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Liberty Vs Natural Liberty

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Liberty Vs Natural Liberty
The concept of liberty is a complicated one in that it has many variations from race to colony to even individuals. Puritan John Winthrop however stressed that the most impure form of liberty was one he labelled as natural. Natural liberty, as described by Winthrop was the “liberty to do evil” (65 Foner). In a sense, it was the liberty to be able to act without restraint. However, natural liberty entails that mankind has as much right to do good as he is to do evil. As described by Winthrop, the problem with natural liberty is that unchecked freedom will eventually “make men evil.” (qtd. in 77 Foner)
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