Defining Freedom

Defining Freedom: Appreciating the Right to Vote

It's hard to imagine putting one's feet into another's shoes whom never once had the right to vote. Currently, many take an indifferent stance to their rights to vote in this day and era. While in fact, those who treat their rights with apathy fail to realize the political system was never always like this. While it seems miniscule, even simply just contributing a solitary vote in the ballot box means so much significance for an individual's importance and independence in the nation. In the past, Americans had neither the right to vote nor the right to freedom, but American history had eliminated the political injustice that was laden upon the people of the nation centuries back.

In the 18th century, the United States was not a consolidation of fifty states like today; rather it was a group of colonies controlled by Britain with an iron fist. None of its residents had the right to the freedom of voting or even had a form of political power. Within its control, the Thirteen Colonies were fully controlled by the British Parliament. The legislation of Britain passed a plethora of laws and regulations which restricted freedom and the colonists’ natural rights. One of most oppressive events considered by the colonists back then was the enforcement of the Intolerable Acts, also as known as the Coercive Acts by the British Parliament in 1774. These laws sparked immense outrage and resistance as the acts self righteously asserted British rule and imperialism. The Coercive Acts imposed hefty taxes on goods such as tea and sugar in the colonies which proved that the British had an absolute monopoly over the circulation of trade and business. The colonists were rejected the right to have a voice in regards of their own homeland and were invariably ruled by a country across the Atlantic Ocean.

It was only after years of oppression when the colonists took up arms and valiantly fought against the British for their freedom...