country will be accomplished COMPLETELY. While I believe that he trusts America as a country to become unified and equal up to a point, the United States will never be 100% united. No matter how much some people want to be united, there will always be others who will oppose it. People have different definitions of free, and even if Lincoln DOES believe we are free, others will disagree. I agree with him, though I might think something is considered freedom, I must understand that others might not think that way.
I don't think Lincoln believes his dream will ever become reality because he knows that no matter if you are a slave or not, there will always be people trying to prevent you from doing things, stereotypes and racism, and different opinions on things that could lead to violence and war. People just aren't capable of being truly free because people aren't perfect and there will always be something holding them back from true freedom.
I don't think that there is ever going to be true freedom. If we all had truly freedom there would be chaos. If someone acted like they had true freedom they would probably break the law and get sent to jail.
I think Lincoln really doesn't believe its possible, but I do think that Lincoln wanted it to be possible. I believe that one day there would be true freedom. Also everyone should be treated the same.
I think there IS such a thing as true freedom.. it just has not been found yet. True freedom to me is where you can do what you want, whenever you want. Since we live in a world with many consequences, obviously if you were to do any of those things there would be a penalty. In America we do not have freedom but rights. Even though we are known as "The land of the Free", i do not agree with that statement
If everyones idea of freedom and liberty is different, then I don't believe it can be achieved. Some people think freedom is physical; like for the slaves they thought freedom was being in the north where slavery is illegal. After the war ended, when african americans were supposedly free, they were treated with disrespect and hatred. They were not really free. Freedom, I believe is more of a state of mind. You can be physically free, which I believe all Americans are, (with the exception of prisoners). But if you are mentally and emotionally free is different with each person. For people to believe, think, and truly speak freely is very hard for any nation to accomplish, especially a new nation like America was. We can strive to be free, and allow freedom for others, but every person has to decide on their own of they are free or not.
No matter what, freedom is basically impossible in my opinion. I dont believe that this "truly free nation" will become real since there are so many laws that you need and to be absolutely 100% free you cant have those laws and limits. I believe also that Lincoln didn't exactly mean "truly free" as I had just explained but meant what our nation is like now. He probably meant that instead of a broken down union ,that our country used to be in his time, we should have a union that agrees in laws and government. He also was frustrated with the war that was happening when he said this and really wanted the country to be a free one.
I think that somewhere in this world there is a such thing as freedom in this country, where is it, we haven't fount it yet. I think Lincoln thought that we would never ever have freedom or liberty but just the thought of freedom makes me wonder about what it really means. There are many definitions of freedom but I just don't know which one I can use to explain in this situation. The same with liberty, there are many words or terms that I could go on with to tell what it means but there is not one that I can fully describe with liberty. Nobody knows if there will ever be complete freedom and or liberty but I personally think that there shouldn't be complete freedom because if there was, people would just be able to go around the country and kill each other and that's not good at ALL!!!
I think that President Lincoln does not believe that his dream for a unified nation will ever be accomplished. I believe that freedom is a word with many definitions, and it is nearly impossible to reach a definition that will go over well with the citizens of America. When people think of freedom, they think that they can do whatever the please; however, this is not true because there will always be laws holding us back and there will always be rules that we have to follow. Therefore, according to that definition, we would not be free. President Lincoln knew that, and he knew that people say they are free, yet it means different things to different people.
I think Lincoln is trying to say that everyone has different views on what liberty means and that in order to achieve we need a common ground something to which we can all relate and agree on. I also think he's saying that a dream for a unified country is possible however it is in need of much compromise and deliberation. Also society needs to far accepting of all its members to be truly free.
I don't think that anyone anywhere, will be fully free. This is because no one will ever be able to do what they want without consequences. So you can do whatever you want but, something bad might happen and for that reason I believe that no one will be fully free. I also think that Lincoln would not complete his dream completely, but he would make sure that no one would ever be a slave in the U.S.A.
I think i wanted it to be completely free, but he knew that it wasnt possible. I think that he wanted to have at least some freedom. We in our country will always be able to do what we wish to do, but there are bounderies. Weather its laws, or your own bounderies, you know how far you can take yourself. In America you have freedom of speech. You can do or say abything ou choose but there are sometimes consecuences.
I think that in the world we live in today and the world that he lived in back then, I do not believe that there is such a thing as freedom throughout the country and world at all times. We as a nation can accomplish peace and not Civil War again but i think there will always be people out there and laws that will be made that will prevent freedom throughout the United States. When Abraham Lincoln took office in one of the hardest time periods in American History i believe that he wanted to achieve freedom throughout the U.S. but in his mind he probably thought that in was nearly impossible to achieve freedom and peace at the same time. It is one thing to achieve freedom to all the slaves but it is another task to achieve the freedom while keeping peace between people. This was one of the most difficult tasks that any president in our nations history has had to face when he steps into office to run our country. I do not think that there will ever be freedom in the U.S. because there will always be a conflict in the way weather it is people or laws or anything else i do not believe that freedom can be achieved.
President Lincoln didn't fully believe that there would be complete freedom in the states. He thought that we would get close to it with just abolishing slavery, but that wasn't enough. Freedom is when you can do whatever you want. There might be consequences but you you will have to deal. "Freedom" is a good thing and a bad thing. It is good because like I stated you can do whatever you want but be ready to take whatever problems or consequences that come with it. The some problems I can think of are age and race. If you want to sky dive at the age of ten you can't because you are too young to do it therefore the instructor won't let you. With race you might not be able to do somethings because people might criticize you. Some people in this society are racist and stereotypical. So if a person of color were to do something out of the ordinary people might say wow that's great or they will say how did they possibly do that. My point with all of this is you can do a lot of the things that you want but you just have to think about what will happen because if you don't then you are not free of the consequences and the criticism of others.
I do not think there is a true definition of freedom. There will always be a law restricting you from doing something or saying something. However i think he was hoping that the United States could come close to achieving this goal especially the time period he was in.
I think that Abraham Lincoln knows that he wouldn't be able to make a truly free nation because despite the fact that the war was won the South and North will still harboring racism. This took form in many ways such as in Plessy vs Ferguson and the development of the Ku Klux Klan. I believe he was just trying to steer our nation in the right direction so that one day we will be a truly unified nation.
First, you have to define freedom. How did Abraham Lincoln view freedom as. When I think of freedom I think of it as the ability to truly express who you are but, have to obey the laws set by the government. Does freedom mean free from racism? If that is how Abraham meant it than no. There will always be one insecure person who feels the need to bring people down. So, those of us who are against slavery and prejudice should try to discourage that behavior and try to help make the world a better place.
I do not think that Lincoln's dream will ever come true. There will always be people in power that punish people who make choices that the people in power don't like. Also, true freedom is basically saying so whatever you want, and if we do that, everyone would kill each other. I think that Lincoln hopes for a more realistic form of freedom where nobody can tell someone what to do because of their race.
I believe that Lincoln was wrong because people are never totally free. You may have rights but in certain situations you don't have many rights. I think he thought the Union could be saved though. It could be saved if the two sides both decided to agree on what the nation needs.
No, I think that there is freedom within boundaries and limitations, which is in fact not true freedom. In this statement Lincoln is implying that everyone wants to be free, but everyone has their own definition of freedom. You can either feel as if your free or feel as if you are not, so there is never going to be true freedom. :D
I do not think that becoming a truly free nation will ever be accomplished due to the fact of all of the boundaries set by our government. A number of people immigrate to America expecting freedom but I feel that one can never accomplish actually having true freedom. I believe that you can feel free or act free but there is always a limitation or a law or rule that is stopping you from having true freedom. Feeling or acting free to some Americans is having true freedom to them but I think otherwise. Also I think that feeling or acting free is true freedom to a certain extent but not entirely. There are many Americans that do not agree with the law because they feel that the country is not letting them be a free person.
I believe that there is such thing as freedom. I think that he wished to be absolutely free, but knew it wouldn't happen. I believe that we do have freedom, we will be able to do whatever we wish to do, but there might be consequences. If you feel like doing something, like killing someone, you will have to face the consequences whether its jail for a week, or maybe even a year!!
I do not believe that our nation is "truly free", because everyone defines it differently. Compared to the state of our country in the 1860s compared to present day, we are much more unified, traveling through multiple states, and coexisting with many people of multiple races and religions. But even though our country is viewed as "free", there are still many things that, in my opinion are not. We are given the freedom of speech and expression, but with "unreasonable actions" we still receive consequences for things that we do that are criminal and irresponsible. At the same time, people of different race, religion and gender are still discriminated against. I feel that even though we have come a long way, we still test our ability to do what we want by pushing the boundaries of the country, community, and people as individuals
at the risk of taking the fatalist opinion in this argument, i believe the dream of liberty is impossible to accomplish. there are several problems with the idea. First of all, liberty itself, while intended to be a selfless concept, is actually just a world where everything is exactly how that one person believes it should be. it's like the idea of Utopia. it will never exist as long as people have diverse beliefs, preferences, and opinions. if everyone were to think and do exactly the same thing, it would really be more of a dystopia, and a little disturbing. so in conclusion, the world will never have liberty as long as people have different ideas of what it should be. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/dystopia)
Sadly, the dream President Lincoln had of a truly free nation will never be accomplished. The words liberty, unity, and freedom, especially, are thrown around so often that they are practically meaningless. In the dictionary alone, the word unity has 8 different definitions. The word liberty has 9. But the word freedom had 17 definitions, each one completely separate from the next. Therefore, what one person may consider 'perfectly free' may exist; but for another person, it may not. Therefore, the reality is that true freedom will never exist. And the reality is that everyone is a victim of prejudice, due to race, socioeconomic status, religion, political beliefs, and many other things that make each person separate from another. Freedom, to some, is the ability to do whatever they want, whenever they want. In America, we have an extremely watered down version of this. We have many freedoms that make up the bill of rights. But we still have laws which, to some, may limit their freedom. If you do something against the law, you may have to pay a fine or go to prison. But some people believe that freedom is the right to choose without consequence. We have the right to choose to do wrong, but we must remember the consequences. This is why true freedom will never become a reality.
I don't think Lincoln believed that true freedom and liberty would ever be achieved. I think this is because, everyone has different ideas of what liberty is, and they will follow their ideas of what liberty is. However, is their idea true liberty?
I don't think Lincoln believed that true freedom and liberty would ever be achieved. I think this is because, everyone has different ideas of what liberty is, and they will follow their ideas of what liberty is. However, is their idea true liberty?
There will never be true freedom because you have to follow a set of laws that the government set. so even though you are free in some parts you are never trully free in every part
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