To What Extent Is America Still True to Its Founding Principles Today Essay Example

adopted in 1787. This document would lay the foundations of the country. The purpose that is written in the Preamble of the Constitution was to “Establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity” - the most important principle was the individual liberty The Constitution is separated in seven articles. The first three articles are about the separation of powers (legislative, executive and judiciary).

Within these articles, we can find a classical founding of a welfare democracy defined by the Age of Enlightenment’s philosophers. The articles IV and V grant to the states a kind of independence while the article VI reminds the importance of the federal law. Each state was able to adapt the law to its particular situation, but the Constitution served as the supreme degree of the legislation. The last article says that the Constitution can be subject to modification called amendments. The First Amendment listed five fundamental freedoms for the citizens: Speech, press, assembly, petition and religion.

Each citizen was free to choose his or her religion (First Amendment), but some other important issues at the time like the utilization and treatment of African slaves wasn’t resolved in 1787, even though some might say that this goes against the value of Liberty. However, this Constitution was a solid foundation for the development of the USA. In fact, the Constitution of the USA is known to be one of the oldest to establish democracy. The Manifest destiny was an American common belief that the United States were destined by God to expand across the continent.

The mission was to

promote and defend democracy throughout the entire world. Americans had a God-given mission to spread their virtue and to remake the world using the US as a model. At this time, Jefferson said “I believe the Indian then to be in body and mind equal to the Whiteman” The expansion of the American people and their institution continued farther and farther and ultimately, the US territory was enlarged as far west as the Pacific Ocean. This expansion to the west changed the American mentality and defined that we call “American” today.

This theory, explained by Frederic Jackson Turner in “The significance of the frontier in American History” states that the forging of the unique American identity was born at the juncture between “the civilization of settlement and the savagery of wilderness”. By moving westward, the Americans abandoned European practices, institutions and ideas, and instead found new solutions to new problems created by their new environment. This shaped the American mentality: wild and ambitious, individuality and strength. America was founded with the wish to build a free society with Republican and Democratic values.

Let’s see what happened from the America of Jefferson to the America of Obama. 2. The values of the USA in XXI century Nowadays, the founding principle of individual liberty in the USA has resulted in a liberal economy where entrepreneurship and competition are very rough; however, everything is possible in America as long as you are willing to work hard for whatever you desire. This liberty made America one of the most attractive countries for immigrants. We usually called this phenomenon “The American Dream”.

James Truslow Adams, in 1931, resumed the concept in one sentence,

"life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement". According to the French essayist Frederic Martel, “The American Dream” is also the consequence of the soft power that the USA has on the world and the mainstream American culture that is very developed throughout the globe. The hard competition is omnipresent not only in the business sector of the U. S, but also in the sports that are a large part of the American Culture.

For example, only the best Basketball player in France can lay claim to play in the USA first league: the NBA. The reporter Louis Uchitelle explained in the New York Times that the “obsessive behavior” of Americans about consumerism ensues from the liberal economy of the USA, and that the consumption is viewed as a “reward” from all of the hard work. However, the gap between rich and poor in the USA is continuing to get bigger and bigger. The “domestic tranquility” claimed by the constitution is not a 21st century reality when we examine the poverty guidelines of the U.

S Department of Health and Human Services: more than 15% of the American people live under the poverty line. The Manifest Destiny of the XIX century has never ended, but the frontiers have changed: the current goal of the USA is to be the guardian of democracy and liberty throughout the world, not foreign expansion. The purpose of the foreign American Policy is linked to the original wish of the preamble of the Constitution: promote the defense of American citizens and the prosperity of the country. For example, the USA went

in war in Afghanistan because the Taliban threated American citizens.

Also, the war in Iraq follows two founding principles of the constitution: The wish of promote democracy (by overthrowing the Hussein government) and a patriotic wish (by accessing to gas stocks). At the time the constitution explained the “freedom of religion” for its citizens, there were a lot of religions in the United States (almost one by state). Nowadays, minority religions are free to be practiced, but are subject to a lot of difficulties. Since 9/11, it’s difficult for a Muslim or a Sikh to avoid being categorized as a threat in public place, especially in airports.

Regarding the race-related issue, the abolition of slavery by Jefferson in 1865 was the first step towards racial equality in America. Although racial equality has continued to progress, as evidenced by the 1963 speech of Martin Luther King and the recent election of Barack Obama, black and Latino people still don’t have the same chance to access to wealth and prosperity compared to white people. The point is that 66% of the people who lives under the poverty line are black or Latino. Regarding the freedoms of first amendment, the contemporary American respects the right of assembly.

The movement “Occupy Wall Street” is fighting against the supremacy of Wall Street by demonstrating in the street. This is allowed because of “freedom of speech. ” On the other hand, the right of press is occasionally limited when the subject of the media is about the actions of the government (well illustrated in the movie Good Night and Good Luck). The role of the press to lobby against the three branches of the

government is also sometimes limited. 3. Conclusion America remains true to its founding principles, but these principles have been tremendously put on the test by historic events.

The need to promote democracy around the world is becoming increasingly linked to the need of insure common defense. By doing such acts like McCarthyism, America has showed that democracy and liberty can go in an opposite direction. Since the economic crisis, the USA is no longer the only economic superpower and has to revise its economic policy. Last but not the least, the increasing number of immigrants in the USA will, at a long-term, attenuate the specific character of Americans, and a fortiori, the principles of the country. The Old America has to adapt its value to the changes of the world.