This video explores American political culture in respect to freedom. Freedom is central to the identity of America as a nation and is thus referred to frequently in politics. Entire political campaigns are run on the basis that said candidate will improve freedom or provide freedom to select groups. The clip explores the historical debates around freedom, namely around who is entitled to it. As explored in the previous weeks’ readings, the period after the civil war involved great debate on the definition of freedom, something that remains unclear to this day. This clip provides insight into why freedom is such a complicated issue in American political culture.
In the video, Eric Foner talks about freedom in a few main ways. The first is freedom as a human right. Freedom, or liberty (which are interchangeable according to Foner) is second only to life in the United States declaration of independence. This suggests freedom is essential to the national identity of America. Second, Foner talks about the use of freedom as a catalyst for war. Every war America has fought has been fought on the premise of freedom. Due to the importance of freedom in the self-identity of Americans, governments can argue for the nation go to war as a matter of freedom. Following on from this, Foner mentions the extreme power that can be gained in politics by harnessing the word freedom. This further suggests the importance of freedom in American political culture. Finally, Foner raises the issues that arise from defining and obtaining freedom. The definition of freedom is heavily debated and the desire for a definition has seen freedom defined at every level of American life. Freedom is not only defined in the constitution and the justice system, but it is defined in everyday life at every level of society, and it has been since the days of slavery on the plantations in the South.
This video highlights the complicated nature of freedom in the United States and explores freedom as an idea central to the political culture of this nation.
- Why do you think freedom is so important to American politics?
- Provide an example of a politician/political campaign which is centred around freedom.
- What are some of the different definitions of freedom in American politics throughout history?
- How would you define freedom in American political culture today?
- “Freedom is the most important thing in American society”. Write a paragraph agreeing or disagreeing with the statement. Use current and historical examples.
I found it quite difficult to get my head around this assignment. Once I understood what videos I should be looking for (or at least I hope I understood) I also found it difficult to find one that I thought worked well. Being a first year iternational student it is a bit difficult for me to fully understand American political culture. I think I have a good understanding as an outsider but it is surprisingly different to Australian politics and a bit hard to understand without having watched politics in this country too closely. That being said, I really enjoyed this assignment and I think it helped me improve my understanding of politics in the United States.
I really enjoyed your writing man and you chose a nice video to cover the American Political Culture idea. Nice job! As well as, nice well thought out questions.