Throughout history, Americans have sought to spread the spirit of equality, which is believed to be the realization of true freedom. Before establishing this freedom, every American had only one question stuck in his head: What is freedom? Our country received it in the year 1776 from the English through a series of hardships and wars. African Americans defined it as an escape from slavery, while immigrants defined it as their acceptance into a new society. Furthermore, women with women's suffrage defined their freedom as recognition in society and the equality of their rights with those of every other man. These different perceptions of cultures/groups in America came together to form an American vision of freedom. Freedom is something that every American should be willing to do anything to maintain. We may have weapons of mass destruction, but when it comes to living a peaceful American lifestyle, our freedom is our greatest weapon. If the soldiers who fought in the American Revolution were alive today to see what our nation has accomplished, they would cry tears of joy. These people defined their freedom as having an independent country where everyone came together and lived under one set of laws where everyone had equal rights. The novel, 1776, highlights the emotions Americans felt when the Declaration of Independence was signed through the following lines: “The year 1776, celebrated as the birth of the nation and for the signing of the Declaration of Independence, was for those who brought ahead the struggle for independence brought forward a year of too few victories, of prolonged suffering, disease, hunger, desertion, cowardice, disillusionment, defeat, terrible discouragement and fear, as they never would for... half of the paper. .....while African Americans undertook journeys to escape the restrictions of their masters, women undertook similar journeys to escape the restrictions of the men around them. Immigrants further struggled to adapt to the American way of life and receive recognition as Americans. All three groups seemed to shape an American way of life. Today, all three of these perceptions of freedom have made their appearance in our lives. As we can see, the transition of freedom from racial equality to gender equality shows that freedom has been in constant change. Everyone acquires their own definition of freedom but its reality is still unknown; people may simply have different perceptions of freedom. However, in today's society, African Americans live freely, women are independent, and immigrants are accepted in society. What more freedom could you ask for??