The Declaration of Independence and Freedom
18th and 19th century was divorced from the centuries that preceded them—centuries in which the concept of freedom was attached to the concept of “free will” and thought of primarily in a spiritual sense—i.e., a religious sense. With the Protestant Reformation, a break from the religious doctrines of the Middle Ages, and the rise of the Enlightenment and Romantic Eras came a new approach to freedom. Freedom was thought of not as a choice one had between doing good and evil but rather as the liberty to do as one… Continue Reading...