Republican Ideology and the American Essay Example For Students

Republican Ideology and the American Essay The republican ideology is a facet of the socialfabric of the colonial citizens of America that may, arguably,have had the greatest affect on the struggle for independenceand the formation of a constitutional form of government inthe United States. The birth of the republican ideology, whileimpossible to place an exact date on, or even month, can betraced back more than a decade before the RevolutionaryWar. It can also be argued that this social machine began tofunction as a result of circumstances which led many colonistto choose to come to America. The uniformity of thisideology, however, would change and modify itself ascircumstances warranted in the period between 1760 and1800. It is first necessary to understand the exact reasonswhy the ancestors of the American revolutionaries chose tolive in America, as opposed to staying in England, where ahealthy and prosperous life was a much greater possibility. America was, in the eyes of its first English settlers, an openbook with no writing on the pages. It was the foundation of abuilding that had not yet been built. Many felt that it was upto them to shape the way this new land would function, asopposed to the way Parliament or the King felt it should. The memories of these early pioneering settlers were acommon theme for American revolutionaries before theRevolutionary War. These early settlers were the creators ofthe foundation to the building the revolutionaries would finish. Another common theme which drove the revolutionaryideology was the knowledge not only of the monumentalsignificance of the job to be undertaken, but also the impacta free democracy on a scale as large as America would haveon future generations of Americans who, certainly, would nottake their freedom for granted. The ideology held by mostAmerican revolutionaries was one in which they knew theirsacrifices would be acknowledged and appreciated by futuregenerations of Americans. There was also the knowledgethat America would serve as an example to God and the restof the world of what the advantages of a free society couldbe. Religion also played an important role in theestablishment of this ideology. God, in the eyes of the earliestrevolutionaries, was on the side of liberty. There wasreligious justification for actions undertaken by both Englandand America. The English stated that rebellion was a sin,while the Americans stated that the corruption of England, aswell as its intolerance of liberty to the point of warfare, wasalso a sin. War, from the religious perspective of therevolutionary in America before the outbreak of war withEngland, was seen as a necessary evil. God could permitwar as a means of escaping tyranny, such as that whichEngland was symbolic of. God was, in the eyes of the preRevolutionary War revolutionaries, without question on theside of liberty and personal freedom. The suffering ofAmericans under the tyrannical hand of English governmentwas much the same as the suffering undertaken by Jesus atthe cross. He suffered for all the sinful people of the world. He died for our sins. The revolutionaries felt much the sameway about any suffering that may be incurred throughout thewar. They felt that it would be looked back upon as asacrifice that they made for the success of future generationsof Americans. On an even larger scale, it would also belooked upon as a sacrifice for liberty and freedom in allcountries around the world who suffered under the sinfulhand of oppression. The revolutionaries also had their ownideas about independence as well. To them independencewas a necessity. It was absolutely key to any furtheradvancement towards their ultimate goal of freedom to enjoypersonal liberties. How exactly independence was physicallyachieved was not as important as the fact that it had already,and would always be, achieved in the minds of Americans. Civil Rights Movement: 1890-1900 1890: The state o EssayThe faction developed, in some respects, along social lines. Many merchants and businessmen had different ideas abouthow the government should be run, than did rural agrarianfarmers which made up a large percentage of the votingpopulation. It is these rural farmers and small scalemerchants who tended to cling to the original republicanideology more than urban merchants and businessmen. Whatwas developing was a party system consisting of two partiesthat had much the same objectives, but differed greatly onthe means necessary to reach these objectives. What madethis situation so volatile, was the fact that a party system,according to the original interpretation of republicanideology, was a breeding ground for corruption. The reasonsfor this assumption can be clearly seen in the EnglishParliament, which consisted of three parties. The way inwhich the American people responded to this can be seen inseveral different ways. Although parties were looked uponas a bad thing according to the original version of therepublic ideology, as it became clear t hat they were here tostay, many Americans were forced to modify their opinions. One man whose personal struggle with this issue is welldocumented is James Madison. Madison, at first, supporteda multiplicity of parties over a system of only two parties. The reasons for this clearly coincide with the ideals of theAmericans at the time. There should be many parties forAmericans to choose from because each person has the rightto believe whomever he or she wants. For this reason, thereshould be many parties in which people could freely chooseto follow. As time and circumstances progressed however,Madison opinion on the subject changed drastically. Madison came to believe that parties, while a possibleenemy of a free government, are inevitable and unavoidable. He then realized that the best response to the problem wouldbe to control the affects. He also realized that a multiplicityof parties would not be conducive to stability in agovernment which, in the case of the United States at thetime, was a necessity. The specific advantage to having onlytwo parties, as seen by Madison, was that given equalpower and representation, they could keep each other incheck. This would make it nearly impossible for any oneparty to take too much control of the government. It canclearly be seen that the ideology in which the Americanpeople subscribed to prior to the Revolutionary War did gothrough several challenges and modifications by 1800. Although parties did not arise until after the RevolutionaryWar, there were still modifications and challenges muchearlier, as can be seen in the Continental Army. What is alsounique is, despite the numerous challenges and slightmodifications, the ideology was able to persist through thesetraumatic years and shape a nation and a government inways that history had not before seen done with such ease. This is a true testament to the fortitude and durability of therepublican ideology and America as a whole. Category: History