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Social and religious causes of the American Revolution
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Social and religious causes of the American Revolution
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The Struggle to Be Unique
Do you stand alone as a unique and special individual? Since the beginning of American history there have been struggles for individualism. The American Revolution, the American Civil War, and the separation from family life are all examples of individualism in American history. Individualism is an American paradigm designed by the modern societal structure that is an altered idea of the foundation by immigrants. In today’s society the struggle for individualism is more personal and represents how American values have shifted since the beginning of American history.
Individualism in today’s society is the “belief that each person is unique, special, and a ‘basic unit of nature’.” The individualism concept puts an “emphasis on individual initiative” where people act independently of others and use self-motivation to prosper. The individualists “value privacy” over community the individual thrives to move ahead in life (U S Values).
Today’s idea of individualism was derived from the progressive idea that separating from a one’s home country to a new country would make life better. Economic and religious reasons sparked the push for colonization in the New World. Decades after Columbus’ discovery of America in 1492, people finally began moving to the New World. In 1585, Sir Walter Raleigh founded the Roanoke colony, the first colony in the New World, which, as documented in history, “disappeared without a trace” (American Colonies).
During the colonization of America, individualism was the main push for starting new colonies. After the discovery of “the New World,” new colonies were started for many different religious purposes. The Plymouth colony was founded in 1620 as a way to get “[r]eligious freedom fo...
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...seat to financial stability. As the economy has begun to improve, more people are able to leave their parents’ house and create their own life as individuals.
Since the beginning of time, people have been trying to become individuals and stand out as unique beings. During the foundation of the colonies, individuals were focused on preserving their religious beliefs. As slavery became more predominant, the Civil War era fought to give black people their identity back. In the 1800s and 1900s, the individual initiative shifted from giving a group of people identity to individuals fighting for their own personal beliefs. In today’s society, individualism has been diminished by the collapse of the economy, forcing people to live with their parents for longer periods of time. As the economy continues to grow again individualism is making strides in a positive direction.
Jamestown and Plymouth were both very intense colonies. Jamestown had obligations only for financial purposes. Whereas, Plymouth cared for so much more. It had obligations for a variety of religions. In this colony, people were very fond of God. William Bradford once said, “ Nevertheless, to keep a good conscience. and walk in such a way as God has prescribed in his word, is a thing which I must prefer before you all, and above life itself.” Therefore, Plymouth was far more fair and reasonable, because of their interest in God and their opportunities for their religious variety. Even though, both colonies had many similarities like being helped by Native Americans, and they both encountered sickness, death, and struggle; Plymouth’s purpose
Often when looking at American history, people tend to lump all the characters and actors involved as similar. This is especially the case in regards to Early American Colonial history. Because the Puritan communities that grew rapidly after John Winthrop’s arrival in 1630 often overshadow the earlier colony at Plymouth, many are lead to assume that all settlers acted in similar ways with regard to land use, religion, and law. By analyzing the writings of William Bradford and John Winthrop, one begins to see differing pictures of colonization in New England.
Individualism and conformity seem to be the exact opposites of each other, but what if being individual meant conforming to the way of everyone else, and what if conformity was the key to being apart of a community? In the essay by Andrea Fishman “Becoming Literate: A Lesson from the Amish” the author looks at the conformity in the Amish culture in regards to education. However, in the essay by Stuart Ewen “Chosen People” Ewen discusses how mainstream America prides itself on individualism. Both essays explore the complexity of being an individual in societies that thrive on conformity.
In today’s culture people are not individuals they are consumers and they have lost their ability to have their own experiences. In “The Loss of the Creature” by Walker Percy, he talks about why people have lost their sovereignty and how they can get it back. There are a lot of things that people can do differently and regain their individuality back from the consumer culture that they live in.
In the long trek of life, people are constantly chided to follow their hearts, and to be themselves, and to let our individuality run free. As Georg Simmel once said,“The deepest problems of modern life derive from the claim of the individual to preserve the autonomy and individuality of his existence in the face of overwhelming social forces, of historical heritage, of external culture, and of the technique of life.” He is utterly correct. Every person, every mind and every heart, has their own way of doing things. We have associated individuality with singularit...
The pilgrims landing on Plymouth Rock has had a number of important impacts on America today. Whether the impacts were positive or negative, it was the pilgrims that had taken the journey to the New World and made the present what it is today. Originating from England, the English were Puritans who believed that the Church of England was in need of spiritual purification. Instead of altering the church, the English set off on a voyage to the New World for new opportunities. The pilgrims could start over and build a new society from scratch without having the chance of having corrupting influences on the Old World. Religion wasn’t the only temptation of going to the New World, there was famine and the taxes in England that made them want to depart to the New World. The New World had the opportunity to obtain rights and then they could live in the society that they had envisioned (Gray, 48).
Shortly after the War of 1812, the nation’s ideals of community began to shift to a more individualized approach, which led to numerous reforms and movements. Individualism allows one to act or think outside of what is culturally or socially accepted. This period of time became known as the antebellum period, where social and moral reforms were popularized through political reform, abolition and women’s suffrage movements. Individualism and reform impulses were interdependent upon each other, without one the other could not be as strong; therefore, the desire for individualism established the basis for numerous reforms and movements during the antebellum period of the United States.
Individualism from the transcendentalist era is very different then it is in the modern day. In the transcendentalist era, everyone believed that the person is more important than the society. You see this in self reliance where Emerson says “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events” (Emerson par. 3). In this quote, i believe the emerson is saying that you know what's best for yourself and you should follow your heart, but society is always going to try to tell you something different. In the modern day, people rely more on the
“Individualistic cultures, in the western-hemisphere, [such as the United States,] emphasize… personal identity and self-determination. Conformity is far less pervasive in individualistic societies because democratic choices and laissez-faire viewpoints are somewhat considered.”
The European conquest for establishing North American colonies began with various motivations, each dependent on different, and/or merging necessities: economics, the desire to flee negative societal aspects, and the search for religious freedoms. Originally discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492 in search for a trade route to Cathay (China), North America remained uninhabited, excluding the Native American establishments. Following this discovery, Spain –along with other European nations such as France, England, Sweden and the Netherlands– soon began the expedition to the new land with vast expectations. Driven by economic, societal, and religious purposes, the New World developed into a diversely structured colonial establishment consisting of (by 1733) the principal mainland’s Virginia, New Amsterdam (New York), Plymouth, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maryland, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Sweden (Delaware), North and South Carolina, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and lastly Georgia.
People living in this collectivist society have been indoctrinated into believing in, and only in the power of “we”. Ayn Rand communicates in the novella Anthem, that despite the indoctrination process, individualism will break through the chains of collectivism.
The notion of individualism is extremely important in exercising the duty people have to cease from the...
The idea of Individualism can be traced all the way back to England before America’s existence. As we know, individualism has been interpreted in many forms throughout history. The 19th century is no different, taking hold of its own idea of individualism, called transcendentalism. Transcendentalism suggests freedom should not be confined to those focused on money and superficial gains. Instead, people should depend on no one but themselves. This movement focused on “greater individualism against conformity” (Corbett et al.). Heavily influenced by the Romantic period, transcendentalism adopted the belief that reason was more important than logic as Benjamin Franklin has believed. Reason must also include unique emotion and spirit (Corbett et
Individuality is required for a country, city, or person to prosper and possibly change the world. The success and tenacity of a group of people is primarily dependent on the distinctiveness of each person. A group of people cannot advance beyond a certain point if there is no originality among them. The theme statement, finding ones individuality is important because it allows a person to stand out in a crowd and not just follow someone else, is proved by three different sources.
It is a way of deliberation, to tune out the clink of money in the background when you talk to somebody, so that you can concentrate on that person's message and judge it on its own merits. It means looking at someone and not saying to yourself, "That's my aunt" or "That's my boss," but rather, that is someone with his or her own inclinations and desires, in other words, a true Individual who incidentally happens to have this relation to me, as a relative or a superior. On a grander scale, individualism puts the individual above the state and country. In those countries that have always been proud of their traditional values of emphasis on the family or the country above self, they see individualism as a direct attack on these values. However, we live in a democratic country and we believe in individualism and equal opportunity for all persons.