Free Silver Movement Late-19th-century U.S. political movement that advocated unlimited coinage of silver. Proponents included owners of western silver mines, farmers who wanted higher crop prices, and debtors who believed an expanded currency would allow them easier payment. A depression in the mid-1870s led to an 1878 law requiring the U.S. Trea¬ sury to purchase millions of dollars in silver and coin it. After farm prices rose briefly, farm and land prices collapsed in 1887, reviving the demand of farmers for free silver. In 1890 Congress again increased silver pur¬ chases, and free silver was an objective of the Populist Movement in the 1892 election. In 1893 the amount of gold in the treasury dropped sharply, precipitating a panic. Congress repealed the act of 1890, angering farmers. In 1896 the Democrats nominated William Jennings Bryan for president and backed free silver. The Republican William McKinley narrowly won. In 1900 a Republican Congress enacted the Gold Standard Act.
Free-Soil Party Minor but influential 19th-century U.S. political party that opposed the extension of slavery into the western territories. In 1846 proponents of the Wilmot Proviso and other antislavery factions formed a party; in 1848 it nominated former president Martin Van Buren to head its ticket. Though Van Buren lost, many party supporters were elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. By 1854 the party was absorbed into the Republican Party.
Free State See Orange Free State
free-tailed bat Any of about 90 species of bats (family Molossidae), found worldwide in warm regions, that are named for the way part of the tail extends beyond the membrane attached between the hind legs. Also known as mastiff or bulldog bats because of their facial resemblance to those dogs, free-tailed bats are swift fliers with a stout body and long,
slender wings. They are about 1.6-5 in. (4-13 cm) long, excluding the 0.6-3-in. (1.5-8-cm) tail, and typically have small eyes, a heavy snout, large ears, and dark fur. They eat insects and roost in tree hollows, caves, and buildings. Most species live in groups; some, including the Mexican free-tailed bat, form colonies of several million. In the past, guano from such colonies was mined for fertilizer and for sodium nitrate (used to make gunpowder).
free trade Policy in which a government does not discriminate against imports or interfere with exports. A free-trade policy does not necessar¬ ily imply that the government abandons all control and taxation of imports and exports, but rather that it refrains from actions specifically designed to hinder international trade, such as tariff barriers, currency restrictions, and import quotas. The theoretical case for free trade is based on Adam Smith’s argument that the division of labour among countries leads to spe¬ cialization, greater efficiency, and higher aggregate production. The way to foster such a division of labour. Smith believed, is to allow nations to make and sell whatever products can compete successfully in an interna¬ tional market.
free-trade zone Area within which goods may be landed, handled, and re-exported freely. The purpose is to remove obstacles to trade and to permit quick turnaround of ships and planes. Only when the goods are moved to consumers within the country in which the zone is located do they become subject to tariffs and customs regulation. Free-trade zones are found around major seaports, international airports, and national fron¬ tiers; there are more than 200 such zones in the U.S. alone.
free verse Poetry organized according to the cadences of speech and image patterns rather than according to a regular metrical scheme. Its rhythms are based on patterned elements such as sounds, words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs, rather than on the traditional units of metrical feet (see metrical foot). Free verse thus eliminates much of the artifici¬ ality and some of the aesthetic distance of poetic expression. It became current in English poetics in the early 20th century. See also prosody.
free will problem Problem arising from the apparent inconsistency between causal determinism in nature and the human power or capacity to choose among alternatives or act freely in certain situations, thus inde¬ pendently of natural, social, or divine compulsions. Its significance derives from the fact that free will is generally considered a necessary presupposition of moral responsibility, while determinism has (at least until the advent of quantum mechanics) been regarded a necessary presup¬ position of natural science. Arguments for free will are based on the sub¬ jective experience of freedom, on sentiments of guilt, on revealed religion, and on the supposition of responsibility for personal actions that under¬ lies the concepts of law, reward, punishment, and incentive. In theology, the existence of free will must be reconciled with God’s foreknowledge, with divine omniscience and goodness (in allowing humans to choose badly), and with divine grace, which allegedly is necessary for any meri¬ torious act.
Freed, Arthur orig. Arthur Grossman (b. Sept. 9, 1894, Charles¬ ton, S.C., U.S.—d. April 12, 1973, Los Angeles, Calif.) U.S. film pro¬ ducer and lyricist. He performed in vaudeville and wrote songs in the 1920s. MGM hired him in 1929 to write lyrics for musicals, and over the next decade he produced hits such as “Singin’ in the Rain,” “Temptation,” and “You Are My Lucky Star.” After serving as associate producer of The Wizard ofOz (1939), he was promoted to producer. He was largely respon¬ sible for the high quality of MGM’s musicals of the 1940s and ’50s, including Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), Easter Parade (1948), An Ameri¬ can in Paris (1951, Academy Award), Singin’ in the Rain (1952), and Gigi (1958, Academy Award).
Freedmen's Bureau (1865-72) U.S. agency established during Reconstruction to help freed slaves in their transition to freedom. Offi¬ cially named the U.S. Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, it was directed by Oliver O. Howard. It built hospitals and pro¬ vided medical assistance to more than 1 million freed blacks and 21 mil¬ lion rations for blacks and whites. It also built more than 1,000 schools for black children and helped found colleges and teacher-training insti¬ tutes for blacks, but it had little success in safeguarding civil rights and promoting land redistribution. Congress later responded to pressure from white Southerners by terminating the bureau.
freedom of speech Right, as stated in the 1st and 14th Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, to express information, ideas, and
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freehold ► Fremont I 709
opinions free of government restrictions based on content. A modern legal test of the legitimacy of proposed restrictions on freedom of speech was stated in the opinion by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. in Schenk v. U.S. (1919): a restriction is legitimate only if the speech in question poses a “clear and present danger”—i.e., a risk or threat to safety or to other pub¬ lic interests that is serious and imminent. Many cases involving freedom of speech and of the press also have concerned defamation, obscenity, and prior restraint (see Pentagon Papers). See also censorship.
freehold In Anglo-American law, ownership of a substantial interest in real property (see real and personal property) held for an indefinite period. The term originally designated the owner of an estate held in free tenure, who possessed, under the Magna Carta, the rights of a free man. Today a freehold is distinguished from a leasehold, a contract to hold real prop¬ erty for a specified period. See also copyhold, fee, landlord and tenant.