Culture of the United States
The culture of the United States is a distinct culture that has gone through significant changes over its 200+ year lifespan.
The concept of Liberty, even to this day, is an intricate part of the unique culture of America, and forms the bulk of what became known as American Exceptionalism.
History
The early influences of American Culture can be traced to English settlers, seeking a place they could worship their God. Additionally, Western enlightenment thinkers such as John Locke had a profound influence on what would later lead to America separating from England as a separate nation.
In an 1818 letter to Hezekiah Niles, John Adams points out that "the real American Revolution" was already concluded by the time war began with the British. He wrote:
But what do we mean by the American Revolution? Do we mean the American war? The Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in their religious sentiments of their duties and obligations. While the king, and all in authority under him, were believed to govern in justice and mercy, according to the laws and constitution derived to them from the God of nature and transmitted to them by their ancestors, they thought themselves bound to pray for the king and queen and all the royal family, and all in authority under them, as ministers ordained of God for their good; but when they saw those powers renouncing all the principles of authority, and bent upon the destruction of all the securities of their lives, liberties, and properties, they thought it their duty to pray for the continental congress and all the thirteen State congresses.[1]
Rejection of Monarchism
Going back as far as the 1680s, evidence of America's belief in liberty and rejection of tyranny can be seen. John Wise, a preacher in Ipswich, Massachusetts, was a leader in the fight against Governor Edmund Andros.[2][3][4][5]
Citizenship
Early in America's history, the people of America did not identify with the nation itself as they did with their states, which are themselves sovereign political entities. Today Americans respond as Americans, but at the time of the Founding, citizens regarded themselves as "Virginians", "Pennsylvanians" and "Marylanders".[6]
See also
References
- ↑ To H. Niles, February 13, 1818
- ↑ Magazine of Western History, Volume 8
- ↑ Historical Dictionary of Colonial America
- ↑ God of Liberty: A Religious History of the American Revolution
- ↑ Calvin Coolidge Challenges Progress in the Name of the Declaration of Independence, Heritage Foundation
- ↑ The Holmes Lectures: The Living Constitution, p. 1743, "We understand ourselves today as Americans first and Californians second. But the amendment system was written for a people who thought of themselves primarily as New Yorkers or Georgians."
