I do not think that people escaped to America so much because they were chasing “freedom”. Instead I believe that people escaped to America in hopes of economic gain. European aristocracy was so oppressive that the only means for people to have any hope to keep what they earned was to flee and escape.
I am thinking that the world is looking that way again. Once again, the wealthy are using oppression to control others and keep others from gaining any wealth.
History teaches us, but the world changes; average, everyday people are finding power with each other. Those who would oppress, chase us into corners rather than to distant shores.