December 18, 2014
Charles Hunter Day
History 110 Final Paper Under imperial rule by the British, colonists in America were being smothered. Their basic human rights weren’t being met and they were forced to bow down to a government that ruled from across the Atlantic Ocean. The American Revolution gave the United States an opportunity to create a nation the likes of which had never been seen before. Through radical changes in the government, the citizens of the newly formed United States of America were able to become more free than they could have ever dreamed. Improvements in religious freedom, gender equality, and social mobility, along with positive changes in many other areas, helped the United States flourish. People became empowered …show more content…
One of the first major changes that came with the American Revolution was the use of religion. Most of the first European settlers that came to America did so because of religious reasons. Puritans from England didn’t agree with the Church of England’s beliefs and wanted to set sail for a land in which they could practice their religion freely without fear of corruption or persecution. The rulers in the colonies were ‘chosen by god’ in the mind of the residents and instructed followers to live by God’s will. During the early eighteenth century, the colonies in New England were known as the ‘Bible Commonwealths’ due to their usage of the Bible as their form of law. After the American Revolution, however, things changed drastically. The founding fathers had to reexamine the relationship between church and state. As governor of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson “… insisted that rulers had no right to interfere …show more content…
The most famous instance of a colonist being punished for criticizing the royal government was by a man named Peter Zenger. The German immigrant printer was in charge of a publication called the New York Weekly Journal. In the 1735 court case, Crown v. Zenger, he was charged with libel after publishing his negative opinion towards the then-governor of New York, William Cosby. Alexander Hamilton ended up winning the case, which led the way for the addition of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The First Amendment guarantees the right to free speech and freedom of the press, which was something that very few countries allowed at the time of its signing. “More than any other single element, newspapers transformed the political culture of the United States”. Newspapers gave Americans the chance to read up on issues facing the country and form their own opinions on who or what to support. “Thus, newspapers become increasingly important as equality expands and the risk of individualism increases. It would be an understatement to say that they simply help to guarantee freedom; they maintain civilization”. The freedom granted to Americans under the First Amendment gives citizens the opportunity to keep themselves informed with the
Charles Hunter Day
History 110 Final Paper Under imperial rule by the British, colonists in America were being smothered. Their basic human rights weren’t being met and they were forced to bow down to a government that ruled from across the Atlantic Ocean. The American Revolution gave the United States an opportunity to create a nation the likes of which had never been seen before. Through radical changes in the government, the citizens of the newly formed United States of America were able to become more free than they could have ever dreamed. Improvements in religious freedom, gender equality, and social mobility, along with positive changes in many other areas, helped the United States flourish. People became empowered …show more content…
One of the first major changes that came with the American Revolution was the use of religion. Most of the first European settlers that came to America did so because of religious reasons. Puritans from England didn’t agree with the Church of England’s beliefs and wanted to set sail for a land in which they could practice their religion freely without fear of corruption or persecution. The rulers in the colonies were ‘chosen by god’ in the mind of the residents and instructed followers to live by God’s will. During the early eighteenth century, the colonies in New England were known as the ‘Bible Commonwealths’ due to their usage of the Bible as their form of law. After the American Revolution, however, things changed drastically. The founding fathers had to reexamine the relationship between church and state. As governor of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson “… insisted that rulers had no right to interfere …show more content…
The most famous instance of a colonist being punished for criticizing the royal government was by a man named Peter Zenger. The German immigrant printer was in charge of a publication called the New York Weekly Journal. In the 1735 court case, Crown v. Zenger, he was charged with libel after publishing his negative opinion towards the then-governor of New York, William Cosby. Alexander Hamilton ended up winning the case, which led the way for the addition of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The First Amendment guarantees the right to free speech and freedom of the press, which was something that very few countries allowed at the time of its signing. “More than any other single element, newspapers transformed the political culture of the United States”. Newspapers gave Americans the chance to read up on issues facing the country and form their own opinions on who or what to support. “Thus, newspapers become increasingly important as equality expands and the risk of individualism increases. It would be an understatement to say that they simply help to guarantee freedom; they maintain civilization”. The freedom granted to Americans under the First Amendment gives citizens the opportunity to keep themselves informed with the