More handpicked essays just for you.
The relevance of the declaration of independence
What is the importance of the declaration of independence
Importance of declaration of independence
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The United States has a unique character shaped by its history and culture that sets it apart from any other nation in the world. America’s character is incomparable to other nations because it is shaped by the ideals of freedom, social mobility through hard work and the opportunity of achievement and success. There are many defining moments in America history that represent American Character. A very important moment is rooted in the American Revolution and the creation of the Declaration of Independence. This document shows important issues that has impacted America to this day, equality, individual rights and the pursuit of the American dream. When this document was signed it became an important moment in American character because it marked the era of America’s birth. The document illustrates Americas unique set of principles and theory of government. The American Revolution created a foundation for the beginning of a country that now has major influence …show more content…
Anne’s argument on risk and negative imagination are connected. Her character is Maxine Greene an inmate whose “risk” was helping her husband hid the murder of her daughter, who was beat to death without her doing anything about it, her negative imagination was not doing anything to stop her husband because of the fear that she had. America’s biggest risk was taken to end World War II. In A Peoples History of the United States, Howard Zinn states “And then, on August 6, 1945, came the lone American plane in the sky over Hiroshima, dropping the first atomic bomb, leaving perhaps 100,000 Japanese dead, and tens of thousands more slowly dying from radiation poisoning” (Zinn). Following three days later, came the second atomic bomb on the city of Nagasaki. Americas risked the use of nuclear bombs on Japan to avoid an invasion that would have caused casualties greater than those of the nuclear
In the making of the United States, there were many events that are important. This paper intends to highlight a few of those events including; Magna Carta, Mayflower Compact, Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation and the Federalist Papers. Many events in America’s history helped to establish the United States as a free and independent country. The Declaration of Independence in particular explains the rights and freedoms that Americans. Each document is like a stepping stones that leads to the next and building upon the pervious document.
It is evident that American exceptionalism has precipitated an incredible amount of debate over time, which has led to various understandings during each historical period. First, the concept has a religious foundation when it is adopted by John Winthrop to mean the promising land for ideal society or “A model of Christian Charity” (Hodgson 1). That is, the Puritans foresaw an exceptional destiny for America as “city upon a hill.” Second, in the Enlightenment era, Franklin gives the idea more secular sense with a rationalism influence. Next, Abess initially welcomed the idea of exceptionalism, but went on to attack it because it involves the destruction of Indian tribes. Third, the American Renaissance authors embraced the concept of Exceptionalism, not only to advocate democracy, but also to free the American identity from the European influence. Fourth, foreign travelers like, de Tocqueville and Chesterton believe in American exceptionalism. For de Tocqueville, democracy is the key success factor of American society, which distinguishes it from any nations elsewhere. For Chesterton, America is an exceptional nation because of its unique foundation: “America is the only nation in the world that is founded on a creed” (Chesterton 7). That creed is that all men are created
There are many events that have happened in our history that have helped shape our country into what it is today. One of those events that helped change our country was the Decleration of Independance. The Declaration of Independence was written on July 4th, 1776. And this document was written so we were separate from England and so we weren’t under their power anymore. It meant that we were going to become a self-governing country. This was the very first big step we took to become our own country. And if we hadn’t have separated from England we wouldn’t be the country we are today. This helped build our nation and bring us closer together so we were united as one. This is when we realized we could be something bigger than what we were.
The four major events significant to the foundation and evolution of the United States today that I have chosen are: the Positive and Negative Impacts of European Contact, the American Military Victory in the Revolutionary War, Slavery and States Rights, and Reconstruction and the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments. All four of these events from the first half of the history of the United States played integral roles into making the United States into what it is today.
Stephanie Coontz’s, David Brook’s, and Margaret Atwood all discuss American cultural myths in their respective essays “The Way We Wish We Were,” “One Nation, Slightly Divisible,” and “A Letter to America.” All three authors elaborate on specific cultural myths, whether it is about an ideal family, an ideal lifestyle, or an ideal country as a whole. As a result of analyzing the three texts, it is clear that the authors critique Americas image in their own was. As well as elaborate on why the realistic view of the United States is being squelched by major cultural myths.
There exists a lot of controversy over the term “American Exceptionalism.” Not only was this debate prevalent many years ago, it also exists today. There are many aspects of American culture that can make it seem like the most superior country in the world, but also there exists many that make it seem otherwise. The term American Exceptionalism is a term that is used to strengthen a country. In times of peril and chaos, the most important action a country can do is to come together as one. Exceptionalism is not only a term for leaders to live by, but also is a term that equates to a sense of pride for the entire country.
This essay does not attempt to make a case that the United States of America has special standing with God as a modern chosen nation. I do not dispute that America is exceptional. However, American Exceptionalism applies to exceptional qualities of the United States in relationship to other nations. At its inception those qualities included limited government that exists to protect and defend the free exercise of inalienable human rights. But even these noble principles do not indicate the United States exists because God established an exclusive and
Today our country is who we are today based on an important document that changed our lives forever; The Constitution of The United States. This document is a revision of the Articles of Confederation that was ratified in 1781; the United States Constitution was ratified in 1788. The document contains 4,543 words and 27 amendments that are the reasons we can do the certain things we do today. The United States Constitution has an impact on my life as a college student living and working due to me being able to attend college as a black student, taxes being taken out of my everyday life activities, being a young woman able to work and having equal rights as men, and lastly being an 18 year old citizen having the right to vote for our president or in our case presently, electoral college.
The United States of America is globally known as a dominant world power and overall, a success-- considering the likelihood of a country made up of such disparate parts to even exist. The overall good fortune of this diverse country can only be accredited to tenacious patriotism incited by occurrences such as tragedy or a proud victory.
Intro: The Declaration of Independence shapes our ideal vision in America by letting every individual have unalienable rights, not having to live under a tyrant, and having equality. These rights are to be protected by one government that is willing to secure these rights for the people. Due to not being responsible towards the people’s happiness, this government will be overthrown and replaced with a new one in which the people will be satisfied with.
When it comes to the Declaration of Independence, it affected not only the people of the colonies, but in fact, affected people around the globe and still affects people to this very day. This single document helped inspire nearly half of the 192 nations apart of the United Nations to have their own declaration of independence (Armitage, 2007). The Declaration of Independence is seen as one of our nation’s most prestigious document and this is because it is the document that declared our independence from Great Britain and the Royal Crown. It is essentially the marking of the United States’ birth.
The American Ideological Consensus is that “…the American people have shared much of the same ideals, the same basic principles, and the same patterns of belief” (McClenaghan 104). When America filled itself with ideologically homogenous people, their beliefs started to define our nation and became American identities. If asked what they think of America, peoples of other nations would say that the roads are made of glass, opportunity is in the air, and civil rights are plentiful. These accounts maybe accentuated; however, the underlying message is that the American people have more freedoms then the peoples of other nations do. The most widely known American identity is freedom, and even though that American identity has been tried and tested throughout much of its history, it can still be said that America is a land of liberty.
The United States of America can be identified as the, Land of the Free, Home of Brave, and The nation of opportunity. These statements all have one thing in common― they bring the nation of America to mind. The United States true identity is exposed by its unique population that has built and governed the country into what it is today. Due to the great diversity within the nation of America, its citizens expose the nations true identity through the people’s contradicting views on culture and politics, along with their similar economic goals.
American exceptionalism is a belief that the United States is different from other nations around the world and as such superior; the term was coined by Alexis de Tocqueville in 1831, yet the philosophy of American superiority can be traced all the way back to the days before the United States was even an idea. They saw their new culture as “A city upon a hill” and sought to achieve moral and spiritual perfection. With this moral superiority the colonists, later Americans, saw a duty presented upon them by God and nature to instill such superior values into other cultures and the world. One such example can be clearly seen in the work of St. John de Crèvecoeur in Letters from an American Farmer where the narrator “Farmer James” states his belief
America claimed to be the saver of the world. The Nation, that is highly superior to all others. But is it? Stephen M. Walt shows he greatly disagrees with this belief in his article, “THE MYTH OF AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM.” Walt claims that America is not nearly as great as Americans believe, and that America as a whole chooses to hide their shameful past. This counter idea about America is proven to be very truthful. However, America is a very exceptional country at the same time.