The Effects of Freedom

The settlers who arrive in America are accustomed to an oppressive government that allows few freedoms. Kristina recognizes the effects of this freedom when she visits her friends, Ulrika and Henry Jackson. Ulrika had been labeled "whore" in Sweden but was now married to a Baptist minister and was well regarded in the community. Ulrika was no longer browbeaten and without hope for a better tomorrow. Kristina says that she's seen others who bettered themselves once they were in America with the freedom to do with their lives as they wished. It can be argued that Karl is another example of this theme. Karl believes that he can do anything he sets out to accomplish if he only works hard enough at it. In Sweden, he was limited by the fact that his government had declared him a peasant and he would never have been...