Importance Of Freedom In The Crucible

Salemites persecuted each other ruthlessly in the famous witch trials of the late 1600s. The average townsperson had no means of defense in a court where individual rights were obliterated. In dealing with The Crucible, it becomes obvious that the people of Salem laid themselves vulnerable to their own government by giving up too many individual freedoms. When the Salemites first arrived to the New World, they came to a harsh, new landscape where mere survival during the winters required complete cooperation. In order to achieve such unity, they gave up a few rights and created a theocracy. However, as the decades flew by, the need for such a theocracy lessened, and people started to deviate from the norm. These people were called the ‘witches.’ …show more content…
A nation and everything that comprises it, such as its culture, ideals, and innovations; cannot survive if its people are destroyed. Therefore, “one of the foremost duties of the federal government” is to protect the people, especially in times of war (Amicus 1). In the past, it has never been an issue to give up some privileges during war. As was the case in World War II, the people voluntarily created ways to ration food and materials in order to help fight and secure themselves. They limited their own freedom to consume as much as they wanted, to purchase as much as they wanted, to do anything they wanted, in order to help their country at war. Recently, the country has been at war with terrorists and is now re-entering war. After the attacks of September 11, the United States thwarted “more than twenty-three attempted attacks by [terrorists],” which was due, in part, to the increased access to information and new, restrictive legislation (Amicus 3). This same increased access and legislation has come under criticism for violating basic constitutional rights. However, the Constitution itself was mostly ratified “because of the widely-recognized need to defend against external threats” (Amicus 4). John Locke claims that the “preservation of society [...] and every person in it was the first and fundamental natural law” (Amicus 4). The Founding Fathers considered the personal concerns after security …show more content…
The preservation of the nation’s existence is only half the battle. The other half is the preservation of the ideals that comprise the nation- democracy, freedom, and equality. The government cannot preserve the American way of life, if it destroys itself in the process. However important security may be, one cannot “protect democracy by subverting democratic principles like” the freedom of speech, dissent and due process (Roberts-Miller 1). Though it is true that people from Americans during World War II rationed and sacrificed, they never compromised their ideals in the way that occurred in the 1950s during the Cold War. With “horrific consequences,” the people in the 1950s practiced what is now called McCarthyism, and ignored the basic constitutional rights of dissent and due process (Roberts-Miller 1). Even though the Constitution was ratified in order to protect the people, the document has evolved since then just as it will continue to evolve as the country changes. The Constitution has and always will be subject to revision. The first ten major revisions were and continue to be the establishment of the rights the United States prides itself on, the Bill of Rights. Even so, the Preamble to the Constitution, which clearly states the document’s purpose, includes the securement of “the Blessing of Liberty” to the nation and its posterity as