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The Declaration Of Independence And The United States

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The Declaration of Independence stated the United States should be established as a country, free from British control, the U.S. Constitution is a set of rules for that nation to follow, and Mark Twain’s As Regards Patriotism examines how these two documents affect the mindset of this country. Groupthink, not a word use in 1900, when Twain penned his essay, but it is a good analogy of what he was discussing. Psychology Today says, “Groupthink occurs when a group values harmony and coherence over accurate analysis and critical evaluation. It causes individual members of the group to unquestioningly follow the word of the leader and it strongly discourages any disagreement with the consensus.” In As Regards Patriotism, Twain talks about how training creates belief, and one belief can be patriotism, “A man can seldom—very, very seldom—fight a winning fight against his training; the odds are too heavy.” Americans have been trained to believe that the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution are the epitome of the American ideal. The Declaration of Independence tells us, “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 of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed” the U.S. Constitution on the other hand

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