A Very American Revolution
The American Revolution, the conflict by which the American colonists won their independence from Great Britain and created the United States of America, was an upheaval of profound significance in world history. It occurred in the second half of the 18th century, in an "Age of Democratic Revolution," when philosophers and political theorists in Europe were critically examining the institutions of their own societies and the notions that lay behind them. Yet the American Revolution first put to the test ideas and theories that had seldom if ever been worked out in practice in the Old World--separation of church and state, sovereignty of the people, written constitutions, and effective checks and balances in government The American Revolution as we know it was not a conventional revolution. There was no change in social hierarchy as in Russia when the Czar was overthrown, or mass killings of the aristocracy as in France's revolution. Given, there were the occasional mob torching of a wealthy tory's home, but on the whole, it was
But more key was the concept of the government. The American governing system can be called a mix-and-match of many governments through time, including Greek, Roman, and English. Americans introduced the ideas of checks and balances tailored to fit a growing nation, and formed a written constitution that spelled out the power, and the limitations of the ruling government. Slavery was also briefly repealed in some states. While this did not last, it is a good example of the spirit of the revolution, an unprecedented burst of human rights, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. Even such issues as women's rights and education were toyed with during and after the revolution, something that had never been attempted before. Men and women began to see each other as more equal, and thus, more American. This zeal may seem confined to the very radical revolutionaries, but upon looking at the child-rearing practices of the time, one can see that children were engrained with American ideology at a very young age by their mother in a process called "republican motherh
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Approximate Word count = 719
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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