American Founding Character Analysis

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In what ways and to what extent did the “American identity” develop between 1750 and 1776?

The first Americans came from Asia, beginning as early as thirty thousand years ago, over a land bridge that formed at the Bering Strait during the Ice Age. The new immigrants were hunters and gatherers, and over a period of fifteen thousand years various groups spread over the American continents. By the time of the European “discovery” of the New World, there were perhaps as many as 100 million native Americans, the vast majority living in Central and South America.

1. Zinn's purpose for writing A People's History of the United States is to write about American history from the viewpoint of the people, and not from the rich or the men that made the decisions, but from the people who lived through those decisions and whose lives were affected. His purpose is not to make the people who were in charge look bad, but to see what they did from all perspectives.

The declaration of Independence is what shaped and provided the freedom the United States of America has today. The Declaration of Independence today is looked at a symbol for America to reflect on as it paved the way for most of the rights we have today. This document has been fundamental to american history longer than any other text because it was the first text to use “The United States of America” and in a sense the Declaration was the birth certificate of the American nation. It embodied what came to be viewed as the most memorable and clear statement of the ideals on which America was founded: the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, while also the first successful declaration of independence in world history.

When America’s founding fathers broke away from England, they weren’t the first colonial Englishmen on the American continent, there were plenty of French, Spanish, Dutch and even Russian colonial outposts established before them. What makes the English colonies along the Eastern seaboard story so important, was the fact that 13 colonies joined together to form what is now known as the United States. Furthermore, this 13 colonies New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia risk their lives, fortunes, and sacred honors to start a new nation free from Great Britain’s rule. In the mist of declaring independence from the most powerful nation on earth, America’s founding fathers created a governmental system that was unfamiliar during their era. America’s founding fathers created a government designed to protect civil liberties and encourage independence, a complex yet young and evolving system.

Most Americans nowadays like to think that they have the American Revolution pretty well figured out. Conventional wisdom starts the saga in 1763 when Britain, saddled with debt at the close of the Seven Years' War, levied new taxes that prompted her American colonists to resist, and then to reject, imperial rule. Having declared independence and defeated the British, American patriots then drafted the constitution that remains the law of the land to this day. With George Washington's inauguration as president in 1789, the story has a happy ending and the curtain comes down. This time-honored script renders the road from colonies to nation clear, smooth, and straight, with familiar landmarks along the way, from Boston's Massacre and Tea

Looking back at American History, we can see many instances where bravery and courage combined with a leap of faith changed the course of our country's history. The declaration of independence was perhaps the most significant of all those actions. In the late 1700's Britain began abusing their colonies in America, this did not sit well with the colonists, and soon people could no longer endure such unfairness and hardship. The founding fathers were more than justified to declare independence from Britain, liberating the people of America from the tyranny and abuse of the British crown.

The American colonists left England, but felt that they were still under England’s jurisdiction. The Continental Congress passed acts that questioned English authority. Cultures began to mingle and taxation policies increased under the British government after the French and Indian War. This caused the colonist to stop being loyal to England between 1750 to 1776 in order to gain independence and their own identity. Many of the colonists wanted to gain independence from Britain, but there were also some loyalist in the colonies.

Thomas Paine was an English-born American political activist and revolutionary. In 1791 he published a book titled “Rights of Man.” In this, Paine describes the natural rights of the people and what may happen if governments choose not to protect these rights. In this he states that America is a place against all odds doesn’t have oppressed poor, and that the rich are not overly privileged. Thomas Paine’s characterization of America doesn’t hold true today because the government is no longer just and that poor people are oppressed.

Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different Scholarly Review Gordon S. Wood, the author of the story, “Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different”, retells the lives of many influential men, through series of essays, who will forever leave their mark on the evolution of American government. These men helped create an egalitarian government, which gave voice to the people, an idea very uncommon at this time. Thus, the citizen’s opinions of people in power changed, and there would no longer be a group of self-made elite leaders ever again. Instead, a group of government leaders was created to be equal to the citizens. He uses these men, and their stories to support the thesis that the founders were a unique generation of men and women that can never be replicated.

Unity within colonies was extremely strong because it was assembled in a primal urge for survival. The colonists were in this entirely new land, so it was natural they would stick together to the familiar, and therefore build strong bonds and loyalty to their colony. Exclusion also excellently describes early America because of the way colonies expelled their own people if they did not follow the colony's strict ‘rules' of life. The primary source documents; "City upon a Hill", "Ann Hutchinson's Trial", "Founding Of The Iroquois League", and "The Mayflower Compact" are all brilliant examples of this contradictory yet surprisingly honest view of early American history. Early American History should be remembered as

Ms. Amendola had asked us to do a research project about George Washington or any of the Founding Fathers. The point of this assignment was to complete the questions on the papers she had assigned us to do . The points I earned on this assignment was a 40 out of 40 which was an A+.

“If you could have dinner with any person, living or dead, who would it be and why?” This question is most commonly asked at an event filled with a large group of strangers, as an icebreaker. Many would typically answer, George Washington, Ben Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and maybe if someone wants variety they could say someone like Marie Curie. All of these answers are superficial and simply the first historical person that someone could think of. In fact, I know I would have answered with George Washington. He was the first one to my mind, but why? Do I really want to have dinner with George Washington? What would I even talk to him about? I imagine the conversation would go something like this, “ Me: So uhm, I just wanted to thank you for crossing the Delaware River and stuff, that was pretty amazing and really impacted the rest of our country and our freedoms, thank you. George: Yeah happy to, I ‘m glad I did that too. “ *Proceed to eat lunch quietly because I don’t have questions nor really care. I could just read a history book and know the information I would ask from him. So when I was asked, “what engineer would I want to have dinner with?” it made me really hesitate and actually think for a minute. To then specify further and be asked what women engineer I would want dinner with made me really self reflect. What questions would I want to ask another female engineer? What are my final goals? What makes

This movie tells the story of a young man, from Southern California, that is the product of several unfortunate incidents, and his misguided search trying to answer the question why his life is the way it is.