What freedom means to me

By Jackson Basting

Published Sunday, April 13, 2008

What freedom means to me is a fair treatment of all others, no matter who you are, where you come from, what religion you believe in or the color of your skin.

It does not matter if you're black or white, or if you're from Mexico or Iraq, or if you're Jewish or Islam. You are who you are and you're special that way.

Over 200 years ago, 56 people signed the Declaration of Independence. Seven years later, men like Ben Franklin, John Adams and John Jay signed the Treaty of Paris. In this treaty, Great Britain recognized the United States of America as an independent nation, a free nation.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." What that means is that we believe that all men are created equal and given by their Creator certain rights that cannot be taken away. People have the right to live, be free and seek happiness.

If you look very closely at a dime, you can see a phrase. It says "E Pluribus Unum." Congrats - you just read Latin for "Out of many, one." To put it in simpler terms, let's say you're one country and I'm the U.S. I stand for myself. You can't tell me what to do, but I can't tell you what to do.

Over 200 years ago, people fought for their freedom, for their country, for their lives. And now, people are fighting for their freedom, for their country, for their lives. And that is what freedom means to me.

Jackson Basting is a fifth-grade student at Boyd Intermediate School. This essay was the winner of the Azle Sertoma Club's annual Freedom Essay Contest. Basting is the son of John Basting of Boyd.