Running head: FREEDOM
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Freedom is Not Free
Monika Koppel
SJVC Online
English 122 Unit 2
Benjamin B. Andrews
November 20, 2012
Running head: FREEDOM
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Abstract
When thinking about the abolishment of slavery many people can only think of Martin
Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln. When taking a deeper look the fighting for
freedom against slavery can be seen all the way back to Roman times. Spartacus fought
to free the slaves that were forced to fight to the death in the coliseums. Toussaint
Louverture fought against multiple countries including Spain, France, and Britain for the
rights and end of slavery of the black Haitians. Cesar Chavez also fought for the end of a
different type of slavery. He fought for fair wages of farm workers and succeeded in his
mission. Freedom should not be taken for granted, freedom is not a given. Many people
fight every day for people’s freedom, and those people do not even know that it is
happening. Throughout history all the uprising and protests have shaped the freedom we
know today.
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Freedom is Not Free
Freedom! Do you ever think of your freedom? How did it come to be? Many
people take their freedom for granted; they do not think of how many people sacrificed
their lives to end slavery and protect freedom. Slavery is not only when a person owns
another person who does labor for “free”, but also there is wage slavery where the
persons livelihood depends on the wage they earn. When people think of slavery they
think of African-Americans in America, President Lincoln, and the Civil war. What
many do not realize is slavery was and still is a problem throughout the world from
ancient Romans to more recent Mexicans. Some famous freedom fighters are the Roman
Spartacus, the Haitian Toussaint L Ouverture, and the Mexican-American Cesar Chavez.
When thinking of Rome, many think of coliseums and gladiators. That is exactly
what the Roman Spartacus was. Gladiators were made up of prisoners of war, slaves
bought specifically to fight, and criminals sentenced to gladiator school (Grout,
2012). Spartacus ran away while in the Roman army and his punishment was he was
sold into slavery and sentenced to gladiator school. Here, they were taught to kill. He
escaped along with a large number of other slaves and formed a slave army to fight the
Roman army. “Spartacus defeated a series of Roman attacks using tactics which would
now be called guerrilla warfare” (BBC History, 2012). After so many victories for
Spartacus and his slave army it was beginning to become difficult for the Roman
Emperor to find a general willing to lead another attack on Spartacus. General Crassus
eventual took on the task and crushed Spartacus and his army. Spartacus’s body was
never found but about 6,000 members of the slave army were crucified as an example to
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other slaves. Ultimately Spartacus’ uprising was a failure and did not have an affect on
the other slaves during the time. In the 19th century, however, his story became the
inspiration to many revolutionaries, politicians and writers. At the end of WWI two
individuals, Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, were part of the revolutionary leftwing organization of the German Social Democratic Party that created the Spartacist
League. This group was quickly disbanded and deemed illegal. Spartacus may not have
succeeded in his uprising but people see him as an inspirational figure because he tried
and fought for a cause.
Unlike Spartacus, Toussaint L’Ouverture was born a slave in French
Haiti. Although a slave he was one of the very few slaves who were “employed” by
humane masters as a personal servant (U.S. Library, 2012). Because his master was more
liberal in his beliefs, L’Ouverture was allowed to learn how to read and write. Because of
this, he read every book he could get his hands on including books on war tactics by
Julius Caesar helping him learn how to be an efficient leader. Before the revolt of slaves
in Haiti L’Ouverture’s master freed him giving him the ability to join and lead the slave
army against the French, the British, and the Spanish empires for twelve years (PBS,
2009). He first went and fought with the Spaniards against the French and was such a
successful leader the French wanted him back as a Commander and Chief of the colony
(Nosotro, 2003). He returned to the French side after they abolished slavery and with
such high privileges, L’Ouverture started replacing white high-ranking officials with
blacks. L’Ouverture is seen as the leader of the revolution against the French that
ultimately emancipated slavery in Haiti and although briefly lived, gave Haiti a blackgoverned colony. “Haitian Revolution, a movement that's been called the true birth
Running head: FREEDOM
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moment of universal human rights” (PBS, 2009, para 1).
Slavery in the terms of being owned by another human, as in L’Ouverture and
Spartacus’ situation, is not the only type of slavery. Cesar Chavez fought for the fairness
of Mexican-Americans against wage-slavery. Wage slavery is seen as having to do hard
labor for a small amount of money because you need the money for your
livelihood. Cesar Chavez was born in Arizona and because of the Great Depression his
family lost everything and they had to migrate west to find work (Sahlman, 2012). He
would go from farm to farm picking fruits and vegetables for a very small wage. In 1948
Chavez began to fight for change for field workers and took place in his first protest. He
joined an organization called “Community Service Organization - CSO. His first task was
voter registration” (United Farm Workers, n.d., para 9). Chavez went up and down
California giving speeches and urging Mexican-Americans to register to vote. After a
few years he created the National Farm Workers Association, later changed to United
Farm Workers- UFW. This organization encouraged all Americans to boycott table
grapes because of the unfair wages the workers were experiencing. This boycott caught
the attention of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee and Robert Kennedy gave Chavez his full
support (Sahlman, 2012). Cesar Chavez was willing to sacrifice by fasting to prove a
point and gain the attention of America. All of his protests and fasting for the rights of
farm workers generally ended with the signing of bargaining agreements. Cesar Chavez
is seen as a hero of modern time.
When thinking of freedom have the names Spartacus, Toussaint L’Ouverture, or
Cesar Chavez ever crossed your mind? They should. Each one of these men fought until
death for the idea of freedom. Although some were not seen as heroes immediately, their
Running head: FREEDOM
legacy lives on and is respected more and more as the years go on. The people of
Spartacus’ time thought he had failed and today is seen as a symbol of freedom as is
L’Ouverture and Chavez. Fighting against the odds for freedom takes courage and
selflessness, just a small amount of characteristics these three men had. Without their
sacrifices who knows how your freedom would be defined today.
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Reference
BBC History. (2012). Spartacus. BBC History. Retrieved from
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/spartacus.shtml
Cavendish, R. (2008). The Spartacist Uprising in Berlin. History Today. Retrieved from
http://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/spartacist-uprising-berlin
Grout, J. (2012). The Roman Gladiator. History and Culture of Rome. Retrieved from
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/gladiators/gladiators.
html
Nosotro, R. (2003). L’Ouverture, Toussaint. HyperHistory.net. Retrieved from
http://hyperhistory.net/apwh/bios/b4louverturetoussaint.htm
PBS. (2009). PBS. Égalité for All. Retrieved from
http://www.pbs.org/programs/egalite-for-all/
Sahlman, R. (2012). Cesar Chavez. Spectrum. Home and School Network. Retrieved from
http://www.incwell.com/Biographies/Chavez.html
U.S. Library of Congress. (2012). TravelingHaiti.com. The History of Haiti. Retrieved
from http://www.travelinghaiti.com/history_of_haiti/toussaint_louverture.asp
United Farm Workers. (n.d.). United Farm Workers. The Story of Cesar
Chavez. Retrieved from
http://www.ufw.org/_page.php?inc=history/07.html&menu=research