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Freedom...?

For centuries the word "freedom" has been a topic of debate, and for good reason. There are so many different views of what freedom truly means and what influences it has on our daily lives. According to the American Heritage College Dictionary the word freedom means "The Condition of being free of constraints. To me, the word freedom is being able to achieve anything you want to. It is being able to change your surrounding environment how you want it to be. Many questions have been asked about whether we are truly free of constraints or if everything is predetermined by events that have already transpired. Some believe that it is indeed true that we are not free, that nothing happens freely, and that nothing happens by chance, everything is determined to happen precisely as it does down to the smallest detail. If this statement is true then we are not free, we live a life of predetermined events. In this paper I will discuss many topics regarding freedom including the idea of predetermined events, the use of consequences, and a look back in history at freedom and how it has changed. Through these issues I will explain my idea of freedom and why I believe that I am free.
In the 1700's before The United States of America was a country it was under the control of England. The King of England imposed laws and taxes that the people of America saw as unlawful and down right wrong. The constraints forced upon the people were taking their freedom away. However change soon occurred, the men and women of America Revolted against England and to make a long story short they were able to gain freedom from Britain. How were they able to gain freedom? Was this change of power predetermined, did this all happen by chance or did people have a choice? In my opinion, if humans were not free and everything was predetermined then the country of the United States of America would not exist today, we would have continued on living under the England and its constraining laws....

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