This paper examines three significant episodes in American history in which the federal government denied or restricted the freedoms of its citizens. Beginning with the women's suffrage movement — which took 144 years to secure women's voting rights — the paper then analyzes the HUAC "Red Scare" investigations of 1947, which curtailed due process and targeted suspected communists through unfair, politically motivated hearings. Finally, it addresses Prohibition, the 18th Amendment's 14-year ban on alcohol, which criminalized ordinary behavior, swelled prison populations, and enriched organized crime. Together, these cases illustrate a recurring tension between government authority and individual constitutional rights throughout American history.
The paper demonstrates effective use of historical quotation as argumentative evidence. Rather than simply summarizing events, the author lets primary voices — a senator, a defense attorney, a screenwriter under investigation — speak directly, then contextualizes those quotes to support a broader claim about government overreach. This technique shows how direct evidence can carry persuasive weight without overstating conclusions.
The essay opens with a framing introduction that acknowledges both sides — when government has promoted and denied freedom — before narrowing to its three case studies. Each case study is handled as a discrete section with its own evidence and commentary. The paper concludes implicitly within the Prohibition section rather than with a formal conclusion paragraph, which is a structural weakness typical of shorter undergraduate essays.
Freedom isn't always "free," as many Americans have discovered over the past two hundred and thirty years. There is a price to be paid for freedom, even in the "land of the free." At numerous moments in this nation's history, the government has promoted freedom for its people: in the writing of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights; through the waging — and winning — of the Revolutionary War against England; and through the Civil Rights Act (1964) and the Voting Rights Act (1965), among other landmark events and decisions. On the other hand, for various reasons and at various times, the federal government has also denied ordinary citizens their rights and constitutionally guaranteed freedoms. This paper examines three such episodes — the denial of women's suffrage, the HUAC investigations, and Prohibition — each of which caused serious hardship and fundamental unfairness.
It should be noted at the outset that just because women were not granted the right to vote by the federal government until 1920 does not mean they were entirely without freedom as Americans. They were free to do many things that democracy guarantees. However, they could not participate in the most important and most sacred act in a democratic country: choosing the leaders who make law and policy, and making one's voice heard at the ballot box. Denying women the right to vote for 144 years — when they were as intelligent as men, as capable of reading, writing, and making decisions — was a denial of the feminine gender's full constitutional rights.
In 1848, at Seneca Falls, New York, a "Declaration of Sentiments" was drafted by a women's rights convention. The declaration was modeled after the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution, but it was greeted with ridicule. The federal government was no ally to women on this issue in 1848; the issues of slavery and states' rights were far more pressing matters to legislators and executives in Washington, D.C., than extending the right to vote to women.
In order to build public support for women's voting suffrage, the suffrage movement held a massive march and rally in Washington, D.C., on March 3 and 4, 1913, during presidential inauguration ceremonies. The Washington Post reported: "Beautiful women, posing in classic robes, passed in bewildering array, presenting an irresistible appeal to the artistic, and completely captivating the hundreds of thousands of spectators who struggled for a view along the entire route." The women were not trying to present an "irresistible appeal to the artistic"; they were trying to persuade enough elected officials to turn a deaf ear to opponents like Senator Joseph W. Bailey, who made the following remarks on January 7, 1918:
"I am opposed to women voting anywhere except in their own societies... The two most important personal duties of citizenship are military service and the sheriff's service, neither of which a woman is capable of performing."
A more dramatic example — concentrated into a short and intense period — of the government denying freedom to its citizens was the series of investigations conducted by the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC), also known as the "Red Scare." This period in U.S. history, beginning in 1947, was extraordinarily tense. It came immediately after World War II, and anyone who was — or had ever been — part of a left-leaning organization was under suspicion of being a communist or a communist sympathizer.
During a time when "accusations could cost people their jobs, ruin careers, or alienate friends," the collective mentality generally went along with extreme patriotism. What was effectively denied was freedom from invasion of privacy, freedom from accusation without evidence, and freedom from prosecution without a fair trial. These were not genuine trials; once a witness was labeled "unfriendly" and refused to cooperate, the assumption was that he or she was guilty as charged. It was, in the truest sense, a witch hunt. "Everyone — from businesspeople to actors, actresses, and writers — were deeply affected and afraid." The Highlander Center, a group advocating rights for African Americans, "was labeled as subversive and subjected to investigation, and their members were harassed" — conduct that resembled fascism far more than democracy.
The hearings were patently unfair from the very beginning. They were titled "Hearings Regarding the Communist Infiltration of the Motion Picture Industry" (held October 20–30, 1947), and their conclusions appeared predetermined before any fair hearing of the issues or the accused — a denial of democratic justice.
Witnesses were classified as either "friendly" or "unfriendly." A "friendly" witness had already cooperated with HUAC and indicated a willingness to name names — to identify suspected communists — so that committee members, including Congressman Richard Nixon, could appear to be fulfilling their patriotic duty of protecting America from a communist takeover.
The testimony of screenwriter John Howard Lawson illustrates the deeply unfair nature of these proceedings. Lawson attempted to read a statement to the committee, which began: "You have spent one week vilifying me before the American public." After being interrupted by the chairman, Lawson continued: "And you refuse to allow me to make a statement on my rights as an American citizen." The chairman replied: "I refuse to allow you to make that statement, because the first sentence in your statement is not pertinent to the inquiry," and he repeatedly pounded his gavel as Lawson attempted to read his prepared remarks.
These three episodes — the long denial of women's suffrage, the HUAC Red Scare hearings, and the era of Prohibition — each illustrate a recurring pattern in American history in which the federal government restricted the constitutional rights and personal freedoms of its own citizens. Whether by withholding the vote, suppressing political dissent, or criminalizing private behavior, these actions stand as reminders that the protection of liberty requires ongoing vigilance against government overreach.
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