From "Instructions For American Servicemen in Britain 1942"
When I first read this years ago I was very struck by the final sentence in this paragraph. The time between the Civil War and this document is less than the time between this document and now. However, somehow our modern perspectives on the conflict have grown more vitriolic than they were then, when many reading this likely had spoken with family members that lived through it.
In the discussion of liberty, I believe an oft overlooked aspect is what I would call the "capacity for enforcement". Sure, an ancient king could have you executed for speaking against him, but he would have to hear it or have someone report it to him that did. Our laws today may be less draconian, but with a modern police force, surveillance, forensics, etc everything is much more enforceable. Even back in like the 1920s, it would be unrealistic for the government to reliably enforce a law say, limiting the capacity of a boat engine. Now to do such is fairly easy, using a modern policing force and monitoring tactics/algorithms. It is because of this that I believe man is less free than he has ever been.