What The Real Spirit Of America

The reasoning behind the Constitution of the United States is presented as 'based upon the philosophy of Hobbes and the religion of Calvin. It assumes the natural state of mankind in a state of war, and that the carnal mind is at enmity with God.' Throughout, the struggle between democracy and tyranny is discussed as the Founding Fathers who envisioned the Constitution in Philadelphia in 1787 believed not in total democracy, but instead saw common man as selfish and contemptuous, and therefore in need of a 'a good political constitution to control him.' Being a largely propertied body, with the exception of William Few, who was the

In Alfred Young’s essay The Pressure of the People on the Framers of the Constitution reported the actions that took place during the Philadelphia Convention. It was said that the Constitution was designed to last until the end of time. It was proposed that the national government should limit voting to the men of the community that held property in the form of land, a considerable farm or something with equal value. How could this work for the states that already granted suffrage to the people didn’t have these qualifications. What would the state do now, take away their right to vote? The end result was that each state decided that whoever voted in assembly would also vote for the house. Thomas Paine a radical democrat and influential part of the Revolutionary era advocated a democratic government where a single legislative would be at the top, and the executive branch would be elected from small localities by an extensive electorate where they would serve short terms. The original separation of the elitists was caused by fear of a mob and rebellion. Coercion and accommodation were to tactics used to control the threat of democratic majorities in the state. Anti-Federalists were looking to make numerous changes in the frame of the government. This would limit national power over the states, and curb the powers of the presidency while also protecting individual freedoms. Finally we come to the overwhelming opposition

American beliefs and opinions give a great understanding of what an American values. The want and need for freedom is described in many different ways based on origin or social beliefs. The main backbone of America today is freedom. Through the building of an American empire everyone can’t come to an understanding of what it is to be equally free. By comparing and contrasting the perspectives of Patrick Henry’s speech to the “Virginia Convention,” to take up arms and fight for our freedom. Frederick Douglass’ “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July,” who feels it’s time to end slavery. It is clear that the struggles of the American story are still prevalent and America has not yet found a way for freedom for all.

Upholding liberty is undoubtedly the greatest ideal; an ideal deeply vested within the minds of Americans. To be an American is to uphold liberty by understanding one another and showing respect for the individual. The Bill of Rights outlines this very well, with speech being the first right set forth as unalienable. Being American is not just the residency in America, it is the wholehearted upholding of these consummated truths. Blind patriotism is neither more American, for is glosses over the point of understand others. American is just the title for those who uphold these common goal, and act it out within the shared world.

The Declaration of Independence, arguably the most important document to have been written in the history of the United States, testified to the sovereignty given by the Founding Fathers to King George III and the whole of Great Britain which ultimately established the Thirteen Colonies as autonomous and free. The ideas perpetuated in the pages of this great document are compelling and genuine. However, they did not appear out of thin air. Therefore, it is appropriate to assert that these concepts did not come directly from the minds of the Founding Fathers themselves, but from philosophers like Edmund Burke, John Locke, and Alexis de Tocqueville.

During and subsequent to The American Revolutionary War, the new Country operated under The Articles of Confederation. Fearing that any central government in time would grow oppressive and tyrannical The Articles deliberately produced a weak government, which in time was destined to fail. The primary causation for the Constitutional Convention of 1787 was the failure of the Articles of Confederation. The Delegates of the Convention acknowledged that the only component that possessed the ability to inhibit the public’s freedom was their own government. Whether it was too weak and decentralized (in that it gave too much power to the states) or too centralized and powerful (similar to the British monarchy). The Constitution’s Framers did not believe in a direct democracy; they

The United States had created a new social contract in the form of its Constitution, in which they realized the ideas of Enlightenment. The natural rights of man, and the ideas of liberty, equality, and freedom of religion, were no longer unrealistic Utopian ideals. The framers of U.S Constitution rejected the Greek model of civic republicanism. They distinguished between the notion of “democracy” and their own proposed system of representative democracy. This made the

From the earliest starting point the English pioneers appreciated a more substantial level of self-government then the other European pilgrims. As more explorers migrated to the colonies and rooted their lives in colonial America, they began to feel isolated from the world they knew. Consequently, this isolation from the English rule marked a very difficult start to a new beginning and necessitated a gradual transition from the English culture to the American culture. Moreover, with this new American culture, the newcomers throughout the colonies began to think differently than their English cousins. Having the Atlantic Ocean operate as a buffer from English influence, the primitive societies began to assimilate and vote on their ideas of freedoms, rights and tolerances, and put them into legal documents. Accordingly, this display of democratic character was the beginning deviation from England’s monarchic ways that set the New World on the path to a Democratic Society. Having the habit of self-government from the very beginning, the colonist readily accepted the New American culture with concepts such as “Majority rule”, “All Men are Created Equal”, and “Religious Tolerance”.

In the first chapter of “How Congress Works”, Lee H. Hamilton discusses the idea of the American people being sovereign, or the supreme power. In our representative democracy, “neither Congress nor the president is supreme, because the ultimate authority lies with the people” (Hamilton 4). In “Why Does Sovereignty Matter to America”, Steven Groves shares the same sentiment as Hamilton saying, "Sovereignty is a simple idea: the United States is an independent nation, governed by the American people, that controls its own affairs” (Groves). Both Hamilton and Groves see sovereignty as a pivotal part of how our nation works. It’s obvious that the Founders intended for it to be this way. After being held under the tyranny of the King, they wanted

Liberty. Happiness. Those were the unalienable rights that our founding fathers built this nation around. Yet, we have taken away the lives of thousands of Cherokees. Liberty we had been promised, but now we take it away from the people who welcomed us into their land. Their is no doubt that Lewis and Clark would have died on their expedition, if not for the Native Americans and we chose to repay them by taking their freedoms. And then there is happiness. A quality that nobody has a monopoly on. Still, we know that happiness isn't expressed through tears. The cries that soldiers hear are not joyful. The tired, desperate and aching faces don't walk heavily because the pain that is holding the is a friend. No, Americans have rejected their creed, ignored their principals, and let themselves be enslaved by a self serving attitude. Indeed, they have relinquished their right to a great nation, as they declare oppression through wicked

Being an American means to represent the justice, natural rights, and freedom for an individual. Many citizens indulge in these terms and make their own personal lifestyles out of them. Throughout history Americans have constantly fought for their rights. Some battles lasting longer than others, for example, the fight with Great Britain lasted over 7 years. At that time, due to the length of the fight, many had begun to rebel and form organizations that went against Great Britain. Most of these groups all had a similar goal; helping the American colonies and the nation fight back against Britain. All those who were part of an organization felt that the relationship with Britain had been more harm than help. They had viewed it as more of a contract, since the colony’s voices and opinions were not heard, or at least not taken into consideration. As the American’s power drastically fell along with their moral, Thomas Paine, an English American activist and revolutionary, had delivered multiple speeches, together known as “Crisis No.1”, which gave the colonies the encouragement needed to continue their fight for rights.

In the beginning, freedom was not a given. Many people could not share their opinions, have their own beliefs, or follow their dreams. Freedom had to be earned. The people who fought for our freedom knew that they weren’t fighting for nothing. Being an American means that you are entitled to your opinion. Being an American means you can participate in whatever religion you believe in. Being an American means you can follow your dreams. Today, you can be anything you want to be.

This paper is about how The United States moved from it’s inept first attempt at self government progressing, to the Constitution, which took care of many issues prevalent in the Articles of Confederation. The revolutionary concepts exemplified in the constitution propelled The United States onto the world stage. To gain a deeper understanding of this topic, two essays and a book will be consulted concerning what people thought about the Constitution when it was first implemented and how it is perceived today. In addition, a brief history of early American government and how the Constitution came to be will be discussed. Furthermore the resulting Constitution and how it improved upon the Articles of Confederation will be discussed.

This infers that the American founding fathers wanted to ensure the people of the country with liberties that their colonizer had taken away from them over time. From the beginning of the colonies, the Americans were used to the British having a hold and control over them. They wanted to break this trend in order to promote their independence and strength. The nationalism that the Americans wanted to promote was to start allowing people to see themselves apart of the new nation they had come to live their life in rather than looking to their native countries as home. Their Americans hoped their government would be “a form of patriotism that exalted a particular lifestyle, connected it with a specific citizenry, and promoted the territorial

The Articles of Confederation, a written agreement that ensured each state’s sovereignty, freedom and independence, led America to victory over the British centralized government. During the late eighteenth century, the empowered government terrified the Americans, hence the thirteen colonies decided to spread governance powers equally to all functional states. The states had absolute dominance over the Congress due to the Articles of Confederation. While the localized power of states seemed to be promising, the system posed great threat to the major components of a democratic government, which are coercion, revenue, and legitimacy (Lecture 1 - The Roots of Government). The system of localized power did not ensure legitimacy, which referred to people’s recognition of national government. Congress’s lack of power to control each state’s actions caused great chaos. Eventually, national government’s lack of power and inability to unify the states exposed multiple flaws in the Articles of Confederation; consequently, a new supreme law, the Constitution was established by the founding fathers. The new supreme law successfully altered the imbalanced system into a novel democratic government.