The Various Definitions of Freedom Coexisted in 17th Century America - Essay Example

? (Assignment) Definitions of Freedom Coexisted in 17th Century America Introduction Freedom was not an easily granted bouquet in the Northern America in the 17th century. People were not allowed to exercise their freedom at their will in any of the aspects, such as religious freedom, political freedom, national freedom, etc. There had been lot of versions and degrees of classification even with the freedom too. People were blocked of their rights by ascertaining classes on them like slaves, puritans, indentured servants, and many more. Even though there were divisions in the degree of freedom all of them meant the same and wanted to acquire it at any cost. Puritans To begin with, during the 16th century, Puritans was the name conferred on to the most extreme Protestants of the Church of England who thought that the English Reformation had not succeeded in renovating the principles and structure of the church. They wanted to decontaminate their national church by abolishing every piece of Catholic influence. In the early 17th century some puritan groups separated from the Church of England and headed to what is now New England. The reason behind their flight was that the repeated protests and complaints of the Puritans against the Anglican Church, the official state church of England where they were added as officials, ended the authorities to take action against the puritans. In 1630 Archbishop of Canterbury William Laud, an anti-puritan Church leader had put a charge over the outspoken Puritan ministers by making it a criminal offense to attend Puritan worship services and succeeded in pursuing all puritans from opposing to the Anglican Church. They had the strong determination to wipe out poverty and to free everyone thus making a heaven on earth; but that spirit was insufficient and landed them in New England. The Puritans were not allowed to practice their belief which indeed was exploitation against their freedom. For them freedom meant the right to believe and practice what they thought right. Hence, they fought for the freedom by protesting, the only way they thought would bring them freedom. Slaves Slavery is method of treating human being as property when they are forced to compulsory work from the time of their capture or purchase and denied of their right to compensation and right to leave or refuse work. Landowners in the American colonies made use of the European indentured servants as well as the forced laborers by enslaving the Africans. In the beginning, only few slaves were imported from Africa but later on when the tobacco farming got expanded, large number of slaves was imported from Africa. The landowners found slavery more economical than hiring a European laborer. At the end of the 17th century, the slavery and the slave transportation in the northern America were so cruel. During their course of travel from Africa, those slaves found too ill to endure the trip were thrown out to be drowned. As they landed in America they were treated as goods which can be easily bought or sold. The masters made advantage of the freedom of slaves and rejected their right of living. Even the rebellions and conspiracies of the slaves have reduced the slavery to some extent, that is not all enough for the slaves to be granted freedom. Evidently for the slaves, freedom meant nothing but escaping from the arrogance of their masters; and the only way to achieve this was to ensure some constitutional privileges. Indentured Servants An employer getting into contract with a young and unskilled laborer to work for him for a fixed period of time is called indenturing a servant. Such indentured servants are not paid any wages other than transportation, lodging, food and clothing. They usually work as helpers in farms or as house servants for 4 to 7 years. Many of such servants were seized by force or recruited from the slums of London or of Bristol. These young people too had to suffer on their way to America as the slaves did. Once reaching their masters, they endured a lot of harsh conditions. Like the slaves, the servants had no personal freedom. They had no power to do what they believe to be true. So conferring freedom on the indentured servants could only have effect if the term of indenture would be cut down. To be more specific, no one should be indentured for more than two years. Women Most of the women who were brought to America in the 17th century were from various parts of Africa. Despite being from different parts of the country and having distinction in their social mindset, they all had the sole aim; freedom. Freedom does not mean to do just as one pleased to do. It means to be out of the restrictions of the master and to have personal autonomy that was not been granted to women whether they had been slaves or captives of war. To be free means to feel safe and sound in one’s ancestral homeland. The women whether servants, slaves or captured did not enjoy the fruit of freedom. They had to face even worse punishment than men from their owners. As Gasper (1996, p 4) writes, any attempt to consider women’s rights and freedom were seen as irrelevant and disruptive. Property owners Property literally means the right of a man to own anything which in no way depends on another man’s courtesy. The property owners in the early 17th century were people of authority and power. They forced the ordinary people to work for them. They took advantage over the people as they had hold over the properties. They made use of slaves, indentured servants, and women to work for them. Indians Indians is the group of people lived in the North America before the arrivals of Europeans. Reynoldson and Shuter (1992, p. 4) says, the name Indians was out of mistake because Christopher Columbus called the Indians thinking that he landed in India. He was not anywhere near India and he did not realize it as he could not understand their language. The Europeans who reached there after Columbus and later on the Americans did not allow the Indians to utilize their freedom. The Indians were out of the civilized world and had no words when they were being robbed of their freedom. Comparison A comparison between the slave and the servant reveals some of the differences as well as similarities between them. The slaves were allowed to marry even without the permission of their owners. The servants were not given permission to marry, they had to undergo physical punishment and were liable to fulfill the labor or be enforced by the court. The law even extend the indenture period of the woman if they became pregnant. When slaves had no chance of release from bondage, the servants were discharged on the completion of the indenture. When they execute their labor on their release they have the right to receive the payment known as freedom dues. A similarity between the women and Indians were that they were deprived of their freedom and had to work for their masters. The puritans had no religious freedom over their beliefs whereas the woman had no personal freedom over their life. Hence, it can be concluded that despite the different degrees of freedom to different classes of people, the meaning of freedom was the same to all segments. Works Cited Gasper, David Barry. More than Chattel: Black Women and Slavery in the Americas. Indiana University Press, 1996. Print. Reynoldson, Fiona and Shuter, Paul. Indians of North America. UK: Heinemann, 1992. Print. Read More