While we may not wear togas or worship the gods on top of Mount Olympus, much of our lives have been shaped by Greek philosophers and their discoveries. From our government, to the science and technology that makes up every tool we use, to our favorite medias and the very words we speak, the Greeks have had an impact on our world today.
When our founding fathers of America wanted to separate from Great Britain, they had a job to do, create a new government. They needed to create a system that would accommodate the ideals of freedom and equal voice that had caused complaints. So they went to the Greek’s invention: democracy. The idea of letting the people being governed having a say in how they were governed appealed greatly to the new country. …show more content…
Benjamin Latrobe said, “I pray that the days of Greece may be revived in the woods of America, and Philadelphia becomes the Athens of the world” (Constanelos). Although Philadelphia may not have become a modern equivalent of Athens, America has been heavily influenced by the model democracy of ancient Greece. Similarly to the Greek democracy, we have three branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial. We also have many ideals that the Greek philosophers brought up such as that the power belongs in the people and the right of equal and free voice. The Greeks also had a constitution, just as our American government does, that sets ground laws for the country. Our Constitutional “balance of powers” comes from Aristotle’s mixed regime, balancing the one, the few, and the many. Also the method of having local and national governments, allowing for more personalized leadership and a voice for all people, was Aristotle’s conception (Sheldon, 251). Although America’s government is not truly a Greek democracy, rather a combination of ideals from the Greek democracy and the Roman republic, without the influence of the Greek’s ability to give everyone a voice, America would not be the land of freedom and equality it is
When our founding fathers of America wanted to separate from Great Britain, they had a job to do, create a new government. They needed to create a system that would accommodate the ideals of freedom and equal voice that had caused complaints. So they went to the Greek’s invention: democracy. The idea of letting the people being governed having a say in how they were governed appealed greatly to the new country. …show more content…
Benjamin Latrobe said, “I pray that the days of Greece may be revived in the woods of America, and Philadelphia becomes the Athens of the world” (Constanelos). Although Philadelphia may not have become a modern equivalent of Athens, America has been heavily influenced by the model democracy of ancient Greece. Similarly to the Greek democracy, we have three branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial. We also have many ideals that the Greek philosophers brought up such as that the power belongs in the people and the right of equal and free voice. The Greeks also had a constitution, just as our American government does, that sets ground laws for the country. Our Constitutional “balance of powers” comes from Aristotle’s mixed regime, balancing the one, the few, and the many. Also the method of having local and national governments, allowing for more personalized leadership and a voice for all people, was Aristotle’s conception (Sheldon, 251). Although America’s government is not truly a Greek democracy, rather a combination of ideals from the Greek democracy and the Roman republic, without the influence of the Greek’s ability to give everyone a voice, America would not be the land of freedom and equality it is