Analysis Of British Liberty By Patrick Henry

Before the American Revolution, the definition of liberty meant limiting the government power that the English had over the colonies. As mentioned by Eric Foner in the Chapter five video British Liberty, many Americans felt as if the British government had far too much control and were enslaving them. He reminds us that liberty did not apply to Spanish, Catholics, and Africans. At the time they were pushing for British liberty, slaves were being brought over from Africa. In Patrick Henry's "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death" (March 23, 1775), he encourages war against the British. In his speech, Henry talks about the British soldiers duties, and that are there to protect the colonies, but instead, they are enforcing the law. Henry feels that …show more content…
Freedom and liberty applied to many things such as religious freedom, economic freedom, equality, property, etc. It’s clear that equality, freedom, and liberty only applied to white Americans, mainly white men. In Felix's Petition for Freedom (January 6, 1773), a petition was written by Felix on the behalf of the slaves owned by the governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, Thomas Hutchinson. He went on to say, "we have no Wives. No Children. We have no City. No Country," then proceeded to ask for their …show more content…
It changed because the different types of labor that were depended on, no longer existed. This created a distinction between freedom, liberty, and slavery because the northern states relied on free labor and the southern states heavily depended on slavery. The American Revolution paved the way for new American ideals or freedom and liberty.

The American Revolution impacted slavery significantly. In the late 18th century, slavery had become something deemed as normal to white Americans. From numerous points of view, the Revolution fortified American responsibility regarding slavery. The Revolution depended on radical new thoughts regarding "freedom" and "liberty," which tested slavery’s long history of extremely inhumane practices and equality. The progressions to slavery in the American Revolution era uncovered both the potential for change and its disappointment more obviously than some other