Short answers, pulled from the story.
The word liberty derives from the Latin term libertas, which comes from the root for people. This etymological root links the concept of freedom directly to the identity of the human being. It suggests that liberty was never meant to be an abstract luxury but a fundamental condition of existence for a community.
The Magna Carta was enacted in the year 1215 and became the cornerstone of liberty in England and later the world. This document, originally known as the Charter of Liberties, was forced upon King John by a group of rebellious barons who demanded that the king's power be limited by law. It established the principle that the law was the supreme authority, not the king.
The United States Declaration of Independence in 1776 proclaimed that all people have a natural right to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, yet this declaration was troubled for 90 years by the continued institutionalization of legalized Black slavery. The Supreme Court, in the 1857 Dred Scott decision, upheld the principle that slave owners had a right to their property, and that Blacks had no rights that any White man was obliged to recognize. It was not until 1866, after the American Civil War, that the US Constitution was amended to extend rights to persons of color.
In 1789, France overthrew its own monarchy with the cry of Liberté, égalité, fraternité, but the bloodbath that followed, known as the Reign of Terror, soured many people on the idea of liberty. The French Revolution demonstrated the dangers of liberty without order, as the pursuit of freedom led to the execution of thousands of people, including the king and queen. The revolution also highlighted the tension between negative liberty, the absence of arbitrary restraints, and positive liberty, the freedom to pursue one's goals.
The Non-Aggression Principle asserts that aggression against an individual or an individual's property is always a moral violation of one's life, liberty, and property rights. Libertarianism holds liberty as its primary political value, opposing any governmental coercion aside from that which is necessary to prevent individuals from coercing each other. This principle serves as a core tenet for those who prioritize individual freedom above all else.