What Does Freedom Mean? | Educating with Evidence | SIU

Warm-up Activity: What Does Freedom Mean?

When he was an enslaved person, Frederick Douglass says he did not understand that he “was a slave” until he realized all the things he could not do. What might an enslaved person not be allowed to do? Below are some of the freedoms he did not have (e.g., Freedom to Work). First, think about how you would define these five (5) freedoms, and then flip the card to see the definition.

Illustrating Freedom

In 1865, Thomas Nast published an updated illustration he called “Emancipation.” The lefthand side depicts images before emancipation and includes slave hunters stalking freedom seekers, enslaved persons being sold at an auction and being beaten. The middle of the illustration shows a family at home enjoying the benefits of emancipation, which are further depicted on the righthand side with children going to a building labeled “public school” and men being paid for their work at a window labeled “cashier.”

Your task is to identify which freedoms are being supported (in green; on the left) or violated (in red; on the right) in this illustration. Drag 4 of the 5 freedoms to where they are best represented in the image. Remember, one of these freedoms is not represented here.

Click here for a closer look.

Pause and Reflect

In 1865, “Emancipation” did not necessarily mean African Americans would have access to all of these freedoms. Which one did you notice is missing in the image? Why is that freedom just as important (if not more important) than the other freedoms? In the next activity of this module, you will learn more about African Americans’ 100-year struggle after “Emancipation” to gain these freedoms.

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