American Values: Freedom

We frequently hear the term ?values? discussed with regard to American politics, culture and life. But what are “American values?” All week, we’re delving into this question. Yesterday we discussed home ownership. Today we wrap up our series with a look at freedom. How did freedom come to be an American Value? If we value freedom so much, why have we spent so much of our nation’s history enslaving our own people, or oppressing those in other nations? And what does Freedom mean to Americans today?

Joining us is Gene Clem, president of the Southwest Michigan Tea Party Patriots, who shares what freedom means to him, along with Eric Foner, a professor of history at Columbia University, and author of ?The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln? and ?American Slavery: The Story of American Freedom.?