Symbols Of Freedom And The Values They Represent Essays

Symbols of Freedom and the Values They Represent American symbols are almost as complicated and interpretive as the American politics they serve. In my first grade class, before the boy scouts were kicked out of meeting in public schools, they made us do the Pledge of Allegiance. This frightened me; being put into a class where these lunatic people talked to a piece of cloth hanging on the wall, and in my fear they sent me back to kindergarten. When I reached the first grade for the second time, they taught that the red stripes were for the blood of dead soldiers, and the white ones for flesh. The blue was for the night sky they fought under, and the fifty stars represented every state in the union (no one mentioned that there were only thirteen at the time of the revolution). As a Sophomore in High School, we studied Humanities, and learned that the colors of the American flag mimicked the colors of the French one due to copious amounts of money donated by the French. Perhaps their intention was not so much to aid the colonists, but to hinder the British they had quarreled with for so many years. In any event, Humanities taught that the colors of the flag were a money matter. As for the representation of American values, perhaps paying tribute to one's debts and loyalties is what is evident here. The Confederacy (Citation to see attached) said that white was for, "innocence and purity"; red symbolizing, "valor and hardiness"; and blue marking, "vigilance, perseverance, and justice." No official record of the original intention behind the coloring of the United States flag has been found to date. American coins are characterized not only by monetary values out of proportion to size (nickels to dimes) but by the Latin phrase, "E Pluribus Unum" or >Out of many, one.' This is most likely symbolic of early Americans' commitment to voting together and then acting together in the manner which they had pledged. One could also apply it to the fifty (then thirteen) states coming together to form one common country. http://www.adventure.com/library/encyclopedia/america/libbell.html The Ring Of Freedom July 4, 1776 PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA For more than 200 years, the Liberty Bell has been one of the most visible symbols of American freedom. Made in England, the bell was brought to Philadelphia in 1753 and hung in the new Pennsylvania State House, which is now known as Independence Hall. The bell is inscribed with the words "Proclaim Liberty throughout all the Land," which is a phrase found in the Bible (Leviticus 25:10). On July 4, 1776, the bell was rung when the members of the Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence. This began an Independence Day tradition that was observed every year, except in 1777 and 1778, when the British captured Philadelphia and the bell was hidden for safe keeping. The last time the bell was rung was in 1846, when a small crack in the bell grew so large that it could no longer be sounded. But it is still seen by millions of people each year when they visit Philadelphia's Liberty Bell Pavilion. Copyright 8 1996 Knowledge Adventure, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://libertynet.org/iha/betsy/index.html This material is copyright by, and used with permission of, the Independence Hall Association. For further information, visit the Independence Hall Association's Home Page on the World Wide Web at http://libertynet.org/iha What do the red, white, and blue of the flag represent? The Continental Congress left no record to show why it chose the colors. However, in 1782, the Congress of the Confederation chose these same colors for the Great Seal of the United States and listed their meaning as follows: white to mean purity and innocence, red for valor and hardiness, and blue for vigilance, perseverance, and justice. According to legend, George Washington interpreted the elements of the flag this way: the stars were taken from the sky, the red from the British colors, and the white stripes signified the secession from the home country. However, there is no official designation or meaning for the colors of the flag. Why are the stars in a circle? The stars were in a circle so that no one colony would be viewed above another. It is reported that George Washington said, "Let the 13 stars in