American Identity Research Paper

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The Things That Made Up American Identity
Americans are the result of a cultural melting pot. Americans came from all different backgrounds. No two Americans are alike. Americans may follow different religions. They may also speak different languages. They can also be from different countries. The time when the most major differences in Americans were seen was during the time of people like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Thomas Paine. Three elements that I find most important American identity at this point in time are the belief that all people should have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and having a high priority for religious freedom, and feeling that the people of a government have the …show more content…

In that time, the England’s religion was whatever religion that the king or queen at the time followed. The country’s religion changed recurrently due to the fact that a new ruler came into power. The that did not want to conform to the ruler’s religion and chose not to were accused of being a heretic and was severely punished. The belief in religious freedom was even practiced on the voyage to the new land. Roger Williams wrote, in A Letter to the Town of Providence, that “…both Papists and Protestants, Jews and Turks, may be embarked in one ship; upon which supposal I affirm, that all the liberty of conscience, that ever I pleaded for, turns upon these two hinges- that none of the Papists, Protestants, Jews, or Turks be forced to come to the ship’s prayers or worships, nor compelled from their own particular prayers or worships, if they practice any.”( Nina Baym and Robert S. Levine 109)Just like it has been stated in the paragraph above, the Americans felt that all people should have the right to religious freedoms due to the fact that they were actually there to witness what would happen to people when that right was taken away. One tends to be passionate about correcting an injustice that they have seen and dealt with first-hand. Being able to live in a time period in which one has actually witnessed or dealt with persecution makes wanting religious freedom a high priority and that is the reason why having religious freedom was an important part of American identity during this time in

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