Evolving Definitions of Freedom Thematic Essay #2 DATA COLLECTION SHEET #1

Dimension of Freedom Notes: (What freedoms? Who has these freedoms? Why do they have these freedoms?) Evidence (Quote, Title of Document, Date, Author, Author’s Title): Evidence Explanation: Economic Freedom Textile mills in the N relied on female labor. only low-paying jobs were available to women (Domestic servants, factory workers, and seamstresses) Economic expansion = jobs for immigrants American freedom = land in the West. Not opened to free blacks. Free blacks =confined to the lowest ranks of the labor market. Domestic slave trade expands Free blacks in the South could own property. free blacks were barred from schools and other public facilities “We are free…but not free enough…We want the liberty of living.” (Peter Rodel, an immigrant German shoemaker) Economic security – a standard of life below which no person would fall – formed an essential part of American freedom.

Dimension of Freedom Notes: (What freedoms? Who has these freedoms? Why do they have these freedoms?) Evidence (Quote, Title of Document, Date, Author, Author’s Title): Evidence Explanation: Political Freedom MR – new sense of independence and womanhood Women could not vote. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott organized the Seneca Falls Convention of Raised the issue of woman suffrage. The expansion of cotton and slavery led to forced relocation of Indians. Northern free blacks generally could not vote. Southern free blacks had no voice in selecting public officials. They were not allowed to testify in court or serve on juries, and they had to carry at all times a certificate of freedom. "domestic, dependent nation” (Cherokee Nation vs. Georgia – 1831) “The discussion of the wrongs of slavery has opened the way for the discussion of other rights, the letting of the oppressed of every grade and descriptions go free.” (Angelia Grimke, Letter in the Liberator, August 2, 1837) The Constitution uses the word “he” to describe officeholders. The Supreme Court declared that the Cherokees in Georgia constituted a "domestic, dependent nation" that existed under the guardianship of the United States.

Dimension of Freedom Notes: (What freedoms? Who has these freedoms? Why do they have these freedoms?) Evidence (Quote, Title of Document, Date, Author, Author’s Title): Evidence Explanation: Personal Freedom Those who feared the impact of immigration on American political and social life were called "nativists." Factory jobs = women can accumulate personal wealth However, freedom for many women meant freedom from labor. Slaves never abandoned their desire for freedom – they succeeded in forging a “slave culture,” centered on the family and church. Reform movements of the s aimed at liberating men and women from forms of internal “servitude” like drinking, illiteracy, and a tendency toward criminality. “The idea of the incapability of women was totally inadmissable in this enlightened age.” (Judith Sargent Murray, On the Equality of the Sexes, 1779) “Home life was narrow and confining...living and working provides us a larger, firmer idea of womanhood, teaching us to go out of ourselves and enter the lives of others.” (Lucy Larcom, migrated to Illinois during the market revolution where she became a teacher and a writer)

Dimension of Freedom Notes: (What freedoms? Who has these freedoms? Why do they have these freedoms?) Evidence (Quote, Title of Document, Date, Author, Author’s Title): Evidence Explanation: Religious Freedom Barred from participating in white institutions, free blacks and slaves established their own churches. A blend of African traditions and Christian belief, slave religion was practiced in secret nighttime gatherings on plantations. Second Great Awakening – every person “moral free agent” – a person free to choose between a Christian life and sin. Sinners could experience a “change of heart” and embrace spiritual freedom. “