Essay on Concepts that Illustrate the Founding Principles of America

Did you ever wonder how the United States’ founders envisioned America to be in the years to come? America’s founding fathers were tasked with the difficult challenge of finding a balance between preserving individual rights and forming a strong, long-lasting union. There are many examples of how the founding fathers found a balance. Some examples of this are showcased in the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and A New American Nation.

One of the most important parts of the Declaration of Independence is its preamble, and, more specifically, certain phrases contained within the preamble. Thomas Jefferson does an excellent job of explaining why the colonies are doing the things they are doing, and is very clear in stating what he and his associates think are the “unalienable rights” of the American people. Among these are “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” Probably one of the most famous lines in American history, I have chosen to focus on this phrase and what those three things might have meant to Thomas Jefferson and the other Founding Fathers as they prepared this document, as well as what they mean to us today.

Richard Hofstadter examines the political beliefs of the founding fathers in the first chapter of the American Political Tradition. Ideas thought about by most Americans to be the center of our organization, our founders viewed liberty, democracy, and property, as evil. The composition can be depicted to be vicious as well, because liberty, democracy, and property are linked to the United States Constitution.

America was founded on several principles to include, that all men are created equal. However, throughout history, it has been made clear through the various social classes that this is not the case within the realm of monetary value. It is for reasons such as this that the entitlement programs were born. Entitlement programs were created to provide security and assistance to those in need. They would allocate basic necessities for eligible persons and families to live comfortably until they are no longer necessary. Though a great deal of people across the country have benefited from these programs, it has come at a high cost to the government and the taxpayers. Because of the apparent success and high expenses, there are a number of arguments both for and against entitlement programs. This includes the extent of their benefits and costs, the amount spent to fuel them, and even their entire existence. On one hand, they have proven value by significantly reducing the national poverty level and other similar successes; on the other, they cost the country millions and have been adding to the ever increasing national deficit. Another common school of thought, is that an increasing number of individuals or families have become completely dependent on them as they create an avenue to stability at no cost to them. The overwhelming and unnecessary volume of goods and services—including medicaid, unemployment compensation, and food stamps— that entitlement programs supply to many

1. 1. As the Declaration of Independence states to the secure our unalienable rights;Life,liberty and the pursuit of happiness. 2.

In the Declaration of Independence it states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit

“Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness,” as stated in the Constitution as well as stated by the philosopher John Locke, is the basis for the United States of America as we know it today. The notion that all humans were created equal and that all people are entitled to basic human rights came from the various experiences the colonists faced through the Revolution, which was a vital influence in the creation of the Constitution. The revolution was a key turning point in American history, it was when the American colonies rejected the ideals of the British and battled for their independence.

In the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson expresses unalienable rights as a ideal for the US government. It has been argued on National Public Radio that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are essential to America’s government(Doc B). Citizens need to be able to depend on unalienable rights without doubt that the government can take them away because they are rights citizens are born with. Sullivan believed the government should “place(s) liberty at the center of its concerns” in order to give the people the rights they deserve. This shows that unalienable rights are very important to the U.S. government in order to give the people the rights they deserve; however, it is not the most important one to the American society.

The people of the United States Of America are protected by the “most influential document in American history”, that document is the declaration of independence and the ideals written with it. In 1776 President Thomas Jefferson was asked by Congress to write the Declaration Of Independence for our country. This document included an important list of ideals and beliefs that helped lay the structure and foundation of our country. These ideals are the foundation of our strong independent country. Our nation relies most on the ideals of equality, right to life, and the people's right to alter or abolish the government.

The Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, and the Constitution are all documents that the founding fathers created to start the new world. Although these documents were created years ago, today we as Americans still read and live by many of the ideas the founding fathers had. Like the right to free speech, as well as the most popular quote in the Declaration of Independence, the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Today we are living with many philosophical ideas the founding fathers had and wrote in the founding documents, as well as some ideas that wouldn’t work with today’s times.

For most of America’s history, farmers, entrepreneurs or shop owners could live their entire lives without getting any assistance from the federal government except maybe mail. But those days are long gone. In 2012 the total number of Americans on government assistance or welfare reached 4,3000,000. Many of which are 4th or 5th generation Welfare recipients. For whatever the reason, we have become a culture of dependency in which poverty is a trap. Long-term recipients loose job skills, work habits as well as work contacts. For this reason the government should require recipients to work as much as they can. It could be called “workfare” and could help recipients increase potential long-term earnings.

“The federal government currently funds 126 separate anti-poverty programs at an annual cost of $688 billion. Of these, 72 provide cash or other benefits directly to poor families” (Tanner). Welfare is a broken system that needs to be fixed because it is teaching the current generation the wrong way to live, encourages people to not work for what they need or want, and lacks accountability for how or where the money is being spent.

Every law, whether its unreasonable or not, establishes morality. While drafting the Constitution our Founding Fathers did so based off their challenging belief system of what was right and wrong. In today’s society many citizens still challenge this question and the stances of their morality. In my personal opinion I believe that it’s very important that citizens hold firm to their moral beliefs but in doing so they must truly understand it from a political perspective. Growing up in Georgia one of the “Bible Belt” states I have come to realize that many citizens have a hard time understanding the difference between the separation of church and state and morality from law. This has continuously led to more direct issues arising among citizens in the United States than ever before. Therefore justifying why one should perform morally can be a very difficult task to answer. I believe the solution to the problem needs not to be based on any religious views because morality is not based on the principles of commands but rather the motivates of Gods commands and exist individually. Social morality helps enable everyone in a society to live better and is very beneficial for all citizens. Yes, I believe that holding firm to your moral is important as a citizen when you have knowledge of it from a political standpoint.

Every American dreams of finding a job that pays well enough so that they may comfortably take care of their loved ones and themselves for years to come. Most Americans hope to find some way to make a living that they enjoy, something that they view as productive. Unfortunately, many do not have this luxury. In our society, a good portion of the population is forced to hold the base of our country in place while hardly being redeemed for their time and effort, and thus the problem of income inequality. Numbers of these people live from paycheck to paycheck, barely getting by, not because they manage their money poorly, but because the value of their time at work is negligible.

As stated by the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the