Free Citizen
Thomas Fernandez
Professor Rachel K Cremona
Intro to Political Science
January 24, 2013
The “Free” Citizen Freedom is defined as “the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants.” (Oxford Dictionaries) Although the United States of America and many other countries pride themselves on being “free” this is not entirely the case. There is currently no such thing as an entirely free country anywhere on this planet. There are on the other hand many free countries that preach freedom but this freedom is limited to a certain degree, For example in the United States the second amendment of the Constitution clearly states that citizens are given the right to bear firearms, but with thousands of gun laws it is extremely difficult and expensive for citizens to acquire certain guns and ammunition. Citizens of these so called “free countries” have been living with these restrictions or burdens to their freedoms ever since they fought for their independence from even more restricting governments. For this reason I believe that the modern citizen can bear the burdens of freedom. In July of 1776 the people of the United States of America declared their independence from Great Britain. They created a government that was deemed free in which its people have the right to choose and the right to the pursuit of happiness. The Founding Fathers knew that man could not entirely be free. It’s for this reason they made laws and wrote the Constitution making a country that was somewhat free but still governed by leaders that the citizens choose. Americans have been living and dealing with the burdens of freedom ever since that fateful day that America declared independence from Britain in 1776. What are the burdens of freedom though? We can define burden as “something that is carried.” (Merriam-Webster dictionaries) A burden is then something bad that comes with something good. Americans carry many burdens with the laws and restrictions of the United States. In
Professor Rachel K Cremona
Intro to Political Science
January 24, 2013
The “Free” Citizen Freedom is defined as “the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants.” (Oxford Dictionaries) Although the United States of America and many other countries pride themselves on being “free” this is not entirely the case. There is currently no such thing as an entirely free country anywhere on this planet. There are on the other hand many free countries that preach freedom but this freedom is limited to a certain degree, For example in the United States the second amendment of the Constitution clearly states that citizens are given the right to bear firearms, but with thousands of gun laws it is extremely difficult and expensive for citizens to acquire certain guns and ammunition. Citizens of these so called “free countries” have been living with these restrictions or burdens to their freedoms ever since they fought for their independence from even more restricting governments. For this reason I believe that the modern citizen can bear the burdens of freedom. In July of 1776 the people of the United States of America declared their independence from Great Britain. They created a government that was deemed free in which its people have the right to choose and the right to the pursuit of happiness. The Founding Fathers knew that man could not entirely be free. It’s for this reason they made laws and wrote the Constitution making a country that was somewhat free but still governed by leaders that the citizens choose. Americans have been living and dealing with the burdens of freedom ever since that fateful day that America declared independence from Britain in 1776. What are the burdens of freedom though? We can define burden as “something that is carried.” (Merriam-Webster dictionaries) A burden is then something bad that comes with something good. Americans carry many burdens with the laws and restrictions of the United States. In
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