In discussing the American revolution, the role of individual liberty and equality is at the forefront of important matters. While the war was viewed holistically as struggle between Great Britain and the colonists, there were also important internal issues among the colonists themselves. For instance, the equality of people among different social classes, races and genders played a serious role in terms of determining what kind of nation would most effectively foster equality. In Eric Foner’s Give Me Liberty, chapter six offered insight into how these internal struggles manifested and what kind of implications they had. While matters such as social class, race and gender were important during the American Revolution, these factors were just few of many others related to the broader theme of equality. Throughout the secondary accounts of various social issues during the revolution, other facets of society such as religion and political views were also relevant to the discussion. Mainly, religious freedom was something that was also taken into account. In the segment titled Toward Religious Toleration, the author outlined that church and state had to be separated in order to ensure that people’s views were not used as means by which others were oppressed. James Madison even outlined that the United States of America would be a haven for those that were religiously oppressed in other nations. The attention paid towards religion reflected a much broader focus on holistic freedom. Despite this, the revolution was also a struggle with regards to freedom of opinion. For instance, The Limits of Liberty outlined that loyalists, or “those who retained their allegiance in the Crown,” were forced to swear allegiance and even chose to emigrate in some instances. This represented the nature of internal struggles within the revolution that extended beyond just Great Britain. Surely, not everyone in the revolution agreed that a new order was the right course of action for the…
