What are the themes of The Story of American Freedom by Eric Foner?

The Story of American Freedom by Eric Foner is a look at American history through the lens of freedom. Foner explains that he believes the desire for and defense of freedom are what have guided American history and progress beginning with the American Revolution. He connects different events in history with different concepts of freedom to make his case. The main theme of the book is that freedom is the thing that most drives American progress.

Foner explains at the beginning of his text that "No idea is more fundamental to Americans' sense of themselves as individuals and as a nation than freedom." This is important because it lays out exactly what the reader should expect from the rest of the book; Foner is going to explain why the idea of freedom is so fundamental and how that truth has affected America. He goes on to explain that freedom has different meanings to different people at different times.

Some examples of types of freedom in America include the fight for equality between races, the fight for independence from Britain, the struggle for gender equality, and issues of income inequality.

One example of the way Foner connects history to freedom is the Civil Rights movement. He explains that Americans began discussing the disconnect between black people and white people in America even during the American Revolution. Many revolutionaries questioned how Americans could fight for freedom as a country while denying people basic human rights based on the color of their skin.

This question and the inherent lack of freedom between races didn't end during the Revolution. Instead, the Civil War broke the country in two—one side that wanted to keep slaves and one side that didn't. When America won and reincorporated the Southern states, it didn't fix all the problems of inequality. But it did offer a new type of freedom to Americans who had been imprisoned in slavery for generations.

The struggles of the 1900s, culminating in the civil rights movement, were another offshoot of the desire for freedom from racial inequality. He explains how civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. worked to change public opinion and illustrate how it would make the entire country more free to include and equalize everyone. Gaining the right to vote and the right to an education didn't happen overnight, but many Americans came together to eventually realize that right for the entire population.

Foner uses major events in American history to show how the idea of freedom changes. The question of whether freedom is individual rights to which a person is entitled or whether it is the ability to play a role in the government freely was a question that was already being debated when America was formed. Other definitions came into the public consciousness and were accepted later—and then they too changed as time went on. Foner shows how no one definition is right—that it's up to every American to define freedom for themselves. 

Foner continues the theme of freedom by showing that our current idea of freedom was shaped by those who came before us. The American struggle for freedom—whether we were fighting against outside influence in the Cold War or redefining our nation during the Civil War—is prevalent in every step of our nation's history. The word and ideal will continue to be redefined as each generation needs, depending on what challenges we face in the future.